‘Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 3’ Gets Day-And-Date Release In China As The Country Opens Up To Hollywood Again

Disney’s live-action take on The Little Mermaid has been cleared for theatrical release in China, as has Fast X — the penultimate installment in Universal’s long-running Fast & Furious action franchise. Dates are still to be set for both films in the market which has increasingly been handing out day-and-date releases for Hollywood titles even if audiences have been somewhat tepid of late. Hope springs.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Japanese animation film “Suzume” made just shy of $50 million on its opening weekend in mainland Chinese theaters. Data from consultancy Artisan Gateway, shows “Suzume” grabbing the top spot at the box office with $49.6 million (RMB342 million) between Friday and Sunday. That is the biggest opening score by any film this year outside of the Chinese New Year holiday week in late January. The next best is “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania” which opened with $19.4 million in mid-February. Directed by Shinkai Makoto, “Suzume” was a hit in Japan where it was released late last year and has remained on screens for a $105 million total. It played in February at the Berlin Film Festival, where it came away largely empty-handed, but has subsequently performed strongly in the Asian territories where it has released. (In South Korea, where it is now the second highest grossing film released in 2023, its third weekend is its strongest to date.)

Kanye West has seemingly backtracked on his spate of anti-Semitic comments made over the last few months by saying he “likes Jewish people again” after watching Jonah Hill in 21 Jump Street. West posted a photo of the 2012 film’s poster to Instagram alongside a caption that read: “Watching Jonah Hill in 21 Jump Street made me like Jewish people again,” he declared.“No one should take anger against one or two individuals and transform that into hatred towards millions of people,” he continued. “No Christian can be labeled antisemite knowing Jesus is Jew.”“Thank you Jonah Hill I love you.”A post shared by Ye (@kanyewest)West’s spate of anti-semitic comments began when he tweeted that he was going to go “death con 3 [sic] On JEWISH PEOPLE” back in October.West was declared ‘Antisemite Of The Year’ by the watchdog group StopAntisemitism in response to his anti-Semitic comments in the last few months.

Keanu Reeves is reflecting on the life and legacy of his friend and co-star Lance Reddick, following the actor's untimely death.Reeves walked the red carpet at the premiere of , held at the TCL Chinese Theater in Hollywood on Monday, where everyone wore blue ribbon pins in Reddick's memory, and his name was displayed first and upfront on the marquee.Reeves spoke with ET's Nischelle Turner about Reddick — who appeared in all four films in the franchise as hotel concierge Charon — and was also slated to appear in the upcoming spinoff film, «Lance is a very beautiful person and special artist,» an emotional Reeves shared of his late colleague. «His grace and dignity, his shining light of character was just something really special.»Reddick's rep confirmed the news of his death to ET on Mar. 17, stating that he «passed away suddenly this morning from natural causes.» He was 60.Looking at his time with Reddick, Reeves shared, "[I am] really grateful I had the chance to know him and work with him over almost 10 years.«The moving words echoes Reeves' tribute, which he shared shortly after news of Reddick's death first broke, alongside director Chad Stahelski.»We are deeply saddened and heartbroken at the loss of our beloved friend and colleague Lance Reddick," the pair said in their statement.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief “Like & Share” from Indonesia’s Gina S. Noer was named the best picture and collected the Grand Prix on Sunday at the Osaka Asian Film Festival. “All of us on the jury were struck by the film’s clear and powerful message, which affirms young women’s sexual curiosity and desire while clearly saying no to sexual violence. The style of the film is also original. The sweet, poppy feeling that fascinates the audience in the first half of the film becomes darker as the story progresses, making us shudder. “Like & Share,” with its strong message and brilliant direction, is a film that needs to be seen now more than ever,” said the jury in a statement.

Peter Debruge Chief Film Critic In 1993, “The Joy Luck Club” made Hollywood history, proving to a skeptical — and let’s face it, racist — industry that there was mainstream demand for a culturally sensitive Chinese American ensemble drama. Three decades later, along comes “Joy Ride,” throwing sensitivity to the wind en route to obliterating any remaining barriers. Like “Girls Trip” with an all-Asian-American cast, the Seth Rogen-produced, hard-R road movie follows small-town besties Audrey (Ashley Park) and Lolo (Sherry Cola) to Beijing, where they tackle everything from taboo tattoos to a devil’s threesome with all the gusto you’d hope or expect from “Crazy Rich Asians” co-writer Adele Lim’s directorial debut.

Lise Pedersen Documentary filmmaker Jialing Zhang, who was nominated for an Emmy for “One Child Nation,” spoke to Variety about her latest film, “Total Trust,” which is running in the main competition at CPH:DOX, the Copenhagen Intl. Documentary Festival. It tells the chilling story of three women and their families fighting for their human rights in China, where state control is ubiquitous thanks to high technology surveillance, such as facial recognition, big data analysis and points systems that mean citizens gain or lose points depending on their behavior. Zhang’s intimate footage offers unprecedented access to the impact of this all-controlling system on the protagonists’ everyday lives.

How could a trip to the motherland go so hilariously, disastrously wrong? The quartet at the heart of Adele Lim’s “Joy Ride” – Ashley Park, Sherry Cola, Stephanie Hsu and Sabrina Wu – have no idea what they’re in for at the top of the trailer, which Lionsgate released Friday ahead of the film’s premiere at SXSW.The trailer begins with the origin story of Audrey (Park) and Lolo’s (Cola) friendship, when they meet at a park as young kids. Lolo punches a white boy in the throat after he calls Audrey a racist slur, sealing the deal on their lifelong friendship.

In another sign of the return to China for Marvel after a long drought, Disney/Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 has been set for a day-and-date release on May 5. The James Gunn-directed finale in the series is due to hit North American cinemas that same day while international rollout will begin on May 3. (Check out the new China poster below.)

A big feature of the TCM Classic Film Festival is providing world premieres of major restorations of some of those classics. This year’s 14th annual fest is no different as Turner Classic Movies has announced its opening night, April 13, will feature the premiere of a 4K restoration of Howard Hawk’s 1959 Western Rio Bravo, in partnership with Martin Scorsese’s Film Foundation, as part of the yearlong celebration of Warner Bros’ 100th anniversary.

told IndieWire it would be “incorrect” to say that there were few, if any, without clarifying further.)The Academy did not comment further on the backlash. In an interview with AMPAS’ magazine A.frame, producer Raj Kapoor said he worked with the film’s creative team – including producers, public relations representatives, and composer M.M.

EXCLUSIVE: Cinema Guild has acquired North American rights for Belgian director Bas Devos’s film Here which won best film in the Berlin Film Festival’s Encounters section last month as well as the Fipresci prize.

Top executives from Asian media companies including CJ ENM, Zee Entertainment Enterprises, BEC World and Bona Film Group discussed Asia’s changing media landscape on the first day of Hong Kong’s Filmart. 

Michelle Yeoh made history as the first Asian woman to win Best Actress at the Academy Awards. It’s a triumphant and moving moment for the thesp who killed in her role as a time-traveling Chinese-American laundromat owner navigating an IRS audit and complex relationships with her husband and daughter in Everything Everywhere All At Once. It was her first Oscar nomination.

Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s Drive My Car was awarded with best feature at the Asian Film Awards (March 12), along with prizes for best editing and best original music. The multiple award winning Japanese drama premiered at Cannes film festival in 2021 and also won the Oscar for Best International Feature last year.  

EXCLUSIVE: Drift director Anthony Chen is gearing up to direct his first US-set project, Heartbeat: A New York Story, about the rarely-told experiences of the Asian gay community during the AIDS epidemic in 1980s New York.

Michelle Yeoh and Ke Huy Quan's new Disney+ series, , has a premiere date.Ahead of the Oscars on Sunday, where Yeoh and Quan could make history if they win Best Actress and Best Supporting Actor for, Disney+ announced the upcoming series will drop Wednesday, May 24. A 30-second teaser highlights Yeoh and Quan's performances, along with their co-star, Stephanie Hsu, who guest stars on  Based on the graphic novel by Gene Luen Yang,  tells the story of Jin Wang (Ben Wang), an average teenager juggling his high school social life with his home life.

Disney+ will launch its upcoming series American Born Chinese on May 24, hoping that the Everything Everywhere All at Once magic of Michelle Yeoh, Key Huy Quan, and Stephanie Hsu boosts the streamer.

Disney+ is giving fans a first look at its much-anticipated martial arts adventure.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief The much-decorated Japanese drama “Drive My Car” was named the best film Sunday at the Asian Film Awards, defeating hot favorite “Decision to Leave.” Other notable awards went to Japan’s Hirokazu Kore-eda whose “Broker” debuted at Cannes, but which was largely shunned in his home country. “Decision to Leave,” which started the evening with ten nominations, was nevertheless rewarded with three awards, best screenplay, best production design and best actress for China’s Tang Wei.