"American movies dominate box offices around the world. Is it because these films are better than those produced by other nations? Hardly. It falls in tune with the dominant role our entertainment culture takes in other fields (music, television, etc.). It is not as if the masses of the USA don’t enjoy foreign made films, such as the Harry Potter & James Bond series, Shakespeare in Love, The Third Man, Notting Hill, Four Weddings and a Funeral, Bridget Jones’s Diary (noticing a Hugh Grant pattern here?), Porky’s, and Crocodile Dundee. All of these films grossed at least 100 million USD (adjusted for inflation). The only problem, is these are all English language films and many have ties to Hollywood production companies. It seems as if there is some sort of block in our country about foreign language films. Only one has ever cracked the 100 million dollar mark in the US (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon), and few others have achieved great success (Life is Beautiful, Hero, Pan’s Labyrinth, Amelie). However, many great films which would roll in the big bucks go unwatched because of the language barrier which causes Hollywood to assume the general public won’t go see a foreign language film." - Steven Perez from Bookmarklet