China Box Office Hit ‘Sheep Without A Shepherd’ Sets UK Theatrical Release

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.

Nancy Tartaglione International Box Office Editor/Senior ContributorAs expected, Chinese authorities have given the go-ahead for cinemas in Beijing to reopen this coming Friday. That’s also when the first new Hollywood titles will hit the market, including Dolittle and Bloodshot.

Nancy Tartaglione International Box Office Editor/Senior ContributorEXCLUSIVE: Lots of movement on the international box office front this past weekend, and into the beginning of the week. Korean zombie sequel Peninsula, as we reported Sunday, made a meal of five overseas markets with a $21M Wednesday-Sunday frame.

Rebecca Davis editorParamount Pictures’ “Sonic the Hedgehog” will finally debut on the big screen in China on July 31, becoming the headliner for the second weekend of business for newly reopened cinemas.The film will compete for audience attention with two other animated titles now set to hit screens July 31: a re-release of the 2014 Disney animated film “Big Hero 6,” which grossed $83.8 million in Chinese cinemas in 2015, and new local animation “Mr.

Nancy Tartaglione International Box Office Editor/Senior ContributorAs Chinese cinemas began the reopening process today, box office crossed $472K by 8PM local. Maoyan’s real-time ticketing platform reports that play is led by new entry A First Farewell at around $184K.

Action pic Bloodshot and adventure epic Dolittle will open in China on July 24, becoming the first Hollywood movies to play there since theaters closed in late January amid the coronavirus pandemic. Oscar winner 1917 will open in the world's second-largest moviegoing market a week later.

Nancy Tartaglione International Box Office Editor/Senior ContributorEXCLUSIVE: Wasting no time as cinemas prepare to reopen beginning next week in most of China, a first batch of titles due for release has been identified. Universal’s Dolittle has been granted a July 24 date while we understand that Sony’s Bloodshot, handled locally by Bona Film, will also go out that same day.

A 40-year-old Star Wars film has topped the box office chart in the UK, as cinemas continue to resort to old favourites to woo back customers.

China's largest cinema chain operator Wanda Film said it expects to lose $214 to $228 million (RMB 1.5 to 1.6 billion) in the first half of 2020 thanks to over five months on continual cinema shutdowns in response to the coronavirus pandemic. The decline represents a stark reversal of fortunes from the $75 million profit the Chinese exhibition giant reported during the same period in 2019.

Rebecca Davis editorChinese production firm Aim Media has sold the North American rights of director Yang Lina’s “Spring Tide” to distributor China Lion. Smart Cinema, the new venture by former Wanda executive Jack Gao, has also bought the rights to screen the film on its platform in South Korea.

Tom Grater International Film ReporterEXCLUSIVE: Leading Russian animation outfit Riki Group has signed a deal with Beijing-based producer and distributor Joy Culture and Chinese platform Tencent Video to partner on season four of animated series The Fixies.Following its acquisition of the show’s third season, Tencent will now invest in the production of 52 new episodes of the series, which follows the comical misadventures of Tom Thomas and his secret friendship with Simka and Nolik, two young

China has reported a case of deadly dengue fever after it detected a man suffering from bubonic plague. Officials say a person was taken ill with the infection - which is spread by mosquitos - in the eastern city of Guangde on Sunday.

Nancy Tartaglione International Box Office Editor/Senior ContributorKorean hit #Alive kicked up another $2.2M this weekend, holding well throughout the mid-weeks, but with an overall 63% Friday-Saturday-Sunday dip from the comparable weekend days last session. The timely thriller that’s set against the backdrop of a city in lockdown due to a virus has now grossed $11M.

Shaun the Sheephas gone truly global. Aardman's much-loved animated farmyard creation and his flock of woolly friends are heading to China following a deal with Tencent Video, which will see the Chinese streaming platform become home to all 170 episodes of the Shaun the Sheep TVseries, including season 6, which launched earlier this year.

Tom Grater International Film ReporterAardman, the Oscar-winning UK animation studio, has inked a deal with Chinese major Tencent that will see its Shaun The Sheep series hosted on the latter’s video platform. Shaun is hosted around the world by Netflix, which isn’t in China so this latest deal completes the global picture on the franchise.