‘Civil War’ Set for Mainland China Theatrical Release

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Two foreign-made animation movies opened on top of the mainland China box office over the latest weekend. Japanese film, “Doraemon the Movie: Nobita’s Earth Symphony” landed in first place, ahead of “The Garfield Movie,” though the match-up was not like-for-like. According to data from consultancy Artisan Gateway, “Doraemon” earned $12.6 million (RMB89.5 million) over the three days from its Friday release.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief The Shanghai International Film Festival has unveiled a selection that is weighted heavily to world premieres and Chinese, local titles. That gives the festival showcase screenings for the newest works by established Chinese directors Gu Changwei (“Peacock, “Till Death Do Us Part”), Wei Shujun (“Only the River Flows,” “Striding Into the Wind”) and Guan Hu (“Old Fish”). Guan was rewarded in Cannes only last week for his Un Certain Regard-winning picture “Black Dog,” but will unveil his next effort “The Hedgehog in Shanghai’s main competition.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Columbia Pictures’ action-comedy movie “Bad Boys: Ride or Die” is set to play in cinemas in mainland China from June 22, it was announced on Thursday. Starring Will Smith and Martin Lawrence, the film is the fourth in the nearly 30-year-old Bad Boys franchise. It sees the titular Miami cops investigate corruption in the police force after their late boss is accused of colluding with a foreign mafia.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief The Taipei Film Festival has set “A Journey in Spring” as the Taiwan flagbearer in its international competition section. Directed by Peng Tzu-hui and Wang Ping-wen, the film was shot on Super 16 mm film stock and stars King Jieh-wen and Yang Kuei-mei.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief “The Last Frenzy,” a comedy film about a dying man’s last hurrah, retained the top spot in mainland Chinese cinemas for the third weekend of its four weeks on release. Other signs of theatrical malaise were plentiful. “The Last Frenzy” earned $5.8 million (RMB41.5 million) between Friday and Sunday, according to data from consultancy firm Artisan Gateway.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief The final matches of the NBA season will be screened live at selected Imax cinemas in Hong Kong and Taiwan from June 6. The screenings are the first time that Imax China, the offshoot of Imax Corp., the Canadian giant screen cinema and equipment company, offers a live sports experience. It comes as a result of a first-time deal between Imax China and NBA China.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Dolly De Leon, who rocked the Cannes Film Festival two years ago in “Triangle of Sadness,” has joined the cast of “Severino: The First Serial Killer,” an upcoming series from Philippines outfit CreaZion Studios. While “Severino” is the highest profile project, the producer is building a larger slate of feature films. “Severino” De Leon is a large-scale period thriller series, chronicling the tale of Catholic priest Severino Mallari, who killed 57 people during the Spanish colonization era of the country. Producers RJ Agustin and Real Florido have tapped Yam Laranas known for his horror films “The Echo” and “The Road” as series director.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief “The Last Frenzy,” a comedy film about a dying man’s last hurrah, returned to the top spot in mainland Chinese cinemas in its third weekend of release. “Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes,” which a week earlier had been the biggest title, slipped to fourth place. In another China disappointment for Hollywood, “The Fall Guy” opened outside the Chinese top ten.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief First-time feature director Constance Tsang makes a splash in Cannes with “Blue Sun Palace,” the first U.S. film in Critics Week that is in the Mandarin Chinese language. Set in a massage parlor, staffed with Chinese immigrants, in Queens, New York, the melodramatic film tells of how the romantic relationship between a man and a woman is disrupted by a sudden disappearance. Tsang was careful to avoid stereotypes and to be true to the community that she grew up in and observing. But the feature effort was also a big step up from the short films she cut her teeth on. Underlining that point, she amassed a powerful cast of leading Chinese-speaking actors, including Lee Kang-sheng (“What Time Is It There” and a dozen Tsai Ming-liang films), Wu Ke-xi (“Nina Wu,” “The Road to Mandalay”) and rising Mainland China star Xu Haipeng.How did you jump from a succession of short films into your first feature? I would say that jumping into the feature is exactly what happened.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Chinese video streamer iQiyi reported increased profits in the first quarter of the year, derived from lower revenue. The company, which is NASDAQ-listed but majority owned by Chinese tech giant Baidu, said that net income attributable to iQiyi grew to RMB655 million ($90.8 million), compared to RMB618 million in the same period in 2023. Revenues were RMB7.9 billion ($1.1 billion), a decrease of 5% year-on-year. “We have been generating positive operating cash flow for eight consecutive quarters, and our balance sheet continued to improve,” said Wang Jun, the company’s chief financial officer. Performance transparency, however, has recently been reduced.

Alex Garland’s Civil War has been set for a June 7 theatrical release date in China. This marks the first time an A24 production will officially hit cinemas there. The dystopian thriller was acquired by Huahua Media in the market with Alibaba set to partner on the local release. 

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Cultivator Films Australia, the local subsidiary of France’s Studiocanal, has begun production of “Kangaroo,” its first movie. It tells the story of Chris Barns, aka ‘Brolga,’ founder of the Kangaroo Sanctuary in Alice Springs. Previously announced in December, the film is directed by Kate Woods (“The Umbrella Academy,” “The Good Lord Bird,” “Looking for Alibrandi”) and is written by Harry Cripps (“The Dry,” “Penguin Bloom”) with Melina Marchetta and additional material from Danielle MacLean & Peta-Lee Cole-Manolis.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Asian audiences are increasingly turning to homegrown content in their streaming choices. Asian titles powering 80% of premium VOD engagement and customer acquisition, according to new research from research and consultancy firm Media Partners Asia. “The Rise of Asian Content” is based on passive tracking of 40,000 users by sister company AMPD in nine major Asian markets – Japan, Korea, Singapore, Taiwan, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines and Thailand – over 15 months between Jan.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Tencent, the Chinese social media, gaming and streaming giant, enjoyed a 62% gain in profits, earned from a 6% revenue improvement in the first quarter of the year. Profits between January and March reached RMB42.6 billion ($5.92 billion). That figure also represented a 55% quarter on quarter gain.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief “Bona,” one of the landmark films of Philippines cinema, is headed for release in France and the U.S. later this year. Directed by Lino Brocka, considered one of the pioneers of Philippines cinema, a restored version of the film returns to Cannes after an absence of more than 40 years.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief The feature “Tales of Taipei” is a tribute to the low-pressure, culturally rich city, which has been shaped by its regional neighbors, taken in diverse peoples and distilled the multiple competing influences into a messy, happy-go-lucky morass. Produced by Bowie Tsang and Amy Ma, the film calls on 10 directors hailing from Malaysia, France, Bhutan and Hong Kong, and Taiwanese locals Yin Cheng-han and Remii Huang to contribute.“Everything is possible in Taiwan, everything exits side by side,” says Tsang, who was born in Hong Kong. “We have old Chinese myths.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Veteran Asian executive Buddy Marini has been appointed GM of Warner Bros. Discovery in Japan.The role covers all operations in Japan including home entertainment, digital & TV licensing, consumer products, anime production, franchise and pay-TV networks, but excluding theatrical and the Warner Bros. Studio Tour Tokyo: The Making of Harry Potter business. Marini joins WBD with 25+ years’ experience in leadership across media and technology companies in Japan, China and the U.S.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Tencent Music Entertainment, China’s largest online music corporation, got smaller but more profitable in the first quarter of 2024. That continued a trend seen previously in the company’s 2023 accounts. Revenues in the January to March quarter weighed in at $937 million (RMB6.77 billion), a 3% decrease compared with the same quarter last year. But profits after tax increased 28% to $212 million (RMB1.53 billion). Monthly active users across its free and paid for tiers decreased by 2% to 592 million.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief “Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes” debuted on top of the mainland China box office with an opening weekend score of $11.4 million (RMB81.1 million). That was only the fourth weekend this year that a Hollywood film has topped the China charts and the third time in 2024 that a Hollywood title has opened on top. “Apes” was also the top film this weekend in North America and international markets. Data from consultancy firm Artisan Gateway showed that the film accounted for some 30% of the theatrical total on a weekend where theaters earned a combined $38.2 million.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief French sales agent Pyramide International has dropped a dark and subtle trailer for “Việt and Nam” a gay drama about two young miners who must complete a mission before fate pulls them apart. Directed by Vietnamese auteur Trương Minh Quý, the film plays at the Cannes Film Festival in Un Certain Regard with its world premiere on May 22. Per a synopsis from lead producer Epicmedia: “Nam and Việt, both young miners, cherish fleeting moments, knowing that one of them will soon leave for a new life across the sea. But the departure cannot happen as, lying in a far-off forest is Nam’s father, a soldier, whose remains they’re compelled to find.