CNBC's The China Connection newsletter: 'Spider-Man' and 'The Odyssey' come courting the massive filmgoer market

People walk by a giant Spiderman inflatable installation at the south courtyard plaza of Shuncheng Shopping Center on August 2, 2026 in Kunming, Yunnan province, China.Vcg | Visual China Group | Getty ImagesHi, this is Evelyn, writing to you from Beijing. Welcome to the latest edition of The China Connection — a snapshot of what I'm seeing and hearing from local businesses.China doesn't have any 70mm Imax screens for "The Odyssey," but that hasn't stopped fans from snapping up tickets for premium screenings. Several showings were nearly sold out this weekend, and at the Beijing theater I visited Sunday, there was a rare line to get in. But is Hollywood doing enough?The big storyAmerica's movie stars are back in China.From Timothee Chalamet selling tofu in Chengdu to Tom Holland and Zendaya enjoying sheep-themed matcha in Shanghai, Hollywood is actively courting a massive market that's tightly controlled by Beijing.Some of it's paying off. "Spider-Man: Brand New Day" has already broken into the 10 highest-grossing movies in China this year, according to ticketing site Maoyan. As for "The Odyssey," it has already made more than $7 million in China, in just two weekends of limited scr...