Tencent Takes 'Shaun the Sheep' Series for China in Aardman Deal

Nancy Tartaglione International Box Office Editor/Senior ContributorWith some of China’s cinemas reopened this week in low-risk areas, and as tomorrow sees Beijing get partially back to business as well, box office has continued to rise. As of 11:30PM tonight local time, Thursday’s takings hit $940K, according to ticketing service Maoyan.

Vivienne Chow Chinese streaming giant iQIYI is to boost its Southeast Asia operation with the appointment of three new country managers. Two hail from Iflix, the regional streamer now being acquired by Tencent Video.IQIYI said that former Iflix executive Sherwin Dela Cruz had been hired as its country manager for the Philippines.

Nancy Tartaglione International Box Office Editor/Senior ContributorAs Chinese cinemas began the reopening process today, box office crossed $472K by 8PM local. Maoyan’s real-time ticketing platform reports that play is led by new entry A First Farewell at around $184K.

Netflix has acquired Paramount and Nickelodeon's The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the Runfor international markets, excluding China where the streaming giant has no presence. Domestically, the film is bypassing a theatrical release and will instead debut on premium VOD in early 2021 before soaking up an exclusive spot on CBS All Access, ViacomCBS previously said.

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.

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

China's largest cinema chain operator Wanda Film said it expects to lose $214 to $228 million (RMB 1.5 to 1.6 billion) in the first half of 2020 thanks to over five months on continual cinema shutdowns in response to the coronavirus pandemic. The decline represents a stark reversal of fortunes from the $75 million profit the Chinese exhibition giant reported during the same period in 2019.

Rebecca Davis editorChinese production firm Aim Media has sold the North American rights of director Yang Lina’s “Spring Tide” to distributor China Lion. Smart Cinema, the new venture by former Wanda executive Jack Gao, has also bought the rights to screen the film on its platform in South Korea.

Tom Grater, Jake Kanter UK-China relations took a further dive today after the UK government announced it would ban its mobile providers from buying new Huawei 5G equipment as of December 31, and mandated they remove all existing equipment from their networks by 2027. The move follows sanctions imposed on the Chinese tech giant by the U.S..

Tom Grater International Film ReporterEXCLUSIVE: Leading Russian animation outfit Riki Group has signed a deal with Beijing-based producer and distributor Joy Culture and Chinese platform Tencent Video to partner on season four of animated series The Fixies.Following its acquisition of the show’s third season, Tencent will now invest in the production of 52 new episodes of the series, which follows the comical misadventures of Tom Thomas and his secret friendship with Simka and Nolik, two young

Tom Grater International Film ReporterEXCLUSIVE: Chinese crime drama Sheep Without A Shepherd, one of the last big box office hits in China before cinemas were forced to shutdown, grossing $167M, has been set for a UK theatrical release by distributor Trinity CineAsia.Theaters have started re-opening in the UK and multiplexes including Cineworld and Vue are set to following in the coming weeks.

Tom Grater International Film ReporterAardman, the Oscar-winning UK animation studio, has inked a deal with Chinese major Tencent that will see its Shaun The Sheep series hosted on the latter’s video platform. Shaun is hosted around the world by Netflix, which isn’t in China so this latest deal completes the global picture on the franchise.

Hong Kong director Derek Tsang'sBetter Dayswon the top prizes at the first—and perhaps only—virtual edition of Italy's Far East Film Festival (FEFF). Tsang's romantic crime drama, starringZhou Dongyu and Jackson Yee, took the overall audience award, the Golden Mulberry, as well as the Black Mulberry, voted on by the Shogun pass holders.

he previously celebrated his 80th at Glastonbury, having the crowd sing to him before Patti Smith debuted a special poem she’d written in his honour. He’s also, it should be noted, a fan of the Beastie Boys.The Dalai Lama isn’t short on musical admirers, either — well, ones that don’t mind forfeiting the chance to ever play in China — such as Lady Gaga, whom he reportedly spoke about yoga with when they met in 2016.

Rebecca Davis editorTencent Music Entertainment Group (TME) has established a strategic partnership with Japan’s CoMix Wave Films Inc., the animation studio and distribution firm best known for works by helmer Makoto Shinkai.The new partnership will see the original soundtracks from 17 popular Japanese animated films put up on TME’s music platforms: QQ Music, Kugou Music, Kuwo Music and KTV app WeSing.Two of Shinkai’s films have been hits in China in recent years.