Shanghai Cinemas to Receive $2.5M in Government Subsidies

Rebecca Davis editorA trio of Hollywood titles previously approved for China announced Thursday that they are set to hit the big screen now that cinemas are kicking back into gear.“Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone,” in 3D and 4K restorations, will screen in China starting Aug. 14 to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the franchise.

Nancy Tartaglione International Box Office Editor/Senior ContributorAs expected, Chinese authorities have given the go-ahead for cinemas in Beijing to reopen this coming Friday. That’s also when the first new Hollywood titles will hit the market, including Dolittle and Bloodshot.

Nancy Tartaglione International Box Office Editor/Senior ContributorEXCLUSIVE: Lots of movement on the international box office front this past weekend, and into the beginning of the week. Korean zombie sequel Peninsula, as we reported Sunday, made a meal of five overseas markets with a $21M Wednesday-Sunday frame.

Rebecca Davis editorParamount Pictures’ “Sonic the Hedgehog” will finally debut on the big screen in China on July 31, becoming the headliner for the second weekend of business for newly reopened cinemas.The film will compete for audience attention with two other animated titles now set to hit screens July 31: a re-release of the 2014 Disney animated film “Big Hero 6,” which grossed $83.8 million in Chinese cinemas in 2015, and new local animation “Mr.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefChina reopened the doors of its cinemas on Monday, after nearly five months of closure. But audiences only trickled in.The re-opening was restricted to theaters in cities and regions where the coronavirus is deemed to have been vanquished.

Rebecca Davis editor“The Pursuit of Happyness,” “Dolittle” and “Bloodshot” are the first confirmed foreign films to hit Chinese cinemas next week as a portion of venues in low-risk regions reopen starting Monday.China’s cinemas have been closed for longer than any other country’s, having stayed dark — despite a brief attempt to reopen in March — since the lunar new year holiday in late January.“Happyness” will be the first of the Hollywood titles to screen, starting from day one of reopenings

Nancy Tartaglione International Box Office Editor/Senior ContributorEXCLUSIVE: Wasting no time as cinemas prepare to reopen beginning next week in most of China, a first batch of titles due for release has been identified. Universal’s Dolittle has been granted a July 24 date while we understand that Sony’s Bloodshot, handled locally by Bona Film, will also go out that same day.

As cinemas in China look to reopen on Monday amid the novel coronavirus pandemic, Imax Corp. has signed a 20-theater deal with Chinese industry giant Wanda Film Co.

The Shanghai International Film Festival, China's longest-running major cinema event, will take place in-person beginning July 25. The 2020 edition of the festival, now scheduled to kick off in just over one week, will take a condensed form and be mostly a Chinese affair, staffers for the event told The Hollywood Reporter Thursday.

Cinemas in China, the world's second-biggest theatrical film market, were given the official greenlight Thursday to resume business beginning July 20. The China Film Administration put out the notice around midday in Beijing, sparking instant celebration throughout the country's filmmaking community.

Jill Goldsmith Co-Business EditorImax China has expanded its decade long partership with Wanda Film Co.

Rebecca Davis editorThe Shanghai International Film Festival will take place July 25 to Aug. 2, after Chinese authorities announced Thursday that cinemas will reopen at long last, beginning next Monday in low-risk regions.The Shanghai International TV Festival has also set its dates.

Anthony D'Alessandro Editorial Director/Box Office EditorBREAKING: Those theaters in low risk areas in China “can resume business in an orderly manner” as early as Monday, July 20, the China Film Administration announced in a recent notice.There were rumblings in foreign distribution that China would start reopening on this date, however, sources weren’t so sure whether that meant simply that the Shanghai Film Festival would take place at this time (and thus, movie theaters would reopen).

Rebecca Davis editorChina will begin reopening cinemas in “low-risk regions” from July 20, the China Film Administration announced Thursday, ending nearly six months of closures that left thousands of theaters bankrupt. “Cinemas in low-risk regions can resume business in an orderly manner on July 20, with the effective implementation of prevention and control measures.

Rebecca Davis editorChinese movie “Double World” will forgo a theatrical premiere in favor of a simultaneous online debut on Netflix and China’s streaming service iQiyi, the film’s producers announced.The news comes as China’s cinemas have yet to offer a timeline for reopening despite nearly six months of closures. The film will stream via iQiyi in China on July 24 and via Netflix elsewhere in the world, as the Western platform is blocked in the mainland.

Hong Kong cinemas, along with the Walt Disney Co.'s Hong Kong theme park, have shut their doors again amid a local flareup of novel coronavirus infections. Across the border in the vastly larger mainland Chinese market, rumors that movie theaters would get the official green light to reopen in late July have yet to materialize.

Leo Barraclough Senior International CorrespondentThe British government has banned mobile providers from purchasing Huawei 5G equipment after Dec. 31.

The Walt Disney Co. said Monday it would close its Hong Kong theme park again amid a rising number of novel coronavirus cases in China.