China Box Office Wavers Amid Politics, a Pandemic and a Freeze on Hollywood Movies

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefAction-adventure film, “Schemes in Antiques” grabbed the top spot at the mainland China box office with a solid $25.6 million debut.It deposed crime comedy “Be Somebody” which had topped the chart for the past three weekends and earned $13.3 million in its fourth weekend, according to data from consultancy Artisan Gateway.

After having been cleared by authorities in late November for an eventual China release, the market has now given Warner Bros/Village Roadshow’s highly-anticipated The Matrix Resurrections an official date — on January 14, 2022.

UPDATE:  China has responded to the Women’s Tennis Association announcement on Wednesday that it is suspending all of its tournaments in that country. The WTA said it was taken the action because of  concerns about the treatment of tennis star Peng Shuai.

Rebecca Davis editorYet another week has passed without any news of a release date for Sony’s “Venom: Let There Be Carnage,” which debuted stateside Oct.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefCrime comedy film “Be Somebody” held up strongly at the top of the mainland Chinese box office, in a weekend where the top four places remained unchanged.“Be Somebody” scored $21.9 million on its third weekend of release, just 8% down on its second weekend figure, according to data from consultancy Artisan Gateway. That give it a cumulative gross of $94.4 million, since releasing on Nov.

Happy Friday International Insiders, Tom Grater here delivering your post-Thanksgiving rundown of the week’s top headlines. To get this sent to your inbox every Friday, sign up here.

“The Battle at Lake Changjin,” has made a whopping $892 million in the communist country since it was released there on Sept.

official notice uploaded by the association, the blacklist was created to “strengthen industry self-discipline.”The notice also mentions the need to prevent “celebrities who violated the law or ethical standards from rebranding themselves on other platforms” and to “purify the environment of the online entertainment industry,” per RADII.This list includes singer Kris Wu, who was previously a member of South Korean boyband EXO.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief“The Battle at Lake Changjin” has become the highest grossing film of all time in China, after nearly two months of release. Co-directed by a trio of major helmers, Dante Lam, Chen Kaige and Tsui Hark, it is also the top earning film in the world this year.The Chinese record was achieved on Wednesday evening local time when the film passed the RMB5.69 billion total achieved in 2017 by “Wolf Warrior II,” another patriotic war film.