Riot Games Enlists Frank Zhu As Managing Director Of China Entertainment

Stocks retreated sharply Monday in the worst opening in weeks on jitters prompted by a potential crisis in the Chinese real estate sector, fear over Fed policy changes and negotiations over the U.S. debt ceiling in Washington, D.C.

Rebecca Davis editor“Free Guy” has retained enough charm to stay at second in China in its fourth weekend in theaters, but it slid in just a mere hair ahead of Chinese titles setting themselves up for box office success over the current Mid-Autumn Festival holiday.The 20th Century Studios film starring Ryan Reynolds grossed $4.8 million in the three days of Friday, Saturday and Sunday, bringing its China cumulative so far up to $85.1 million, according to data from  consultancy Artisan

Emiliano De Pablos Mexico’s Sin Sitio Cine is joining forces with Brazilian company Desvia Produções and Canada’s Notable Content to co-produce Johnny Ma’s project “Chin-Gone.”A major up and coming Chinese-Canadian helmer, Ma’s directorial debut, “Old Stone,” world-premiered at the 2016 Berlin Film Festival and won the Canadian First Feature Award at the Toronto Film Festival.

Deadline has confirmed that Legendary/Warner Bros.’ Dune will be opening day-and-date with the U.S. in China on Oct. 22 while Daniel Craig’s swan song as James Bond, No Time to Die, will open on Oct. 29.

Rebecca Davis editorAfter months with few significant new Hollywood releases, both “Dune” and ‘No Time to Die’ finalized their China opening dates on Sunday, officially confirming their outing in the world’s largest film market at a time when other major studio titles have been given the cold shoulder.The two films will hit in successive October weekends. “Dune” will land on Oct.

Rebecca Davis editorAs the days stretch on without any word of a China release for “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings,” there are increasingly slim odds that residents of the world’s largest film market will get to see Marvel’s first Asian superhero on the big screen.Those odds have grown slimmer still after jingoistic social media users unearthed content featuring “Shang-Chi” star Simu Liu that they say “insults China.” In the country’s current political climate, the accusations could

Rap artist Nicki Minaj slammed America’s cancel culture after she spoke out about her vaccine hesitancy and compared it to China's restrictions on residents and visitors from criticizing the country's leaders.

Rebecca Davis editorA selection of Russian films will screen in-person during the Beijing International Film Festival (BJIFF) through a collaboration with the new Russian Film Festival, part of an effort by both governments to promote Russian cinema in China and cultural exchange.The Chinese festival is set to run from Sept. 17 to Sept.

Rebecca Davis editorWhen Taiwanese actor Janine Chang was writing her masters’ thesis in industrial economics in 2010, she likely never imagined that two Chinese characters in it would become a diplomatic flashpoint and threaten to derail her lucrative acting career more than a decade later.This week, however, it has done just that.

Tony Vinciquerra, CEO of Sony Pictures Entertainment, says a decision to release Venom: Let There Be Carnage two weeks early shows the film studio “demonstrating our confidence that people will be going to the movies, if the Delta Variant seems to be receding a bit.” He says that was the clear takeaway from Disney’s strong Labor Day weekend release of Shang-Chi And The Legend Of The Ten Rings.

Rebecca Davis editor“Free Guy” retained its lead of the China box office for the third weekend in a row, and has now surpassed “Tenet” in local sales.It brought in $12.4 million on a rare weekend with three non-Chinese language titles in the top five, according to Maoyan figures.China’s box office has been dismal all summer and the slump continued this week with, once again, only five films that made over $1 million.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefThe Chinese government’s crackdown on the tech and entertainment sectors has now turned to “sissy idols,” “effeminate men” and all things “overly entertaining.”The measures were sketched out in an eight-point plan on Thursday by the National Radio and Television Administration.

EXCLUSIVE: League of Legends and Valorant publisher Riot Games continues to bolster its entertainment division as former Netflix executive Brian Wright joins the studio as Chief Content Officer.

Netflix asked him to change the location of his new film Hustle from China to Majorca.Sandler, who signed a new deal with Netflix at the start of 2020 to make four more original films, explained that the streaming giant changed his original concept for the new film about a basketball recruiter who travels overseas.“It was written originally that I find a player in China and somehow, Netflix is not in China,” Sandler said on The Dan Patrick Show.“So they were like, ‘Would you guys please make it

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefFrank Zhu, former head of Chinese animation studio Pearl Studio, has joined Tencent-owned Riot Games as MD for Riot Games’ China Entertainment.