China’s ‘The Battle at Lake Changjin’ Opens Beijing Intl. Film Festival With Rocketing Box Office Forecasts

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief“The Battle at Lake Changjin” became the fourth most successful film in the world this year as it maintained its grip on the China box office for a second weekend.Even as the National Day holiday season wound to an end, “Changjin” scored $109 million over the weekend according to data from Artisan Gateway. That gave it a cumulative total of $633 million, earned since Sept.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefCinema box office in China hit RMB4.2 billion ($651 million) over the seven-day National Holiday period, according to government sources on Friday.By far the top title was “The Battle at Lake Changjin,” which had grossed RMB3.50 billion ($543 million) by 5pm local time on Friday, its ninth day of release. In second place over the holiday period was “My Country, My Parents” with RMB1,08 billion ($167 million).Like “Battle,” “Parents” was released on Sept.

Rebecca Davis editorTrinity Cine Asia has acquired all U.K. and CIS rights to Chinese disaster film “Cloudy Mountain” from Beijing Blossoms Entertainment.The film first debuted on Sept.

“No Time to Die” starring Daniel Craig reeled in $119 million from 54 international markets, including the UK, Germany, Spain, Hong Kong and Japan. That makes “No Time to Die” the first title from Hollywood to crack $100 million without opening in China, which recently became the word’s largest movie market overtaking the US.

Artisan Gateway, the film made $235 million since Thursday during China’s National Day holiday period, which runs from Oct. 1-7.

China’s ‘The Battle at Lake Changjin’ was the highest grossing film anywhere in the world over the past weekend, with a $203 million haul.That score was fractionally lower than the combined total earned by “No Time to Die” ($119 million in international markets) and by “Venom: Let There Be Carnage” ($90.2 million in North America).The film was the far away winner in mainland China, where it was released on Thursday, a day ahead of the National Day holiday.

No Time to Die is a hit!

It’s almost here! The 2022 Beijing Olympics are set to begin in February, just six months after the Tokyo Games concluded.

UPDATE: Chinese citizens will be the only ones permitted to buy tickets to the upcoming Winter Olympics, according to a ruling today by the International Olympic Committee.

Rebecca Davis editorChina’s box office slowed to one of its lowest points of the year this week, bringing in a total of just $24.6 million over the three-day weekend, the last before the break-out of patriotic National Day holiday blockbusters arriving Sept.

On Friday, “Shang-Chi” passed the $183.4 million domestic run of “Black Widow” to become the highest grossing film in North America since the pandemic began, and this week it is set to become the first film since “Bad Boys for Life” in February 2020 to reach the $200 million mark.

Selome Hailu editorAnimation is Film announced the competition lineup and other special events for the fourth edition of the festival, which will take place from Oct. 22-24 at the TCL Chinese Theatres in Hollywood.

Zhao Wei epitomizes many aspects of the Chinese government’s campaign to tear down fandom, celebrity and the driving forces behind them.Zhao attained major stardom in the late 1990s with TV series “My Fair Princess,” starred as the leading lady in John Woo’s epic “Red Cliff” and directed 2013 hit YA film “So Young.”Along the way, she shook off a scandal about wearing a dress that looked like a Japanese flag, became unfeasibly wealthy and got banned for five years by China’s securities regulator

All athletes must be vaccinated against Covid-19 to participate in the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee announced Wednesday.

Rebecca Davis editorFollowing a dismal summer, China’s box office over this year’s three-day Mid-Autumn Festival holiday hit its lowest point since 2014.Chinese citizens had to work on Saturday, Sept. 18, but enjoyed a three-day vacation for the holiday from Sept.

Rebecca Davis editorFollowing a string of celebrity scandals, Chinese officials have told young filmmakers entering China’s top film school that their foremost task is to develop the “moral cultivation” necessary to further China’s rise in the world.The Beijing Film Academy, cradle of the country’s top filmmaking talent, last week opened a major new campus in the capital’s northern Huairou district, an hour’s drive outside the urban center.

Rebecca Davis editorThe Universal Beijing Resort finally had its grand opening Monday, the culmination of a 20-year wait and further pandemic-related delays.The park has proved a big hit with Chinese consumers so far. Tickets for Monday’s opening were sold out in minutes, quickly followed by tickets for the week-long National Day holiday coming up on Oct.

Rebecca Davis editor“Free Guy” has retained enough charm to stay at second in China in its fourth weekend in theaters, but it slid in just a mere hair ahead of Chinese titles setting themselves up for box office success over the current Mid-Autumn Festival holiday.The 20th Century Studios film starring Ryan Reynolds grossed $4.8 million in the three days of Friday, Saturday and Sunday, bringing its China cumulative so far up to $85.1 million, according to data from  consultancy Artisan

coronavirus outbreaks in China’s southeast that prompted the government to tighten travel controls in some areas.“We’ve been longing for the opening for quite a while,” said a visitor, Niu Haoxuan.Visitors were required to wear masks and display a smartphone-based health code that shows whether they have been to regions deemed at high-risk of infection.After a report of a possible case in Beijing last week, “we were very worried,” said Zoe Shi. “We thought about whether we should still go.

Marvel movie ever.“Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings,” Marvel's first Asian superhero movie, has earned an estimated $320.6 million worldwide. The only trouble for “Shang-Chi” thus far is a lack of a release date in China, which hasn't cleared the film for release in the country, the world's largest but highly censored film market.While “Shang-Chi” is playing only in theaters, Warner Bros.