Will Smith, A-list Hollywood star, opened his Douyin (TikTok-like social media platform launched by Chinese IT giant ByteDance) account and reaped a wealth of following in China.Will Smith went on to share his first video which featured him echoing the words "I guess I'm on Douyin now. That was weird" before looking confused while glancing around his surroundings awkwardly. In fact, according to Asiaone, Smith's videos on Douyin are simply remakes of his TikTok uploads - just changed a little to appeal to the Chinese market. Currently, Will Smith has uploaded three videos on Douyin.
In spite of his endeavor, the blow to his newly-released flick Gemini Man was its failure to land big in China, where it could only debut with $21 million and lost to Chinese home-produced movie The captain. The special effects-heavy flick had a US$138-million budget and spent an additional $100 million-plus in marketing expenses.
Many of celebrities who were propelled into public view just a couple of years ago on live-streaming platforms are jumping ship to Chinese social platform.The platform is popular with Generation Z, those younger than 24. In some ways, people don't realize how involved Western celebrities already are with Chinese social media and MCNs. Karlie Kloss joined Xiaohongshu (called Red in English) in May while Robert Downey Jr , Taylor Swift, Britney Spears, and Dwyane Wade have been on Weibo for some time and Radiohead even had a Weibo account at one point.
Many of these big stars are helped on Chinese social media by MCN to the stars, Fanstang. For new creators and emerging talents, there are plenty of other smaller outfits looking for partners and content that will translate well in the Chinese market.
