China Box Office: ‘1921’ Marches to Middling $21.4 Million Opening Weekend

Reuters), saying the image, "hurt the dignity and emotions of the Chinese people." "We urge NBC to recognise [sic] the serious nature of this problem and take measures to correct the error," the Chinese consulate continued, though it did not specify why it objected to the map. Reuters notes that China's state-controlled Global Times also criticized the map as seen during the Opening Ceremony.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media Reporter“Dear Evan Hansen,” a movie version of the hit Broadway show, will open the 2021 edition of the Toronto International Film Festival.In addition, the festival’s organizers announced that Chinese director Zhang Yimou’s latest feature “One Second” will close the festival. Described as a “love letter to cinema,” the film stars Wei Fan and Xiaochuan Li and follows a man who escapes a labour camp for a glimpse of his daughter.

UPDATE: Disney/Marvel’s Black Widow narrowly led the international box office for Hollywood films this weekend, grossing an additional $29.9M from 48 material markets. That’s a 55% drop from opening, which most agree is decent even if there’s no getting around the fact that these are not Marvel-ous numbers. The overseas total is now even with domestic at $132M for $264M global. Contrary to last weekend, Disney did not break out streaming figures this time around.

Rebecca Davis editor“Chinese Doctors” gave a shot in the arm to a sluggish weekend at the Chinese box office, coming in first with sales of $44.4 million, according to Maoyan data.The patriotic tear-jerked had little competition: only other patriotic films, children’s animations and youth-centric programming are currently in theaters.The Wuhan-set pandemic film from Bona Film is the most commercial of a slew of blockbusters intended to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Communist Party, and

Rebecca Davis editorChinese authorities in a number of counties nationwide plan to bar residents who have not been vaccinated from entering indoor entertainment venues, like cinemas, as part of its attempt to significantly ramp up its vaccination campaign.Policies restricting the movement and entry of unvaccinated people will been rolled out in various places around the country throughout the month of July. Chinese cinemas have been operating at 75% capacity since re-opening nationwide in July

Read more: At home with the Welsh entrepreneur who flopped on The Apprentice but now runs a £16m business and drives a Ferrari From being mobbed in the supermarket by fans to learning Welsh while living in China, Iain has revealed how he ended up as a celeb on the other side of the world. Born in Southampton and raised in Cardiff, the now 43-year-old is currently a bilingual presenter on a prime time Chinese television show.

Rebecca Davis editorThe tear-jerking, patriotic pandemic film “Chinese Doctors” locked down a $53.5 million China opening weekend, according to Maoyan, setting itself up to become the most commercially successful political tribute film so far this year.Such films have been helped along by a line-up cleared of competitors.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief“Nocturna,” an Argentinian-made fantasy film that played last month in the Shanghai International Film Festival’s midnight fantasy section, has been picked up by Chinese company Naropean.Naropean, which shares executives with HGC Entertainment, one of the more prominent Chinese IP groups, has taken rights for China, Asia and Oceania, as well as remake rights.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefChinese regulators have formally blocked the proposed merger of Huya and Douyu, two of the country’s largest live streaming operators. The planned merger had been orchestrated by social media and gaming giant Tencent and had been valued at approximately $5.3 billion.The announcement was made by the State Administration for Market Regulation in an online statement on Saturday morning, after relevant stock markets had closed.

Rebecca Davis editorThe U.S. film industry is heaving a sigh of relief that “Black Widow” is poised to become the highest grossing domestic debut of the post-pandemic era, marking America’s return to moviegoing in force.The Scarlett Johansson-starrer is projected to earn around $80 million in its North American opening weekend, beating out “F9” last month.

It’s July 2021, and instead of talking about “F9,” “Black Widow,” or any of the summer blockbusters from this year, The Playlist Podcast is going back to the ‘80s to talk about two cult classic summer films, “Escape From New York” and “Big Trouble in Little China.” Why? Because they’re both celebrating big anniversaries. Oh, and because John Carpenter is one of the best filmmakers of all time and Kurt Russell is a national treasure.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefNa Jiazuo, one of the few Chinese directors to make it to the Cannes Film Festival this year, says he learned from the best in the business. His “Streetwise” (aka “Gaey Wa’r”) unspools in Un Certain Regard and is eligible for the Camera d’Or, reflecting Na’s status as a rookie feature director.The picture is a gritty, largely nocturnal, portrait of a group of young adults in an unfashionable town as they come to terms with life’s uneasy lot.

Endeavor China, which just named a new group CEO, Thursday announced the acquisition of Shanghai-based Mailman Group, a digital agency for sports brands and rights holders.

Tencent has announced that it is using facial recognition on mobile phones software to stop children from playing games late at night.According to The Register, Tencent sent out a press release stating that players will need to use facial recognition software that stops children playing between 10pm and 8am.

Rebecca Davis editorEndeavor’s China offshoot announced Thursday that it has acquired the Shanghai-headquartered digital marketing agency Mailman Group and its Seven League subsidiary. Prior reports estimate the deal to be valued at $60 million.The move comes as Endeavor seeks to expand its footprint in the sports marketing space in China and the broader Asia-Pacific region.

Ashton Kutcher has a strong opinion about China's influence via social media. The 43-year-old actor recently appeared on the American Optimist YouTube channel and spoke about protecting children from various crimes on the internet.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media Reporter“F9” has the box office in overdrive. The ninth installment in Universal’s action-packed “Fast and Furious” franchise has surpassed $500 million in global ticket sales, solidifying its place as Hollywood’s biggest theatrical hit of the pandemic era.Other than “Hi, Mom” ($822 million) and “Detective Chinatown 3” ($686 million), which were both produced in China, “F9” is the only movie to cross the $500 million milestone since 2019.

Refresh for latest…: Universal’s F9 is gearing up to hit the $500M mark globally, a milestone it will cross on Monday as it becomes the first Hollywood movie to do so during the pandemic era, and the first since any studio film originally released during 2019. The Justin Lin-helmed title will also join China’s Hi, Mom and Detective Chinatown 3 as only the third film of any provenance to get there in 2020 and 2021. The worldwide cume through Sunday is $491.5M.