‘No Time to Die’ Opens to $28 Million in China As COVID-19 Shutters More Than 10% of Cinemas

The final show of Bill Maher’s Real Time fall season on HBO arrived Friday night. “I will miss seeing half your faces and the roar of muffled laughter,” he joked about his masked audience. Maher returns for his spring season on January 21, 2022.

Rebecca Davis editorChinese real estate giant Evergrande has sold its entire remaining stake in the film and TV streaming company HengTen Networks Group for $273 million, part of efforts to avoid defaulting on its massive debts.The world’s most indebted developer, some $300 billion in the red, is struggling to meet interest payments on its loans, and has been selling off shares to raise funds.At the beginning of the year, Evergrande owned a majority stake in Netflix-like HengTen.

Rebecca Davis editorChinese film authorities on Wednesday granted both “Dune” and “No Time to Die” one month longer in local theaters, giving the Hollywood blockbusters a full two months on the big screen in the world’s largest film market.The former will now run through Dec. 21 and the latter through Dec.

A children’s hospital in Shanghai is the new home for China’s first ever clinic for transgender kids.The Children’s Hospital of Fudan University announced earlier this month that they would create a clinic to help trans children  “reduce the negative emotions” they may feel and also help “improve their family relationships”.The clinic officially opened last week, and is China’s first of its kind facility to support trans children with their gender identity. Chinese tabloid Global Times had

Vivienne Chow Collective memories of Hong Kong cinema and pop culture have a major role to play at the newly opened M+ museum of contemporary visual culture, which is received tens of thousands of visitors on its opening weekend despite the city’s changing political landscape.While much emphasis and media spotlight have been placed on the exhibition of the famed collection of Chinese contemporary art donated by the Swiss mega art collector Uli Sigg, what appealed most to the local public on the

Rebecca Davis editorDisney’s “Jungle Cruise” didn’t manage to catch a swift current in its China debut, drifting to a slow $3.3 million first three-day weekend, according to data from the Artisan Gateway consultancy. The Maoyan data platform currently estimates it will gross a total of just $6.19 million.The adventure tale has clearly lost steam since its simultaneous release in U.S.

Italy’s trade with China, in a bid to prevent the first solo exhibit by Badiucao — the pseudonym used by the artist whose work takes aim at China's policies and human rights record.Brescia Mayor Emilio Del Bono “responded with delicacy and firmness,” said Elettra Stamboulis, curator of the exhibit at the city’s Museum of Santa Giulia.“Of course we are always a little worried, not so much for the artist’s safety, but because we know there are more creepy ways to silence dissident artists," she

No Time to Die” dropped by 59% in its second weekend at the Chinese box office. But it still held on to the top spot in the Middle Kingdom.Data from Artisan Gateway showed that “No Time to Die” scored $11.4 million between Friday and Sunday.

Oh, what a night! On Tuesday, November 2, celebrities and supermodels shut down Hollywood Boulevard to walk in Gucci’s Love Parade fashion show. Jared Leto and Jodie Turner-Smith were among the stars to hit the esteemed catwalk. But it’s Home Alone alum Macaulay Culkin, in particular, that pleasantly surprised — and shocked — the crowd.

The partner of a teacher who has been in a coma for nine months in a Chinese hospital after a routine clinical procedure went terribly wrong has stated: "They’d rather she died."

MGM/Eon/Universal’s No Time To Die brought James Bond to China today, with an RMB 52M ($8.1M) No. 1 opening (including a smattering of Thursday midnights). This is the third biggest Hollywood opening day of 2021 in the market and is ahead of the launch days of the most recent comps Dune (+33%) and Free Guy (+53%). With a great social score, No Time To Die is now looking at a China bow in the $30M range.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefJames Bond franchise movie “No Time to Die” claimed the honor of deposing record-breaking local film “The Battle At Lake Changjin” from the top of the Chinese box office. But 007’s unspectacular first day trajectory will leave studio and audiences neither shaken nor stirred.Throughout Friday, “No Time to Die” tracked comfortably at the top of the Chinese chart, with market share as high as 55% in the morning sessions.

Last Week Tonight.Cena came under fire in May after calling Taiwan a country during an interview. The actor, who was promoting Fast And Furious 9, said that Taiwan, an island separated from mainland China by the Taiwan Strait, would be the first “country” able to watch the film.“I made one mistake,” Cena said afterwards on Chinese social media network Weibo (as per South China Morning Post). “I love and respect China and Chinese people.

On Sunday’s “Last Week Tonight,” host John Oliver used awkward apologies given to China by actor John Cena and clothing company The Gap to highlight just how intense the country’s government feels about its claim of ownership of Taiwan. “China insists that Taiwan, an independently operating entity, with its own democratically elected leaders, armed forces and constitution is actually part of China, and in no way a separate country,” Oliver said.