China Hands Out April Release Dates To ‘Ambulance,’ ‘The Bad Guys’ & ‘Escape Room: Tournament Of Champions’

BTS.On the most recent episode of The Joe Budden Podcast, was released on April 6, the 41-year-old rapper discussed his thoughts about the K-pop boyband with co-hosts Ice, Ish and Parks Vallely, during which he said: “You can get mad at me… but I hate them BTS n***as.”When asked by his co-hosts to elaborate, Budden said: “Do I need a reason? … I hate them n****s. I don’t have to divulge my reason to you, I just hate them n****s.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefCinema box office in mainland China crumbled to its lowest weekend total this year as the film industry was once again hit by the impact of anti-coronavirus lockdowns. Nationwide, cinemas recorded just $12.6 million of business.Virus infections are spiking sharply upwards in some parts of the country, caused by the spread of the highly infectious Omicron variant of the COVID-19 disease, though in comparison with many other countries absolute numbers remain low.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefChinese filmmaker, artist and influencer Yi Zhou has launched a cluster of companies that have begun making feature movies for the metaverse.Zhou, who departed China in 2011, trained in Paris and London, before settling in Rome for several years where she worked as an installation artist, fashion influencer for Chinese streaming site Tudou (now part of Alibaba) and short film director. Three of her shorts have played in Sundance, while another played at the Venice Festival.In 2018, Zhou relocated to Los Angeles in order to increase her focus on developing entertainment endeavors.

Gemma Chan is making things happen for an Anna May Wong biopic.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefColumbia Pictures’ 2021 horror-thriller “Escape Room: Tournament of Champions” has been given official approval to release in cinemas in mainland China. It will launch on Saturday April 2, 2022.Directed by Adam Robitel, it is the sequel to the psychological thriller “Escape Room” that terrified audiences around the world in 2019. In the new installment, six people unwittingly find themselves locked in another series of escape rooms, slowly uncovering what they have in common to survive.The film was released in many international markets and in North America in July last year.

SEVENTEEN are set to release an English-language single in April, ahead of their full-length album in May.Today (March 24), the boyband’s agency Pledis Entertainment announced in a statement to South Korean media outlet OSEN that the K-pop group would unveil a pre-release single next month.Notably, the upcoming single will be their first English-language track performed by all 13 members of the boyband. Prior to this, sub-units and solo members of the group have released songs in English, including Vernon and Joshua on ‘2 Minus 1’ from group’s most recent mini-album ‘Attacca’ released in May, and Woozi with his solo mixtape ‘Ruby’.The as-yet-untitled song will come ahead of SEVENTEEN’s upcoming full-length album, which arrives in May.

EXCLUSIVE: Amazon Studios is negotiating a feature deal on the Shipli Somaya Gowda novel Secret Daughter, with an impressive package that has Chinese helmer Anthony Chen (llo llo, Wet Season) attached to direct Priyanka Chopra Jonas and Sienna Miller in the lead roles. Shruti Ganguly will adapt the novel.

country saw a rise in coronavirus cases.The amusement park posted a “Friendly Reminder” on their website Monday to alert fans of the new change.“Due to the current pandemic situation, Shanghai Disney Resort, including Shanghai Disneyland, Disneytown and Wishing Star Park will be temporarily closed from Monday, March 21, 2022,” the company wrote.The memo continued, “We will continue to monitor the pandemic situation and consult local authorities, and will notify guests as soon as we have a confirmed date to resume operations.”“We apologize for the inconvenience and will provide refund or exchange for all guests impacted during this period. Thank you for your understanding and cooperation! We look forward to seeing you soon,” they concluded.Chinese officials reported 1,807 new symptomatic COVID cases on March 13 and two people died from the virus over the weekend, the first couple in over a year.The Shanghai Disney Resort first put a halt to functionalities because of COVID-19 back in January 2020.

A Boeing 737 flight carrying over 133 passengers has crashed in the mountains of China, with smoke seen billowing from the scene of the incident.

A plane carrying more than 100 passengers has crashed into a mountain in China, with smoke being seen terminating from the site of the incident.

After moving to reduced capacity earlier this month amid a surge in Covid cases, China’s Shanghai Disney Resort has opted to temporarily shutter beginning today.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefThe Shanghai Disneyland theme park closed its doors from Monday in response to China’s growing number of COVID-19 cases. It offered no indication of when the park might reopen.“Due to the current pandemic situation, Shanghai Disney Resort, including Shanghai Disneyland, Disneytown and Wishing Star Park will be temporarily closed from Monday, March 21, 2022. We will continue to monitor the pandemic situation and consult local authorities, and will notify guests as soon as we have a confirmed date to resume operations.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief‘The Batman’ flew to an opening weekend of $11.6 million and landed in first place at the box office in China. It was the biggest opening this year in China for a Hollywood title but, with a return of coronavirus problems affecting cinema operations, the result has a tinge of missed opportunity.Data from consultancy Artisan Gateway showed the film amassing $11.8 million including previews from Thursday. Imax reported that the film earned $2 million of that total from its screens or 16% of the films China weekend total.

Warner Bros/DC’s The Batman released in China today, getting off to an RMB 23.3M ($3.7M) start, including previews. The inauspicious bow was expected given that about 35% of the market’s cinemas have been temporarily shuttered amid a new Covid spike. The good news is that the film has a strong 9 score on platforms Tao Piao Piao and Maoyan. The latter is currently predicting an RMB 194.3M ($30.5M) final tally for the Caped Crusader’s full run.