China Box Office: Wuhan Pandemic Tale ‘Chinese Doctors’ Locks Down $53.5 Million Debut

Rebecca Davis editor“Green Snake,” the Chinese animated sequel to the folktale adaptation “White Snake,” slithered past propaganda films to the top of the box office this weekend with a $29.7 million debut, according to Maoyan figures.The platform currently predicts that “Green Snake” will go on to gross $77.5 million, which would make it more successful than its 2019 predecessor’s $61.6 million.The new sequel brought in $2.6 million from Imax screens in China, which accounted for 9.1% of its

Refresh for latest…: 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.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, under attack for his role in funding research at a laboratory many suspect of being the cause of the worldwide coronavirus pandemic, defended his actions Sunday on CNN’s State of the Union talk show.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media Reporter“Dear Evan Hansen,” a movie version of the hit Broadway show, will open the 2021 edition of the Toronto International Film Festival.In addition, the festival’s organizers announced that Chinese director Zhang Yimou’s latest feature “One Second” will close the festival. Described as a “love letter to cinema,” the film stars Wei Fan and Xiaochuan Li and follows a man who escapes a labour camp for a glimpse of his daughter.

UPDATE: Disney/Marvel’s Black Widow narrowly led the international box office for Hollywood films this weekend, grossing an additional $29.9M from 48 material markets. That’s a 55% drop from opening, which most agree is decent even if there’s no getting around the fact that these are not Marvel-ous numbers. The overseas total is now even with domestic at $132M for $264M global. Contrary to last weekend, Disney did not break out streaming figures this time around.

Rebecca Davis editor“Chinese Doctors” gave a shot in the arm to a sluggish weekend at the Chinese box office, coming in first with sales of $44.4 million, according to Maoyan data.The patriotic tear-jerked had little competition: only other patriotic films, children’s animations and youth-centric programming are currently in theaters.The Wuhan-set pandemic film from Bona Film is the most commercial of a slew of blockbusters intended to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Communist Party, and

Rebecca Davis editorJackie Chan has long been one of Hong Kong’s celebrities who most frequently and prominently engages in propaganda efforts for the mainland’s ruling Communist Party, but he recently took his public devotion to the Chinese regime to a new level.Chan declared his admiration for the Party at a symposium organized by the China Film Association last week to “study and implement the spirit” of a keynote speech delivered by Chinese President Xi Jinping.“Abroad they often say,

Rebecca Davis editorChinese censors have approved Denis Villeneuve’s sci-fi spectacular “Dune” for release in the world’s largest film market. The film has officially announced that it will hit local screens this year, although it has not yet set a release date.In late June, Warner Bros.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefChinese anti-trust regulator was Monday reported to have penalized U.S.-listed Tencent Music Entertainment for its build-up of a dominant position in online music.Among the penalties are fines for the company’s failure to properly report the acquisition of two smaller operations in 2016, and a commitment to end exclusive deals with music labels.Reuters reported that the State Administration of Market Regulation was preparing to announce the punishment imminently.

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2 min read Dozens of LGBT university students in China have had their WeChat accounts deleted suggesting the account had received complaints about the social media content.

It’s July 2021, and instead of talking about “F9,” “Black Widow,” or any of the summer blockbusters from this year, The Playlist Podcast is going back to the ‘80s to talk about two cult classic summer films, “Escape From New York” and “Big Trouble in Little China.” Why? Because they’re both celebrating big anniversaries. Oh, and because John Carpenter is one of the best filmmakers of all time and Kurt Russell is a national treasure.

Rebecca Davis editorChina’s market regulator has fined Tencent, Alibaba and other tech giants for failing to properly report 22 past merger deals, sending tech shares tumbling Thursday.The country’s State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) issued a fine of RMB500,000 ($77,000) for each late Wednesday — chump change for Big Tech behemoths but the max allowed by the local anti-trust laws for merger deal violations.The move comes amidst an unprecedented rise in government scrutiny on

Endeavor China, which just named a new group CEO, Thursday announced the acquisition of Shanghai-based Mailman Group, a digital agency for sports brands and rights holders.

Rebecca Davis editorEndeavor’s China offshoot announced Thursday that it has acquired the Shanghai-headquartered digital marketing agency Mailman Group and its Seven League subsidiary. Prior reports estimate the deal to be valued at $60 million.The move comes as Endeavor seeks to expand its footprint in the sports marketing space in China and the broader Asia-Pacific region.

Ashton Kutcher has a strong opinion about China's influence via social media. The 43-year-old actor recently appeared on the American Optimist YouTube channel and spoke about protecting children from various crimes on the internet.

Rebecca Davis editorChina’s two new propaganda films topped the box office over their first weekend in theaters, but it appears that the politically correct content may not prove popular enough to drive sales at blockbuster levels.Most of the biggest local blockbusters set to hit China over the rest of the year are propaganda titles.