Netflix Picks Up Chinese New Year Title ‘The Yin Yang Master’

Chinese New Year movies continued to drive the global and international box office this weekend, after their astonishing Covid-era debuts last frame. Leaders last session, Detective Chinatown 3 and Hi Mom, both crossed the RMB 4B mark locally, with each at an estimated RMB 4.02B ($621M) cume through Sunday. This is after just 10 days of play for each film, and boosts both up the all-time charts

Rebecca Davis editorWarner Brothers’ live action-animation hybrid film “Tom and Jerry” has quietly locked in a Feb. 26 release date in China, which will make it the first foreign film to hit theaters in the wake of the Chinese New Year.The lunar new year public holiday, which this year ran from Feb.

Rebecca Davis editorThe embattled production powerhouse Beijing Culture has emerged as the biggest publicly-listed winner of the Chinese New Year box office bonanza. Its stock price has climbed 18% since the start of the holiday thanks to the success of its hit comedy “Hi Mom.”The boost is a much needed one following two years of losses and a government investigation late last year that unveiled mismanagement and inaccurate figures in its prior financial statements.

On Wednesday, Chinese New Year box office achieved yet another new milestone with grosses for the holiday period growing to an estimated RMB 7.78B ($1.2B). This beats the previous all-time high set during the comparable 2019 holiday (RMB 5.9B). China often outdoes itself, but the fact that 2021’s Lunar New Year frame came with Covid capacity restrictions makes the performance even more staggering.

Netflix has acquired worldwide streaming rights to Chinese animated film New Gods: Nezha Reborn, which opened theatrically in China last weekend at the start of the Lunar New Year holiday. The film is produced by pioneering Beijing-based studio Light Chaser Animation.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefGlobal streaming platform Netflix has picked up international rights to mainland Chinese animated feature “New Gods: Nezha Reborn.” The Light Chaser Animation Studios title was one of the seven major titles to release last week in Chinese cinemas over the peak Lunar New Year holiday period.The platform has exclusive worldwide streaming rights outside mainland China.

After acquiring Chinese New Year title The Yin Yang Master last week, Netflix is adding animated fantasy New Gods: Nezha Reborn to its roster. The film, based on the classic mythology The Romance Of The Gods, debuted theatrically in China for Lunar New Year on February 12 and grossed $21.3M through the weekend. To date, it has made over $36M in the market. Netflix has taken exclusive global streaming rights outside China.

Rebecca Davis editorThe world’s largest film market is living up to its title with world-record-setting sales.

marked by a different animal.

Chinese New Year is celebrated later in the year, rather than the January 1 date observed by the Gregorian calendar.

Richard Kuipers Parallel worlds commingle with initially intriguing but progressively less invigorating results in “A Writer’s Odyssey,” a handsomely produced action-fantasy directed by Chinese hitmaker Lu Yang (“Brotherhood of Blades,” “The Sacrifice”).

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefChinese New Year is the biggest, most lucrative and brashest season of the year in mainland China cinemas. It is a time for big-budget tentpoles and fun films that are pitched as family entertainment.Having reserved their place in the releasing calendar for months or even a year, seven films open simultaneously on Friday (Feb.