Michael Schneider Variety Editor at LargeThe Banff World Media Festival revealed the winners of the 2022 Rockie Awards International Program Competition on Monday, with big winners including the “Friends” Reunion, “RuPaul’s Drag Race,” “We Are Lady Parts” and more.The event, held in Banff and hosted by comedian Rakhee Morzaria (“Run the Burbs”) featured winners chosen by a panel of 150 international industry professionals. The Rockie Awards International Program Competition presented awards in 28 categories spanning Documentary & Factual, Arts & Entertainment, Children & Youth, Scripted, and Podcast.The competition featured 148 nominations from 45 countries including the UK, United, Canada, Australia, France, China, Germany, Italy and Norway.
Imax CEO Rich Gelfond Sees China’s Hard Line On Hollywood Continuing
25.05.2022 - 19:25 / deadline.com
China recently set release dates for two summer films – Universal’s Jurassic World Dominion June 10 and big local language production Mozart From Space (by the director of the Detective Chinatown series) July 15. That’s good news for the giant market’s reopening, said Imax CEO Rich Gelfond. But he doesn’t expect heightened scrutiny of Hollywood fare to subside anytime soon despite the Jurassic news. China has declined to date many high-profile U.S. films with recent Marvel omissions perhaps the most glaring.
At a media conference Q&A today, Gelfond called 2021 “a really funky year” for U.S. films in China. The exec is especially interesting on that market given his company’s significant exposure there.
First, “the Chinese had their own backlog of unreleased films so there weren’t going to let in a lot of Marvel films and other films,” he said Also, there was a “large, failed PVOD experience, where pristine copies went day-and-date globally.”
“China is a high-piracy territory and people were not buying them on PVOD, they were getting them for free from torrent sites. So the Chinese government said. ‘Are we going to let these movies in when they are not going to do any business theatrically.’ By now, studios seem generally to have settled for a 45-day theatrical window for blockbusters, he noted.
“This year, they’ve let The Batman in. Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore, Ambulance. Jurassic World, Mozart and a number of others local films have been dated.” That said, there are “broader global issues between the U.S. and China” and that means U.S. films “are subject to broader scrutiny.” Meanwhile, “the studios are under pressure not to be too accommodating, because there has been backlash – [as in] ‘Are they making the
‘Jurassic World Dominion’ $53 Million Opening Gives China Its Best Box Office Weekend in Three Months
Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefA powerfully impressive opening by “Jurassic World Dominion” and a partial reopening of cinemas gave China its biggest box office weekend in more than three months. The dinosaur franchise movie earned $53 million (RMB355 million) in three days in China, according to data from consultancy Artisan Gateway. The film chewed off a massive 88% share of the total weekend market.
‘Jurassic World Dominion’ Chomps On $95M+ Through Thursday Overseas; Thrashes To $110M+ Including China Friday
Refresh for latest…: Universal/Amblin Entertainment’s Jurassic World Dominion is putting its dino-print out in an additional 57 overseas markets this weekend after stomping into 15 early hubs last session. Through Thursday, the Colin Trevorrow-directed threequel has grossed $95.1M at the international box office. When including Friday’s China start, that rises to $110.4M.
Kevin Chu to be Honored at Taipei Festival – Global Bulletin
Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefThe Taipei Film Festival has named prolific writer-director-producer Kevin Chu (aka Chu Yen-ping) as the recipient of its Outstanding Contribution Award. During the 1980s and the 1990s, Chu made many popular memorable commercial films and discovered several promising new actors — Chu wrote the script of “Never Too Late to Repent” and won the best screenplay award at the Asia Pacific Film Festival. After that, Chu made this directorial debut, “The Clown and the Swan,” which was a critically-acclaimed box office success in which comedy actor Hsu Pu-liao established his name.
‘My Blue Summer’ Leads China Box Office Higher Over COVID-Hit Holiday Weekend
Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief“My Blue Summer,” a local romance led the Chinese box office higher over the latest weekend with a modestly respectable $7.2 million (RMB48.2 million) opening session. But the trend is hard to discern due to continually changing COVID conditions in China and the country’s uncertain economic direction.The nationwide Friday to Sunday box office total was $26.7 million, according to data from consultancy Artisan Gateway. The total was more than double the $11.5 million achieved the previous weekend.The performance was goosed by the Dragon Boat Holiday weekend, operating June 3-5.
‘Mija’ Director Isabel Castro on Opening L.A. Latino Film Festival: ‘It Really Feels Like We’re Having Our Voice Heard’
Wilson Chapman editorThe 21st edition of the Los Angeles Latino International Film Festival opened with “Mija,” a Disney original documentary film about Doris Muñoz and Jacks Haupt, two daughters of undocumented immigrants navigating the music industry. For Isabel Castro, who makes her directorial debut with the film, opening the festival is a perfect reflection of the themes of her film.“The film is made for the community that LALIFF fosters,” Castro told Variety on the red carpet of the LALIFF opening.
Audible Drops Trailer for ‘The Big Lie’ Podcast Drama Starring Jon Hamm, Set in ’50s Hollywood Blacklist Era
Todd Spangler NY Digital EditorAudible will immerse listeners in “The Big Lie,” an original drama series based on the FBI’s real-life infiltration of Hollywood during the 1950’s Red Scare.“The Big Lie,” premiering June 16 on Audible, stars Jon Hamm as FBI special agent Jack Bergin, who sets out to shut down production of “Salt of the Earth” — the only movie named to the so-called Hollywood Blacklist — after he becomes convinced that it’s really a recruiting tool for the Communist Party. The seven-episode “The Big Lie” will premiere exclusively on Audible, available at this link.“I don’t want to see somebody get killed over this movie,” Hamm’s FBI agent says threateningly in the series trailer, which was just released by Audible.
Lion with ‘mullet’ forces zoo to deny Joe Exotic haircut: ‘It’s nature’s magic’
“Tiger King” Joe Exotic. Hang Hang’s flattened fringe was spotted by zoogoers on May 29, who later shared images online, according to Viral Press.
Alibaba Annual Profits Lower, Rocked by Investment Losses, Slowing China Economy
Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefChina’s e-commerce and media giant Alibaba recorded lower profits in the 12 months to March 2022, following a year of turmoil for tech companies, a weakening Chinese economy, a COVID revival and Russia’s war in Ukraine..Group revenues increased by 19% in the year to March, reaching $135 billion (RMB853 billion). In the fourth quarter, revenues grew 9% to $32.2 billion (RMB204 billion).Net profits bore the brunt of the difficult conditions and the market value of some of its investments in other companies reduced by some $7 billion.
‘Decision to Leave’ Star Tang Wei Tells Park Chan-wook: ‘You Make My Life Complete’
Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefTang Wei, the Chinese star of Korean film “Decision to Leave,” says she told director Park Chan-wook that he’d made her life complete after seeing the finished version of the film at its Cannes Film Festival gala premiere.The film played in competition this week in Cannes. She revealed her confession on Tuesday at a press event, accompanied by Park, cast member Park Hae-il and scriptwriter Chung Soo-kyung.Switching between Chinese and English, Tang Wei said: “This in not the first time I’ve worked with a Korean director.
NBA Quietly Returns To China’s State-Run TV For Playoffs, First Games Since Oct. 2019
ESPN is reporting that the NBA playoffs are back for China’s TV viewers after a long banishment over controvesial political statements by an executive.
Hollywood’s Iconic TCL Chinese Theatre Celebrates 95 Years of Premieres and Stars
Todd Gilchrist From “The King of Kings” to “The Northman,” hundreds of films have premiered within the storied walls of the TCL Chinese Theatre, which celebrates its 95th anniversary May 18.Indeed, as early as 1933, the famed movie house appeared in other media as a boilerplate for how a premiere should, and often does, look like. Since then, the theater played itself in dozens of television shows and movies, some of which went on to debut on its iconic screen.
‘Jurassic World Dominion’ China Release Date Set
The dinosaurs are ready to stomp into China with a June 10 date confirmed for Universal’s Jurassic World Dominion. This will be in step with the North American release — a rarity of late — after international rollout begins a few days prior. Universal confirmed the China release date on its official Weibo account with a video from stars Bryce Dallas Howard and Chris Pratt. Check out some new posters below.