China Poised to Give Korean Content a Boost After Three Year Boycott

James Cameron's Avatar again dominated China'sbox office over the weekend, adding $14.1 million to its record as the world's top-grossing film of all time. Over the past 10 days, the 2009 blockbuster has earned $41 million on rerelease, lifting its career total in China to $250.2 million.

Rebecca Davis editorJames Cameron’s “Avatar” once again led the China box office this weekend, with sales of $14 million over the three-day period.The 2009 film has held its own as the top title every day since its March 12 re-release in China. It has grossed a total of $44 million so far, ten days into its re-run.

Refresh for latest…: James Cameron’s Avatar held the top spot at the global and international box office this weekend with $14.1M in China for the Friday-Sunday frame. The 2009 sci-fi epic re-released in the Middle Kingdom last weekend — when it reclaimed the title of all-time highest-grossing movie worldwide from Avengers: Endgame — and now counts an overseas cume of $2,073.2M for $2,833.7M global (all releases included).

inaccurate, Americanized version of one of the most beloved tales in Chinese culture.

Rebecca Davis editorTop Chinese director Feng Xiaogang will step in front of the camera alongside Chinese-American actor-director Joan Chen in a local adaptation of the 2009 Hollywood tearjerker “Hachi: A Dog’s Tale,” which began shooting Thursday.It is currently set to premiere on New Year’s Eve.Feng is best known for his work as a director on films such as “Youth,” “I Am Not Madame Bovary” and “Cellphone,” but he has also frequently taken on acting roles, with his most recent starring role in

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.

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.

Well, that didn’t take too long.

Rebecca Davis editorZhang Yimou has been hard at work alongside his daughter Zhang Mo shooting his upcoming blockbuster “Sniper,” which is now set for an October release, its production firm said.The project was explicitly conceived as a nationalistic commemoration of the 70th anniversary of the Korean War, known in China as the “War to Resist U.S.

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.

Rebecca Davis editorThe Chadwick Boseman-starring police action film “21 Bridges” will hit Chinese theaters on March 19, the first Hollywood action title to debut in the world’s largest film market so far this year.

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.

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.

Netflix reaffirmed its commitment to South Korea's globally appealing entertainment industry Thursday, unveiling plans to spend nearly $500 million in 2021 on films and television series produced in the country. The plans were unveiled during Netflix's splashy "See What's Next Korea" event held in Seoul, where Korean directors and stars gathered with Netflix creative executives to promote the company's current and upcoming local-language originals.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefMultinational streaming giant Netflix is positioning itself to be a dominant force in South Korean entertainment, a country where films, TV shows and K-pop music have become global successes.The company said Thursday that it will spend close to half a billion dollars on Korean content in the current year and expand its production slate.New elements include two stand-alone films: “Moral Sense” and “Carter.” The former, to be directed by Park Hyun-jin (“Like for

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 has this week imposed its tightest restrictions to date on the publication of original content online via short video and “self-media” accounts, in the latest escalation of its ongoing crackdown on public discourse that strays from the party line.The country’s internet watchdog, the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC), has issued new regulations requiring bloggers, influencers and content creators on public social media accounts, known as “self-media,” to possess

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.