Imax Spending $124 Million to Buy Full Control of China Subsidiary

reports the South China Morning Post.The fan-made poster, which was originally uploaded last month by the account DiscussingFilms on X (formerly Twitter), showed Cillian Murphy’s J. Robert Oppenheimer holding Margot Robbie’s Barbie in front of a mushroom cloud. Japanese users were further aggravated when the official US account for the Barbie film commented on the post, writing that “it’s gonna be a summer to remember.” Since the comment controversy, the hashtag “#NoBarbenheimer” has been trending on social media.

The FIFA Women's World Cup in Australia could be England's to lose after Tuesday's glittering display against the Chinese. Unfolding at Hindmarsh Stadium, the 16,500-capacity home of Adelaide United, manager Sarina Wiegman's superstars made a lightning-quick start to the match; Alessia Russo squeezing in the opener after just four minutes of play.

International cinema chain Vue says it has recorded its “best ever week” in large part due to the Barbie and Oppenheimer releases ten days ago.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief “Creation of the Gods I: Kingdom of Storms,” the first part of Wuershan’s big-budget “Fengshen Trilogy,” topped the mainland China box office for the second weekend and expanded its week-on-week haul by 35%. ‘Barbie’ also showed signs of resilience in a market where it opened a week earlier in a disappointing fifth place. “Creation of the Gods I” grossed $57.6 million.

As expected, Warner Bros’ Barbie has now officially crossed the six-century mark globally with Friday’s figures included. The global cume is $637.5M through yesterday with the international box office repping $350.5M after a $30.1M Friday in 69 offshore markets. The Greta Gerwig-directed phenom should high-heel it past $700M through Sunday worldwide.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent French director Élise Girard’s “Sidonie in Japan” starring Isabelle Huppert as a French writer mourning her husband’s death while on a book tour of Japan, is among titles set to launch from the Venice Film Festival’s independently run Giornate Degli Autori. The section, also known as Venice Days, has unveiled its lineup comprising ten titles world premiering in competition – six of which first works – and films in other sections all displaying a wide range of genres and visual styles, but tied together by “A common discourse,” said the section’s artistic director Gaia Furrer.

The Barbenheimer phenomenon just keeps going. To wit: there is so much energy happening at international box office turnstiles that Tuesday’s grosses on Warner Bros’ Greta Gerwig-directed Barbie and Universal’s Christopher Nolan opus Oppenheimer were down just 1% from Monday. The offshore gross through Tuesday on Barbie is now $258.5M with global at $472.6M.

After a blowout debut weekend, Barbenheimer showed strong continued momentum at the international box office on Monday. Warner Bros’ Barbie for its part had the best Monday ever for the studio overseas at $32M from 69 markets (it also scored the studio’s best Monday domestically). The running offshore total through yesterday is $226.3M, bringing the global Kenergy to $414.4M.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media Reporter An intimate moment in Christopher Nolan’s dark historical drama “Oppenheimer” has been censored in several countries outside the U.S., including India. The altered scene takes place as Cillian Murphy’s J. Robert Oppenheimer, the theoretical physicist who led the development of the atomic bomb, sits naked across from Florence Pugh’s Jean Tatlock, a Communist Party member with whom he had a torrid affair. In the unedited version of the film, Pugh is topless as she converses with Murphy’s character in a hotel room. But in the sequence that plays in Indian and Middle Eastern movie theaters, her body is covered with a computer-generated black dress.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief While “Barbie” was romping to box office records in North American and scoring strongly in many international territories, the pink phenomenon could muster only fifth place in China, the world’s second largest movie market, on its opening weekend. “Barbie” managed $8.2 million in its opening three days, according to data from consultancy firm Artisan Gateway. Local box office sources show the film trapped in that position on all three days of the weekend session, as the locally-produced titles jostled for leadership and swapped positions. Somewhat encouragingly, the daily score for “Barbie” had increased by Sunday as it was given more screening sessions by Chinese exhibitors.

Dalian Wanda Group is selling a 49% stake in its investment arm to local film and TV producer China Ruyi Holdings in an on-going effort to reduce debt. 

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media Reporter The battle of the bomb versus the bombshell has gone global. Over the weekend, Greta Gerwig’s very pink fantasy-comedy “Barbie” collected a stunning $182 million at the international box office, bringing its worldwide total to $337 million. Meanwhile, Christopher Nolan’s R-rated historical drama “Oppenheimer” held its own, igniting to $93.7 million from 78 markets for a huge global tally of $174 million. The two seemingly different blockbusters, which were jokingly pitted against each other, crushed already-stratospheric expectations thanks to the cultural phenomenon known as “Barbenheimer.” Hundreds of thousands of moviegoers booked a double feature for the ages, attending same-day viewings of “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer.”

Lester Holt is taking NBC Nightly News to Alaska next week for a special broadcast that will focus on the U.S. defense against foreign aircraft and missile threats amid tensions with Russia and China.

At a time when the industry is suffering through historic dual strikes by the WGA and SAG-AFTRA, the motion picture industry is poised to see an enormous weekend at the box office with Warner Bros./Mattel’s long awaited toy feature adaptation Barbie and Christopher Nolan’s World War II era three-hour adult drama Oppenheimer reaping a combined $260M+ global start.

Banijay has taken full control of Endemol Shine India.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief China’s box office weekend was marked more by the tussle for top spot between “Never Say Never” and “Chang An” than the entry of “Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One.” The Tom Cruise-starring U.S. blockbuster was the highest new release title, but landed in third place with an opening score of $25.9 million. The weekend’s top-ranked film was “Never Say Never,” a holdover title that scored $46.1 million. Lightchaser Animation-produced “Chang An San Wan Li” (aka “Chang An 30,000 Miles”) earned a shade less, at $43.9 million, according to data from consultancy Artisan Gateway. After 11 days of official release (plus substantial previews), “Never Say Never,” written and directed by actor Wang Baoqiang (“Lost in Thailand,” “Detective Chinatown”) has already become one of the biggest hits of the year. Its cumulative stands at $212 million. “Chang An” has accumulated $96.1 million in nine days.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Wanda Investment, a subsidiary of the privately-owned Chinese property giant Dalian Wanda, has sold an 8.3% stake in Wanda Film Holding for RMB2.2 billion ($306 million). Wanda Film, which is listed on the Shenzhen stock exchange, operates China’s largest circuit of multiplexes and retains a stake in Hollywood producer Legendary Entertainment (“Dune”). The buyer is Lu Lili, the wife of Shen Jun, the controller of East Money Information, a financial data platform, Wanda Film said in a regulatory filing this week. The share sale appears to be a move to raise finance for Dalian Wanda and Wang Jianlin, the politically-connected former army officer who built one of China’s largest property empires and from 2012 mounted a seven-year campaign to own a large chunk of Hollywood.

Imax Corp. is planning to acquire full control of its China subsidiary, the company announced Wednesday.

Emily Blunt and Matt Damon are reuniting in, director Christopher Nolan's new epic, which stars Cillian Murphy as J. Robert Oppenheimer, the theoretical physicist who led the Manhattan Project during World War II and is often credited as «the father of the atomic bomb.»Oppenheimer's life and work was full of complex characters, and Nolan has assembled a star-studded cast to tell the complicated story. Blunt stars as Katherine «Kitty» Oppenheimer, who was a German-American biologist and botanist and a member of the Communist Party of America, in addition to being Oppenheimer's wife.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Local titles dominated at the mainland Chinese cinema box office over the latest weekend. “Never Say Never” overtook the previous sensation “Lost in the Stars” to lead another strong summer session. “Never Say Never” (aka “Octagonal”) released officially on Thursday, ahead of China’s more normal Friday system. It earned $55.3 million (RMB384 million) between Friday and Sunday, according to verified data from consultancy Artisan Gateway. To that can be added some $9.6 million from Thursday and over $60 million previews and the film finished Sunday with a cumulative of $121 million. Co-written and directed by actor Wang Baoqiang (“Lost in Thailand,” “Detective Chinatown”), the film tells a tale of a man who tries to teach orphans about martial arts. But he is publicly shamed after his efforts are misinterpreted.