China Sets Theatrical Release Dates for 'Tom and Jerry,' 'Raya and the Last Dragon'

Also Read: Brie Larson Reveals All the Movies She Auditioned for and Didn't Get, From 'Pitch Perfect' to 'Avatar' (Video)“Avatar” is also the first Hollywood film to top the Chinese weekend box office charts in 2021, following a February in which multiple local films pushed Lunar New Year grosses to a record $1.2 billion as the market has fully recovered from the COVID-19 pandemic.

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.

Vadim Perelman's modestly budgeted holocaust drama Persian Lessons has been set for release in China on March 19 — in the shadow of James Cameron's surpriseAvatar re-release. The well-regarded Belarusian-Russian film will pose a test of China's market for emotionally potent foreign indie filmmaking, which had been growing steadily before the disastrous onset of the pandemic.

Rebecca Davis editorChina is belatedly scrambling to fill in its post-Lunar New Year screening calendar, announcing Tuesday that it would round out its March offerings with foreign title “Persian Lessons” and a re-release of “Avatar.”“Avatar” will hit in just three days’ time on March 12. The official screening green light comes so close to the film’s actual re-release date that it appears the DCP hard drives might not even make it to some cinemas in time.

Seemingly out of nowhere, James Cameron is back at the multiplex —but only in China. China's Film Bureau has approved a surprise plan for the director's 2009 sci-fi epic Avatar to get a wide re-release in the country on Friday, according to two sources at Chinese movie theater companies, which were informed of the arrangements.

Hollywood filmmaking is off to a sorry start in 2021 in China's huge theatrical market. Following the fourth-place debut of Warner Bros.' Tom and Jerry a week ago, Disney's Raya and the Last Dragon opened in third place over the weekend, taking in just $8.4 million.

Rebecca Davis editorDespite its emphasis on Asian representation and Southeast Asian themes, Disney’s “Raya and the Last Dragon” failed to soar in China, coming in third with just $8.4 million, according to Maoyan data.

Refresh for latest…: Disney’s Raya And The Last Dragon didn’t exactly come roaring out of the gate at the international box office with $17.6M from 32 markets. The global bow, including domestic’s launch, was $26.2M. Double-digit million-dollar debuts for Hollywood movies in the pandemic era are still a rare positive — and we’ve certainly seen family movies excel — but while not all openings are apples-to-apples, Raya’s start is being seen as a somewhat muted affair.

Richard Kuipers The mega-successful Chinese franchise about a mismatched detective duo tackling baffling crimes in foreign destinations continues with a wildly uneven caper set in Tokyo.

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.

Netflix will release Kevin Hart's Fatherhood on Father's Day, presenting the movie withBarack and Michelle Obama’s Higher Ground Productions. The streamer acquired the worldwide rights for the feature from Sony Pictures, which has had to push the release date of the film several times due to the continued theatrical shutdowns caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

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.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media ReporterKevin Hart’s upcoming drama “Fatherhood” will fittingly premiere on Netflix on Father’s Day weekend.The film, directed by Paul Weitz, was originally set up at Sony Pictures and slated to release theatrically on April 16. However, the studio has negotiated a licensing deal with Netflix (excluding China) as nearly 50% of U.S.

Rebecca Davis editorCBS Films’ 2019 romantic drama “Five Feet Apart” is set to release on March 12 in China, where it is sensibly being marketed as a romance for the COVID-19 era.The announcement comes less than two weeks ahead from its debut, as Beijing appears to scramble to fill an otherwise rather empty screening calendar. Strong local titles have shied away from competing with holdover Chinese New Year blockbusters now reaching the tail end of their first month in theaters.

Exactly one year ago, Chinese film buyers were almost entirely absent from Berlin's European Film Market as broad swaths of the world's second-biggest economy remained in a state of total shutdown. Business in the U.S.

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.

Rebecca Davis editorWarner Bros. and Legendary Entertainment’s “Godzilla vs.

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.

Rebecca Davis editor“Tom and Jerry” squeaked in a narrow fifth in China with a $12.4 million debut, failing to capture viewers still flocking to local Chinese New Year holdover titles over the Lantern Festival holiday weekend.The Warner Bros.