Fan Bingbing's horseback sex scene in Lady of the Dynasty went viral online last week. She has 36 million Weibo followers. [Photo by Jiang Dong/China Daily]

And the British Claymation Shaun the Sheep Movie has brought in 46 million yuan on the Chinese mainland－less than half of what its makers expected. That's despite aggressive promotion in the country by directors Mark Burton and Richard Goleszowski.

Many Chinese had watched the films online months before they hit the country's theaters. Imitation debuted elsewhere last November and Shaun did so in February.

"Chinese fans of European titles are increasingly mature and discreet. They won't buy tickets just to seeing idols on giant screens," says Zheng Ye, production department head of the Shanghai-based Fundamental Films, which has close connections with foreign markets.

"But the Internet is changing the entire ecosystem of China's movie industry," he says.

Domestic marketing firms tell China Daily their promotion strategies in recent years typically make giant portals and social media top priorities.

"Few people read print nowadays," Zheng says.

Stars giving exclusive interviews will first consider such giant portals as Tencent, Sohu and Sina.

Cooperative video-streaming websites are allowed to release trailers 12 hours earlier than other platforms, explains Zhang Wenbo, CEO of the Beijing-based Brave Entertainment, the company marketing Monster Hunt.