Simu Liu And 5 Other Big Actors Who've Shared Their Immigrant Experiences

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief“The Batman” flew to a worryingly slow start on Friday at the mainland China box office, where Hollywood films have struggled of late and where the latest coronavirus surge is threatening films of all origins.By 3.30pm on its first full day, the Warner Bros. noir had earned a lowly RMB12.1 million, or $1.90 million at prevailing currency rates, according to provisional data from ticketing agency Maoyan.

Warner Bros/DC’s The Batman has winged its way past the half a billion dollar mark worldwide to become the fourth highest-grossing studio release of the pandemic era. The global total is $505.8M through Wednesday, and there’s still plenty of gas left in the Batmobile.

After two weeks in theaters, Warner Bros./DC’s “The Batman” has passed $500 million at the global box office, with more than half of that total coming from domestic theaters. On Wednesday, “The Batman” added $5.75 million domestically, bringing its total to $258.3 million in North America and $505.8 million worldwide.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefTreasure-hunting action adventure “Uncharted” picked up $1.95 million in China on Monday, its official opening day, according to local box office tracking sources. Provisional data from Ent Group showed it launching in first place on Monday, becoming the first film to displace the long-running Chinese patriotic war movie “The Battle at Lake Changjin II,” which had reigned supreme since Feb.

EXCLUSIVE: A feature documentary about the 1MDB scandal and one of its alleged masterminds, international fugitive Low Taek Jho, also known as Jho Low, has started production this week in London.

In its sophomore outing, Warner Bros/DC’s The Batman kept a firm grip on the international box office, dropping just 42% to add $66.6M from 76 offshore markets. That brings the overseas cume through Sunday to $224.7M for $463.2M global. As the Robert Pattinson-starrer heads to $500M worldwide this week, in like-for-like markets and using today’s exchange rates, it’s currently tracking 132% ahead of pandemic comp Godzilla Vs Kong and is 44% above Wonder Woman, 36% ahead of The Dark Knight and 24% over Justice League.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefMainland China’s theatrical box office slipped to its lowest weekend total of the year as the market suffered a combination of rising COVID cases and a lack of new releases.Nationwide box office between Friday and Sunday amounted to just $19.2 million, according to data from consultancy Artisan Gateway. It was the fifth weekend of decline since the splashy opening of eight major titles on Feb.

This result signifies a weekend drop of just 51%, giving “The Batman” a better second weekend hold than any of the top 5 highest grossing films of 2021; and given the film’s ability to beat projections, that hold could improve further after Sunday actuals are reported. With this blistering pace, “The Batman” stays on track to reach $400 million in North America and potentially $1 billion worldwide, having already exceeded the domestic and global runs of “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings” as it joins “Spider-Man: No Way Home” as the only film in the past year to top $225 million domestic.

Anyone frozen to the bone today in Austin, TX from the 39-degree, piercing wind weather could find all the heat inside the Paramount Theatre as A24’s Daniels’ AGBO movie Everything Everywhere All at Once brought moviegoing roaring back to the first SXSW in three years.

The Matt Reeves-directed blockbuster is set to be the biggest theatrical hit for Warner Bros. since the DC film featuring Batman’s nemesis “Joker” was in theaters in fall 2019. And for movie theaters, it’s a much-needed boost in business after theaters were closed in 2020 and spent much of the past year trying to get back on their feet as the box office recovered in fits and starts.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief‘The Battle at Lake Changjin II’ headed the mainland Chinese box office for the fifth successive weekend as cinemas await significant new content. “Changjin II” earned $7.5 million over the latest weekend, according to data from consultancy Artisan Gateway. The increment expanded the film’s aggregate to $626 million since release on Feb.

Todd Spangler NY Digital EditorPopular short-form video app TikTok is blocking Russian users from posting video to the platform because of the country’s new law that threatens to severely punish the publication of “false information.”On Friday, Russia passed a law making it illegal to publish “false information” about Russia’s military. Violators face potential fines, forced labor and up to 15 years in prison.“In light of Russia’s new ‘fake news’ law, we have no choice but to suspend livestreaming and new content to our video service while we review the safety implications of this law,” TikTok said in a statement Sunday.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media ReporterRobert Pattinson’s “The Batman” towered over international box office charts, collecting $120 million from 74 overseas markets.After debuting to $128.5 million in North America, the Warner Bros. comic book adventure has generated $248.5 million globally to date.

Gang Of Four cancelled their gig in Toronto, Canada last night (March 4) after their tour bus caught fire.The band are currently in the middle of a North American tour, which has seen former Slint bassist David Pajo joining the band on guitar.Last night, they were set to perform at Toronto’s Horseshoe Tavern, but took to social media to reveal the news that their bus had caught fire and shared photos of firefighters tending to the blaze. It’s currently unclear whether anyone was injured in the incident.TORONTO SHOW UPDATE: Due to an unforeseen incident, where our bus caught fire, the show is regretfully now cancelled and will no longer be taking place tonight at Horseshoe Tavern.

Netflix has named Marian Lee chief marketing officer, replacing Bozoma Saint John who’s been in the post since 2020.

Netflix. She replaces Bozoma Saint John, who boarded the streaming giant in 2020 after serving in senior executive roles at Uber and Apple.Lee joined the company in July 2021 as vice president of marketing in the U.S.

f(x)’s Amber Liu has officially released the music video for ‘Easier’, her collaboration with GOT7’s Jackson Wang.In the newly released visual, Liu is portrayed as a cheerful puppet walking around a colourful room. The visual later cuts to Liu and Wang performing their joint verses on a surface that resembles the moon.

Iconic TV presenter Vernon Kay has the luxury of travelling the world in his role as presenter for The ABB FIA Formula E World Championship. But the star admitted it is job as a busy and in-demand TV presenter does come with a downside – long stints away from wife Tess Daly and their two daughters, Phoebe, 17, and Amber, 12.