Just as Dune: Part Two turns a book once thought of as unadaptable into a giant blockbuster with wide appeal, Netflix's adaptation of The Three-Body Problem by Liu Cixin (who also wrote the delightfully bonkers The Wandering Earth) manages to capture the weirdness and the drama of its source material to great effect. Created by Alexander Woo and the duo David Benioff and D. B. Weiss in their first project post-Game of Thrones, this is a generation-spanning, global sci-fi epic about five scientist friends who make a discovery that changes our understanding of physics and the universe, as an otherworldly existential threat sends the planet into panic mode.
- 3/11/2024
- by Rafael Motamayor
- Primetimer
Covid, changing money flows and a new superpower Cold War of sorts may have, over the past few years, helped to reduce the connections between the film and TV industries of China and the rest of the world — so, will the 2024 edition of FilMart, whose organizers continue to claim bridgehead status, be the market to increase those connections?
Candas Yeung, the Trade Development Council associate director who takes over as head of FilMart this year, says that visitor and exhibitor numbers have crept up again this year — to an anticipated 7,500 and 715, respectively — and that fully 40% of market participants hail from mainland China.
“That’s a pretty significant proportion and they are very active in the market, both buying and selling, and making some announcements,” Yeung says. “Clearly, Hong Kong remains a crucial intermediate link between mainland Chinese and the rest of the world’s entertainment industry. We will try to...
Candas Yeung, the Trade Development Council associate director who takes over as head of FilMart this year, says that visitor and exhibitor numbers have crept up again this year — to an anticipated 7,500 and 715, respectively — and that fully 40% of market participants hail from mainland China.
“That’s a pretty significant proportion and they are very active in the market, both buying and selling, and making some announcements,” Yeung says. “Clearly, Hong Kong remains a crucial intermediate link between mainland Chinese and the rest of the world’s entertainment industry. We will try to...
- 3/10/2024
- by Patrick Frater
- Variety Film + TV
In 2019, Chinese filmmaker Frant Guo gave his country its very first science fiction blockbuster, The Wandering Earth, a high-concept adventure film set in 2058 with planet Earth threatened by the imminent explosion of the sun. This year, Guo extended his vision with a prequel, The Wandering Earth 2, told years before the story of the first film. Collectively, the two movies have earned a whopping $1.36 billion ($700 million for the first and $564 million for the follow-up), amounting to China’s very first sci-fi franchise that can legitimately rival Hollywood in both scale and production values. A third installment has been announced for release in 2027.
In recognition of The Wandering Earth 2′s achievements — the prequel has an average critics’ score of 82 percent on Rotten Tomatoes, signifying considerable praise beyond China’s borders — Beijing’s Film Bureau selected it as the country’s official entry for the Oscar’s best international film category race.
In recognition of The Wandering Earth 2′s achievements — the prequel has an average critics’ score of 82 percent on Rotten Tomatoes, signifying considerable praise beyond China’s borders — Beijing’s Film Bureau selected it as the country’s official entry for the Oscar’s best international film category race.
- 12/23/2023
- by Patrick Brzeski
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
China’s The Wandering Earth 2 and Pakistan’s In Flames were added to the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences’ members-only streaming service, Academy Screening Room, on Friday, sources tell The Hollywood Reporter. This means that these are the respective countries’ official selections for the 2024 Oscars in the best international feature film category.
2019’s The Wandering Earth was directed by Frant Gwo and was loosely based on the 2000 short story of the same name. It became China’s fifth highest-grossing film of all time. The prequel was released in January.
China has submitted more than 20 films for an Oscar since 1979, with two going on to receive a nomination. Both were directed by Zhang Yimou. A Chinese film has not won an Academy Award in the international feature film category.
In Flames is written and directed by Zarrar Kahn and had its North American premiere at the 2023 Toronto International Film Festival.
2019’s The Wandering Earth was directed by Frant Gwo and was loosely based on the 2000 short story of the same name. It became China’s fifth highest-grossing film of all time. The prequel was released in January.
China has submitted more than 20 films for an Oscar since 1979, with two going on to receive a nomination. Both were directed by Zhang Yimou. A Chinese film has not won an Academy Award in the international feature film category.
In Flames is written and directed by Zarrar Kahn and had its North American premiere at the 2023 Toronto International Film Festival.
- 10/27/2023
- by Beatrice Verhoeven
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Legendary superstar Jackie Chan is “at his best” (Variety) in Ride On,the adventure comedy for the whole family debuting on Digital, Blu-ray and DVD on October 24 from Well Go USA Entertainment. When debt collectors try—and fail—to seize a horse from a stuntman (Chan), video of the attempt goes viral. Furious, the debt collectors return, leading to hilarious, action-packed antics that outdo even the pair’s most daring acts. Written and directed by award-winning filmmaker Larry Yang, Ride On also stars Kevin Guo (Adoring), Wu Jing, Xing Yu, and Andy On (New Police Story). Bonus material includes two behind-the-scenes featurettes and an English dub.
Synopsis:
After debt collectors attempt to seize the beloved stunt horse of washed-up aging stuntman Luo (Jackie Chan), video of the dynamic duo’s daring escape goes viral on social media, immediately reviving Luo’s movie career. But in the midst of this triumphant return to film,...
Synopsis:
After debt collectors attempt to seize the beloved stunt horse of washed-up aging stuntman Luo (Jackie Chan), video of the dynamic duo’s daring escape goes viral on social media, immediately reviving Luo’s movie career. But in the midst of this triumphant return to film,...
- 10/6/2023
- by Adriana Rosati
- AsianMoviePulse
Singapore has picked Ilker Anthony Chen’s coming-of-age Chinese drama The Breaking Ice as its submission to the 2024 Oscars in the best international feature category. The film made its world premiere in May in Cannes Film Festival’s Un Certain Regard section, with The Hollywood Reporter‘s critics later selecting it as one of the 20 best films screened at the prestigious French festival this year.
Made with a mostly Chinese cast and crew, The Breaking Ice tells the story of an unlikely, fleeting friendship formed between three restless young people in China’s far northeastern border city of Yanji. It is headlined by a star-studded ensemble of young Chinese talent, including Zhou Dongyu (Oscar-nominated Better Days), Liu Haoran (Detective Chinatown franchise) and Qu Chuxiao (The Wandering Earth). Described as a Generation Z drama, the film’s story follows the blossoming friendship of its three main characters as they discover warmth...
Made with a mostly Chinese cast and crew, The Breaking Ice tells the story of an unlikely, fleeting friendship formed between three restless young people in China’s far northeastern border city of Yanji. It is headlined by a star-studded ensemble of young Chinese talent, including Zhou Dongyu (Oscar-nominated Better Days), Liu Haoran (Detective Chinatown franchise) and Qu Chuxiao (The Wandering Earth). Described as a Generation Z drama, the film’s story follows the blossoming friendship of its three main characters as they discover warmth...
- 9/29/2023
- by Patrick Brzeski
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
A movie about the United States’ entry into the Atomic Age might not seem like a straightforward sell in an increasingly nationalistic China, but “Oppenheimer” got off to a strong start there, earning $39 million in 10 days.
That’s amid solid word of mouth (an 8.9 from Douban) and a local press tour by director Christopher Nolan. His in-person promotional visit marked the first such event for a Hollywood film since pre-covid times.
The puzzle now is whether Nolan’s popularity in China is a one-of-a-kind factor or if there’s a broader lesson about what can make for a blockbuster in the country. It’s a crucial question about a once-lucrative market for Hollywood superhero movies and other action-driven tentpoles that has lately proven far more challenging for film marketers.
Robert Pattinson and John David Washington star in Christopher Nolan’s ‘Tenet’ The Nolan factor
“Christopher Nolan has a strong following among Chinese moviegoers,...
That’s amid solid word of mouth (an 8.9 from Douban) and a local press tour by director Christopher Nolan. His in-person promotional visit marked the first such event for a Hollywood film since pre-covid times.
The puzzle now is whether Nolan’s popularity in China is a one-of-a-kind factor or if there’s a broader lesson about what can make for a blockbuster in the country. It’s a crucial question about a once-lucrative market for Hollywood superhero movies and other action-driven tentpoles that has lately proven far more challenging for film marketers.
Robert Pattinson and John David Washington star in Christopher Nolan’s ‘Tenet’ The Nolan factor
“Christopher Nolan has a strong following among Chinese moviegoers,...
- 9/8/2023
- by Scott Mendelson
- The Wrap
The top-earning film at the box office this weekend wasn’t “Barbie,” but rather “The Meg 2: The Trench.” The Warner Bros. Discovery/Cmc Pictures shark tale earned $142 million worldwide in its global debut, including a robust $53.3 million in China.
That opening weekend was already 11% higher than “Jurassic World Dominion,” 41% above “Transformers: Rise of the Beasts” and more than double “Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One.” It is also higher than the $50 million first weekend posted by “The Meg” in China back in August 2018.
It’s a big deal that “The Meg 2: The Trench” is performing anything like a pre-covid business-as-usual Hollywood tentpole. The key advantage might be old-fashioned star power.
The earlier Jason Statham/Li Bingbing-led actioner eventually earned $153 million of its $530 million total in the Middle Kingdom. If the sequel, which swaps Li for Wu Jing, legs out accordingly, we could see a $162 million Chinese total.
That opening weekend was already 11% higher than “Jurassic World Dominion,” 41% above “Transformers: Rise of the Beasts” and more than double “Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One.” It is also higher than the $50 million first weekend posted by “The Meg” in China back in August 2018.
It’s a big deal that “The Meg 2: The Trench” is performing anything like a pre-covid business-as-usual Hollywood tentpole. The key advantage might be old-fashioned star power.
The earlier Jason Statham/Li Bingbing-led actioner eventually earned $153 million of its $530 million total in the Middle Kingdom. If the sequel, which swaps Li for Wu Jing, legs out accordingly, we could see a $162 million Chinese total.
- 8/8/2023
- by Scott Mendelson
- The Wrap
The summer box office season may have reached the dog days of August, but it’s hardly looked stronger over the past few months. Though the openings of “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem” and “Meg 2: The Trench” won’t be able to take down “Barbie” as the top performer in North America, both new releases are boosting theaters to a weekend with four different features grossing north of $25 million.
Paramount Pictures’ “Mutant Mayhem” added $9.3 million from 3,858 locations on Friday, tracking neck-and-neck with “Oppenheimer” for second place on domestic charts. The animated feature, produced by Nickelodeon Movies and Point Grey Productions, opened with Tuesday evening preview screenings and is now tracking for a $42 million five-day debut — squarely within the projections of $35 million to $45 million heading into the weekend.
That’s not shabby for the “Tmnt” entry, which cost only $70 million to produce — an especially economical figure for an animated studio release.
Paramount Pictures’ “Mutant Mayhem” added $9.3 million from 3,858 locations on Friday, tracking neck-and-neck with “Oppenheimer” for second place on domestic charts. The animated feature, produced by Nickelodeon Movies and Point Grey Productions, opened with Tuesday evening preview screenings and is now tracking for a $42 million five-day debut — squarely within the projections of $35 million to $45 million heading into the weekend.
That’s not shabby for the “Tmnt” entry, which cost only $70 million to produce — an especially economical figure for an animated studio release.
- 8/5/2023
- by J. Kim Murphy
- Variety Film + TV
Strand Releasing has snatched up North American distribution rights to Singaporean filmmaker Anthony Chen’s recent Cannes favorite The Breaking Ice. The film made its world premiere in May in Cannes’ Un Certain Regard section, with The Hollywood Reporter‘s critics later selecting it as one of the 20 best films screened at the festival this year.
The Breaking Ice tells the story of an unlikely, fleeting friendship formed between three restless young people in China’s far northeastern border city of Yanji. It is headlined by a star-studded ensemble of young Chinese talent, including Zhou Dongyu (Oscar-nominated Better Days), Liu Haoran (the Detective Chinatown franchise) and Qu Chuxiao (The Wandering Earth).
Chen previously won Cannes’ Caméra d’Or award with his debut feature Ilo Ilo (2013), which was later submitted by Singapore as its entry to the Oscars’ best international film race. His second feature Wet Season premiered in Toronto and his English-language debut,...
The Breaking Ice tells the story of an unlikely, fleeting friendship formed between three restless young people in China’s far northeastern border city of Yanji. It is headlined by a star-studded ensemble of young Chinese talent, including Zhou Dongyu (Oscar-nominated Better Days), Liu Haoran (the Detective Chinatown franchise) and Qu Chuxiao (The Wandering Earth).
Chen previously won Cannes’ Caméra d’Or award with his debut feature Ilo Ilo (2013), which was later submitted by Singapore as its entry to the Oscars’ best international film race. His second feature Wet Season premiered in Toronto and his English-language debut,...
- 7/24/2023
- by Patrick Brzeski
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
After a golden age in the 1980s, Chinese filmmakers were quietly discouraged from dabbling in the sci-fi genre – it isn’t real science and authorities did not want youngsters to get confused. That stance changed during the last decade and the Shanghai International Film Festival has just hosted its first sci-fi week, comprising nearly a dozen film screenings and a trio of panel discussions featuring the new luminaries in the sector.
Reasons for the revised position of China’s authorities are not hard to understand. Not only was Hollywood getting away with dominating a genre that was popular with Chinese audiences, China in the 21st century has become a global technology powerhouse. Its space program, in particular, is now among the most advanced, capable of a normalized rocket launch schedule, international co-operation and lunar and interplanetary missions.
“A great sci-fi film can successfully arouse people’s curiosity to explore the...
Reasons for the revised position of China’s authorities are not hard to understand. Not only was Hollywood getting away with dominating a genre that was popular with Chinese audiences, China in the 21st century has become a global technology powerhouse. Its space program, in particular, is now among the most advanced, capable of a normalized rocket launch schedule, international co-operation and lunar and interplanetary missions.
“A great sci-fi film can successfully arouse people’s curiosity to explore the...
- 6/19/2023
- by Patrick Frater
- Variety Film + TV
Anthony Chen’s well-regarded Mainland China-set “The Breaking Ice” has found favor with multiple European and Asian buyers in the few days since its Sunday premiere as part of the Cannes Film Festival’s Un Certain Regard.
The film narrates a love triangle story among China’s lost youth generation and is set in the middle of winter in Yanji, a town that is heavily populated by ethnic Koreans. It is headlined by a star-studded Chinese cast of Zhou Dongyu (“Better Days”), Liu Haoran (“Detective Chinatown” franchise) and Qu Chuxiao (“The Wandering Earth”).
“The Breaking Ice” has been newly licensed to Challan for release in South Korea, Trigon-Film for Switzerland, One From the Heart for Greece, Tucker Film for Italy and Edko Films for Hong Kong.
Rights sales are handled by Rediance, Mainland China’s leading indie sales company, which reports that addition territory deals are currently being negotiated.
The film narrates a love triangle story among China’s lost youth generation and is set in the middle of winter in Yanji, a town that is heavily populated by ethnic Koreans. It is headlined by a star-studded Chinese cast of Zhou Dongyu (“Better Days”), Liu Haoran (“Detective Chinatown” franchise) and Qu Chuxiao (“The Wandering Earth”).
“The Breaking Ice” has been newly licensed to Challan for release in South Korea, Trigon-Film for Switzerland, One From the Heart for Greece, Tucker Film for Italy and Edko Films for Hong Kong.
Rights sales are handled by Rediance, Mainland China’s leading indie sales company, which reports that addition territory deals are currently being negotiated.
- 5/26/2023
- by Patrick Frater and Naman Ramachandran
- Variety Film + TV
You’d expect a movie called “The Breaking Ice” to be cold and Anthony Chen’s gentle drama about three isolated young people finding moments of connection definitely stays away from passionate and heated statements. But it’d be a mistake to think that Chen’s restraint comes at the expense of feeling, because “The Breaking Ice” is one of the most beautifully evocative films to screen during the first few days of this year’s Cannes Film Festival.
A luminous “Jules and Jim” riff with a stunning visual design and a real purpose to its apparent aimlessness, “The Breaking Ice” screened on Sunday in the Un Certain Regard section at Cannes, bringing the Singaporean director back to the festival where he won the Camera d’Or for “Ilo Ilo” in 2013, and also appeared as part of the Covid-era anthology film “The Year of the Everlasting Storm” in 2021.
“The Breaking Ice...
A luminous “Jules and Jim” riff with a stunning visual design and a real purpose to its apparent aimlessness, “The Breaking Ice” screened on Sunday in the Un Certain Regard section at Cannes, bringing the Singaporean director back to the festival where he won the Camera d’Or for “Ilo Ilo” in 2013, and also appeared as part of the Covid-era anthology film “The Year of the Everlasting Storm” in 2021.
“The Breaking Ice...
- 5/21/2023
- by Steve Pond
- The Wrap
Editor’s note: This review was originally published at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival. Strand Releasing releases the film in New York City theaters on Friday, January 19 and in Los Angeles theaters on Friday, January 26.
A sweet and shimmeringly beautiful film about how life can flow and then freeze and then thaw into something entirely new if you let it, Anthony Chen’s “The Breaking Ice” finds hope in the most frigid of places. In this case, that place is the small Chinese border city of Yanji during the depths of its endless winter, when people’s breath is as thick as the gray fumes that spew out of the factory smokestacks, and the snowy peak of Changbai Mountain looks closer to heaven than it does to Pyongyang. More than half a million people live there (many of them ethnic Koreans), but few of them seem to think of it as home.
A sweet and shimmeringly beautiful film about how life can flow and then freeze and then thaw into something entirely new if you let it, Anthony Chen’s “The Breaking Ice” finds hope in the most frigid of places. In this case, that place is the small Chinese border city of Yanji during the depths of its endless winter, when people’s breath is as thick as the gray fumes that spew out of the factory smokestacks, and the snowy peak of Changbai Mountain looks closer to heaven than it does to Pyongyang. More than half a million people live there (many of them ethnic Koreans), but few of them seem to think of it as home.
- 5/21/2023
- by David Ehrlich
- Indiewire
In June of 2021, Singaporean filmmaker Anthony Chen, acclaimed for his intimate, realist dramas Ilo Ilo (2013) and Wet Season (2019), was invited to serve on the jury of the Shanghai International Film Festival. As part of his participation in the event, he was asked to give a round of interviews to local Chinese journalists and critics. During one of these sessions, a Chinese writer began by praising the director’s family dramas by describing them as uncommonly “mature and precise” for a filmmaker of his age — Chen is 39 today, but was just 29 when he became the first Singaporean to win Cannes’ Camera d’Or prize with Ilo Ilo in 2013 — but he also challenged Chen by asking, “What do you think your films would be like if you let go of control and worked with a freer spirit?”
As the filmmaker wrapped up his time in Shanghai and flew back to London, where...
As the filmmaker wrapped up his time in Shanghai and flew back to London, where...
- 5/20/2023
- by Patrick Brzeski
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Ever since Chinese production companies have discovered the principles of the blockbusters, it seems like every year we are bombarded with a new feature about heroes facing a catastrophe or other odds. While the genre itself varies, many of these features feel as if they are throwbacks to US-American productions such as “Earthquake” or “The Towering Inferno”, as their focus lies on a group of people, their dynamics and the heroics with which they eventually overcome whatever is in their way. “Restart the Earth” by filmmaker Zhenzhao Lin, who also directed the trashy “Snakes”-franchise, goes in a similar direction, with a few nods to production such as “The Last of Us” thrown in for good measure, and there is also the ideological aspect in the mix.
on Amazon by clicking on the image below
After a world-wide catastrophe which saw plants growing disproportionately large after an experiment gone horribly wrong,...
on Amazon by clicking on the image below
After a world-wide catastrophe which saw plants growing disproportionately large after an experiment gone horribly wrong,...
- 5/9/2023
- by Rouven Linnarz
- AsianMoviePulse
Jason Statham comes face to face with not one, not two, but three deep sea-dwelling prehistoric sharks, along with some giant creature with a bunch of tentacles, in the first official trailer for “Meg 2: The Trench.”
Shortly after “The Meg” grossed $530 million worldwide in 2018, a sequel was confirmed. The original film followed a group of scientists whose submarine was attacked by a Megalodon — a species of giant shark previously thought to be extinct. Now, Warner Bros. has pulled back the curtain on the film after debuting its first trailer ahead of the movie’s Aug. 4 premiere.
The new footage unveils Statham teaming up with Wu Jing, a massive star in China who has starred in blockbusters such as “The Wandering Earth,” “Wolf Warrior” and “The Battle at Lake Changjin.” The pair lead an underwater journey to the bottom of the ocean to investigate new creatures, before taking on a...
Shortly after “The Meg” grossed $530 million worldwide in 2018, a sequel was confirmed. The original film followed a group of scientists whose submarine was attacked by a Megalodon — a species of giant shark previously thought to be extinct. Now, Warner Bros. has pulled back the curtain on the film after debuting its first trailer ahead of the movie’s Aug. 4 premiere.
The new footage unveils Statham teaming up with Wu Jing, a massive star in China who has starred in blockbusters such as “The Wandering Earth,” “Wolf Warrior” and “The Battle at Lake Changjin.” The pair lead an underwater journey to the bottom of the ocean to investigate new creatures, before taking on a...
- 5/8/2023
- by McKinley Franklin
- Variety Film + TV
Warner Bros. Discovery’s potential summer sleeper “The Meg 2: Trench” dropped its first teaser trailer, essentially the same mouth-watering footage audiences saw at last month’s CinemaCon presentation.
As noted last month, the trailer’s tagline is “They’re back… for seconds,” mimicking the refreshingly cheeky marketing that helped turn “The Meg” into a surprise super-smash. The trailer opens with two land-bound prehistoric monsters eating a large bug, with onscreen text warning that for 65 million years one species ruled the world. The answer is not the tyrannosaurus rex, but rather a megalodon which is introduced eating a T-rex.
That was actually the prologue of Steve Alton’s first novel which didn’t make it into the first movie. One may recall that “The Lost World: Jurassic Park” and “Jurassic Park III” included setpieces and ideas from Michael Crichton’s “Jurassic Park” novel that didn’t make it into Steven Spielberg’s first dino blockbuster.
As noted last month, the trailer’s tagline is “They’re back… for seconds,” mimicking the refreshingly cheeky marketing that helped turn “The Meg” into a surprise super-smash. The trailer opens with two land-bound prehistoric monsters eating a large bug, with onscreen text warning that for 65 million years one species ruled the world. The answer is not the tyrannosaurus rex, but rather a megalodon which is introduced eating a T-rex.
That was actually the prologue of Steve Alton’s first novel which didn’t make it into the first movie. One may recall that “The Lost World: Jurassic Park” and “Jurassic Park III” included setpieces and ideas from Michael Crichton’s “Jurassic Park” novel that didn’t make it into Steven Spielberg’s first dino blockbuster.
- 5/8/2023
- by Scott Mendelson
- The Wrap
“The Meg 2: The Trench” is one of the more under-the-radar tentpoles this summer, even though it may end up being one of the biggest global grossers. Why is that?
Well, “The Meg” earned $155 million in North America and $155 million in China toward a $530 million global total. That cume was bigger than any giant monster movie save for “Kong: Skull Island” ($569 million in 2017) and the various “Jurassic” movies. It was the first and thus-far only big-budget Hollywood/Chinese co-production that qualified as a success on both shores. And now “The Meg 2” will try and repeat that performance.
“They’re back for seconds,” the trailer eventually declares, echoing the tongue-in-cheek tone of the first film’s marketing campaign. The trailer opens with two land-bound prehistoric monsters eating a large bug, with onscreen text warning that for 65 million years one species ruled the world. The T-rex? No, the Meg which eats a T-rex.
Well, “The Meg” earned $155 million in North America and $155 million in China toward a $530 million global total. That cume was bigger than any giant monster movie save for “Kong: Skull Island” ($569 million in 2017) and the various “Jurassic” movies. It was the first and thus-far only big-budget Hollywood/Chinese co-production that qualified as a success on both shores. And now “The Meg 2” will try and repeat that performance.
“They’re back for seconds,” the trailer eventually declares, echoing the tongue-in-cheek tone of the first film’s marketing campaign. The trailer opens with two land-bound prehistoric monsters eating a large bug, with onscreen text warning that for 65 million years one species ruled the world. The T-rex? No, the Meg which eats a T-rex.
- 4/25/2023
- by Scott Mendelson
- The Wrap
China’s Rediance Reveals First-Look Images For Cannes Un Certain Regard Selection ‘The Breaking Ice’
Beijing-based sales agent Rediance has revealed first look stills for Anthony Chen’s The Breaking Ice, which has been selected for the Un Certain Regard section of this year’s Cannes Film Festival.
Produced by China’s Canopy Pictures, the film is the first mainland Chinese production directed by Chen, a Singaporean filmmaker who won the Camera d’Or at Cannes in 2013 with his debut feature Ilo Ilo.
Set in Yanji, a border city in the north of China, The Breaking Ice follows the blossoming relationship among three young adults in their twenties over a short few days of heavy winter snowfall.
The cast is headed by Zhou Dongyu (Better Days), Liu Haoran (Detective Chinatown franchise) and Qu Chuxiao (The Wandering Earth). Zhou previously starred in Chen’s segment of omnibus film, The Year Of The Everlasting Storm, which premiered at Cannes in 2021.
The Breaking Ice
China’s Huace Pictures...
Produced by China’s Canopy Pictures, the film is the first mainland Chinese production directed by Chen, a Singaporean filmmaker who won the Camera d’Or at Cannes in 2013 with his debut feature Ilo Ilo.
Set in Yanji, a border city in the north of China, The Breaking Ice follows the blossoming relationship among three young adults in their twenties over a short few days of heavy winter snowfall.
The cast is headed by Zhou Dongyu (Better Days), Liu Haoran (Detective Chinatown franchise) and Qu Chuxiao (The Wandering Earth). Zhou previously starred in Chen’s segment of omnibus film, The Year Of The Everlasting Storm, which premiered at Cannes in 2021.
The Breaking Ice
China’s Huace Pictures...
- 4/13/2023
- by Liz Shackleton
- Deadline Film + TV
With his presence in John Wick: Chapter 4, Donnie Yen is finally getting the English-language, international showcase he’s always deserved. Yen is a huge star in his motherland of China and is about to become a very bright draw for international audiences, finding himself new fans every time he’s seen in an American film. With this new one, he should no longer be “oh I know that guy from somewhere” and be quite well known as the badass that he is. To you get to know his work, here are ten of the best Donnie Yen movies (in no particular order):
Dragon (aka Wu Xia) (2011)
A big part of Yen’s career has been filled with period pieces in which martial arts have an important place (the Wuxia genre). Dragon is no different. Here, Yen plays a family man who is hiding a dark past, when this past catches up with him,...
Dragon (aka Wu Xia) (2011)
A big part of Yen’s career has been filled with period pieces in which martial arts have an important place (the Wuxia genre). Dragon is no different. Here, Yen plays a family man who is hiding a dark past, when this past catches up with him,...
- 3/25/2023
- by Emilie Black
- JoBlo.com
Exclusive: Conqueror Entertainment, the L.A. and Beijing-based production outfit launched by former Legendary Entertainment executive Vasco Xu, has set a Chinese-language adaptation of leading sci-fi author Liu Cixin’s Supernova Era as one of it first projects.
The company is also planning to simultaneously produce an English-language movie and TV series in the U.S., based on the same novel.
Ann Lu is adapting the novel for the Chinese version with Xu, Jane Zheng (The Farewell), Zhao Jilong (The Three-Body Problem) and Kong Ergou (The Crossing) on board as producers. Conqueror Entertainment’s Brian Cheng and Sun Ge will executive produce.
Liu Cixin is best known for Hugo award-winning trilogy, The Three-Body Problem, which is being adapted by Netflix as an English-language series, executive produced by David Benioff & D.B. Weiss (Game Of Thrones). He also wrote novella The Wandering Earth, which has been adapted into two blockbuster Chinese-language movies.
The company is also planning to simultaneously produce an English-language movie and TV series in the U.S., based on the same novel.
Ann Lu is adapting the novel for the Chinese version with Xu, Jane Zheng (The Farewell), Zhao Jilong (The Three-Body Problem) and Kong Ergou (The Crossing) on board as producers. Conqueror Entertainment’s Brian Cheng and Sun Ge will executive produce.
Liu Cixin is best known for Hugo award-winning trilogy, The Three-Body Problem, which is being adapted by Netflix as an English-language series, executive produced by David Benioff & D.B. Weiss (Game Of Thrones). He also wrote novella The Wandering Earth, which has been adapted into two blockbuster Chinese-language movies.
- 3/10/2023
- by Liz Shackleton
- Deadline Film + TV
‘Quantumania’ delivered a bigger opening than any of the other ‘Ant-Man’ films with 225m worldwide.
World box office February 17-19 RankFilm (distributor)3-day (world) Cume (world)3-day (int’l) Cume (int’l) Territories 1. Ant-Man And The Wasp: Quantumania (Disney) 225.3m 225.3m 121.3m 121.3m 44 2. Avatar: The Way Of Water (Disney)
16.8m 2.24bn 10.7m 1.59bn 53 3. Puss In Boots: The Last Wish (Universal) 15.2m 421.6m 9.9m 225.6m 81 4. The Wandering Earth 2 (various) 12.3m 573m 12.3m 568.4m 7 5. Titanic 25 Year Anniversary (Disney)
10.3m 48m 8m 35.6m 53 6. Magic Mike’s Last Dance (Warner Bros) 10.1m 37.7m 4.6m 19.6m 42 7. Full River Red (various) 9.4m 647.1m 9.4m 647.1m 2 8. Albi.
World box office February 17-19 RankFilm (distributor)3-day (world) Cume (world)3-day (int’l) Cume (int’l) Territories 1. Ant-Man And The Wasp: Quantumania (Disney) 225.3m 225.3m 121.3m 121.3m 44 2. Avatar: The Way Of Water (Disney)
16.8m 2.24bn 10.7m 1.59bn 53 3. Puss In Boots: The Last Wish (Universal) 15.2m 421.6m 9.9m 225.6m 81 4. The Wandering Earth 2 (various) 12.3m 573m 12.3m 568.4m 7 5. Titanic 25 Year Anniversary (Disney)
10.3m 48m 8m 35.6m 53 6. Magic Mike’s Last Dance (Warner Bros) 10.1m 37.7m 4.6m 19.6m 42 7. Full River Red (various) 9.4m 647.1m 9.4m 647.1m 2 8. Albi.
- 2/20/2023
- by Charles Gant
- ScreenDaily
M Night Shyamalan’s latest thriller knocked ‘Avatar: The Way Of Water’ off the number one spot in North America.
World box office February 3-5 RankFilm (distributor)3-day (world) Cume (world)3-day (int’l) Cume (int’l) Territories 1. The Wandering Earth 2 (various) 57.2m 501.5m 57.2m 498m 6 2. Full River Red (various) 50.2m 586.6m 50.2m 586.6m 2 3. Avatar: The Way Of Water (Disney) 38.7m 2.17bn 27.9m 1.54bn 61 4. Puss In Boots: The Last Wish (Universal) 25.1m 368.6m 17.1m 217.3m 81 5. Knock At The Cabin (Universal) 21.2m 21.2m 7m 17m 61 6. Boonie Bears: The Guardian Code (various) 21.1m 185.3m 21.1m 185.3m 1 7. BTS: Yet To Come In Cinemas...
World box office February 3-5 RankFilm (distributor)3-day (world) Cume (world)3-day (int’l) Cume (int’l) Territories 1. The Wandering Earth 2 (various) 57.2m 501.5m 57.2m 498m 6 2. Full River Red (various) 50.2m 586.6m 50.2m 586.6m 2 3. Avatar: The Way Of Water (Disney) 38.7m 2.17bn 27.9m 1.54bn 61 4. Puss In Boots: The Last Wish (Universal) 25.1m 368.6m 17.1m 217.3m 81 5. Knock At The Cabin (Universal) 21.2m 21.2m 7m 17m 61 6. Boonie Bears: The Guardian Code (various) 21.1m 185.3m 21.1m 185.3m 1 7. BTS: Yet To Come In Cinemas...
- 2/6/2023
- by Charles Gant
- ScreenDaily
The Hindi-language thriller made 41.8m in its first five days in India.
World box office January 27-29 Rank Film (distributor) 3-day (world) Cume (world) 3-day (int’l) Cume (int’l) Territories 1. Full River Red (various) 144.3m 466m 144.3m 466m 1 2. The Wandering Earth 2 (various) 106.2m 382.7m 104.9m 380m 7 3. Avatar: The Way Of Water (Disney) 58.1m 2.12bn 42.4m 1.5bn 53 4. Pathaan (various) 53.8m 67.8m 47.9m 59.3m 100 5. Boonie Bears: Guardian Code (various) 43.7m 136.4m 43.7m 136.4m 1 6. Puss In Boots: The Last Wish (Universal) 25m 334.1m 14.3m 193.3m 80 7. Hidden Blade (various) 22.3m 85.8m 22.3m 85.8m 1 8. Deep Sea (various) 21.5m 66.6m 21.5m 66.6m 1 9. M3GAN (Universal...
World box office January 27-29 Rank Film (distributor) 3-day (world) Cume (world) 3-day (int’l) Cume (int’l) Territories 1. Full River Red (various) 144.3m 466m 144.3m 466m 1 2. The Wandering Earth 2 (various) 106.2m 382.7m 104.9m 380m 7 3. Avatar: The Way Of Water (Disney) 58.1m 2.12bn 42.4m 1.5bn 53 4. Pathaan (various) 53.8m 67.8m 47.9m 59.3m 100 5. Boonie Bears: Guardian Code (various) 43.7m 136.4m 43.7m 136.4m 1 6. Puss In Boots: The Last Wish (Universal) 25m 334.1m 14.3m 193.3m 80 7. Hidden Blade (various) 22.3m 85.8m 22.3m 85.8m 1 8. Deep Sea (various) 21.5m 66.6m 21.5m 66.6m 1 9. M3GAN (Universal...
- 1/30/2023
- by Charles Gant
- ScreenDaily
Stars: Wu Jing, Wang Zhi, Andy Lau, Zina Blahusova, Clara Lee, Liya Tong, Matias Lorieri, Jeremiah Blakely, Temur Mamisashvili, Yanmanzi Zhu | Written by Gong Geer, Frant Gwo, Cixin Liu, Hongwei Wang, Ruchang Ye, Yang Zhixue | Directed by Frant Gwo
Released in 2019 The Wandering Earth became one of the largest grossing non-English language films in history, mostly on the strength of its performance in its native China. Of course, that made The Wandering Earth II inevitable. The only surprises are that rather than a sequel it’s a prequel, telling the story of the Moving Mountain Project that turned Earth into a giant spaceship and that it manages to be even longer than the original, coming in at just under three hours.
At the film’s start, The United Earth Government (Ueg) has been established and work on the first of the thousands of giant engines needed to move Earth out...
Released in 2019 The Wandering Earth became one of the largest grossing non-English language films in history, mostly on the strength of its performance in its native China. Of course, that made The Wandering Earth II inevitable. The only surprises are that rather than a sequel it’s a prequel, telling the story of the Moving Mountain Project that turned Earth into a giant spaceship and that it manages to be even longer than the original, coming in at just under three hours.
At the film’s start, The United Earth Government (Ueg) has been established and work on the first of the thousands of giant engines needed to move Earth out...
- 1/25/2023
- by Jim Morazzini
- Nerdly
Frant Gwo’s follow-up to his 2019 mega-hit favours special effects and set pieces over performances, as the human race battles for survival
A gargantuan success in 2019, Frant Gwo’s The Wandering Earth remains one of the highest grossing non-English films of all time. This hotly anticipated prequel, even more ambitious in scope, follows the catastrophic events leading up to the Earth leaving the solar system in the original hit.
At nearly three hours long, The Wandering Earth II is packed with expository science talk, which gets more convoluted and tiring as the clock ticks on. The gist of the matter is, in the face of imminent ecological disasters, an internationally consolidated government body has hatched a solution to alter the orbit of our planet. It also involves blowing up the moon. As well as resistance from (mostly) western countries, the decades-spanning enterprise is also routinely sabotaged by the rival Digital Life Project,...
A gargantuan success in 2019, Frant Gwo’s The Wandering Earth remains one of the highest grossing non-English films of all time. This hotly anticipated prequel, even more ambitious in scope, follows the catastrophic events leading up to the Earth leaving the solar system in the original hit.
At nearly three hours long, The Wandering Earth II is packed with expository science talk, which gets more convoluted and tiring as the clock ticks on. The gist of the matter is, in the face of imminent ecological disasters, an internationally consolidated government body has hatched a solution to alter the orbit of our planet. It also involves blowing up the moon. As well as resistance from (mostly) western countries, the decades-spanning enterprise is also routinely sabotaged by the rival Digital Life Project,...
- 1/24/2023
- by Phuong Le
- The Guardian - Film News
The ‘Avatar’ sequel became the first film of the pandemic era to cross 2bn worldwide.
World box office January 20-22 RankFilm (distributor)3-day (world) Cume (world)3-day (int’l) Cume (int’l) Territories 1. Avatar: The Way Of Water (Disney) 76m 2.02bn 56.3m 1.4bn 53 2. The Wandering Earth 2 (various) 69.4m 69.4m 69.4m 69.4m 5 3. Full River Red (various) 59m 59m 59m 59m 1 4. Puss In Boots: The Last Wish (Universal) 29.3m 297.5m 17.8m 171m 79 5. M3GAN (Universal) 20.7m 124.6m 10.9m 51.3m 67 6. Hidden Blade (various) 20m 20m 20m 20m 1 7. Bonnie Bars: Guardian Code (various) 19.2m 19.2m 19.2m 19.2m 1 8. Five Hundred Miles (various) 18.4m 18.4m 18.4m 18.4m...
World box office January 20-22 RankFilm (distributor)3-day (world) Cume (world)3-day (int’l) Cume (int’l) Territories 1. Avatar: The Way Of Water (Disney) 76m 2.02bn 56.3m 1.4bn 53 2. The Wandering Earth 2 (various) 69.4m 69.4m 69.4m 69.4m 5 3. Full River Red (various) 59m 59m 59m 59m 1 4. Puss In Boots: The Last Wish (Universal) 29.3m 297.5m 17.8m 171m 79 5. M3GAN (Universal) 20.7m 124.6m 10.9m 51.3m 67 6. Hidden Blade (various) 20m 20m 20m 20m 1 7. Bonnie Bars: Guardian Code (various) 19.2m 19.2m 19.2m 19.2m 1 8. Five Hundred Miles (various) 18.4m 18.4m 18.4m 18.4m...
- 1/23/2023
- by Charles Gant
- ScreenDaily
Director James Cameron has pushed for moviegoers to watch “Avatar: The Way of Water” on the big screen and in 3D — as he did with its 2009 predecessor. That is the format for which it was intended. The box office numbers shows that the majority of those who have bought a ticket have listened.
According to data from Comscore and 3D format company RealD, 61 of all tickets sold worldwide for “Avatar 2” so far have been for 3D screenings, amounting to 1.16 billion in global revenue.
3D’s share of the overall box office for “Avatar 2” has remained consistent since its opening weekend, when two-thirds of the film’s 434 million global launch came from the format. In the United States and Canada, 3D has a 58 share of the film’s 576 million total through Martin Luther King weekend, while internationally outside of China, 3D has a 54 share of the 1.13 billion total.
But within China,...
According to data from Comscore and 3D format company RealD, 61 of all tickets sold worldwide for “Avatar 2” so far have been for 3D screenings, amounting to 1.16 billion in global revenue.
3D’s share of the overall box office for “Avatar 2” has remained consistent since its opening weekend, when two-thirds of the film’s 434 million global launch came from the format. In the United States and Canada, 3D has a 58 share of the film’s 576 million total through Martin Luther King weekend, while internationally outside of China, 3D has a 54 share of the 1.13 billion total.
But within China,...
- 1/21/2023
- by Jeremy Fuster
- The Wrap
Peter Luo’s Stars Collective has optioned the rights to acclaimed Chinese novelist and screenwriter Tong Hua’s best-selling sci-fi fantasy novel series “The Memory Lost in Space” and will adapt the story into both an English language television series and feature film.
A story told over four book installments, the first of which debuted in 2017, “The Memory Lost in Space” is set in the distant future, with humans forced into an exodus to the edge of the galaxy after the depletion and destruction of Earth’s energy and habitat. Humans resort to genetic modification to stay strong but this creates new diseases and conflict between pure-breeds and those modified.
In China, the novels have been top sellers and sparked huge volume of online commentary, some 120 million views on microblogging site Weibo.
Stars Collective will utilize blockchain to develop, produce and manage this project. The company will release “The Memory...
A story told over four book installments, the first of which debuted in 2017, “The Memory Lost in Space” is set in the distant future, with humans forced into an exodus to the edge of the galaxy after the depletion and destruction of Earth’s energy and habitat. Humans resort to genetic modification to stay strong but this creates new diseases and conflict between pure-breeds and those modified.
In China, the novels have been top sellers and sparked huge volume of online commentary, some 120 million views on microblogging site Weibo.
Stars Collective will utilize blockchain to develop, produce and manage this project. The company will release “The Memory...
- 4/27/2022
- by Patrick Frater
- Variety Film + TV
Stars: Tony Todd, David Gridley, Vince Hill-Bedford, Steffani Brass, Eric Etebari, William Lee Scott, Tyler Clark, John Beasley | Written by Jonah Kuehner | Directed by Benjamin Louis
Stoker Hills gets down to business early, starting with a lecture on film by Professor Smith. That gets the film’s celebrity cameo out of the way in the film’s first five minutes. It also uses those scenes to introduce the three of his students who will be the film’s leads, aspiring filmmakers Ryan, Jake (Vince Hill-Bedford; American Fighter) and Erica.
While shooting their class project, a zombie hooker film entitled Streetwalkers, which was also Stoker Hills’ original title, a car drives by and stops just long enough to drag Erica in before racing off with Ryan and Jake in pursuit with their camera still running.
They don’t return but the camera is found and two of the town’s cops...
Stoker Hills gets down to business early, starting with a lecture on film by Professor Smith. That gets the film’s celebrity cameo out of the way in the film’s first five minutes. It also uses those scenes to introduce the three of his students who will be the film’s leads, aspiring filmmakers Ryan, Jake (Vince Hill-Bedford; American Fighter) and Erica.
While shooting their class project, a zombie hooker film entitled Streetwalkers, which was also Stoker Hills’ original title, a car drives by and stops just long enough to drag Erica in before racing off with Ryan and Jake in pursuit with their camera still running.
They don’t return but the camera is found and two of the town’s cops...
- 3/28/2022
- by Jim Morazzini
- Nerdly
Wonka to open on December 15 2023. The Meg 2 set for August 2023.
Warner Bros has pushed The Flash and Aquaman 2 from late 2022 into 2023 and moved Black Adam from this summer to October amid a flurry of calendar changes.
The date moves, which are likely due to post-production delays stemming from the pandemic, see Ezra Miller Justice League spin-off The Flash from It franchise director Andy Muschietti move from November 4 this year to June 23 2023.
Meanwhile Aquaman And The Lost Kingdom directed by James Wan and starring Jason Momoa (pictured with Amber Heard in Aquaman), Patrick Wilson, Heard and Nicole Kidman is...
Warner Bros has pushed The Flash and Aquaman 2 from late 2022 into 2023 and moved Black Adam from this summer to October amid a flurry of calendar changes.
The date moves, which are likely due to post-production delays stemming from the pandemic, see Ezra Miller Justice League spin-off The Flash from It franchise director Andy Muschietti move from November 4 this year to June 23 2023.
Meanwhile Aquaman And The Lost Kingdom directed by James Wan and starring Jason Momoa (pictured with Amber Heard in Aquaman), Patrick Wilson, Heard and Nicole Kidman is...
- 3/9/2022
- by Jeremy Kay
- ScreenDaily
Wu Jing, the highest-grossing male actor of all time in China, will join British action star Jason Statham in Warner Bros.’s “Meg 2: The Trench,” sources close to the production have confirmed to Variety.
The giant shark actioner, however, will be without Li Bingbing (“Transformers: Age of Extinction”). The Chinese actor, who played a female oceanographer, embodying both brains and beauty in Jon Turteltaub’s testosterone-fueled 2018 “The Meg,” is not returning to the franchise at this point.
With Ben Wheatley in the directing chair, production on “Meg 2: The Trench” began at the end of January at the Warner-owned Leavesden Studios outside London. It will continue there until May before switching to outdoor locations, likely to be in Asia.
The 47-year-old Wu is a former martial artist who has successfully parlayed a career as both actor and director in film and in TV. A protégé of the iconic action choreographer Yuen Woo-ping,...
The giant shark actioner, however, will be without Li Bingbing (“Transformers: Age of Extinction”). The Chinese actor, who played a female oceanographer, embodying both brains and beauty in Jon Turteltaub’s testosterone-fueled 2018 “The Meg,” is not returning to the franchise at this point.
With Ben Wheatley in the directing chair, production on “Meg 2: The Trench” began at the end of January at the Warner-owned Leavesden Studios outside London. It will continue there until May before switching to outdoor locations, likely to be in Asia.
The 47-year-old Wu is a former martial artist who has successfully parlayed a career as both actor and director in film and in TV. A protégé of the iconic action choreographer Yuen Woo-ping,...
- 2/25/2022
- by Patrick Frater and K.J. Yossman
- Variety Film + TV
Canopy’s first film The Breaking Ice’ has just wrapped in China.
Ilo Ilo director Anthony Chen has wrapped production in China of The Breaking Ice, the first in a slate of film and TV projects he is developing through his new Beijing and Shanghai-based outfit Canopy Pictures.
China’s Huace Pictures is a co-investor of the film, and is handling distributioin in China. Xie Meng’s sales outfit Rediance is taking on worldwide sales. Xie is also a partner with Chen in Canopy Pictures.
The Breaking Ice was filmed in China’s northern Jilin province, and stars Zhou Dongyu,...
Ilo Ilo director Anthony Chen has wrapped production in China of The Breaking Ice, the first in a slate of film and TV projects he is developing through his new Beijing and Shanghai-based outfit Canopy Pictures.
China’s Huace Pictures is a co-investor of the film, and is handling distributioin in China. Xie Meng’s sales outfit Rediance is taking on worldwide sales. Xie is also a partner with Chen in Canopy Pictures.
The Breaking Ice was filmed in China’s northern Jilin province, and stars Zhou Dongyu,...
- 2/9/2022
- by Silvia Wong
- ScreenDaily
Singaporean filmmaker Anthony Chen has wrapped shooting of his first Mainland Chinese feature “The Breaking Ice.”
Hailed as one of Asia’s brightest young directors, Chen competed in the shorts competition at Cannes in 2007 with “Grandma” and won the Camera d’Or with his debut feature “Ilo Ilo” in 2013. His sophomore feature “Wet Season” premiered in competition at the Toronto International Film Festival. Both films were selected as Singapore’s official submissions to the Oscars.
Headlining the star-studded Chinese cast of “The Breaking Ice” are Zhou Dongyu (“Better Days”), Liu Haoran (the Detective Chinatown franchise) and Qu Chuxiao (“The Wandering Earth”). Zhou and Liu previously collaborated on “Fire on the Plain” which competed at San Sebastian in 2021.
Written and directed by Chen, the film follows the blossoming relationship among three young adults in their twenties, set over a short few days in the winter snow.
The film is produced by...
Hailed as one of Asia’s brightest young directors, Chen competed in the shorts competition at Cannes in 2007 with “Grandma” and won the Camera d’Or with his debut feature “Ilo Ilo” in 2013. His sophomore feature “Wet Season” premiered in competition at the Toronto International Film Festival. Both films were selected as Singapore’s official submissions to the Oscars.
Headlining the star-studded Chinese cast of “The Breaking Ice” are Zhou Dongyu (“Better Days”), Liu Haoran (the Detective Chinatown franchise) and Qu Chuxiao (“The Wandering Earth”). Zhou and Liu previously collaborated on “Fire on the Plain” which competed at San Sebastian in 2021.
Written and directed by Chen, the film follows the blossoming relationship among three young adults in their twenties, set over a short few days in the winter snow.
The film is produced by...
- 2/9/2022
- by Naman Ramachandran
- Variety Film + TV
Update, writethru with more detail after 11:28Am Pt Sunday post: While Spider-Man: No Way Home continued to lead the international box office for studio films this weekend, weaving its way to a worldwide cume of $1.77B through Sunday, the biggest overseas action was out of (and limited to) China.
The Lunar New Year kicked off last Tuesday and has come in at an estimated Rmb 6.04B ($950M) across the six-day period, according to Maoyan. That’s below projections and just 2.4% above 2019, though it is the second-biggest ever for the holiday, down 23% on 2021 which is still tops in the books at Rmb 7.8B ($1.2B). Last year was particularly strong owing partly to pent-up demand after the 2020 festive period was kiboshed by Covid. This year, there are about 20% of cinemas closed throughout the market while the Olympics may have been something of a distraction and dynamic ticket pricing likely had an...
The Lunar New Year kicked off last Tuesday and has come in at an estimated Rmb 6.04B ($950M) across the six-day period, according to Maoyan. That’s below projections and just 2.4% above 2019, though it is the second-biggest ever for the holiday, down 23% on 2021 which is still tops in the books at Rmb 7.8B ($1.2B). Last year was particularly strong owing partly to pent-up demand after the 2020 festive period was kiboshed by Covid. This year, there are about 20% of cinemas closed throughout the market while the Olympics may have been something of a distraction and dynamic ticket pricing likely had an...
- 2/7/2022
- by Nancy Tartaglione
- Deadline Film + TV
Patriotic blockbuster “The Battle at Lake Changjin II” earned just short of $400 million over the Chinese New Year holidays at a mainland China box office that weighed in at some $950 million.
Data from consultancy Artisan Gateway showed “Lake Changjin II” earning $152 million over the Friday to Sunday weekend, comfortably ahead of comedy “Too Cool to Kill” which took $111 million over the same three days. In third place over the weekend was drama “Nice View” with $45.4 million and animation “Boonie Bears: Back to Earth” with $38.8. The Zhang Yimou- and Zhang Mo-directed “Snipers” was fifth over the weekend with $22.7 million.
Data from other sources show that the first three days of the six-day holiday period – Tuesday to Sunday – were the strongest, indicating that the cumulative scores at the end of Sunday are more important.
“Lake Changjin II” completed its first six days in Chinese theaters with $395 million, according to Artisan Gateway.
Data from consultancy Artisan Gateway showed “Lake Changjin II” earning $152 million over the Friday to Sunday weekend, comfortably ahead of comedy “Too Cool to Kill” which took $111 million over the same three days. In third place over the weekend was drama “Nice View” with $45.4 million and animation “Boonie Bears: Back to Earth” with $38.8. The Zhang Yimou- and Zhang Mo-directed “Snipers” was fifth over the weekend with $22.7 million.
Data from other sources show that the first three days of the six-day holiday period – Tuesday to Sunday – were the strongest, indicating that the cumulative scores at the end of Sunday are more important.
“Lake Changjin II” completed its first six days in Chinese theaters with $395 million, according to Artisan Gateway.
- 2/7/2022
- by Patrick Frater
- Variety Film + TV
Errors and omissions are standard features of historical dramas everywhere. It is therefore no surprise to find Korean War history being filtered to suit domestic requirements in the three-hour Chinese blockbuster “The Battle at Lake Changjin.” Nor is it unexpected for U.S. military characters to be cardboard cutouts with excruciatingly bad dialogue. And, like many other jingoistic war epics, this prestige production co-directed by industry heavyweights Chen Kaige, Tsui Hark and Dante Lam
The latest in a long line of strongly nationalistic films released during the 100th anniversary of the Chinese Communist Party, “The Battle at Lake Changjin” has collected almost all its $905 million revenue (as of Dec. 27) from domestic ticket sales. It is currently the highest grossing film of 2021, with only “Spider-Man: No Way Out” and “No Time to Die” as serious rivals for the top spot.
This very old-fashioned production depicts a string of military engagements during...
The latest in a long line of strongly nationalistic films released during the 100th anniversary of the Chinese Communist Party, “The Battle at Lake Changjin” has collected almost all its $905 million revenue (as of Dec. 27) from domestic ticket sales. It is currently the highest grossing film of 2021, with only “Spider-Man: No Way Out” and “No Time to Die” as serious rivals for the top spot.
This very old-fashioned production depicts a string of military engagements during...
- 12/27/2021
- by Richard Kuipers
- Variety Film + TV
Crime comedy film “Be Somebody” held up strongly at the top of the mainland Chinese box office, in a weekend where the top four places remained unchanged.
“Be Somebody” scored $21.9 million on its third weekend of release, just 8% down on its second weekend figure, according to data from consultancy Artisan Gateway. That give it a cumulative gross of $94.4 million, since releasing on Nov. 11.
The movie directed by Liu Xunzi Mo is a send-up of crime drama tropes, making fun of the genre through the story of a group of filmmakers trying to please a wealthy patron by creating a sufficiently blood-thirsty crime thriller when things begin to go awry in the mansion where they are cloistered to work on the project. It stars Zheng Yin (“Goodbye Mr. Loser”), Deng Jiajia, Yu Entai, and Yang Haoyu (“The Wandering Earth”). It was produced by Maoyan Pictures.
Keeping its second place, in its second weekend,...
“Be Somebody” scored $21.9 million on its third weekend of release, just 8% down on its second weekend figure, according to data from consultancy Artisan Gateway. That give it a cumulative gross of $94.4 million, since releasing on Nov. 11.
The movie directed by Liu Xunzi Mo is a send-up of crime drama tropes, making fun of the genre through the story of a group of filmmakers trying to please a wealthy patron by creating a sufficiently blood-thirsty crime thriller when things begin to go awry in the mansion where they are cloistered to work on the project. It stars Zheng Yin (“Goodbye Mr. Loser”), Deng Jiajia, Yu Entai, and Yang Haoyu (“The Wandering Earth”). It was produced by Maoyan Pictures.
Keeping its second place, in its second weekend,...
- 11/29/2021
- by Patrick Frater
- Variety Film + TV
Crime comedy film “Be Somebody” expanded its box office take by 20% in its second weekend of release in China and joined in a 49% surge in nationwide gross revenues.
Nationwide box office climbed from $43.1 million in the previous weekend to $64.3 million between Friday and Sunday. For all that, China’s year to date box office haul is now 26% below that of pre-covid 2019.
Staying on top of the chart for a second session, “Be Somebody” earned $23.9 million over the weekend, according to data from Artisan Gateway. That gives it a 10-day total of $60.3 million.
The movie directed by Liu Xunzi Mo is a send-up of crime drama tropes, making fun of the genre through the story of a group of filmmakers trying to please a wealthy patron by creating a sufficiently blood-thirsty crime thriller when things begin to go awry in the mansion where they are cloistered to work on the project.
Nationwide box office climbed from $43.1 million in the previous weekend to $64.3 million between Friday and Sunday. For all that, China’s year to date box office haul is now 26% below that of pre-covid 2019.
Staying on top of the chart for a second session, “Be Somebody” earned $23.9 million over the weekend, according to data from Artisan Gateway. That gives it a 10-day total of $60.3 million.
The movie directed by Liu Xunzi Mo is a send-up of crime drama tropes, making fun of the genre through the story of a group of filmmakers trying to please a wealthy patron by creating a sufficiently blood-thirsty crime thriller when things begin to go awry in the mansion where they are cloistered to work on the project.
- 11/22/2021
- by Patrick Frater
- Variety Film + TV
Disney’s “Jungle Cruise” didn’t manage to catch a swift current in its China debut, drifting to a slow $3.3 million first three-day weekend, according to data from the Artisan Gateway consultancy. The Maoyan data platform currently estimates it will gross a total of just $6.19 million.
The adventure tale has clearly lost steam since its simultaneous release in U.S. theaters and on Disney+ in July, and even Dwayne Johnson’s star power hasn’t helped the park attraction vehicle paddle to farther reaches in the “Fast & Furious” franchise-loving country.
Instead, the local parodic thriller “Be Somebody” took the lead, earning $19.9 million in its first weekend following a Thursday opening day. It has earned $21.9 million in total so far and is predicted to ultimately go nearly ten times the distance of “Jungle Cruise” with a $54 million cume.
The movie directed by Liu Xunzi Mo is a send-up of crime drama tropes,...
The adventure tale has clearly lost steam since its simultaneous release in U.S. theaters and on Disney+ in July, and even Dwayne Johnson’s star power hasn’t helped the park attraction vehicle paddle to farther reaches in the “Fast & Furious” franchise-loving country.
Instead, the local parodic thriller “Be Somebody” took the lead, earning $19.9 million in its first weekend following a Thursday opening day. It has earned $21.9 million in total so far and is predicted to ultimately go nearly ten times the distance of “Jungle Cruise” with a $54 million cume.
The movie directed by Liu Xunzi Mo is a send-up of crime drama tropes,...
- 11/15/2021
- by Rebecca Davis
- Variety Film + TV
China Film Co’s patriotic omnibus My Country, My Parents came in second with $90.6m over four days.
Bona Film Group’s The Battle At Lake Changjin topped the China box office over the National Day holiday weekend, according to figures from theatrical consultancy Artisan Gateway, grossing $234.8m in four days.
The patriotic blockbuster, co-directed by Chen Kaige, Tsui Hark and Dante Lam, opened on September 30 and grossed $31.6m on its first day, followed by an additional $203.2m over the three-day weekend (October 1-3). China’s National Day holidays, celebrating the establishment of the People’s Republic of China in...
Bona Film Group’s The Battle At Lake Changjin topped the China box office over the National Day holiday weekend, according to figures from theatrical consultancy Artisan Gateway, grossing $234.8m in four days.
The patriotic blockbuster, co-directed by Chen Kaige, Tsui Hark and Dante Lam, opened on September 30 and grossed $31.6m on its first day, followed by an additional $203.2m over the three-day weekend (October 1-3). China’s National Day holidays, celebrating the establishment of the People’s Republic of China in...
- 10/4/2021
- by Liz Shackleton
- ScreenDaily
China’s ‘The Battle at Lake Changjin’ was the highest grossing film anywhere in the world over the past weekend, with a $203 million haul.
That score was fractionally lower than the combined total earned by “No Time to Die” ($119 million in international markets) and by “Venom: Let There Be Carnage” ($90.2 million in North America).
The film was the far away winner in mainland China, where it was released on Thursday, a day ahead of the October 1, National Day holiday. Over four days on release, it earned $234 million, according to consultancy Artisan Gateway.
Additional data from local provider Ent Group showed that “Battle” enjoyed a massive 157,000 screenings per day and was watched by 25.5 million ticket buyers between Friday and Sunday.
That put it ahead of “My Country, My Parents,” which earned $70.6 million over the weekend proper and a “Venom”-like $90.4 million total over four days.
Both titles are examples of the...
That score was fractionally lower than the combined total earned by “No Time to Die” ($119 million in international markets) and by “Venom: Let There Be Carnage” ($90.2 million in North America).
The film was the far away winner in mainland China, where it was released on Thursday, a day ahead of the October 1, National Day holiday. Over four days on release, it earned $234 million, according to consultancy Artisan Gateway.
Additional data from local provider Ent Group showed that “Battle” enjoyed a massive 157,000 screenings per day and was watched by 25.5 million ticket buyers between Friday and Sunday.
That put it ahead of “My Country, My Parents,” which earned $70.6 million over the weekend proper and a “Venom”-like $90.4 million total over four days.
Both titles are examples of the...
- 10/4/2021
- by Patrick Frater and Rebecca Davis
- Variety Film + TV
An anthology tribute film with four short stories focusing on the struggles of normal Chinese families in four different eras, their collective memories and parents’ love for their children.
This is the third instalment of the patriotic “National Day Trilogy” after 2019’s My People, My Country and 2020’s My People, My Homeland. The stories are directed by actress Zhang Ziyi, actor-and-director Wu Jing (The Wandering Earth), comedian Shen Teng and actor-and-director Xu Zheng (Lost in Thailand).
Theatrical release in North America, Australia and New Zealand: October 8, 2021...
This is the third instalment of the patriotic “National Day Trilogy” after 2019’s My People, My Country and 2020’s My People, My Homeland. The stories are directed by actress Zhang Ziyi, actor-and-director Wu Jing (The Wandering Earth), comedian Shen Teng and actor-and-director Xu Zheng (Lost in Thailand).
Theatrical release in North America, Australia and New Zealand: October 8, 2021...
- 10/3/2021
- by Suzie Cho
- AsianMoviePulse
Go beyond the blockbusters to today’s smartest, most exciting science fiction novels and novellas. Here are our top picks for October 2021:
Star Wars: Ronin
Type: Novel
Publisher: Del Rey
Release date: Oct. 12
Den of Geek says: Candon’s debut novel brings Star Wars into a new dimension with an expansion on the short anime episode “The Duel” in Star Wars: Visions. Taking place as if one step aside from the universe we know and love, it’s an inventive and thoughtful story that also never forgets the initial concept: that a samurai Sith is very cool.
Publisher’s summary: The Jedi are the most loyal servants of the Empire.
Two decades ago, Jedi clans clashed in service to feuding lords. Sickened by this endless cycle, a sect of Jedi rebelled, seeking to control their own destiny and claim power in service of no master. They called themselves Sith.
Star Wars: Ronin
Type: Novel
Publisher: Del Rey
Release date: Oct. 12
Den of Geek says: Candon’s debut novel brings Star Wars into a new dimension with an expansion on the short anime episode “The Duel” in Star Wars: Visions. Taking place as if one step aside from the universe we know and love, it’s an inventive and thoughtful story that also never forgets the initial concept: that a samurai Sith is very cool.
Publisher’s summary: The Jedi are the most loyal servants of the Empire.
Two decades ago, Jedi clans clashed in service to feuding lords. Sickened by this endless cycle, a sect of Jedi rebelled, seeking to control their own destiny and claim power in service of no master. They called themselves Sith.
- 10/3/2021
- by Megan Crouse
- Den of Geek
“Dune” is seeking to lure in China viewers with a new trailer revealing not-yet-seen scenes billed as a “China exclusive.”
Without dropping spoilers, the clip shows new images of story’s legendary sandworms and the character Paul Atreides’ visions, among other things.
The trailer is slightly more explanatory and less action-oriented. Text inserted into the clip features lines in Chinese that roughly translate to: “From the depths of hopelessness a legend is born. Don’t fear the future.”
“Dune” has made a particular effort to court viewers in the world’s largest film market, delivering its first press conference virtually to Chinese media ahead even of its post-premiere presser at Venice earlier this month.
With its large $165 million budget, it will need to see strong global sales to turn a profit. So far, it has mined $35.8 million out of 24 overseas markets as of Sunday, its first weekend in theaters.
While...
Without dropping spoilers, the clip shows new images of story’s legendary sandworms and the character Paul Atreides’ visions, among other things.
The trailer is slightly more explanatory and less action-oriented. Text inserted into the clip features lines in Chinese that roughly translate to: “From the depths of hopelessness a legend is born. Don’t fear the future.”
“Dune” has made a particular effort to court viewers in the world’s largest film market, delivering its first press conference virtually to Chinese media ahead even of its post-premiere presser at Venice earlier this month.
With its large $165 million budget, it will need to see strong global sales to turn a profit. So far, it has mined $35.8 million out of 24 overseas markets as of Sunday, its first weekend in theaters.
While...
- 9/23/2021
- by Rebecca Davis
- Variety Film + TV
Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige addressed Chinese fans’ most pressing concerns about the upcoming “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings” in a recent interview.
Feige held an exclusive 14-minute-long interview in English with the well-regarded veteran Chinese film critic Raymond Zhou on the day of the film’s U.S. red carpet premiere (it’s out widely on Sept. 3), which shone a spotlight on China’s biggest gripes so far about the film.
“Shang-Chi” doesn’t yet have a China release date, and it’s unclear whether it has formally passed censorship. Past franchise successes prove that crossing that hurdle into the world’s largest film market will of course be key to the title’s global gross.
One of the last major overseas trips Feige took before Covid-19 shutdowns was to Shanghai in 2019 for an “Avengers: Endgame” promotional event, he told Zhou, calling it “one of...
Feige held an exclusive 14-minute-long interview in English with the well-regarded veteran Chinese film critic Raymond Zhou on the day of the film’s U.S. red carpet premiere (it’s out widely on Sept. 3), which shone a spotlight on China’s biggest gripes so far about the film.
“Shang-Chi” doesn’t yet have a China release date, and it’s unclear whether it has formally passed censorship. Past franchise successes prove that crossing that hurdle into the world’s largest film market will of course be key to the title’s global gross.
One of the last major overseas trips Feige took before Covid-19 shutdowns was to Shanghai in 2019 for an “Avengers: Endgame” promotional event, he told Zhou, calling it “one of...
- 8/18/2021
- by Rebecca Davis
- Variety Film + TV
Update, writethru: As with domestic, a pair of new studio offerings opened at the international box office this weekend. However, the biggest grosses came from local pics in China where upcoming release dates for Hollywood continue to be a frustrating question mark.
Getting to the studios first, in a 23-market rollout, Universal’s M Night Shyamalan time-twister, Old, grossed $6.5M for a $23M global debut. Paramount’s Snake Eyes: GI Joe Origins for its part rolled a $4M start from 37 markets which rep 29% of the overseas footprint. The global total on Snake Eyes is $17.4M through Sunday.
Another snake led the international box office overall, however, as Alibaba’s animated sequel White Snake 2: The Tribulation Of The Green Snake (aka Green Snake) grossed an estimated $29.8M in its opening Middle Kingdom frame. The film, centered on an ancient Chinese legend, included $2.6M from IMAX which was 9.1% of the national...
Getting to the studios first, in a 23-market rollout, Universal’s M Night Shyamalan time-twister, Old, grossed $6.5M for a $23M global debut. Paramount’s Snake Eyes: GI Joe Origins for its part rolled a $4M start from 37 markets which rep 29% of the overseas footprint. The global total on Snake Eyes is $17.4M through Sunday.
Another snake led the international box office overall, however, as Alibaba’s animated sequel White Snake 2: The Tribulation Of The Green Snake (aka Green Snake) grossed an estimated $29.8M in its opening Middle Kingdom frame. The film, centered on an ancient Chinese legend, included $2.6M from IMAX which was 9.1% of the national...
- 7/25/2021
- by Nancy Tartaglione
- Deadline Film + TV
‘Wandering Earth 2’ Adds Andy Lau, Will Begin Production in the Fall After Being Approved by Censors
Details are trickling out about the sequel to China’s first true sci-fi blockbuster, director Guo Fan’s “The Wandering Earth.”
Registration records on the National Film Bureau’s website revealed this week that censors have approved “The Wandering Earth 2” for production. It plans to shoot in Qingdao and Haikou, the capital of the island province of Hainan, from October 2021 to March 2022.
Although the rest of the cast remains a mystery, “Wandering Earth” star and financier Wu Jing is confirmed to appear again alongside an unexpected newcomer: Hong Kong megastar Andy Lau. Lau has made frequent appearances in the past year to bolster Communist Party messages, making him appear a strong and political unproblematic candidate to help anchor the film. Given that Wu’s character died in the first movie, however, fans are speculating about his potential role, with some wondering whether the sequel may in fact be a prequel.
Registration records on the National Film Bureau’s website revealed this week that censors have approved “The Wandering Earth 2” for production. It plans to shoot in Qingdao and Haikou, the capital of the island province of Hainan, from October 2021 to March 2022.
Although the rest of the cast remains a mystery, “Wandering Earth” star and financier Wu Jing is confirmed to appear again alongside an unexpected newcomer: Hong Kong megastar Andy Lau. Lau has made frequent appearances in the past year to bolster Communist Party messages, making him appear a strong and political unproblematic candidate to help anchor the film. Given that Wu’s character died in the first movie, however, fans are speculating about his potential role, with some wondering whether the sequel may in fact be a prequel.
- 7/21/2021
- by Rebecca Davis
- Variety Film + TV
Tentpole grosses $9.9m South Korea, $8.3m in Russia, all time opening weekend in Saudi Arabia.
‘F9’ powered by $136m China debut
Updated: Universal’s F9 has shot out of the gate in its first international wave, grossing a confirmed $1623m from eight markets to establish a record international debut in the pandemic fuelled by $136m (875m Rmb) in China.
Weekend results will encourage exhibition ahead of the broader roll-out of this film and others over the summer. F9 – aka Fast & Furious 9 – pushed the action franchise past the $6bn global mark and included a $14m IMAX weekend, another pandemic high.
‘F9’ powered by $136m China debut
Updated: Universal’s F9 has shot out of the gate in its first international wave, grossing a confirmed $1623m from eight markets to establish a record international debut in the pandemic fuelled by $136m (875m Rmb) in China.
Weekend results will encourage exhibition ahead of the broader roll-out of this film and others over the summer. F9 – aka Fast & Furious 9 – pushed the action franchise past the $6bn global mark and included a $14m IMAX weekend, another pandemic high.
- 5/23/2021
- by Jeremy Kay¬Charles Gant
- ScreenDaily
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