‘Ascension’ Review: Oscar-Nominated Doc Will Change the Way You Look at China

Mads Mikkelsen says there is a “very deliberate” reason why Gellert Grindelwald’s change in appearance won’t be mentioned in “Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets Of Dumbledore”.

Jude Law (Dumbledore) and Mads Mikkelsen (Grindelwald) play former lovers in Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore

Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore have been removed for the film’s release in China, as they allude to a gay relationship.Six seconds in the third film were cut in the forthcoming release, referring to a romantic past between Dumbledore and Grindelwald.The original cut included the lines “because I was in love with you” and “the summer Gellert and I fell in love”.The producers, Warner Bros, told Variety in a statement that they believe the “spirit of the film remains”.The studio added that they remain “committed to safeguarding the integrity of every film we release” and that that sometimes means “sensitively” making “nuanced cuts” for certain markets.“Our hope is to release our features worldwide as released by their creators but historically we have faced small edits made in local markets,” they added.“In the case of Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore, a six-second cut was requested and Warner Bros accepted those changes to comply with local requirements but the spirit of the film remains intact.“We want audiences everywhere in the world to see and enjoy this film, and it’s important to us that Chinese audiences have the opportunity to experience it as well, even with these minor edits.” In a three-star review of the new film, NME wrote: “Unfortunately, there are far too many other characters involved – and most of them don’t do much that actually matters.”

Zack Sharf References to a gay relationship in “Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore” were edited out of the movie by Warner Bros. for the film’s release in China. Only six seconds of the movie’s 142-minute runtime were removed.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefThe Far East Film Festival in Italy’s Udine has set Chinese-Italian co-production “The Italian Recipe” as the opening title of a revived, largely in-person event.The film, directed by Hou Zuxin, sees an unexpected series of events bring together a Chinese reality TV show contestant and a woman already resident in Italy. The collision of personalities, connections and chemistry between stars Liu Xun and Yao Huang resemble those of “Roman Holiday,” festival organizers suggest.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief“Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore” dominated the box office in China since its opening on Friday. But, with the country on high alert for COVID, the weekend’s cinema business remained close to recent lows.Data from consultancy Artisan Gateway shows “The Secrets of Dumbledore” earning RMB62.2 million ($9.7 million at current exchange rates) between Friday and Sunday. That gave it a huge 63% market share on a weekend worth just $15.5 million.In 2016, “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find” them produced a $85.9 million total in China.

BTS.On the most recent episode of The Joe Budden Podcast, was released on April 6, the 41-year-old rapper discussed his thoughts about the K-pop boyband with co-hosts Ice, Ish and Parks Vallely, during which he said: “You can get mad at me… but I hate them BTS n***as.”When asked by his co-hosts to elaborate, Budden said: “Do I need a reason? … I hate them n****s. I don’t have to divulge my reason to you, I just hate them n****s.

Kimberly Akimbo, Assassins, Prayer for the French Republic and The Chinese Lady were among the Off Broadway productions receiving multiple nominations for this year’s Lucille Lortel Awards for Outstanding Achievement Off Broadway, announced today.

Oscar Isaac is showing his fans some love with a new nickname.

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Manori Ravindran International EditorA Vice Studios documentary series on the 2014 disappearance of Malaysian flight MH370 has been sold to History Channel in the U.S. and a raft of broadcasters in Europe.Vice Distribution, the global distribution and licensing arm of Vice Media Group, pre-sold the three-part series, entitled “MH370: The Lost Flight,” into A+E Networks’ History, TV2 in Denmark and Viaplay across its European territories (Sweden, Norway, Finland, Iceland, Poland and the pan-Baltics).

"I ate £49.50 steak and chips" screams the headline. "What sort of price is that?" you might be inclined to scream back.

A feature documentary about Le Bal des Débutantes, a Paris-set fashion event, is set to be the first project as part of a new non-fiction slate from Boat Rocker.

Gemma Chan is making things happen for an Anna May Wong biopic.

Lise Pedersen Among the filmmakers taking center stage at the Copenhagen Intl. Documentary Film Festival’s financing and co-production platform, CPH:FORUM, is China’s Jialing Zhang with her new project “The Total Trust” (a working title).Her previous doc, “One Child Nation” (pictured), which she produced and co-directed with Nanfu Wang, picked up the Grand Jury Prize in Sundance in 2019.Shot in China, “The Total Trust” explores the Chinese government’s digital social control system – the most sophisticated in the world – and the effect it is having on the population.Its producers say most of the filming is complete and they will be seeking to fill the €350,000 ($385,000) funding gap out of the film’s total budget of €1 million ($1.1 million) at CPH:FORUM.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefColumbia Pictures’ 2021 horror-thriller “Escape Room: Tournament of Champions” has been given official approval to release in cinemas in mainland China. It will launch on Saturday April 2, 2022.Directed by Adam Robitel, it is the sequel to the psychological thriller “Escape Room” that terrified audiences around the world in 2019. In the new installment, six people unwittingly find themselves locked in another series of escape rooms, slowly uncovering what they have in common to survive.The film was released in many international markets and in North America in July last year.

After not airing the 2021 Oscar ceremony, China is believed to be sitting out this weekend’s event as well. The motivations behind last year’s move were understood to be related to specific films and filmmakers, and while China released fewer Hollywood movies than usual in 2021, the reasoning behind a decision to not to show the Oscars this year is somewhat unclear.