China Both Celebrates and Slams Chloe Zhao’s ‘Nomadland’ Golden Globe Glory

Rebecca Davis editorJames Cameron’s “Avatar” once again led the China box office this weekend, with sales of $14 million over the three-day period.The 2009 film has held its own as the top title every day since its March 12 re-release in China. It has grossed a total of $44 million so far, ten days into its re-run.

Refresh for latest…: James Cameron’s Avatar held the top spot at the global and international box office this weekend with $14.1M in China for the Friday-Sunday frame. The 2009 sci-fi epic re-released in the Middle Kingdom last weekend — when it reclaimed the title of all-time highest-grossing movie worldwide from Avengers: Endgame — and now counts an overseas cume of $2,073.2M for $2,833.7M global (all releases included).

inaccurate, Americanized version of one of the most beloved tales in Chinese culture.

Rebecca Davis editorTop Chinese director Feng Xiaogang will step in front of the camera alongside Chinese-American actor-director Joan Chen in a local adaptation of the 2009 Hollywood tearjerker “Hachi: A Dog’s Tale,” which began shooting Thursday.It is currently set to premiere on New Year’s Eve.Feng is best known for his work as a director on films such as “Youth,” “I Am Not Madame Bovary” and “Cellphone,” but he has also frequently taken on acting roles, with his most recent starring role in

The Chinese government has told local media to curb its coverage of the Oscars ceremony next month due to its concerns about the political views of Best Director nominee Chloe Zhao and the nomination of a short documentary about the Hong Kong protests.

Rebecca Davis editorLegendary documentarian Wang Bing is at HAF this year with his new project “I Come from Ikotun,” which follows two Nigerian families with a foothold in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou over the course of the pandemic.Known for his epically long, unflinching works that have previously tackled sensitive issues like China’s brutal re-education camps, Wang will this time turn his lens on a more cross-cultural subject.

Chloe Zhao recently became the first Asian woman to win a Golden Globe for Best Director and now has a shot to repeat that at the Oscars with her awards-season darling Nomadland garnering six nominations today for Best Picture, Director, Editing, Adapted Screenplay, Cinematography and Actress.

In Oscar history, there’s never been more than one female filmmaker nominated in the Best Directing category in a single year.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefChinese indie sales agency Blossoms Entertainment returns to FilMart with a slate of large-scale commercial pictures sourced from a clutch of China’s biggest film studios.The agency, operated by former IM Global staffers Vicky Ding and Leslie Chen, is pre-selling “Railway Heroes,” a tale of heroism and wartime sabotage which is targeting a National Day release in October.

You know it’s a good week on Real Time when the two stories that have consumed the week’s news — the accusations against Andrew Cuomo and the accusations against the Royal Family — take a backseat to weightier topics such as crony capitalism and the hegemony of China.

If you find yourself the subject of a nationwide internet backlash, the most natural reaction might be to lie low for a while. But Chinese filmmaker Chloé Zhao probably doesn't have that option.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefBaidu, China’s search engine, entertainment and AI giant, Friday published detailed plans for its secondary share listing in Hong Kong which will bring in some $3.6 billion of fresh capital.The same day, finance industry sources are reporting that Chinese video entertainment group Bilibili has been given the green light by regulators for its planned share sale.

It’s been more than a decade since James Cameron’s “Avatar” arrived in cinemas and basically destroyed nearly every record along the way. For months, the film was a must-see event that drove legions of people to theaters to sport 3D glasses and watch blue aliens fight for their planet.

Nomadland has been censored in China due to comments the director made about the country in a past interview.In 2013, Zhao, who became the first Asian woman to win a Golden Globe for Best Director last month.Initially, the film’s upcoming release was promoted in China, with state media lauding Zhao as “the pride of China”.On Friday (March 5) though, show times for the film were removed from ticketing websites and references to the film began to disappear.As the Guardian reports, a

Rebecca Davis editorChina’s top law-making body will consider this week a popular proposition to ban actors who have used drugs from entertainment industry for life at its annual weeklong meeting, which kicked off Friday.The National People’s Congress, the country’s rubber stamp parliament, counts some 3,000 professionals from across the country as delegates, including directors Jia Zhangke, Feng Xiaogang and Chen Kaige, as well as Jackie Chan and Yao Ming.

Rebecca Davis editorChloe Zhao’s “Nomadland” was quietly swept from the Chinese web Friday, days after nationalist backlash erupted online over questions of her citizenship and over a sentence she spoke to a U.S.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefImax China, the supplier of giant screen cinema facilities and services in Greater China, is one of the purest plays on the mainland Chinese movie exhibition market available to investors.