Silver Screening online films

Foxcatcher is another Golden Globe nominee which will soon be available on Chinese video sites. [Photo provided to China Daily]

Take James Wan's applauded exorcism-themed production, The Conjuring. The movie was reportedly viewed 900,000 times on Tencent Video and 150,000 times on Youku within just a week in August 2013, when it became available on the Chinese sites shortly after its US release.

Other anticipated productions like The Hangover 3 and best-picture Oscar winner Argo were widely viewed online by Chinese shortly after their US releases.

Chinese streaming sites are reaching out to the US' best production houses.

Tencent is cooperating with Disney companies, including Marvel Entertainment and Pixar Animation Studios.

By working with Hollywood's "big six", iQiyi.com licenses over 2,000 movies a year.

Foreign films account for nearly half of the website's total stock and covers "pretty much every genre the audiences could want", iQiyi's senior vice-president Yang Xianghua says.

International festivals also offer opportunities for Chinese video websites to approach brand new productions, iQiyi CEO Gong Yu tells US entertainment trade magazine Variety.