Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief The Busan International Film Festival put aside many of its recent internal and local political problems to Tuesday unveil a large selection ranging from bleeding edge art titles to international festival favorites. “The difficult times are not behind us, but hard work has made this year’s festival better than ever,” said programmer and interim festival chief Nam Dong-chul, speaking at an online press conference. International guests expected to attend the festival include Luc Besson, Chinese superstar Fan Bingbing, Japanese directors Hamaguchi Ryusuke and Kore-Eda Hirokazu, Iranian filmmaker Mohsen Makhmalbaf, and Korean Americans Justin Chon (“Gook”) and Lee Isaac Chung (“Minari”). Hong Kong-based superstar Chow Yun-fat has been named as Busan’s Asian Filmmaker of the Year and will be in person to receive the award.
China Box Office Reaches All-Time Summer Record, With Minimal Help From Hollywood
17.08.2023 - 15:17 / variety.com
Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief The box office in mainland China reached an all-time high in the summer season, according to figures from ticketing agency Maoyan Entertainment. The record was achieved with minimal input from Hollywood.
Maoyan, which defines China’s cinematic summer as running from the beginning of June to the end of August, says that the previous record of RMB17.8 billion, set in 2018, was beaten on Thursday evening (local time) – some two weeks before the end of the current season. China’s cinema-going rebound started with a jolt after mainland authorities abruptly dropped anti-COVID restrictions in mid-December 2022 allowing “Avatar: The Way of Water” to profit from a wave of revenge consumption.
The late January to early February Chinese New Year period also delivered a record box office of about $1 billion, before the gravitational pull of China’s slowing economy flattened the recovery. The summer season has witnessed a succession of locally-produced films across a span of different genres become major hits.
These include: “Lost in the Stars” (mystery drama), “No More Bets” (crime-action), “Creation of the Gods I: Kingdom of Storms” (historical fantasy), “One and Only” (youth dance-drama), “Chang An” (animation), “Meg 2: The Trench” (English-language action adventure) and “Never Say Never” (uplifting martial arts drama). Unusually, there has been no sign of the summer season blackout period that authorities have mandated in many previous years.
These “Chinese film support months” have typically lasted for three to four weeks and seen revenue-sharing Hollywood movies prevented from receiving theatrical releases. Instead, this year, Hollywood films have been imported with almost pre-pandemic
.
China Box Office: ‘Oppenheimer’ Enjoys $30 Million Five-Day Opening as ‘Gran Turismo’ Stalls
Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief “Oppenheimer” landed on top of the mainland China cinema box office with an impressive score for a Hollywood movie in the current climate. More typically, gaming adaptation “Gran Turismo” failed to get far off the start line. While most films open in China on Fridays, Christopher Nolan’s nuclear opus was given a wide release from Wednesday. It scored $21.3 million (RMB154 million) over the conventional Friday to Sunday weekend and $30.7 million (RMB221 million) over its opening five days, according to data from consultancy firm Artisan Gateway.
‘Equalizer 3’ Clocks Franchise-Best WW Debut; ‘Oppenheimer’ Reaches $851M Global With Strong China Start, ‘Barbie’ Dances To $1.38B+ – International Box Office
Though Labor Day is upon us domestically — and its somewhat equivalents in many overseas markets to mark the end of summer — the hits keep coming as holds this session were strong on the season’s leaders while a new entry surprised. To wit, and starting with the latter: Sony/Escape Artists’ The Equalizer 3 blazed to a $60.6M global start this weekend, to clock the franchise’s best opening ever. Of that, the $26.1M debut in 49 international box office markets was also a new record bow for the Denzel Washington-led series.
Venice Classics: Unapologetic, ‘Bugis Street’ Director Yonfan Says Film Restoration Reveals New Layers of Image and Meaning
Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Hong Kong-based, Mainland China-born auteur Yonfan has scandalized and enthralled Chinese-speaking parts of Asia in a career that has spanned fine-art photography, filmmaking and journalism. Further afield, he has become a regular on the Lido. His 1995 feature “Bugis Street,” which has been restored and is screening in the Venice Classics section, achieved notoriety at the time of its debut. It is set in the red-light area of Singapore, at a time shortly after the country had achieved independence and before it earned its buttoned-up, conservative reputation. Loosely structured, the film follows a 16-year-old woman (played by Hiep Thi Le), who’s an employee at the appropriately named Sin Sin Hotel.
Summer Box Office 2023: ‘Barbenheimer’ Brought Audiences Back, But Uncertainty Around Strikes Could Capsize 2024
This summer’s box office is set to hit $4 billion for the 13th time ever, +16% over last summer. Barbie and Oppenheimer, which together rep 22% of that figure created a blast radius, finally bringing infrequent moviegoers back to cinemas after Covid sidelined audiences.
CAA China Launches Genre Film Initiative in Hong Kong
Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief CAA China has teamed up with the Hong Kong International Film Festival Society to unveil a joint initiative that will foster Chinese-language genre film projects. The HGC initiative will operate an open call for projects from Monday until the end of October.
‘Oppenheimer’ beats ‘Barbie’ at global box office for first time
Oppenheimer has topped the worldwide box office in its sixth week of release, surpassing Barbie for the first time.Since both films were released on July 21, Greta Gerwig’s fantasy comedy has remained ahead of Oppenheimer at the global box office. On the weekend of August 25-27, however, Christopher Nolan’s historical drama topped the chart.As reported by ScreenDaily, Oppenheimer took $38.1million globally within the weekend timeframe, while Barbie trailed behind with $35.3million.The boost is a result of Oppenheimer’s belated release in two new countries: Italy, where it grossed $9.7million over its five-day debut, and Greece, where it racked up $882,000.The film looks set to receive a significant boost this week, with Oppenheimer opening in China on Wednesday (August 30).Despite trailing behind this week, Barbie is still on track to surpass The Super Mario Bros. Movie as the highest-grossing movie of 2023.
Busan Film Festival Competition Showcases Mori Tatsuya’s Feature Debut, Choi Ji’s Exploration of Hong Kong, Bangladesh Trio
Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief The main competition section of the Busan International Film Festival is set to showcase two new features from Bangladeshi directors, the feature debut of Japanese documentary maker Mori Tatsuya and ruminations on Hong Kong by mainland Chinese director Choi Ji. The festival on Wednesday unveiled its New Currents competition section, reserved for films by directors making their first or second works of fiction, as well as its Jiseok section, a showcase for somewhat more established Asian auteurs. In addition to the Bangladesh duo, New Currents includes two films from Japan, two from Korea and one each from China, Thailand, Malaysia and India. From Bangladesh, Iqbal H. Chowdhury’s “The Wrestler” sees an old fisherman challenge a wrestling champion to combat, and in “The Stranger” Biplob Sarkar tells a coming-of-age, gender-identity tale. From Japan, Mori recounts the events of the Great Kanto earthquake in “September 1923,” while Yamamoto Akira delves into profound and shocking love in “After the Fever.” New Currents’ Korean contributions come from Lee Jong-su, whose “Heritage” tracks a man who opts out of military service and his supervisor, and Sohn Hyun-lok, whose “That Summer’s Lie” blurs truth and fiction in memories of a past romance. India’s Rajesh S.
China Box Office: ‘No More Bets’ Hits $470 Million After Fourth Weekend on Top
Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Chinese crime action film “No More Bets” headed the mainland China box office for the fourth consecutive weekend, cementing its place as one of the biggest films in the world this year. Between Friday and Sunday, it earned $33.5 million (RMB241 million), according to data from specialist consultancy firm Artisan Gateway. Global data provider Comscore ranked that as the third highest performance of the weekend anywhere in the world, narrowly behind “Barbie’s” $35.3 million. The latest increment advanced “No More Bets’” cumulative score to $469 million (RMB3.37 billion). “Papa,” a comedy about parental efforts to improve their son’s education, held an unchanged second place in its second week.
‘Barbie’ Reaches $1.34B, Will Become WB’s Biggest Movie Ever Worldwide On Monday; ‘Oppenheimer’ Nears $800M Global – International Box Office
Summer may be drawing to a close, but the blockbusters of the season are still basking in box office glory. To wit: Greta Gerwig’s Barbie is poised to become the highest-grossing Warner Bros movie of all time globally on Monday. Through today, the worldwide estimate is $1.34B, meaning just $1M separates it from Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 to attain the record.
China’s Tencent Grinds Out Profits Increase in Second Quarter, as Local Games and Economy Slow
Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Tencent, the Chinese games, social media and streaming giant, reported further quarterly profits recovery after a dire 2022. But its revenues for the April-June period missed financial analysts’ expectations and point to continued weakness in the Chinese economy. Group revenues for the period were RMB149 billion ($20.6 billion), representing an 11% year-on-year growth, but a 1% quarter-on-quarter decline.
Tencent Music Passes 100 Million Subscriber Landmark as Quarterly Profits Soar
Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief The number of paying streaming subscribers at China’s Tencent Music Entertainment hit 100 million in the June, the company said Tuesday as it revealed its second quarter financials. Subscriber numbers increased by 20% year on year and by 5 million quarter on quarter, to hit 99.4 million, the company said. That increase helped quarterly revenues from music subscriptions to rise by 37% year-on-year to RMB2.89 billion ($399 million).
China Box Office: ‘No More Bets’ Beats ‘Barbie’ to World-Leading Weekend Haul
Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Chinese crime action movie “No More Bets,” not “Barbie,” was the best performing film in the world this weekend. Comscore calculates that “No More Bets,” earned $88 million between Friday and Sunday in China alone. That figure is greater than the $33.7 million that “Barbie” earned in its fourth weekend of release in North America and the $45.1 million that it earned in international territories (for a global, weekend total of $78.8 million).
‘Barbie’ Sails Past $1.18B Global, ‘Oppenheimer’ Closing In On $650M, ‘Meg 2’ Tops $250M & ‘Gran Turismo’ Starts Early Overseas Engines – International Box Office
Refresh for latest…: It’s still a Barbie world this weekend as the Greta Gerwig-directed charmer reached a global cume of $1.184B. Last session, Margot Robbie’s living doll crossed the $1B threshold, and in this 4th frame added $45.1M in 75 offshore markets (a 47% dip) to bring the international box office cume to $657.6M.
‘Barbie’ is still the reigning queen of the summer box office
according to IMDB’s Box Office Mojo.This week, it surpassed the $500 million mark, making its director Greta Gerwig the highest earning female director ever at the domestic box office, beating the record held by “Frozen II‘s” Jennifer Lee.The movie is so popular that searches for the baby name “Barbie” have increased by a staggering 603% since April, when its trailer was released.“Oppenheimer,” which was in fourth place last week, moved back up to the No. 2 spot with $5.1 million in sales.This week, the Christopher Nolan filmbecame the highest grossing ever at Hollywood’s TCL Chinese Theatre in the location’s 97-year history, according to Deadline.
‘Barbenheimer’s’ Global Box Office Battle: How the Two Blockbusters Are Performing in Countries Around the World
Box Office Mojo. “Barbie” has dominated the box office in the United States and Canada, making over $485.4 million as of Aug. 9.
‘Last Voyage Of The Demeter’ Charts $750K In Thursday Night Previews; ‘Barbie’ Crossing Half Billion U.S. Today – Box Office
FRIDAY AM UPDATE, refresh for more…The only new wide release this weekend is Amblin’s period Dracula horror pic The Last Voyage of the Demeter being distributed by Universal. It made $750K last night in previews from showtimes that began at 5PM in 2,350 theaters in what is expected to be an underwhelming 3-day single digit million result for the $45M feature production. The R-rated pic expands to 2,715 theaters today.
‘Lost in the Stars’ Helps Alibaba Entertainment Businesses Towards Quarterly Profits
Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Box office hit “Lost in the Stars” was a contributor to the April to June profits recorded by Chinese tech giant Alibaba’s digital media and entertainment division. The division, which spans streaming, ticketing, film production and distribution and web browser, recorded earnings before interest, taxation and amortization (EBITA) of $9 million (RMB63 million). That follows many years of losses, including $126 million (RMB907 million) of EBITA losses in the equivalent quarter last year.
China Box Office: ‘No More Bets’ and ‘Meg 2’ Split Meaty Weekend Total
Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief “Meg 2: The Trench,” the second instalment in the Chinese-financed giant shark franchise, was the top film worldwide over the weekend. But in its China home market “Meg 2” was beaten by strong previews of “No More Bets.” Nevertheless, the arrival of two popular films at the top of the chart meant that China enjoyed its third highest box office weekend of the year, with a $185 million haul. That score is the strongest weekend of 2023 outside the Chinese New Year holiday season.
'Meg 2' Opening Weekend - Box Office Numbers Revealed!
Meg 2: The Trench is out now, and the numbers are in!