This month, it was Matt Damon, one of Hollywood’s most bankable stars, to promote his new movie, “The Great Wall,” which is still in production. At other red-carpet events this year, fans have also seen heartthrob George Clooney, “The Hobbit” trilogy director Peter Jackson, “Iron Man” Robert Downey Jr., and action legend Arnold Schwarzenegger, to name just a few.

Three years ago, it would have been rare to get a glimpse of such big names, even in Beijing and Shanghai. But that was before China zoomed past Japan to become the world’s second-largest movie market.

Box offices nationwide grossed 20.3 billion yuan ($3.31 billion) in the first half of this year, according to the State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television, the country’s top regulator of these sectors, up almost 50 percent zenon the same period last year, the fastest growth rate ever recorded in China’s 110-year history of cinema.

In just a short time, China has jumped up the list of priority markets for major studios. Beijing and Shanghai have become the first stops for many high-profile actors and directors looking to promote their movies in Asia, ahead of the traditional hotspots Tokyo or Hong Kong, while blockbusters are being released on screens in the mainland at the same time as — if not before — their global premieres.

“China is contributing a lot to the global market,” said Zheng Ye, head of production for Fundamental Films, an international movie production and distribution company based in Shanghai. “With swelling demand, it’s no surprise to see that more Hollywood stars and those from other major markets, such as Europe, South Korea and India, are increasing their presence in the Chinese mainland.”

Official statistics for the past five years show China’s movie market has maintained an annual growth rate of about 30 percent, thanks to a boom in the population of moviegoers, fueled largely by the rise in disposable income, and a sharp increase in the number of cinema screens nationwide (up to 28,000 at the last count, with many more on the way).

During the fifth Beijing International Film Festival in April, Marco Solari, president of the Locarno International Film Festival in Switzerland, predicted that it was “quite possible” China will one day overtake the U.S. as the world’s largest movie market.

In fact, it already happened, albeit temporarily. According to Entgroup, an entertainment market researcher, China’s box offices grossed the equivalent of almost $650 million in February, surpassing the $640 million grossed in the U.S. over the same period. Insiders have noted, however, that the comparison may be unfair, as February is a peak holiday season for China but a traditionally slow-business month in North America.

Yet the outlook is one of general optimism. Ernst & Young has predicted China will take the No. 1 spot for good by about 2020, while Entgroup has forecast box offices in the mainland will gross a record 40 billion yuan this year.

“The most crucial reason for this expectation is that more and more Chinese people are walking into movie theaters,” said Ou Wanyong, a senior analyst at Entgroup. “The diversity of movie genres and better technological know-how means viewers of all ages now have greater choice.

“Chinese audiences are getting into the habit of seeing big-screen productions in cinemas for the best visual effects.”

In the first six months of this year, movie theaters nationwide have sold about 560 million tickets, up almost 46 percent on the same period last year. Entgroup predicts that figure could surpass 1.1 billion by the end of December.

A second-chance market

With cinema attendance continuing to fall in the U.S., major studios are also using the Chinese mainland market to rescue big-budget productions that have flopped with domestic audiences.

The first to display this trend was “Pacific Rim,” a science-fiction drama directed by Guillermo del Toro. The movie saw box-office takings slump 52 percent in its second week of release in July 2013, but in China it went on to gross 600 million yuan over three weeks. Likewise, “Transformers: Age of Extinction,” the fourth installment of the action franchise, was named worst picture at the 35th Golden Raspberry Awards in the U.S. last year, yet in China went on to gross almost 2 billion yuan, making it the country’s second highest-grossing movie of all time.

Of course, not every movie can be saved. “Tomorrowland,” Disney’s big-budget sci-fi starring George Clooney and directed by Brad Bird, made a disappointing $190 million at box offices in North America in May, and producers had hoped for a second chance to recoup their investment in China. Yet the movie received a similar lukewarm reception and grossed the equivalent of just $2.5 million on its opening day.

The movie, which shares its name with an area of the Disneyland Resort in California, failed to impress Chinese moviegoers, who in online reviews criticized it as “an extended advertisement” for the amusement park.

Meanwhile, some movie fans have argued that the success of Hollywood’s “box office bombs” in China is due to the limited choice, as the country’s government only allows 34 foreign titles to have a cinematic release each year.

“China’s movie market has expanded so fast, moviegoers in smaller cities don’t really care if a movie tells a good story. They will get out their wallets just to admire the visual effects and spectacular scenarios,” said Zuo Heng, deputy director of cinema studies at the China Film Archives. He added that skepticism over the popularity of box office bombs will likely “wake up” Chinese audiences and will raise people’s appetite for good stories.

To get around the strict quota system, overseas studios are increasingly teaming up with Chinese partners on co-productions, which are not regarded as imports as long as they adhere to certain criteria.

Several co-productions have already hit the screens, including the sci-fi movie “Looper”, which was filmed in Shanghai, and many more are in the works, such as “Kung Fu Panda 3”, which is being made by Oriental Dreamworks, a joint venture between Dreamworks in the U.S. and Chinese investors. The movie, set for release in January, will be the first movie made at the company’s Shanghai studio, which sits on the west bank of the Huangpu River.

The growth of video-streaming websites has also helped movies that have failed to get a cinematic release to reach Chinese audiences. IQiyi, for example, a subsidiary of search engine Baidu, has a licensing deal with Paramount Pictures to broadcast 800 of its movies. The website had 5 million paying subscribers as of June.

In an email statement to China Daily, the company said it plans to add more movies from the Big Six studios, making some of them free to view.

So the stars could be shining in China for some time to come.