Colbert Introduces a Disease-Ridden Restaurant Chain for Antivaxxers (Video)

Nathan Chen has earned his place in the Olympics record book!

Nathan Chen has earned his place in the Olympics record book!

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media ReporterAt some point in the past decade, Hollywood stopped looking at the burgeoning Chinese box office as found money and instead embraced the theatrical market’s windfall for what it has become: a necessity.Today, whether or not blockbuster plays in China could mean the difference between hundreds of millions of dollars in ticket sales. That reality is downright painful at a time when China has continued to deny releases for Hollywood’s biggest 2021 movies, such as Disney’s “Black Widow,” “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings” and “Eternals,” as well as Sony’s “Venom: Let There Be Carnage.” And the few films that were given access to Chinese movie theaters, including MGM’s James Bond sequel “No Time to Die” and Denis Villeneuve’s “Dune” remake, earned far less than their studios had expected.

EXCLUSIVE: After teaming in the Disney/Marvel film Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, Michelle Yeoh is set to top an international cast for the Destin Daniel Cretton-directed Disney+ fantastical series American Born Chinese. She will star alongside Ben Wang (MacGyver), Yeo Yann Yann (Wet Season), Chin Han (Mortal Kombat), Daniel Wu (Reminiscence), Ke Huy Quan (Finding Ohana), former Taekwondo champion Jim Liu and Sydney Taylor (Just Add Magic).

Fight Club‘s original ending has been restored on Chinese streaming service Tencent Video following cuts to its conclusion.Last month, the 1999 film hit headlines after it emerged that its final scenes had been altered on the platform, replacing The Narrator (Edward Norton) killing of imaginary alter ego Tyler Durden (Brad Pitt) and watching buildings collapse.Instead, a blank slate reads: “The police rapidly figured out the whole plan and arrested all criminals, successfully preventing the bomb from exploding. After the trial, Tyler was sent to a lunatic asylum receiving psychological treatment.”Following a backlash, however, Tencent has now reportedly restored 11 of the 12 minutes cut in its version, only keeping a sex scene between Durden and Marla Singer (Helena Bonham Carter) out.China has strict rules on censorship, which may have explained the original cut ending, though it is unclear if the backlash has led to the restoration.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefPatriotic blockbuster “The Battle at Lake Changjin II” earned just short of $400 million over the Chinese New Year holidays at a mainland China box office that weighed in at some $950 million.Data from consultancy Artisan Gateway showed “Lake Changjin II” earning $152 million over the Friday to Sunday weekend, comfortably ahead of comedy “Too Cool to Kill” which took $111 million over the same three days. In third place over the weekend was drama “Nice View” with $45.4 million and animation “Boonie Bears: Back to Earth” with $38.8.

David Fincher’s “Fight Club” has been restored in China to include the original ending after censorship of the final fight scene by Tencent Video sparked backlash.Before the Chinese streaming service began running the 1999 Brad Pitt classic last month, Ed Norton’s narrator killed off his imaginary alter ego (Pitt) and it was implied that his mission of creating anarchy was playing out.But, to follow strict censorship rules, the ending was completely changed. Replacing the climactic scene was a black screen with the message: “The police rapidly figured out the whole plan and arrested all criminals, successfully preventing the bomb from exploding.

Grindr has removed its gay dating and hookup app from multiple app stores as the Communist Party cracks down on LGBTQI content as part of its month-long censorship campaign.The Guardian reported this campaign is happening during the Lunar New Year holiday and as the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympic Games begin. It is being conducted by China’s Cyberspace Administration. Grindr disappears from app stores in China On the eve of the Winter Olympics, let us protest in front of Chinese embassies the world over.

Dua Lipa was a guest on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert this week, but she turned the tables on the host and interviewed him instead!

LeBron James’ son, Bronny James, is following in his father’s footsteps and getting into the business world at an early age. The high school junior is only 17, but he’s got a great role model to follow when it comes to setting up his future.

SPOILER ALERT: This story contains details of this morning’s Beijing Olympics Opening Ceremony live on NBC.

Naman Ramachandran Producer and financier Anton (“Greenland,” “The Night House”) has hired Leslie Chen as senior VP, international distribution and sales and has elevated consultant Louis Balsan to executive VP, international distribution and acquisitions. They will be part of Anton’s German office and will report into Paris-based Cécile Gaget, president of international production and distribution.

Qimai. Grindr has also been banned from Android app stores run by Chinese phone makers like Tencent and Huawei, reports Bloomberg.Representatives from Grindr confirmed to Bloomberg and The New York Post that the company removed its app from the Apple store in China of its own accord, citing difficulties with complying with the country’s Personal Information Protection Law.New regulations went into effect at the end of 2021 that limit personal information stored in apps and require data transferred between China and other regions to be approved by the Chinese government, prompting some companies to remove their apps from Apple and Android stores in China. Several foreign Internet services, including Yahoo, Microsoft Corp.’s LinkedIn, and Epic Games Inc.’s Fortnite, pulled out of the Chinese market last year because of difficulty complying with burdensome regulations aimed at restricting or censoring certain types of content.Grindr’s removal from online app stores comes just days after the Chinese government announced a month-long campaign aimed at policing online content to “create a civilized, healthy, festive and peaceful atmosphere for online public opinion” as the nation prepares to host the Winter Olympics.Among the government’s goals during that time period are to crack down on online violence, pornography, the spread of rumors about the Olympics or the government, and take steps to curb “the spread of bad Internet culture,” which means rooting out online behavior that the government dislikes or finds distasteful. While the announcement didn’t specifically mention dating apps or homosexuality, LGBTQ people in China have found themselves targeted by the government in the past.

On good terms. Mariah Carey is “supportive” of her ex-husband Nick Cannon following news that he is expecting his eighth child.

Omicron Covid is likely to have originated in mice, according to a new study.