Walt Disney Co’s latest outing of “Pirates of the Caribbean” rolled out the red carpet in Shanghai on Thursday in a rare world premiere in China for a Hollywood blockbuster as U.S. producers look to woo moviegoers in the Middle Kingdom.

In the shadow of Disney’s newest theme park that opened last year, hundreds of “Pirates” fans lined up to catch a glimpse of stars Johnny Depp, Orlando Bloom and Javier Bardem ahead of an afternoon viewing.

The China premiere of “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales” puts it among a small number of U.S. films to screen for the first time in China. Films like “Point Break” and “Iron Man 3” have premiered or opened earlier in China.

The trend reflects the growing influence of China’s army of 1.4 billion potential cinema-goers, who are increasingly driving global box office sales.

U.S. studios are increasingly looking to China to boost global revenues, though they face issues from a local quota system for imported films to questions over censorship.

China’s box office slowed markedly last year, but grew at its fastest pace in more than a year in April, driven by Universal’s high-octane action movie “The Fate of the Furious”.