Chen closing in on gold, US curlers begin title defense

Wall Street Journal reporter Erich Schwartzel’s book, Red Carpet: Hollywood, China and the Global Battle for Cultural Supremacy, warns in its prologue: “China’s pressure on Hollywood and its own entertainment industry have the potential to challenge the American film industry as the chief narrator of the twenty-first century.”

Editor’s Note: Wall Street Journal reporter Erich Schwartzel’s new book Red Carpet: Hollywood, China and the Global Battle for Cultural Supremacy includes a chapter on Fan Bingbing, one of China’s biggest global stars who disappeared from public view in 2018 shortly after she was cast to star in the female action spy movie The 355. In the excerpt below from the Penguin Press book, Schwartzel takes readers from Cannes through Fan’s house arrest — where she was “watched constantly, even while taking showers” — to her eventual reappearance (albeit via greenscreen and with a body double for The 355) as she had become what Schwartzel calls “the most famous chicken used by Chinese authorities to scare the monkeys of its entertainment industry.”

Despite all the high-tech tricks, political posturing and pyrotechnics, the best part of the Closing Ceremony of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics proved to be the athletes.

Bill Maher zeroed in on China during the latest edition of “Real Time”, targeting the winter Olympics in Beijing during the “New Rules” segment.

Bill Maher couldn’t hide his contempt for the country hosting the Winter Olympics on his Friday Real Time. 

EXCLUSIVE: NBC has revealed the hosts for its coverage of Sunday’s Closing Ceremony of the Beijing Olympics — and two of them have been in the news this week.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefWarner Bros.’ franchise title “The Batman” and Sony’s game adaptation “Uncharted” have both been given confirmed theatrical release dates in mainland China.“The Batman” will reach conventional and Imax theaters in China on Friday March 18, 2022. “Uncharted” will release four days earlier on Monday March 14.The confirmations mean that there is a rebounding flow of Hollywood movies into China after a drought in 2021, when revenue sharing import numbers fall short of the bilaterally agreed 34 film annual quota. There has also been a complete absence of Marvel movies (from both the Disney and Sony stables).

The approval is a big boost to Warner’s box office hopes, as it will be the first comic book movie since “Wonder Woman 1984” to get a release in China and the first major American import after the Lunar New Year period, which is reserved for Chinese films only. Warner Bros.

The return of popular American sitcom Friends to streaming services in China has provoked a significant online backlash after viewers noted numerous changes that had been made to the show, including the removal of LGBTQ references.

Chinese fans of the hit comedy series are calling out the censorship of multiple episodes, specifically ones featuring LGBTQ content.

Naman Ramachandran Kino Lorber has acquired U.S. rights to writer-director Ajitpal Singh’s debut feature, “Fire in the Mountains,” which premiered in the World Dramatic Competition of the Sundance Film Festival in 2021.A powerful feminist tale set in a tourist homestay in the Himalayan foothills of northern India, the film centers around a woman (Vinamrata Rai), the sole breadwinner of the household, who scrimps and saves for her son’s medical treatment, while her alcoholic husband believes that an expensive shamanic ritual is the answer to all their woes.The film is produced by Alan McAlex and Ajai Rai of prolific Indian arthouse producers Jar Pictures alongside Mauli Singh and Amit Mehta.

Nathan Chen has won Olympic gold!

Congratulations are in order for Olympic snowboarder Chloe Kim!

Olympics but now appears poised to take Hanyu's crown.“You can never really count out any of these athletes. The competition’s not one program," Chen said. "Whatever happens in the short program is not indicative of what will happen in the free program.”Both NBC and USA Network plan to air live coverage of the free skate in prime time.

Nathan Chen has earned his place in the Olympics record book!

Nathan Chen has earned his place in the Olympics record book!

EXCLUSIVE: After teaming in the Disney/Marvel film Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, Michelle Yeoh is set to top an international cast for the Destin Daniel Cretton-directed Disney+ fantastical series American Born Chinese. She will star alongside Ben Wang (MacGyver), Yeo Yann Yann (Wet Season), Chin Han (Mortal Kombat), Daniel Wu (Reminiscence), Ke Huy Quan (Finding Ohana), former Taekwondo champion Jim Liu and Sydney Taylor (Just Add Magic).

Brooklyn Beckham's fiancée Nicola Peltz looked picture perfect as she posed for an intimate bedroom selfie. Taking to Instagram on Monday, the 27-year-old shared a smouldering picture which featured two red love hearts on her cheeks.MORE: Brooklyn Beckham captures candid snap of fiancée Nicola Peltz amid wedding planningThe candid snapshot comes shortly after Nicola reshared a Deadline article that announced her next career move.

Grindr has removed its gay dating and hookup app from multiple app stores as the Communist Party cracks down on LGBTQI content as part of its month-long censorship campaign.The Guardian reported this campaign is happening during the Lunar New Year holiday and as the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympic Games begin. It is being conducted by China’s Cyberspace Administration. Grindr disappears from app stores in China On the eve of the Winter Olympics, let us protest in front of Chinese embassies the world over.