Benedict Cumberbatch (center) plays Alan Turing in The Imitation Game. [Photo/Associated Press]

Only 34 foreign films can be screened in mainland cinemas every year, according to policies from the country's top regulator for the sector.

"Birdman has multiple big names behind it. Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, its Mexican director, and the lead actor, Michael Keaton, are well-known faces to Chinese movie insiders," says Zhang.

He says the movies were selected before the United States awards season.

US director Wes Anderson's The Grand Budapest Hotel captured Beijing's attention when it was announced as the opening film of the 2014 Berlin International Film Festival.

Picking up four statuettes, including one for best picture, at the 87th Academy Awards, Birdman, is a strange tale of a Hollywood "superhero" actor attempting to make a comeback via Broadway.

The Grand Budapest Hotel, winner of best costume, makeup and hairstyling, is about a fussy hotel concierge and his loyal lobby-boy protegee and their series of misadventures.

Historical thriller The Imitation Game won an Oscar for best adapted screenplay.

It is expected to lure ticket buyers thanks to its male lead, Benedict Cumberbatch, who won many Chinese fans for his role depicting the legendary detective Sherlock Holmes in the BBC hit series Sherlock.