China Box Office: ‘Jonny Keep Walking’ Reaches $134 Million on Fourth Weekend

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Sony Pictures has acquired international distribution rights to “YOLO,” a mainland Chinese comedy film that releases in China on Saturday, the first day of the Lunar New Year holiday. The film is written, directed by and stars Jia Ling, China’s top-grossing female filmmaker. She portrays Le Ying, an unemployed woman in her thirties who still lives with her parents until one day, she meets a boxing coach (portrayed by Lei Jiayin), who just may change her life.

Naman Ramachandran Viacom18 and Marflix’s Bollywood actioner “Fighter” was the highest grossing film of the weekend at the global box office, with box office revenues of $25.1 million, according to data from ComScore. The film, directed by Siddharth Anand, whose previous film, Shah Rukh Khan starrer “Pathaan,” was one of the biggest Indian hits of 2023, stars Bollywood A-listers Hrithik Roshan, Deepika Padukone and Anil Kapoor. “Fighter” revolves around the Indian Air Force and released on Thursday, Jan.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Fish out of water comedy film “Jonny Keep Walking” kept its place at the top of the mainland China box office in its fifth weekend of release. The top five titles remained unchanged from the previous week. “Jonny,” in which a man from the countryside struggles to hold down a corporate job in a big city, earned $12.1 million (RMB86.2 million), according to data from consultancy Artisan Gateway.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief “Citizen of a Kind,” a comedy-drama about a woman who takes matters into her own hands after becoming the victim of a scam, fulfilled its promise from an earlier week of previews. “Citizen” topped the South Korean box office on its opening weekend, accounting for a more than 40% market share.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Sony Pictures‘ “Madame Web,” a standalone origin story in the studio’s array of “Spider-Man”-based Marvel characters, has been granted a theatrical release in mainland China. The film will open in the country on March 1 — two weeks after the title’s Valentine’s Day bow in North America and multiple international territories, including the Chinese-language markets of Taiwan and Hong Kong. The release marks a welcome opportunity for Sony, which, along with the other traditional studios faced difficulty in securing theatrical runs in China over recent years.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Six projects have been announced as participating in the inaugural edition of the HKIFF Industry – CAA China Genre Initiative, a project incubator in Hong Kong for Chinese-language genre films. The HCG platform will run March 11-13, 2024, alongside the 22nd Hong Kong – Asia Film Financing Forum (HAF) and the Hong Kong International Film & TV Market (FilMart), Asia’s largest film and TV rights market. From the six, two winning projects will each receive a cash prize of $20,000 for development funding.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Three Japanese films enjoying their world premieres, along with festival favorites “City of Wind” and “Solids by the Seashore,” are set to appear in the 13-title competition section of the Osaka Asian Film Festival in March. The event will be held March 1-10 at venues including ABC Hall, Cine Libre Umeda, T-Joy Umeda and the Nakanoshima Museum of Art. The opening and closing films will be announced in early February. The 19th edition of the festival, which will eventually contain 55 feature and short films, is set to also include three special programs – a “Thai Cinema Kaleidoscope,” “Taiwan: Movies on the Move,” and “Special Focus on Hong Kong” – as well as its regular Spotlight Section on underrated Asian films and the Indie Forum of more challenging and innovative works. The competition titles are: “City of Wind,” by Mongolia’s Lkhagvadulam Purev-Ochir; “Fire on Water,” by Malaysia’s Sun-J Perumal; “Hyphen,” by The Philippines Joy Arnaldo; “The Lyricist Wannabe,” by Hong Kong’s Norris Wong; “The Missing,” by The Philippines’ Carl Joseph E.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Iconic Hollywood musical film “La La Land” is to re-release (again) in South Korean theaters from Wednesday. Distributed by Pancinema, it will play at the country’s Imax cinemas for a one-week limited run with tickets costing upwards of KRW15,000 ($11.25) for adults. The film was directed by Damien Chazelle and stars Ryan Gosling (newly Oscar-nominated for his role as Ken in “Barbie”) and Emma Stone, and holds the box office record for movie musicals with global box office of $470 million. It recently re-released in cinemas in China in time for the Christmas peak season.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief The CinemAsia Film Festival in Amsterdam has unveiled titles from seven different Asian countries for its competition section. The festival will play at the Studio/K, Rialto De Pijp and Rialto VU venues March 5-10, 2024. The event will close with the out-of-competition screening of “Gaga,” a drama about indigenous communities in Taiwan, directed by Laha Mebow. “Gaga” documents the challenges faced by a commune after the death of a respected tribal elder who, while alive, had held things together.

“Mean Girls” repeated atop the box office with $11.7 million in ticket sales, according to studio estimates Sunday, while a handful of awards contenders sought to make an impact ahead of Oscar nominations Tuesday.With a dearth of new releases in cinemas, Paramount Pictures’ Tina Fey-scripted musical “Mean Girls” pushed its two-week total past $50 million, along with $16.2 million internationally. So far, it’s outpacing the tally for the 2004 original “Mean Girls.”Only one new film debuted in wide release: “I.S.S.,” a modestly budgeted sci-fi thriller starring Ariana DeBose.

So, here we are in mid-January, and though we’re staring down the barrel of a tough year ahead, it’s not all wintry doom and gloom on an international box office (and combined global) level. 

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief First-time mainland Chinese director Lin Jianjie (aka JJ Lin) makes a splash this weekend with the premiere of his “Brief History of a Family.” Asking questions about family in the era since the end of China’s ‘One Child Policy,’ while also borrowing genre tropes such as the idea of the intruder and blood, it is a polished and ultra-modern fable that sees a teenage schoolboy ingratiate himself into another boy’s family.Variety spoke to biologist-turned-filmmaker Lin on the eve of his Sundance debut.How did you get from zero to making your first feature?[After graduating in biology] I did two short films at film school. I went to Tisch Asia, which had a campus in Singapore. We also had an exchange program with Tisch in New York.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Leading Asian film directors including Josh Kim, Fukada Koji and Patiparn Boontarig line up to pitch their in-development projects at the March edition of the Hong Kong – Asia Film Financing Forum (HAF). Leading directors Wang Xiaoshuai and Zhang Lu will also be on the ground at HAF, operating as producers. So too will established producers Yamamoto Teruhisa (“Drive My Car”) and Michael J.

Michaela Zee Paramount’s “Mean Girls” musical earned a grool $33.2 million from 3,791 theaters over the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday weekend, beating expectations. Based on the Broadway adaptation of the 2004 comedy classic, “Mean Girls” was originally commissioned with plans to skip theaters and make a streaming debut directly on Paramount+, but executives opted for a theatrical release after test screenings.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Fish out of water comedy film “Jonny Keep Walking” kept its place at the top of the mainland China box office in its third week of release. Two newcomers broke into the top five, comedy “Follow Bear for Action” and imported action title “The Beekeeper.” “Jonny,” in which a man from the countryside struggles to hold down a corporate job in a big city, earned $19.7 million (140 million), according to data from consultancy Artisan Gateway. That was another strong hold after an opening weekend of $26.1 million (on Dec.

Refresh for latest…: Warner Bros/Village Roadshow/Heyday Films’ Wonka continues its sweet run, crossing the $500M mark globally this weekend. The worldwide cume through Sunday is $505.3M including $329.1M from the international box office and with Korea, which has a fondness for Hollywood musicals, still to release at the end of the month.

J. Kim Murphy Paramount’s “Mean Girls” musical is winning most popular at the domestic box office this weekend. The adaptation of the Broadway adaptation of the beloved 2004 comedy is off to a strong start, coming in ahead of the latest Jason Statham actioner “The Beekeeper“ “Mean Girls” earned $11.65 million from 3,791 theaters across Friday and preview screenings, tracking to a four-day opening of $31.5 million through the Martin Luther King Jr.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Hamaguchi Ryusuke’s “Evil Does Not Exist” and Korean blockbuster “12.12: The Day” dominated the nominations for the 17th edition of the Asian Film Awards. Both picked up six nominations, including those in the best film category. The nominations were announced on Friday afternoon in Hong Kong, ahead of a ceremony on March 10, that will return to the city’s West Kowloon Cultural District and the Qiyu Centre.

Globally, including most everywhere overseas, 2023 box office was led by a mix of Barbie, The Super Mario Bros. Movie and Oppenheimer, curious bedfellows who nevertheless proved that cultural phenomena can come in different forms and set turnstiles spinning.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media Reporter Can “Mean Girls” make fetch happen at the box office? Paramount’s new take on the teen classic is aiming to generate $30 million from 3,800 North American theaters over Martin Luther King Jr. weekend. The studio projecting a debut in the high $20 million range.