China’s ‘Jiang Ziya: Legend Of Deification’ Opens To $53M On Thursday, Sets Middle Kingdom Animated Single-Day Record

Rebecca Davis editorThe competition section of China’s Pingyao Intl. Film Festival on Friday awarded top prizes to Russia’s Philipp Yuryev, Serbia’s Ivan Ilkic, and Chinese directors Li Dongmei and Wang Jing.

Denise Petski Senior Managing EditorCBS All Access has set the voice cast for The Harper House, its upcoming adult animated comedy series from China, IL creator Brad Neely, Katie Krentz (Star Trek: Lower Decks), CBS Television Studios and 219 Productions.Rhea Seehorn (Better Call Saul), Jason Lee (My Name Is Earl), Tatiana Maslany (Orphan Black) and newcomer Ryan Flynn (Stupidface) will star as the Harper family, with VyVy Nguyen (Young Sheldon), Lance Krall (Fameless), Roberta Colindrez (Vida),

Jake Kanter International TV EditorEXCLUSIVE: Oscar-nominated 12 Years A Slave actor Chiwetel Ejiofor is to narrate a film about the world’s water shortage crisis, which is funded by an executive from Chinese tech giant Tencent and co-directed by Emmy-winner Kevin Sim.Housed at Keo Films and OoS Pictures, Day Zero is the brainchild of Tencent’s chief exploration officer David Wallerstein, who personally financed the production after becoming fascinated by the status of Earth’s water

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.

Nancy Tartaglione International Box Office Editor/Senior ContributorRefresh for latest…: China’s National Day holiday officially ended last Thursday, with takings for the October 1-8 period at an estimated RMB 3.95B ($589M) as the market continues to close the 2020 gap with domestic. This weekend saw continued play for the key titles, led by patriotic pic My People My Homeland which added another $42M (-65% for the FSS) to bring the local cume to about $321M.

Nancy Tartaglione International Box Office Editor/Senior ContributorThursday marked the end of the Chinese National Day holiday with the world’s second largest box office market significantly tightening the gap between its turnstiles and those of North America. Takings for the period are estimated at RMB 3.95B ($589M).

Nancy Tartaglione International Box Office Editor/Senior ContributorScreen Media has acquired all North American rights to the Simon West-directed Skyfire.

Dave McNary Film ReporterScreen Media has bought all North American rights to “Skyfire,” China’s first big-budget disaster movie, from Highland Film Group and plans to release the film in theaters and on demand in December.“Skyfire” is directed by Simon West and stars Jason Isaacs (“Hotel Mumbai”), Hannah Quinlivan (“Skyscraper”), Xueqi Wang (“Iron Man 3”) and Shawn Dou (“Wolf Totem”).

Rebecca Davis editorThe China box office bounced back this weekend to its pre-pandemic levels, figures from its National Day holiday weekend show — proving that the right mix of competitive new local titles can entice viewers in, what this year is very much on track to be, the world’s largest movie market.The news comes as other major markets flounder, with Regal Cinemas owner Cineworld Group announcing the temporary suspension of its U.S. and U.K.

As North America's box office crumples, China's theatrical film business is back in an enormous way. A collection of high-profile local films released in China over the past week to coincide with the country's National Day and Mid-Autumn Festival holiday period, which lasts eight days.

Nancy Tartaglione International Box Office Editor/Senior ContributorRefresh for latest…: Christopher Nolan’s Tenet dipped a slight 29% at the international box office this weekend to add $11.5M from 57 markets. Offshore, the Warner Bros release has now grossed $262M.

Rebecca Davis editorChinese audiences didn’t fall in love with Disney’s live-action “Mulan,” but a Chinese firm is betting that its own retelling of the famous ballad may storm the box office in its stead with depictions of traditional values that better appeal to mainland viewers.Gold Valley Film is set to release its feature animation “Kung Fu Mulan” over the National Day holiday from Oct.

Rebecca Davis editorThe Chinese box office hit its highest single-day tally of the year so far on Thursday, reaching $107 million (RMB728 million), more than 10 times what North American cinemas made in the whole of last weekend. That sum marks China’s second largest Oct.

Peter Debruge Chief Film CriticLike “Ne Zha” — 2019’s monumental computer-animated box office hit — similarly spectacular CG epic “Jiang Ziya” concludes with nearly 10 minutes of credits: a dense scroll of names amounting to a virtual army of animators, punctuated by extra scenes and teasers for upcoming projects from Chinese distributor Beijing Enlight Pictures.

Rebecca Davis editorWith U.S. studio tentpoles dropping out of the theatrical calendar, Chinese blockbusters may find a rare opportunity to gain some traction abroad.

BTS singer V celebrates his birthday on December 30. While there are about three months left to his birthday celebrations, his fan club in China has already begun preparation for the big day.

Rebecca Davis editorPeter Chan’s volleyball drama “Leap” has jumped above its competition in China this weekend with a $24.6 million three-day debut, highlighting Chinese audiences’ continued preference for well-crafted local titles, according to data from the Maoyan industry tracker. The score is higher than the $23 million opening of Disney’s “Mulan” the weekend of Sept.