China Imposes New Rules to Restrict Independent Online Content Creators

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefChinese indie sales agency Blossoms Entertainment returns to FilMart with a slate of large-scale commercial pictures sourced from a clutch of China’s biggest film studios.The agency, operated by former IM Global staffers Vicky Ding and Leslie Chen, is pre-selling “Railway Heroes,” a tale of heroism and wartime sabotage which is targeting a National Day release in October.

Refresh for latest…: As we first reported yesterday, James Cameron’s Avatar is again king of the all-time worldwide box office, having snapped the title back from Avengers: Endgame thanks to a very robust China reissue this session. The full three-day frame in the Middle Kingdom is estimated at $21.1M, also giving the sci-fi epic bragging rights to being the weekend’s global and international box office leader. The overseas gross is now an estimated $2,050.3M with $2,810.8M worldwide.

You know it’s a good week on Real Time when the two stories that have consumed the week’s news — the accusations against Andrew Cuomo and the accusations against the Royal Family — take a backseat to weightier topics such as crony capitalism and the hegemony of China.

If you find yourself the subject of a nationwide internet backlash, the most natural reaction might be to lie low for a while. But Chinese filmmaker Chloé Zhao probably doesn't have that option.

Rebecca Davis editorChina built more than 2,000 new screens in the first two months of the year despite the uncertainty facing the exhibition sector due to COVID-19, according to the country’s National Film Administration.China surpassed the U.S. to become the world’s largest film market last year.

When China’s theatrical sector roared back during the recent Lunar New Year holiday, hitting a record $1.2 billion in ticket revenue in a single week, a new strategy played a surprising role: surge pricing. During 2019, the last full year of normalcy before the pandemic, a ticket to the movies in China averaged 37.2 Chinese yuan ($5.70 at current exchange rates).

Rebecca Davis editorChina’s top law-making body will consider this week a popular proposition to ban actors who have used drugs from entertainment industry for life at its annual weeklong meeting, which kicked off Friday.The National People’s Congress, the country’s rubber stamp parliament, counts some 3,000 professionals from across the country as delegates, including directors Jia Zhangke, Feng Xiaogang and Chen Kaige, as well as Jackie Chan and Yao Ming.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefImax China, the supplier of giant screen cinema facilities and services in Greater China, is one of the purest plays on the mainland Chinese movie exhibition market available to investors.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefThe end came quietly with the humdrum announcement of a deal between two state-owned TV groups, China Central Television (CCTV) and South Korean public broadcaster KBS.

Exactly one year ago, Chinese film buyers were almost entirely absent from Berlin's European Film Market as broad swaths of the world's second-biggest economy remained in a state of total shutdown. Business in the U.S.

Pierre Morel’s upcoming action thrillerThe Blacksmith, which recently lost its star Nick Jonas due to a scheduling conflict, has a deal in place for the important China market. Beijing-based distributor Infotainment China Media picked up rights to the film ahead of Berlin's European Film Market and plans to stick with the project despite the casting change-up.

Rebecca Davis editorAfter Chloe Zhao became the first Asian woman to ever win the Golden Globe for best director, Chinese social media was abuzz about everything related to Zhao—except the film itself.Although most Chinese viewers have yet to see the film, many cheered the Golden Globe win. Scores of posts praised Zhao’s heartfelt acceptance speech about compassion and described her as an inspiration to women in the arts.

Refresh for latest…: Warner Bros’ hybrid live-action/animated feature Tom & Jerry began offshore rollout in mid-February, and this session became the first studio title to hit China in the wake of the Lunar New Year, as well as adding a host of other new markets. The Hanna-Barbera rascals scampered off with a further $19.4M from 33 markets at the international box office in the session, which made for a global $33.1M weekend including domestic‘s strong start.

Rebecca Davis editorMore than 35,300 suspected links to pirated versions of Chinese New Year’s films and major holiday TV programs are available online, despite government directives to crack down on piracy, new data from China shows. Rampant piracy did not stop the seven new year’s blockbusters released on Feb.

Rebecca Davis editorChina’s state broadcaster China Central Television (CCTV) announced late Monday evening that it has signed a strategic partnership in program development and online video with South Korean public broadcaster KBS.

Rebecca Davis editorWarner Brothers’ live action-animation hybrid film “Tom and Jerry” has quietly locked in a Feb. 26 release date in China, which will make it the first foreign film to hit theaters in the wake of the Chinese New Year.The lunar new year public holiday, which this year ran from Feb.

Rebecca Davis editorChina’s Lunar New Year holiday brought in a record $1.2 billion (RMB7.8 billion) in ticket sales, making a tenth of the global 2020 box office in just six days.It marked the first time in Chinese film history that the country’s single-day box office exceeded RMB1 billion ($155 million) for five consecutive days.

After acquiring Chinese New Year title The Yin Yang Master last week, Netflix is adding animated fantasy New Gods: Nezha Reborn to its roster. The film, based on the classic mythology The Romance Of The Gods, debuted theatrically in China for Lunar New Year on February 12 and grossed $21.3M through the weekend. To date, it has made over $36M in the market. Netflix has taken exclusive global streaming rights outside China.

Rebecca Davis editorDespite nearly six months of cinema closures due to COVID-19, China actually built nearly 6,000 more new screens in 2020, according to a new report from the country’s film authorities.The data contradicts the disastrous predictions made over the summer about the extent to which the pandemic would devastate the Chinese exhibition sector.China now boasts 75,581 screens nationwide at some 12,700 complexes, having built 5,794 more screens last year, said the National Office for