China Censors Approve Tibetan Director Pema Tseden’s Next Film for Production

Netflix asked him to change the location of his new film Hustle from China to Majorca.Sandler, who signed a new deal with Netflix at the start of 2020 to make four more original films, explained that the streaming giant changed his original concept for the new film about a basketball recruiter who travels overseas.“It was written originally that I find a player in China and somehow, Netflix is not in China,” Sandler said on The Dan Patrick Show.“So they were like, ‘Would you guys please make it

Thursday appearance on “The Dan Patrick Show,” in which he discussed his new sports comedy “Hustle.” In the flick, which is currently in the post-production phase, Sandler plays a washed-up basketball agent who attempts to save his flatlining career by recruiting a talented overseas player to the NBA.“It was written originally that I find a player in China and somehow, Netflix is not in China,” the “Happy Gilmore” star told Patrick.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefFrank Zhu, former head of Chinese animation studio Pearl Studio, has joined Tencent-owned Riot Games as MD for Riot Games’ China Entertainment.

Pearl Studio alum Frank Zhu has joined Riot Games as the League of Legends and Valorant publisher’s  Managing Director of China Entertainment.

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Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefChina on Monday announced strict new rules that will ban children from playing online games during weekdays and limit them to just three hours per week.The rules were unveiled by the National Press and Publication Administration in order to curb gaming addiction among teenagers, state news agency Xinhua reported.Gamers aged below 18 will be limited to one hour of online game play, between 8 p.m. and 9 p.m.

BEIJING -- China is banning children from playing online games for more than three hours a week, the harshest restriction so far on the game industry as Chinese regulators continue cracking down on the technology sector.Minors in China can only play games between 8 p.m. to 9 p.m.

Harry Potter, Jurassic Park and Kung Fu Panda film franchises feature heavily, along with the Minions from the “Despicable Me” movies.Beijing's historic sites have long drawn tourists.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief“Free Guy” grabbed a convincing win at the top of the China box office, marking the end of a Hollywood drought and was earned despite difficult conditions.The family-friendly comedy earned $23.8 million in three days, according to data from Artisan Gateway. That was fully 56% of the nationwide theatrical haul between Friday and Sunday.It earned $3.77 million of its total from Imax screens.

Refresh for latest…: One of the only Hollywood titles to recently be granted a China release date, Disney/20th Century Studios’ Free Guy flew into the market with a $23.9M start. This is a solid launch in the Middle Kingdom, particularly in the current climate, and helped push the Ryan Reynolds-starrer past $100M at the international box office. The full offshore weekend was $37.3M in 47 markets, a slight 23% drop from last session, and the total overseas cume is now $100.3M for $179.6M global.

After a two-month blackout period in China for Hollywood movies, Disney/20th Century Studios’ Free Guy is looking to lead all pics in the country at the weekend B.O. with a $18M+, possibly $20M take. That’s a promising start for one of the first big movies from Hollywood after a long-hiatus, besting the $15M opening weekend of A Quiet Place Part II, and the $7.8M first weekend of Peter Rabbit 2: The Runaway. 

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefChina announced further steps to control celebrity fan culture, which regulators say has become “chaotic.” The moves came as one of China’s most prominent stars Vicki Zhao Wei was scrubbed from the internet and another star, female actor Zheng Shuang was embroiled in a tax scandal.The Cyberspace Administration of China on Friday issued a pair of connected notices.

For a film that almost didn’t get made, 76 Days has racked up an impressive number of awards.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefHollywood film franchises such as “xXx,” “Warcraft” and “Resident Evil” used to be largely sustained by their box office performance in China, which significantly exceeded their North American hauls and drove global grosses. Frequently, Hollywood titles would dominate the Chinese box office charts during most weeks.But in recent years, that tide has been turning.

Music Business Worldwide (MBW), the country’s Ministry of Culture and Tourism has announced that from October 1 any music that breaches a fresh set of government rules will be scrapped from karaoke bars.Among the contraventions include music that “violates the state’s religious policies or promotes cults and superstitions,” “insults or defames others” or “endangers national security or harms national honour or interests”.A Reddit user posted a direct translation of the new government rules in

Rebecca Davis editorDisney’s “Luca” is the first Hollywood picture to get a release in China in weeks, but its opening figures didn’t make that big of a splash — at least, not close to enough to douse the continued reign of Donnie Yen action film “Raging Fire.”The animation directed and co-written by Enrico Casarosa swam to a $5.1 million China opening weekend, according to consultancy Artisan Gateway.

As the fall festivals Venice, Telluride and Toronto, as well as New York and London continue to evolve in the surging Covid environment, AFI Fest has announced it is moving full speed ahead.