China Box Office: Donnie Yen Actioner ‘Raging Fire’ Sparks Up Screens Despite Broader Sales Slump

Disney’s 20th Century Studios’ Ryan Reynolds movie Free Guy is getting a China release date of Aug. 27.

Rebecca Davis editorMarvel Studios president Kevin Feige addressed Chinese fans’ most pressing concerns about the upcoming “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings” in a recent interview.Feige held an exclusive 14-minute-long interview in English with the well-regarded veteran Chinese film critic Raymond Zhou on the day of the film’s U.S. red carpet premiere (it’s out widely on Sept.

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.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefMartin Lau, president and executive director of China’s tech and entertainment industry leader Tencent, on Wednesday explained the positive outcome from the maelstrom of new regulation that the Chinese government is currently imposing on the internet.In less than a year, regulators from multiple departments and ministries have besieged the country’s leading private sector companies.

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.

Last week, it was revealed that The Criterion Collection would add a new disc format to its release schedule, announcing its first batch of 4K UHD titles. And in November, the first wave of those titles, as well as a highly-anticipated box set, aim to lighten your wallets.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefUniversal Music Greater China, part of Universal Music Group, has unveiled plans to significantly expand its recorded music activities in the Middle Kingdom.

Rebecca Davis editorChina is readying a blacklist for karaoke songs in order to ban tracks featuring “illegal” content, its Ministry of Culture and Tourism said.Such content includes anything that harms national unity, sovereignty or territorial integrity, endangers national security or harms national honor, incites ethnic hatred or undermines ethnic unity, violates religious policies, promotes illegal activities like gambling or drugs, or runs “contrary to public morality,” it stated in vague

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,

Donnie Yen stars in Raging Fire, the Hong Kong/Chinese actioner that’s hitting domestic cinemas on Friday (via Well Go USA) as it nears $100M at the China box office. Directed by the late Benny Chan, it introduces us to Yen’s character, Shan, as a principled cop who’s protective of his pregnant wife (who rarely speaks).

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefiQiyi, China’s second largest generalist subscription video platform, weighed in with net losses of RMB1.40 billion ($216 million) in the second quarter of 2021, compared with losses of RMB1.44 billion ($222 million) in the April to June period in 2020.Revenues also improved fractionally, from RMB7.41 billion last time to RMB7.61 billion ($1.17 billion).

BBC. Due to take effect on Oct.

election of Tsai Ing-wen, who favors Taiwan’s current de facto independence, as the island’s president in 2016 ushered in a period of deteriorating relations.

Rebecca Davis editorThe list of major Hollywood tentpoles that have released in the U.S. in the past month but not yet fixed a China release date is growing ever longer — an issue of significant concern to industry players on both sides of the Pacific.“Black Widow,” “Space Jam: A New Legacy,” “Jungle Cruise” and now “The Suicide Squad” have all rolled out Stateside but given no formal indication of when and whether they will debut in the world’s largest film market.

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.

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 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.