China’s Wanda Preparing to Sell Hoyts Australian Cinema Chain (Report)

Weibo, a Chinese government-controlled social media service, is banning prominent accounts for fans of the South Korean pop group BTS.

SEC filing from Friday showed that Wanda sold its shares between May 13 and May 18 at around $14 a share, and AMC ended the week on Friday at a price of $12.09. In March, Chinese conglomerate Wanda said in an SEC filing that it had given up its majority stake in the theater chain AMC Entertainment, operating as AMC Theatres, bringing its ownership down to 9.8%.

AMC Entertainment’s onetime owner, China’s Dalian Wanda Group, has pretty much cashed out completely from the theater chain, revealing in an SEC filing Friday that it has pared its stake to a barely there 0.002%.

Rebecca Davis editorChina’s Dalian Wanda Group has dumped almost all of its remaining holdings in AMC Entertainment for $426 million, bringing its stake down to just 0.002%, according to a Friday regulatory filing.Since last Thursday, it has sold off 30.4 million of its AMC shares, leaving it now just 10,000 shares,The development marks the conglomerate’s latest move to shed overseas assets and retrench in China, a process begun in recent years after it came under scrutiny from Chinese

Rebecca Davis editor“F9,” the latest installment in the “Fast & Furious” franchise, is already revving up for a box office takeover — though a notably less spectacular one than other franchise films in years past.Its release appears not to have been marred by what Universal Pictures called a security “threat” earlier this week that forced the studio to abruptly cancel a major promotional event in Shanghai.“F9” racked up more than $32.6 million (RMB210 million) in pre-sale tickets, making it the

China has added a pair of Sony movies to the release calendar with Columbia Pictures’ Peter Rabbit 2: The Runaway set for June 11 — one week before its domestic bow — and Sony Pictures Classics’ Oscar winner The Father due on June 18.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefChina’s largest company, the social media, games and entertainment giant Tencent achieved net profits of RMB47.7 billion ($7.39 billion) in the first three months of the year. That was an increase of 65% on the comparable period last year when coronavirus was at its peak in China.

Rebecca Davis editorSony’s “Peter Rabbit 2: The Runaway” is set to scamper across China starting June 11, a week before it scurries to screens in the U.S. on June 18.The film was initially schedule to release in February 2020, but was pushed back due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefBaidu was once one of the big three entertainment tech firms in China and remains the majority owner of streamer iQIYI.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefChinese streaming firm iQIYI published first quarter results that were better than its previous guidance and a lengthy letter to shareholders asserting that it has the best content model and technology in the sector.In a regulatory filing, the company said that revenues in the January to March first quarter of its 2021 financial year had grown 4% to RMB8.0 billion ($1.2 billion) and that net losses had been more than halved, falling from RMB2.9 billion in the

Rebecca Davis editorSony Music Entertainment (SME) said Monday that it has signed both a new direct China digital distribution deal with NetEase Cloud Music and a multi-year extension of its existing agreement with Tencent Music Entertainment (TME).Sony’s NetEase deal is the latest to shift power away from TME in China’s streaming industry and make the space slightly more competitive. It comes amidst a government antitrust probe of TME and its parent company Tencent Group.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefZhang Yimou’s period espionage thriller “Cliff Walkers” ran out a comfortable winner at the mainland Chinese box office, ahead of other holdovers and new release titles including Jason Statham-starring “Wrath of Man.”“Cliff Walkers” dropped only 32% between its second and third weekends, taking $16.6 million between Friday and Sunday, according to data from consultancy Artisan Gateway.

China has joined the United States in safely sending an unmanned lander to Mars.

Iann Dior is globetrotting for a remix to his 2020 hit “Prospect”.

Rebecca Davis editorShe may not be a household name anywhere other than her native China, but Chinese helmer Jia Ling has officially overtaken Patty Jenkins as the world’s highest-grossing female director for a single film.After an extended three-month run, Jia’s Chinese New Year blockbuster “Hi, Mom,” finally left Chinese theaters Tuesday. It has grossed $838 million (RMB5.41 billion) since its Feb.