Beijing To Reopen Some Cinemas Friday; China Box Office Climbs Again On 3rd Day Back

Sam Mendes' harrowing World War I movie 1917 debuted at the top of China's box office this weekend, as the country's theatrical business still deals with pandemic-related restrictions on operations. China's cinemas are now into their third week of reopening after a novel coronavirus enforced lockdown in January, and theatrical companies are operating with limits on the number of screens and with strict social distancing measures in place.

Lost actor Daniel Dae Kim (nearly £40,000) towards a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for prolific Asian-American actor James Hong.Hong, now 91, has appeared in well over 600 credited roles in a career spanning nearly 70 years.Most famously, he's starred in movies like Chinatown, Big Trouble In Little China, Blade Runner and Airplane!He's also had prominent voice roles in the likes of the Kung Fu Panda movies (playing Po's father Mr.

Rebecca Davis editorSam Mendes’ World War I saga “1917” took the top spot at China’s box office this weekend with a $5.3 million debut, according to data from industry tracker Maoyan, as overall nationwide ticket sales dipped down from the week before.Meanwhile, the China premiere of the 20th Century Fox’s racing drama “Ford V. Ferrari” flopped and came in fifth with just $1.2 million.

Nancy Tartaglione International Box Office Editor/Senior ContributorChina’s third Friday back to the movies scored a slight increase on last week’s comparable day at $4.38M. It’s short of the $7.6M generated last Sunday which was boosted by Warner Bros’ reissue of Christopher Nolan’s Interstellar, but still a jump on last Friday, while midweeks were solid.

Rebecca Rubin News Editor, OnlineChristopher Nolan’s sci-fi epic “Tenet” will launch in Chinese theaters on Sept. 4.The movie, starring John David Washington and Robert Pattinson, is expected to be the first major Hollywood release since the pandemic forced cinemas to close in the country starting in January.The studio got approval last week to debut “Tenet” in China, signaling a reversal in reopening guideline from the National Film Bureau.

Nancy Tartaglione International Box Office Editor/Senior ContributorWhile Universal’s Dolittle and Warner Bros’ reissue of Interstellar were the big kahunas in China this weekend, Russell Crowe-starrer Unhinged hit the road in 19 new markets over the session. Among them, the UK, Australia, Netherlands and New Zealand where the Solstice Studios pic was No.

Universal'sDolittletopped China's box office for a second week as the country's cinemas continued their tentative reopening following the novel coronavirus shutdown.

Rebecca Davis editorLocal content is proving more of a draw than Hollywood films as China’s cinemas get back on their feet.

Nancy Tartaglione International Box Office Editor/Senior ContributorSATURDAY UPDATE: Since cinemas reopened in China’s low-risk areas on July 20, the market today had its biggest day yet. Box office was $5.74M (RMB 40M) overall for the day, according to Maoyan figures.

Rebecca Davis editorA portion of Chinese cinemas have been ordered to program an intermission for films that exceed two hours as a coronavirus prevention measure, Chinese reports said Friday. The requirement will affect a number of upcoming Hollywood films that run over 120 minutes, including a re-run of Christopher Nolan’s “Interstellar” set to hit screens on Sunday, as well as “Ford V Ferrari,” which will Aug.

Nancy Tartaglione International Box Office Editor/Senior ContributorChina’s second Friday with cinemas back to business in low-risk areas rang up another $4M at local turnstiles, a 39% increase versus the same day last week. About 60% of movie theaters are now operating, with capacity limits and social distancing still in place, so all numbers are to be taken with a grain of salt, though they are encouraging.

China’s theatrical box office would overtake that of North America.That scenario hasn’t happened yet. Last year, China’s box office growth slowed to a pedestrian 5% and reached a $9 billion total, according to the Motion Picture Association.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefThe Beijing International Film Festival will go ahead after all, organizers announced Wednesday.The festival was originally scheduled for late April, but was postponed in March due to the coronavirus outbreak. It was replaced with a hastily pulled together online event in early May, operated in partnership with streaming platform iQIYI.Now, the 10th edition of the BJIFF will run Aug.

coronavirus continues to recede in China’s capital. Cinemas in parts of the city deemed at low risk of cross-infection began admitting moviegoers under social distancing rules.

Olympics production unit last November, she expected to be in Tokyo right now with the games in full swing. But with the Summer Olympics postponed a year due to the coronavirus pandemic, Solomon and her team have reset their countdown clocks while trying to adjust to a new set of challenges.

Rebecca Davis editorRobert Downey Jr.’s family film “Dolittle” and Sony’s thriller “Bloodshot” led China’s first opening weekend at the box office since the coronavirus outbreak, a sign that new titles sell better than re-runs of beloved classics. Five out of the top 10 films this weekend were Hollywood titles.China began reopening theaters in regions deemed at low risk for COVID-19 on Monday.

Nancy Tartaglione International Box Office Editor/Senior ContributorOn their first Friday back to operations, Chinese cinemas did roughly $2.92M worth of box office business — more than tripling Thursday’s figures and making a sizable jump from Monday when theaters opened to about $501K in low-risk areas across the country.

Nancy Tartaglione International Box Office Editor/Senior ContributorWith some of China’s cinemas reopened this week in low-risk areas, and as tomorrow sees Beijing get partially back to business as well, box office has continued to rise. As of 11:30PM tonight local time, Thursday’s takings hit $940K, according to ticketing service Maoyan.

Rebecca Davis editorA trio of Hollywood titles previously approved for China announced Thursday that they are set to hit the big screen now that cinemas are kicking back into gear.“Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone,” in 3D and 4K restorations, will screen in China starting Aug. 14 to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the franchise.