‘Dead Pigs’: Cathy Yan’s Exceptional Directorial Debut Is Ambitious And Admirable [Review]

Nick Schager Film CriticFor subtlety’s sake, it’s better if coming-of-age stories don’t feature subplots in which characters are asked to pen their own autobiographical tales of maturation, and then spend time debating the merits of J.D. Salinger’s “The Catcher in the Rye” as well as their personal similarities to its protagonist, Holden Caulfield.

Rebecca Davis editorWarner Bros. and Legendary Entertainment’s “Godzilla vs.

Rebecca Davis editorChloe Zhao’s awards season frontrunner “Nomadland” has been approved for a limited release in China starting April 23 through the country’s arthouse cinema circuit, according to information published on the government-backed distributor China Film’s website.The date would put its debut just three days ahead of the Academy Awards, where the title is expected to be a top pick.

With presumed Western blockbusters such as Black Widow, No Time to Die, and The Eternals delayed until later this year, the rambunctious Detective Chinatown franchise has leaped into the void in a very, very big way. Few, if any movies have ever raked in so much coin in so little time.

Rebecca Davis editorDisney’s “‘Raya and the Last Dragon” is set to hit theaters in China on March 5, the same day as its release on Disney Plus in other territories.It ranks among the first foreign titles to announce an upcoming release date since the Wednesday conclusion of the Chinese New Year holiday — the country’s top movie-going week of the year, and a period when authorities impose an official blackout on foreign imports.China is one of the few countries where Disney currently has no

Rebecca Davis editorChina made history this weekend with record sales of nearly $775 million (RMB50 billion) within the first three days of the Chinese New Year holiday, led by an incredible $424 million (RMB2.74 billion) debut from “Detective Chinatown 3.”This marked the first time the country’s national box office has ever broken RMB1 billion ($155 million) a day for three consecutive days, a feat achieved despite caps on max theater capacity at 75% in most of the country and 50% in areas

Rebecca Davis editorThe world’s largest film market is living up to its title with world-record-setting sales.

For many people, the name Cathy Yan automatically brings to mind “Birds of Prey.” That makes sense, considering for years, that is the only film that the young filmmaker has released. But you see, “Birds of Prey” isn’t her first film.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief“Detective Chinatown 3” lived up to its billing as the box office favorite over the Chinese New Year holiday period, with first day grosses passing $150 million by 4pm local time.Data from ticketing agency Maoyan showed the franchise comedy adventure film as clocking up RMB975 million of revenues, and claiming over 60% of the nationwide box office total.

Richard Kuipers Parallel worlds commingle with initially intriguing but progressively less invigorating results in “A Writer’s Odyssey,” a handsomely produced action-fantasy directed by Chinese hitmaker Lu Yang (“Brotherhood of Blades,” “The Sacrifice”).

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefAn executive at Chinese tech giant Tencent has been arrested on suspicion of sharing personal data from the WeChat social media app with an official.The executive was named as Zhang Feng, who has in the past been referred to as a company VP.Tencent confirmed the information and said that Zhang’s detention relates to a case of “personal corruption.” The company said that Zhang’s case was not related to its Weixin app or its WeChat international iteration.It

Long-developing plans to engineer the sale of TikTok’s U.S. operations to a group of investors including Oracle and Walmart have been put on hold.

Todd Spangler NY Digital EditorA deal that would give Oracle and Walmart ownership stakes in TikTok is up in the air — and may not happen at all, as the Biden administration reviews Trump’s actions and policies against Chinese tech companies, according to a new report.Last summer, then-President Trump ordered Chinese internet giant ByteDance to sell TikTok, its hugely popular short-form video app, to U.S. owners, citing alleged risks to national security.

Netflix has picked up international streaming rights to Chinese fantasy feature The Yin Yang Master, one of the major titles set for release during China's upcoming Lunar New Year box office bonanza. The film is an adaptation of the popular Chinese role-playing game Onmyoji, which is itself based on the blockbuster fantasy novel of the same name by Japanese author by Baku Yumemakura.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefNetflix has picked up international rights to “The Yin Yang Master” a film that is one of the big seven tentpole titles that will open in mainland Chinese cinemas on Friday and compete for Lunar New Year holiday audiences.Netflix acquired distribution rights in the rest of the world ex-mainland China from Huayi Brothers Media (“The Eight Hundred”).The fantasy movie is a game-to-film adaptation of “Onmyoji” directed by Li Weiran (“Love Will Tear Us Apart,”

Netflix has acquired exclusive global streaming rights outside of China to The Yin Yang Master. This is not to be confused with The Yin-Yang Master: Dream Of Eternity which is already on the service and was released in China late last year. The new acquisition is one of the anticipated Lunar New Year titles that will begin its Chinese theatrical run on Friday. Netflix has not yet set a streaming date.

Three years after its premiere at Sundance in 2018, Cathy Yan’s “Dead Pigs” is finally getting a global release.

Before she made “Birds of Prey,” Cathy Yan impressed audiences at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival with her bold social satire “Dead Pigs,” but despite positive reviews, the film never got distributed for American audiences, until now. READ MORE: Cathy Yan Talks About ‘Dead Pigs’ Finally Coming To The U.S.