Criterion Releasing First Batch Of 4K Discs & ‘Once Upon A Time In China’ Box Set In November

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief“Free Guy” held on strongly to grab a second weekend at the top of the mainland China box office. It beat an unusual theatrical release for “The Tomorrow War,” which has gone straight to streaming in other territories.“Free Guy” earned $18.3 million between Friday and Sunday, according to data from consultancy, Artisan Gateway.

That 3-day total is second only to the $80 million opening for “Black Widow” on the list of highest post-shutdown domestic opening weekend totals and just tops the $70 million opening for “F9” earlier this summer. The 4-day total is also nearly triple the previous record for the highest Labor Day opening weekend record of $30.5 million set by “Halloween” in 2007.

Netflix asked him to change the location of his new film Hustle from China to Majorca.Sandler, who signed a new deal with Netflix at the start of 2020 to make four more original films, explained that the streaming giant changed his original concept for the new film about a basketball recruiter who travels overseas.“It was written originally that I find a player in China and somehow, Netflix is not in China,” Sandler said on The Dan Patrick Show.“So they were like, ‘Would you guys please make it

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Harry Potter, Jurassic Park and Kung Fu Panda film franchises feature heavily, along with the Minions from the “Despicable Me” movies.Beijing's historic sites have long drawn tourists.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief“Free Guy” grabbed a convincing win at the top of the China box office, marking the end of a Hollywood drought and was earned despite difficult conditions.The family-friendly comedy earned $23.8 million in three days, according to data from Artisan Gateway. That was fully 56% of the nationwide theatrical haul between Friday and Sunday.It earned $3.77 million of its total from Imax screens.

Refresh for latest…: One of the only Hollywood titles to recently be granted a China release date, Disney/20th Century Studios’ Free Guy flew into the market with a $23.9M start. This is a solid launch in the Middle Kingdom, particularly in the current climate, and helped push the Ryan Reynolds-starrer past $100M at the international box office. The full offshore weekend was $37.3M in 47 markets, a slight 23% drop from last session, and the total overseas cume is now $100.3M for $179.6M global.

After a two-month blackout period in China for Hollywood movies, Disney/20th Century Studios’ Free Guy is looking to lead all pics in the country at the weekend B.O. with a $18M+, possibly $20M take. That’s a promising start for one of the first big movies from Hollywood after a long-hiatus, besting the $15M opening weekend of A Quiet Place Part II, and the $7.8M first weekend of Peter Rabbit 2: The Runaway. 

EXCLUSIVE: Los Angeles’ Dances with Films has announced the lineup for its 2021 film festival, setting Oscar nominees Paul Greengrass and Michael London as the speakers for its inaugural First Films series.

Rebecca Davis editorDisney’s “Luca” is the first Hollywood picture to get a release in China in weeks, but its opening figures didn’t make that big of a splash — at least, not close to enough to douse the continued reign of Donnie Yen action film “Raging Fire.”The animation directed and co-written by Enrico Casarosa swam to a $5.1 million China opening weekend, according to consultancy Artisan Gateway.

READ MORE: James Bond: No Time To Die release date delay 'may not be possible'The last Hollywood blockbuster to release in China was Fast and Furious 9, while dates for Black Widow and The Suicide Squad had been yet to land. With such restrictions reportedly lifting yesterday, Universal could well be unveiling its release date for the large box office market very soon.

Disney’s 20th Century Studios’ Ryan Reynolds movie Free Guy is getting a China release date of Aug. 27.

TEN and YANGYANG are busting out with a hot new track!

As the fall festivals Venice, Telluride and Toronto, as well as New York and London continue to evolve in the surging Covid environment, AFI Fest has announced it is moving full speed ahead.

Disney/Pixar’s sea monster story Luca has been granted an August 20 release date in China, signaling that the end of the giant market’s latest unofficial blackout period may be afoot. While Luca will take a prime slot amid a series of local holdovers and is the first Hollywood studio title to release since June, its date also comes at a time when about 30% of cinemas are closed in the market due to a Covid surge, and as box office overall has been muted there.

Rebecca Davis editorThe list of major Hollywood tentpoles that have released in the U.S. in the past month but not yet fixed a China release date is growing ever longer — an issue of significant concern to industry players on both sides of the Pacific.“Black Widow,” “Space Jam: A New Legacy,” “Jungle Cruise” and now “The Suicide Squad” have all rolled out Stateside but given no formal indication of when and whether they will debut in the world’s largest film market.

As the Tokyo Olympics draw to a close, the gay sporting world will be keeping its eyes firmly on East Asia when the Gay Games 2022 head to Hong Kong next year.As sports fans from across the globe tune into the Summer Olympics in Tokyo, the organisers of the 11th Gay Games, scheduled to open in November 2022 in Hong Kong, are hustling to ensure the event runs without a hitch.