‘Only The River Flows’ Review: A Witty, Convoluted China-Noir That is Less Whodunnit Than Whodidntit

The FBI tried to… pic.twitter.com/1EOPB7DMyt“I said mom, all you ever do is read the New York Times,” Watters said. “Imagine reading the newspaper every day, and not knowing what the news is. … She didn’t know Biden had documents scattered all over Chinatown, or in the garage with the Corvette with the door open.

Matt Donnelly Senior Film Writer Ezra Miller made a public showing for the first time in nearly two years on Monday night, attending the Los Angeles premiere of DC Studios’ “The Flash.” The embattled actor spoke openly about misconduct allegations levied against them and various legal woes, addressing fans and many industry players at Grauman’s Chinese Theatre in Hollywood. Miller, who is non-binary and uses they and them pronouns, made a big show of acknowledging Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav, Warner Bros. Film Group heads Michael De Luca and Pam Abdy and DC Studios stewards James Gunn and Peter Safran for “your grace and discernment and care in the context of my life. And in bringing this moment to fruition.”

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief “Transformers: Rise of the Beasts” enjoyed a $38.9 million (RMB276 million) opening weekend in mainland China. The score was comfortably the biggest by any film between Friday and Sunday and the second biggest opening by a Hollywood film this year in the territory. Data from consultancy firm Artisan Gateway suggests that the film accounted for some 63% of China’s nationwide gross box office over the weekend. Giant screen systems provider, Imax reported that the film earned $5.9 million of the total from its screen network in China, or some 15% of the China total.

EXCLUSIVE: After the Transformers was gearing down, filmmaker Steven Caple Jr. was able to put gas back into the tank of the storied Paramount Hasbro movie franchise with Rise of the Beasts this weekend which opened to $171M worldwide, stealing the crown from Sony Animation’s strong Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse. On today’s episode of Crew Call, Caple Jr. tells us he’s in talks for another Transformers sequel — and much of that involves that cliffhanger scene between Anthony Ramos and Michael Kelly.

“Transformers: Rise of the Beasts” stormed into theatres worldwide this weekend, amassing a staggering $110 million at the international box office. 

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media Reporter After less than two weeks of release, “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” has surpassed the entire box office run of its predecessor, 2018’s Oscar-winning “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse.” Over the weekend, the comic book sequel hit $226 million in North America and $390 million globally. It now stands as Sony’s highest-grossing animated release in history. The original film, also a box office winner, tapped out with $190 in North America and $384 million globally. Despite competition from Paramount’s “Transformers: Rise of the Beasts,” which opened to $60 million and targets a similar audience of younger males, “Spider-Verse” added $55 million in its second weekend of release, a decline of $55% from its huge $120 million debut.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media Reporter “Transformers: Rise of the Beasts” kicked off at the international box office with $110 million from 68 markets, including a decent $40 million start in China. The seventh installment in Paramount’s action franchise also pulled in $60 million in its North American debut, bringing its worldwide tally to a solid $170 million. Overseas audiences will be key to the theatrical success of “Transformers,” which cost $200 million. Prior entries in the 16-year-old series have earned as much as 70% of overall box office returns outside of the U.S. and Canada. At the international box office, ticket sales for “Rise of the Beasts” are pacing 32% below “Bumblebee,” which is the most recent entry in the series. The newest chapter has managed to set franchise records in eight smaller markets, including Indonesia, Argentina and Peru. The Autobots will take the box office milestones where they can get them.

Paramount/Skydance/Hasbro’s Transformers: Rise of the Beasts is on the prowl overseas with $43.3M through Friday in 68 markets. This portends a $100M+ international box office debut, in line with projections. The domestic three-day is looking at $60M.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Big-budget period action film “The Sand Murmurs” is set to start production in China’s remote region of Xinjiang later this month. The film is the tale of a soldier and an enemy nobleman brought together after a once-in-a-century sandstorm. After braving a near-death experience together, the pair find common purpose despite their differences. They also need to work together to find their way out across 800km of desert. The picture is directed by Wu Youyin as an adaptation of his novel of the same title. Wu previously wrote and directed “Till The End of the World,” which released in 2018.

Leonardo DiCaprio arrives at his hotel in London, England on Tuesday (June 6).

Italian filmmaker Alice Rohrwacher’s latest pic La Chimera has inked a series of international deals for The Match Factory following its well-received debut at last month’s Cannes Film Festival.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief After a few pandemic-addled years, the global box office is finally ready to feel the warmth of the studios’ tentpole releases. Though the swing-back to pre-pandemic release schedules is happening at different speeds in each market, the quartet of “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3,” “Fast X,” “The Little Mermaid” and “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” — not to mention “The Super Mario Bros Movie” before them — have announced the arrival of Hollywood’s version of summer across much of the planet. France saw admissions climb by 33% in the first five months of 2023, compared with the equivalent period last year, according to data from the CNC (National Film Board). Compared with an average figure for 2017 to 2019, the performance of the 2023 box office is (only) 12% behind. France’s recovery has been powered by a string of successful local films including “Asterix and Obelix: The Middle Kingdom,” “Alibi.com 2,” “The Three Musketeers: D’Artagnan,” “The Crime Is Mine” and Cannes opener “Jeanne du Barry.”

The Fugees surprised concertgoers Saturday during Lauryn Hill’s headlining set at the Roots Picnic music festival. The three band members, including Wyclef Jean and Pras Michel, did a six-song set in celebation of Hill’s 25th anniversary for her landmark album, The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill.

As theatres swing back into the Spider-Verse, the highly anticipated sequel, “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse”, captured a remarkable $17.35 million in Thursday previews, setting the stage for an expected opening weekend that’s now being predicted to exceed $120 million.

Anna Tingley If you purchase an independently reviewed product or service through a link on our website, Variety may receive an affiliate commission. A new limited-time deal from Rosetta Stone offers unlimited access to their language-learning program for nearly half the price.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” grabbed top place at the mainland China box office over the weekend with an opening $17.2 million (RMB122 million) score. Giant screen company, Imax reports that $2.7 million, or more than 16% of the film’s China total, came from its Middle Kingdom venues. Chinese online ticketing agency Maoyan forecasts that “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” will earn a total of RMB241 million or $34 million at current exchange rates. “Fast X,” which had driven off with the spoils for the past two weekends, was overtaken on its third lap and achieved $7.7 million in second place, according to data from consultancy firm Artisan Gateway. After 17 days in Chinese cinemas, “Fast X” has accumulated $124 million, making it the highest-grossing imported titled released this year in China ahead of Japanese animation “Suzume.”

As theatres swing back into the Spider-Verse, the highly anticipated sequel, “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse”, captured a remarkable $17.35 million in Thursday previews, setting the stage for an expected opening weekend of $80 million or more.

Columbia Pictures’ and Sony Pictures Animation’s Spider-Man: Across the Universe is casting its web in international box office markets with  $13.5M through Thursday. That’s 2.5x the original in like-for-likes. 

At Tuesday night’s world premiere of Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, there was a huge sigh of relief from the mass of animators inside Westwood’s Regency Village Theater: The $100M-budgeted sequel to the Oscar-winning 2018 animated movie Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, was done, having completed post-production literally just 10 days ago after a five-year trek to the screen which included a Covid delay due to the backlog in post-production houses. Starting today abroad, and into Thursday in U.S./Canada, the continuing adventures of Miles Morales will see the light of day in what is expected to be a $150M global opening.

EXCLUSIVE: Ming-Na Wen yesterday received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and today she’s teamed with Compelling Pictures on a doc series about Asian-American food culture.