‘Table for Six’ Sets Hong Kong Box Office Record on Delayed Release (EXCLUSIVE)

Hong Kong has selected the crime thriller Where the Wind Blows as its official submission to this year’s International Feature Oscar race.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media Reporter There are plenty of valid reasons to be skeptical about “Avatar: The Way of Water.” It’s been more than a decade since James Cameron’s otherworldly sci-fi epic “Avatar” opened in theaters in 2009, smashing expectations on its way to becoming the biggest movie in history with $2.85 billion in global ticket sales. But times, tastes and box office expectations have changed drastically since moviegoers first made contact with the Na’vi. In the ensuing years, theater owners have developed a greater reliance on big-budget comic book spectacles, and 3D technology (despite Cameron’s best efforts) failed to take off in the way the filmmaker had hoped. Especially since the pandemic, billion-dollar hits outside of the superhero space have been few and far between.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief China recorded an unchanged top five films and its weakest box office weekend since Chinese New Year. Nationwide gross box office was just $18.6 million. Comedy drama film “Give Me Five” held on to the top spot for the third week, with a weekend score of $6.3 million (RMB43.3 million), according to data from consultancy Artisan Gateway. It now has a cumulative of $46.4 million since release on Sept. 9, 2022. The film is the story of a young man who is helping his father rediscover his lost memories. As he does so, he is transported back in time and accidentally alters his parent’s pasts. That means he must reunite the pair or risk never being born. It stars Ma Li Chang Yuan and Wei Xiang and is directed by Zhang Luan.

Refresh for latest…: There was extra oomph at the international box office this weekend as Disney’s rerelease of 20th Century Studios’ Avatar grossed $20.5M from 50 offshore markets for a $30.5M global launch. The remastered 4K HDR version of the biggest movie ever was catnip to fans with No. 1s in several markets and, as designed, sets the table for James Cameron’s upcoming sequel, Avatar: The Way of Water.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media Reporter Despite 13 years passing since “Avatar” first hit theaters, moviegoers are apparently still dazzled by the striking world of Pandora. In anticipation of the sequel “The Way of Water,” which opens in December, Disney re-released James Cameron’s original science-fiction epic to promising returns. The film generated $10 million in North America and $20.5 million internationally over the weekend, a huge result for movie that opened more than a decade ago, even if that movie happens to be the highest-grossing global release in history. With this weekend’s returns, “Avatar” widens its lead as the biggest movie of all time with $2.85 billion worldwide.

John Cena officially holds the title for most wishes granted through the Make-A-Wish Foundation!

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Shares of Tencent Music Entertainment, China’s largest online music company, made a slow but steady start Wednesday in trading on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. At the lunchtime trading break, the shares had climbed to HK$18.22, up from their opening at HK$18.00. They are traded under the number 1698. The company already has a listing on the New York Stock Exchange and the debut in Hong Kong is by way of an introduction that raises no fresh capital and does not involve the issue of new shares. The establishment of a secondary listing allows the company to reduce the risk of a delisting by the U.S. authorities or problems from Chinese authorities if they deem the company to be in breach of data security regulations.

Zack Sharf “Doctor Sleep” director Mike Flanagan confirmed on Twitter that a planned sequel to his 2019 “The Shining” prequel is officially dead. The filmmaker cited the dismal box office performance of “Doctor Sleep” as the main reason why Warner Bros. isn’t moving forward with a second “The Shining” prequel film, this one focused on the character of Dick Hallorann (played in Stanley Kubrick’s film by Scatman Crothers and in “Doctor Sleep” by Carl Lumbly.” “We were so close,” Flanagan wrote on Twitter about getting the Dick Hallorann movie made. “I’ll always regret this didn’t happen.” Flanagan also shared a fan-made poster for his scrapped second “The Shining” prequel. When asked by one user why his “Doctor Sleep” follow-up wasn’t going to be made, Flanagan responded, “Because of ‘Doctor Sleep’s’ box office performance, Warner Bros. opted not to proceed with it. They control the rights, so that was that.”

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Comedy drama film “Give Me Five” held on to the top spot at the mainland Chinese box office with a weekend score of just $7.4 million (RMB50.8 million). The film is the story of a young man who is helping his father rediscover his lost memories. As he does so, he is transported back in time and accidentally alters his parent’s pasts. That means he must reunite the pair or risk never being born. It stars Ma Li Chang Yuan and Wei Xiang and is directed by Zhang Luan.

Even with a Covid-shortened performance schedule, Lea Michele’s star turn in Funny Girl was serious business last week, with box office for the musical revival more than doubling from the previous week.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Jack Neo, who is by far Singapore’s most commercially successful filmmaker, has begun production on “King of Musang King,” a comedy that he envisages being ready for release at Chinese New Year in January. The narrative gives prominent position to durians, the smelly Southeast Asian fruit that most people either love or hate. Neo (“Money No Enough,” the “Ah Boys to Men” franchise) will co-star, direct and produce through his J Team Productions. The film will be presented by J Team, mm2 Entertainment and Cathay Cineplexes. The story revolves around a man (played by Mark Lee), his abandoned Malaysian wife (played by Yeo Yann Yann), and childhood friend Mao Shan (played by Jack Neo).

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief A weekend concert by Hong Kong acting and singing superstar Andy Lau Tak-wah attracted a record-breaking 350 million viewers on Douyin, the mainland Chinese sister company of TikTok. The concert ran for two hours and attracted 100 million viewers in the first 30 minutes, with tens of millions more joining by the end. The figures beat Lau’s own previous record on the platform, which he set in July last year at a concert to celebrate his 40 years in the business. The South China Morning Post said the record numbers were swelled by a recent wave of nostalgia for Canto-pop or Cantonese-language contemporary music, though the paper also noted that Lau also performed a couple of Mandarin-language classics.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Art-house title “Return to Dust” was a surprise weekend winner, topping the mainland China box office in its ninth weekend of release. The astonishing feat occurred on an otherwise depressed weekend in which China’s cinema box office dipped to a three-month low. This reflected the summer season winding to an end and anti-COVID measures once again forcing major Chinese cities into retreat. Data from consultancy Artisan Gateway showed “Return” grossing $5.3 million (RMB36.2 million) between Friday and Sunday. Those three days accounted for nearly half of the $12.7 million (RMB87.4 million) cumulative total it has earned since release on July 8, 2022.

Labor Day weekend saw blockbusters old and new buoyed by cheap tickets, as was a limited openings like Saloum with multiple sold out screenings at two theaters, including every showtime on Saturday.

according to IMDB’s Box Office Mojo.The Marvel Comics flick, which stars real-life couple Tom Holland and Zendaya, is projected to rake in $6.1 million on this four-day weekend, per Variety.“Bullet Train” is still chugging along — holding onto second place with $1.1 million in sales. It was recently announced that the Brad Pitt picture already has an accompanying line of Funko Pop dolls, which will be available for purchase in January.

box office, there is a near-term question mark about what will happen next: Will recovery stall due to a paucity of Hollywood tentpole movies? Or will international theatrical decouple and find new drivers to maintain the momentum? The good news is that most of the international market’s top territories are now fully open and operating without significant restrictions on seating capacity. These include the U.K. and Ireland, Japan, France, Germany, Spain, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand, Mexico and Brazil. The smaller number of territories still laboring under restrictions nevertheless include some valuable ones: China, Turkey, Argentina, Hong Kong and Russia.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief South Korea’s leading entertainment group CJ ENM has appointed Steve W. Chung as its global chief growth officer. He will be based in Los Angeles. Previously, Chung served as chief growth officer at Fox Corporation. Prior to that Chung was the founder and CEO of Frankly, a publicly-traded media tech company based in San Francisco. He was also a venture capitalist in Silicon Valley and an executive producer in China.  Chung currently serves as a board member of the non-profit National Asia Pacific Center on Aging (NAPCA) and received his B.A from Harvard College and an M.B.A. from Stanford University.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief The delayed 46th edition of the Hong Kong International Film Festival wrapped Wednesday with the award of 13 prizes for its young filmmaker, documentary and shorts competitions. Hailed by the jury as “one of this year’s most distinguished films both creatively and artistically,” Qiu Jiongjiong’s “A New Old Play” was named best film for the Young Cinema Competition (Chinese Language). “A New Old Play” is a tale of a family of Sichuan Opera artists living through a tumultuous era. It also collected the FIPRESCI Prize, with the jury commending the film for “its masterful approach and inventive visual style.”  In the global category, Palestinian director Maha Haj’s “Mediterranean Fever” was chosen as the Firebird Award winner for being “an all-rounded gem that is at once a thriller, social comedy, and odd couple bromance.” 

For many people, the only thing they know about “Infernal Affairs” is that it served as the inspiration for Martin Scorsese’s beloved “The Departed.” However, over the years, the “Infernal Affairs” trilogy has gained a legacy that some would argue is more influential on cinema than what Scorsese did with his reimagining. And thankfully, for those who have yet to see the films, you’re about to have a chance to see the films in their best presentation yet.  READ MORE: ‘Power Of The Dog,’ ‘Infernal Affairs,’ ‘Malcolm X’ & More Coming From Criterion In November Thanks to the folks at Janus Films, all three “Infernal Affairs” films are getting new 4K restorations and a US re-release.