Photos From Inside China’s Cosmetic Surgery Boom

Warner Bros. and Legendary Entertainment's Godzilla Vs.

Rebecca Davis editor“Godzilla vs. Kong” was once again muscled out of the top China box office slot by local drama “Sister” thanks to a $13.2 million third weekend cume that was no match for the latter’s $21 million.Its China tally was a touch less than its $13.4 million second weekend sales in North America.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken danced around the notion of a 2022 China Winter Olympic boycott Sunday on NBC’s Meet the Press, calling such talk “premature.”

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefChina’s e-commerce and entertainment industry giant Alibaba Group has been hit with a fine of RMB18.23 billion ($2.8 billion) for alleged monopoly activities.The record punishment was announced Saturday morning local time by China’s State Administration for Market Regulation, which accused Alibaba of abusing its market dominance.The SAMR opened a formal investigation into the company on Dec. 24, 2020.

Rebecca Davis editorChina’s influential Douban review and culture online platform has wiped the 2021 Oscars from its site, the latest indication that this year’s Academy Awards have become a political flashpoint in the world’s largest film market.Douban is a trend-setting social networking site home to a vibrant message board community and a platform for user reviews for books, music and films.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefChina is set to host the winter Olympics in February, but the extent of American involvement is on shaky ground. There’s plenty of precedent for Olympic-scale strife — in 1980 and 1984, the U.S.

Rebecca Davis editorZhang Yimou’s historical spy thriller “Cliff Walkers” will hit North American cinemas on April 30, day-and-date with its China release.“Cliff Walkers” was previously title “Impasse” in English. Its Chinese title translates to “On the Cliff.” It will be distributed abroad by CMC Pictures.The film marks Zhang’s first foray into the spy genre.

Elsa Keslassy International CorrespondentPathe is relocating Guillaume Canet’s live-action movie “Asterix & Obelix” to France, instead of China where it was initially planned to shoot last year, and couldn’t do so due to the pandemic. Swedish soccer star Zlatan Ibrahimovic has joined the cast in a cameo role.Now titled “Asterix & Obelix, the Middle Kingdom,” the movie is budgeted at 60 million Euros and marks the next installment of the blockbuster French comic book franchise.

Rebecca Davis editorUniversal’s “Fast & Furious 9” has passed Chinese censorship to receive official approval for release, the company announced on Wednesday. A specific China release date has not been set yet.“See you on the big screen!” Universal Pictures said on its official Weibo social media account, alongside a Chinese version of the poster.“F9” debuts the U.S.

State Department spokesman Ned Price raised the possibility that the U.S. could coordinate with other countries to boycott the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing over human rights abuses.

Godzilla vs. Kong, Hollywood's newly crowned pandemic-era box-office champ, has already suffered a surprise upset in China.

For his Oscar-nominated short documentary Do Not Split, director Anders Hammer spent a year in Hong Kong’s streets, capturing the drama and chaos as China cracked down on pro-democracy protests. The work came with inherent danger.

Rebecca Davis editorWhile the U.S. industry celebrated “Godzilla vs.

Rebecca Davis editorEvery cinema in China must schedule and actively promote at least two screenings of propaganda films per week beginning this week until the end of the year, Chinese authorities have declared, announcing the first batch of eligible titles Friday.Theaters that are part of the National Alliance of Arthouse Cinemas or the “People’s Cinema” circuit — a group of more than 5,000 venues with special halls dedicated to propaganda films or that employ specific strategies like

Rebecca Davis editorChina’s Huace Pictures this week unveiled its upcoming film lineup, which includes a new project from young arthouse filmmaker Bi Gan (“Kaili Blues”) and sequels to its Chinese New Year hit “A Writer’s Odyssey.”Founded in 2014, Huace Pictures is the newer outgrowth of Shenzhen-listed, Hangzhou-headquartered Zhejiang Huace Film and TV, founded in 2005.

BBC China correspondent John Sudworth has relocated to Taiwan amid fears for his safety as tensions grow between Beijing and Britain’s public broadcaster.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefJohn Sudworth, China correspondent for the BBC has left the Chinese mainland and relocated to Taiwan. His move follows mounting East-West tension over Xinjiang and Hong Kong and accusations that the BBC in particular has defamed China.Sudworth’s move was announced Wednesday by the BBC in a Twitter message.

Godzilla vs Kong has turned out to be among the top earners amid the pandemic releases at the global box office. The film debuted with a collection of over USD 121.8 million at the foreign box office, as per Hollywood Reporter.

Better Days,” the territory’s leading free-to-air TV network Television Broadcasts (TVB) will be dropping television coverage of the Oscars ceremony.The network Monday confirmed that it did not have rights to broadcast the show this year.