Murdoch and his Chinese-born wife, Wendi Deng, walked the red carpet at the Shanghai International Film Festival's opening ceremony Saturday alongside Hollywood stars including Susan Sarandon and Matt Dillon. A day later, pageantry gave away to tough talk.

Speaking before a panel discussion on film finance attended by a top Chinese film regulator, the Australian-born media mogul said Sunday that "the promise" of China's huge investment in screen infrastructure "has not been fully realized because market access remains so restricted."