Gay Games Kicks Off in Hong Kong, Enraging Conservative Lawmakers

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief China’s nationwide annual box office passed the symbolic $7 billion and RMB 50 billion marks in recent days, confirming a decent, but still incomplete recovery of the theatrical cinema industry. According to consultancy Artisan Gateway, the running box office total to Nov. 26 was $7.15 billion.

Ridley Scott’s Napoleon through Thursday has grossed an estimated $21M worldwide. The Apple Original Films and Sony Pictures action epic is now eyeing a $70M-$73M five-day global opening, including $40M from the international box office. Should those numbers hold, this will be well ahead of pre-weekend projections.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Mirror, the Hong Kong boy band that shot to fame in 2018 but had its live career cut short by a tragic on-stage incident, will return to in-person live performances in January. The 12-piece band will play 16 shows at the Asia World Expo auditorium, one of Hong Kong’s largest venues, as part of their ‘Mirror Feel the Passion Concert Tour 2024.’ They will perform Jan. 15-17, 19-22, 24-27, 29-31, and Feb.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Marco Mueller, the veteran film festival curator and director, is set to launch a new festival and market in Macau. It will have its first edition in January. The Asia-Europe Young Cinema Festival, running Jan.

Zack Sharf Digital News Director Action movie icon John Woo is not watching superhero movies, he recently told The New York Times in an interview ahead of the release of “Silent Night.” Woo, the Hong Kong director acclaimed for films such as “The Killer” (1989), “Hard Boiled” (1992) and “Face/Off” (1997), said he much prefers “real cinema” like Martin Scorsese movies. “I’ve never liked watching movies with big special effects, or anything based on comic books,” Woo told the publication. “I prefer Martin Scorsese’s movies, that kind of cinema.

Disney original animation is looking at a comeback this Thanksgiving. The princess pic Wish is looking at as much as $45M-$50M over five days after the studio suffering a setback over last year’s holiday with Strange World, which did $18.8M.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Local crime drama film “Last Suspect” returned to the top spot at the mainland China box office over the latest weekend, as “The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes” opened quietly in third place. Narrowly beaten last week by “The Marvels,” “Last Suspect” climbed one place while “The Marvels” fell out of the top five in China. In its third weekend of release, “Last Suspect” recorded $10.1 million (RMB76 million), according to data from consultancy Artisan Gateway.

Refresh for latest…: Lionsgate’s The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes very (very) narrowly missed the $100M mark globally in its opening weekend, but it’s as near as dammit with an estimated $98.5M through Sunday worldwide. The Francis Lawrence-directed prequel came in slightly higher than pre-frame projections overseas with $54.5M from 87 international box office markets. The drag on getting to the century milestone was domestic at $44M versus hopes for $50M+. 

EXCLUSIVE: Getting a leg-up here on our Thanksgiving stretch preview, Apple Studios production of Ridley Scott’s Napoleon will invade the global box office via Sony this Wednesday, in what’s shaping up to be a $46M WW global start.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Alibaba, China’s e-commerce and entertainment giant, revealed a 9% revenue improvement and a return to profits in the three months to the end of September, the second quarter of its financial year. The group, which is in the process of breaking itself up into six separate businesses, had revenue of RMB225 billion ($30.8 billion). Net income of RMB26.7 billion ($3.66 billion) compared with a net loss of RMB22.5 billion in the same period last year.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Reps heading a special committee of the U.S. House of Representatives are questioning Apple CEO Tim Cook about whether the tech giant’s decision to cancel Jon Stewart‘s Apple TV+ talk show was because the host may have been planning an upcoming episode about China.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Modest increases in its Chinese and international games sectors helped Chinese tech giant Tencent achieve respectable results for the three months from July to September, the third quarter of its financial year. Group revenues weighed in at RMB154 billion ($21.5 billion), an increase of 10% year on year and 4% quarter on quarter. Some analysts interpreted that as below their forecasts, but others saw it as beating China’s currently sluggish economy. Profit for the period was RMB36.8 billion ($5.14 billion), which was down 5% year on year, but a 38% improvement on the group’s second quarter. Moreover, Tencent claims that a non-IFRS treatment of its accounts better reflects core earnings.

Charlie Travers is making a splash with her first red carpet appearance following rumors that she might be dating singer Shawn Mendes.

Tom Blyth is putting his physique on display at the L.A. premiere of The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes!

The cast of the new movie The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes gathered together on the red carpet for the L.A. premiere and we have all the photos!

Olivia Rodrigo performs the theme song for the new movie The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes and she has dropped the music video for the track!

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Two independent management companies in the Asian music scene, MoFo Music and IAMAD, have merged to create a new music production and artist management group, MAD MoFo. The new entity will be led by Hong Kong-based Kelvin Avon and Sydney, Australia-based Philippe-Marc Anquetil. Both are both multi-award winning and multi-platinum selling international producers, songwriters and managers. At the same time, MAD MoFo has announced the launch of a Series A fundraising.

The Goldfinger is described as a Hong Kong crime epic and now it has a UK release date: December 30th in previews and than wider from 5th January.The Goldfinger stars Tony Leung (Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, The Grandmaster) and Andy Lau (The Wandering Earth II, House of Flying Daggers), teamed with Infernal Affairs co-writer Felix Chong (The Silent War, Overheard).The duo first collaborated more than 20 years ago on original 2002 box office sensation Infernal Affairs which earned international acclaim and paved the way for a hit trilogy as well as that 2006 Scorsese remake, The Departed.Cine Asia will distribute the film in the UK.Related: Trailer for The Goldfinger starring Tony Leung and Andy LauInspired by true events and set during the 1980’s, The Goldfinger follows the rise and fall of a multi-billion-dollar company and its chairman Cheng Yi-yan (Leung), who undergoes a major investigation led by an elite anti-corruption investigator (Lau). The result is a relentless and intriguing 15-year investigation in pursuit of the truth.Very much looking forward to this.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief “The Marvels” narrowly missed the top spot at the mainland China box office on its opening weekend. And its debut was far short of its blockbuster predecessor. Data from consultancy firm Artisan Gateway shows “The Marvels” earning RMB82.7 million or $11.5 million between Friday and Sunday in Chinese cinemas. Of that some $2 million or 17%, was earned in Imax theaters. The film’s debut weekend haul was a fraction below the RMB84.2 million ($11.7 million) earned by Chinese film “Last Suspect” in its second weekend of release.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media Reporter There’s nothing super about the opening weekend of Disney’s superhero adventure “The Marvels,” which whiffed at the box office with $63 million internationally and $110 million globally. Those figures are far behind expectations (heading into the weekend, Disney hoped for $140 million or more, and even that wouldn’t have been great for the $220 million-budgeted tentpole) and rank as one of the worst worldwide debuts in the history of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. “The Marvels” is the 33rd MCU film and the sequel to 2019’s billion-dollar behemoth, “Captain Marvel,” which debuted to a massive $302 million internationally and $455 million globally.