Beijing International Film Festival Delayed Due To China’s Rising Covid Cases

For a film that almost didn’t get made, 76 Days has racked up an impressive number of awards.

READ MORE: James Bond: No Time To Die release date delay 'may not be possible'The last Hollywood blockbuster to release in China was Fast and Furious 9, while dates for Black Widow and The Suicide Squad had been yet to land. With such restrictions reportedly lifting yesterday, Universal could well be unveiling its release date for the large box office market very soon.

Spain’s San Sebastian Festival has set Zhang Yimou’s Chinese epic One Second as the opening film for its competition program this year.

Rebecca Davis editorThe toppling of powerful men by #MeToo accusations in Hollywood and beyond has be­­come a familiar phenomenon to Americans in the post-Harvey Weinstein era, but in China, such reckonings remain rare.

Rebecca Davis editorThe Chinese government has taken a stake and one of three board seats in a key subsidiary of TikTok owner ByteDance, reports said Tuesday, reviving debate about whether the popular short-form video app poses a national security threat.Chinese authorities now own a 1% stake in Beijing ByteDance Company, a firm that owns key licenses to operate Chinese platforms Douyin, the country’s version of TikTok, and the popular news app Toutiao.

Rebecca Davis editorChinese censors have approved the next feature from Tibetan director Pema Tseden, a Venice International Film Festival regular and one of the most influential filmmakers working in the Tibetan language.The film’s Chinese name translates to “Stranger.” It is an adaptation of a short story he wrote of the same name, which he has publicly said as far back as 2013 that he hoped one day to adapt into a film.Authorities have approved the script Tseden wrote for the project,

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefHollywood financier Starlight Cultural Entertainment and its talent development offshoot Stars Collective have established a partnership with the Beijing Film Academy.It will focus on the incubation, development, packaging, financing, production and distribution of content for a global audience.

As the fall festivals Venice, Telluride and Toronto, as well as New York and London continue to evolve in the surging Covid environment, AFI Fest has announced it is moving full speed ahead.

Rebecca Davis editorWith the NBA still on the outs with China and Nike hit with Chinese backlash over Xinjiang, it might seem that “Space Jam: A New Legacy” has two serious fouls against its chances of entering the world’s largest film market.But signs indicate that Beijing may uniquely embrace the “Space Jam” star LeBron James in a way that could actually give the film an assist, despite China’s ongoing spat with the league and James’ lifetime Nike deal.The Malcolm D.

Ian Brown has debuted a new music video to accompany his cover of Johnny Osbourne’s ‘Truths & Rights’, which arrived earlier this year.The video, which is directed by filmmaker Scully, sees the Stone Roses frontman’s vocals being played over six minutes of footage from A Touch of Zen – the 1971 movie from Chinese filmmaker King Hu.The track also sees Brown offering a largely faithful take on Osbourne’s Reggae staple, but features a selection of lyrics that could be interpreted as being in

Olympics in better circumstances," Tirico said of Tokyo. "So it’s definitely bittersweet from arrival to being around town to the reality of doing this.”In his second Olympics as the primetime host, Tirico has done well taking over the mantle from Bob Costas, who was NBC's host for 11 Winter and Summer Games from 1992 through 2016.The Olympics primetime host is a mix of story teller, traffic cop going from one event to the other and master interviewer.

Rebecca Davis editorChinese director Lu Chuan will be the lead director of the opening ceremony for the upcoming 2022 Asian Games in Hangzhou city, an international sports spectacle taking place months after the Beijing Winter Olympics.Held every four years, the games will occur from Sept. 10 to 25 in the verdant capital of Zhejiang province, coinciding with the Mid-Autumn Festival holiday.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefHighly-anticipated mainland Chinese film “The Battle at Lake Changjin,” which was due to have been released later this month has been postponed to an unspecified date. The move, announced late on Thursday, was caused by a recent resurgence in COVID-19 cases in China.The film is a Korean War epic that is co-directed by Chen Kaige, Hark Tsui and Dante Lam and should have released on Aug.

Rebecca Davis editorDistributor Trinity CineAsia has acquired Donnie Yen-starring action film “Raging Fire” from Emperor Motion Pictures for the U.K. and Ireland.The film debuted at the top of the box office last weekend in China, where it grossed $37.2 million in the three-day period, and led sales since, grossing $56.8 million in its opening week.It’s the last film from the legendary Hong Kong writer, director and producer Benny Chan, who died last summer.

Rebecca Davis editorChinese pop singer and actor Jackson Yee, who starred in the Oscar-nominated drama “Better Days,” will anchor a new blockbuster from Chinese director Wen Muye, whose “Dying to Survive” is China’s 12th highest grossing film of all time.The film, scheduled for a 2022 release, does not yet have an official English title, but its Chinese name translates to “Miracle.” It will be produced by Ning Hao and his Dirty Monkey Films.The plot is described in current reports:

Rebecca Davis editorLast month, to fete the 100th anniversary of the ruling Communist Party, China broadcast a propaganda megashow convened at Beijing National Stadium, which was built for the 2008 Beijing Olympics.Throughout the massive two-hour spectacle, Olympic themes intertwined with political imagery to depict the party as a benevolent, beloved world leader.

Rebecca Davis editorChinese director Chen Kaige’s U.S.-born son Arthur Chen Feiyu has swapped his American citizenship out for a Chinese one, a change widely viewed locally as a savvy move to boost his burgeoning career in the mainland.The move comes as Chinese public opinion about celebrities has hinged upon questions of nationality.

Rebecca Davis editorThe first import to break through China’s nearly two-month political moratorium on foreign films apparently won’t be “Black Widow” or “Space Jam: A New Legacy.” Instead, Beijing is opening its doors to an unlikely contender for August: a little-known British Christmas film about a cat.“A Christmas Gift From Bob” — a seasonal, feel-good sequel to the uplifting 2016 biographical drama “A Street Cat Named Bob” — will hit Chinese screens on Aug. 6.