China to Ease Limits on Movie Ticket Sales, Screening Length Starting This Weekend

Influential Chinese video platform Bilibili has taken a 9.9 percent stake in Huanxi Media, the rising film and TV studio that counts blockbuster directors Xu Zheng, Zhang Yimou and Ning Hao as major shareholders. Bilibili agreed to invest $513 million Hong Kong dollars ($66 million) in Huanxi in exchange for almost 347 million shares in the studio, which is listed on the Hong Kong stock exchange.

China's blockbuster war epic The Eight Hundred earned a healthy $69 million during its second weekend on Chinese screens, retaining the global box office crown over Christopher Nolan's Tenet. Tenet brought in $53 million-plus from 41 international markets, including Canada, according to Warner Bros.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefChinese war film, “The Eight Hundred” was the highest scoring film in the world over the weekend.According to data from Artisan Gateway, “The Eight Hundred” grossed $69 million between Friday and Sunday, its second weekend on release in China.

Rebecca Davis editorChina this week became the first global market to make a “full box office recovery” according to targets developed by the U.K.-based film industry analytics firm Gower Street, the company said Thursday.The firm created five targets to track and compare the paths of different territories’ exhibition sectors back to recovery.

Nancy Tartaglione International Box Office Editor/Senior ContributorChristopher Nolan’s Tenet has begun its offshore rollout, and while Warner Bros is keeping a tight lid on grosses until fully reporting Sunday, some international box office information is available on the highly-anticipated title.In Korea, one of the key plays on Tenet, the Wednesday opening day was a little over $827K from 2,228 screens.

Kate Winslet has been taking the coronavirus pandemic very seriously from the beginning.

BEIJING – The moment the metal singer Shui Shu spread his arms, Buddhist prayer beads in hand and incense wafting from the stage, his band unleashed a wall of sound on the crowd.The rapt audience of about 200, many wearing masks, swayed gingerly.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefChinese romance film “Love You Forever” earned a stunning $38.3 million on Tuesday, its opening day in mainland China cinemas. That figure is the highest single day score achieved by any film worldwide in 2020.The film tells the story of a man who is able to go back in time to save the tragically-shortened life of his young lover, but his ability comes with a heavy price.

Vivienne Chow Human: China’s HiShow Unveils ‘Game Changer’ Production Slate at FilMart URL: HiShow Unveils ‘Game Changer’ at FilMart SEO Head: HiShow Unveils ‘Game Changer’ at FilMart Key phrase: HiShow Unveils ‘Game Changer’ at FilMart By Vivienne ChowChina’s HiShow Entertainment has unveiled a slate of new productions ahead of the first online edition of Hong Kong FilMart.

Rebecca Davis editorAs the global film industry grapples with new forms of online distribution brought about by COVID-19, iQIYI has emerged as China’s frontrunner in the emerging premium video-on-demand (PVOD) sector.The streamer launched a version of its PVOD service last year, but it only started to really take off in 2020 due to the coronavirus.

Dade Hayes editorTikTok, the rapaciously growing social media platform controlled by ByteDance, disclosed the size and surge of its user base for the first time in a lawsuit filed Monday against President Donald Trump.Privately held ByteDance, founded by Chinese internet entrepreneur Zhang Yiming, revealed it has 100 million monthly active users, up from 91.9 million in June and more than double the 39.9 million of last October.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefNext week’s virtual FilMart will mark the market debut for newly-launched Blossoms Entertainment, a film sales agency based in mainland China. Among its available titles, the new outfit will be representing partial rights to Chinese blockbuster “The Eight Hundred.”Blossoms is owned and headed by Vicky Ding, an executive with sales and distribution experience at Beijing Culture and the now-defunct Hollywood sales and finance group IM Global.

Rebecca Davis editorPeter Chan’s hotly anticipated biographical sports drama “Leap” is set to hit China on Sept. 30, becoming the first of the Chinese New Year blockbusters canceled due to COVID-19 to set a theatrical outing.Local animation “Jiang Ziya: Legend of Deification,” which was also originally scheduled to premiere over the lunar new year, will premiere the day after.

Harry Potter And The Sorcerer's Stone cast its spell over the box office in China this weekend, as Hollywood rereleases continue to entice people back to recently reopened cinemas. The 3D, 4K rerelease of the first film in Warner Bros' multi-billion dollar franchise was able to magic up a stellar $13.4 million this weekend, according to local box office consultancy Artisan Gateway.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief“Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone,” rereleased in 3D and in Imax versions, topped the box office chart over the weekend in China.