China Overtakes North America as World’s Box Office Champ

Nancy Tartaglione International Box Office Editor/Senior ContributorEXCLUSIVE: Cinedigm has acquired North American distribution rights to 100 Days To Live, a psychological thriller set in the world of suicide prevention and mental health. The debut feature premiered at the San Diego International Film Festival, where it won Best World Premiere and Best First Time Director for Ravin Gandhi.

Paramount Pictures chairman Jim Gianopulos delivered a keynote address to Tokyo's TIFFCOM content market Wednesday, offering a detailed recap of how COVID-19 has reshaped the movie business in 2020. The veteran studio head's assessment, delivered via video, was sober-minded but also optimistic.

told The Los Angeles Times that he is “thrilled” with ticket sales — despite the fact that the film starring Robert Pattinson has grossed just $53.8 million since it hit theaters in the US on Sept.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefPatriotic and gritty war film “The Sacrifice” topped the mainland Chinese box office for the second week. It earned $28.6 million over the weekend, lifting its ten-day cumulative score to $106 million, according to data from Artisan Gateway.Of that weekend score, some $1.6 million was earned from 670 Imax screens.

BritBox, the U.K. content-focused streaming service launched by BBC Studios and ITV, has promoted Emily Powers to executive vp and head of Britbox North America.

China is officially home to the world's biggest movie box office. Movie ticket sales in China for 2020 climbed to $1.988 billion on Sunday, surpassing North America's total of $1.937 billion, according to data from Artisan Gateway.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefChina’s year-to-date box office came within a whisker of $2 billion on Sunday, with the latest weekend adding $46.4 million to the running total.

Tom Grater International Film ReporterEXCLUSIVE: AMC Networks’ horror streamer Shudder has picked up North American rights to Boys From County Hell, Chris Baugh’s comedy-horror that recently had its world premiere at Sitges.The movie was selected for this year’s Tribeca fest before that event was cancelled. Now, it will premiere on Shudder in the U.S.

Chinese nationalists erupted in anger at South Korean boy band BTS after its leader thanked Korean War veterans for their sacrifices. The singer, who goes by RM, made the remark in a recorded acceptance speech for an award from the Korea Society for promoting U.S.-Korean relations.

Gravitas Ventures has picked up the North American rights to Jackie Chan's latest action film, Vanguard. Directed by Stanley Tong, a wide theatrical release of Vanguard in the U.S.

Mike Fleming Jr Co-Editor-in-Chief, FilmEXCLUSIVE: MTV Documentary Films has acquired North American rights to 76 Days, a raw and emotional look at the struggles of the people of Wuhan, China, in the earliest days of the COVID-19 outbreak. Directed by New York filmmaker Hao Wu (People’s Republic of Desire) and China-based journalists, Weixi Chen and “Anonymous,” 76 DAYS made its world premiere at the 2020 Toronto International Film Festival.

North Korean forces during their failed attempt to annex South Korea in the 1950-53 war. They accused RM of ignoring the role played by China in the war, which Chinese Communist Party propaganda blames on the United States, instead of North Korean leader Kim Il Sung's attack on South Korea.“Before, I thought some BTS songs were pretty good.

Just last week, after the surprise shutdown of Cineworld (and thus, Regal Cinemas locations) in the US and UK, AMC Theatres came out and told everyone that things should be just fine and the world’s largest cinema chain had no plans to shut down its theaters. Well, it appears that the CEO might have been speaking a bit too optimistically, as new statements from AMC point to a company on the verge of collapse.

After his brief foray into American TV, it appears that acclaimed Korean filmmaker, Park Chan-wook is heading back to the big screen with his next feature, “Decision to Leave.” According to Variety, production is expected to begin later this month on “Decision to Leave,” the upcoming drama from “Oldboy” filmmaker Park Chan-wook. The filmmaker has cast Tang Wei (“Lust, Caution”) and Park Hye-il (“Memories of Murder”) to star in the feature.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefCelebrated Korean director Park Chan-wook (“Oldboy,” “The Handmaiden”) will start production later this month on Korean-language drama film “Decision to Leave.” The cast is headed by China’s Tang Wei (“Lust, Caution,” “Black Hat”) and Korean actor Park Hye-il (“The Host,” “Memories of Murder”).The picture is produced by Moho Film and counts CJ Entertainment as its principal financial backer. CJ is also set as the distributor in its Korean home market.

BTS have faced a widespread backlash in China following a comment they made regarding the Korean War.In a recent speech, band leader RM spoke of South Korea’s shared “history of pain” with the US that stems from the conflict.The war lasted from 1950-53 and saw the UN, with large support from the US, backing South Korea in their fight against the North – who were backed by China and the USSR.Accepting an award which recognised the relationship between the two countries, RM said: “We will always

Rebecca Davis editorK-pop supergroup BTS has risen to become one of the world’s most popular musical acts, but just three days before its company Big Hit Entertainment’s big IPO, it was hit with an unexpected stumbling block in the Chinese market: a single sentence about world history that has sent brands fleeing.In a speech to accept a prize earlier this week from the Korea Society, a New York-headquartered non-profit that seeks to build mutual understanding between the U.S.

Rebecca Davis editorChina’s patriotic “My People, My Homeland” has grossed $325 million as of Monday evening local time, earning more money in less than two weeks than the $323 million that Christopher Nolan’s “Tenet” has grossed globally in over a month, according to data from Maoyan and Box Office Mojo.This weekend, the total China box office hit $68 million, once again far surpassing sales in North America, where cinemas earned less than $9.5 million.

China's box office resurgence continued apace over the weekend as local anthology film My People, My Homeland brought in a healthy $38.2 million. China's weeklong National Day holiday period came to a close on Friday, which meant that Saturday was an official workday for most companies and state employees.