‘The Croods: A New Age’ Dawning With $20M In China

Wonder Woman 1984 is off to a sluggish start in China. The Warner Bros./DC superhero tentpole opened Friday in direct competition with Chinese action flick The Rescue, directed by Dante Lam, and as of 5 p.m.

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., wondered Friday why Democrats "can not admit that China is an adversary to the United States." "What do the communist Chinese have on the Democrats that is so powerful, so powerful that they focused on a person when he was a city council member, bundled money for him to become a member of Congress," McCarthy told "Fox & Friends," adding that he will soon be briefed by the FBI on the matter after the initial meeting was abruptly canceled.

A consortium led by China’s Tencent has exercised an option to purchase a further 10% of Vivendi’s Universal Music Group. The deal values the company at €30BN.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefChinese cinema chain JinYi Media has agreed a 12-theater deal with premium large format tech company Imax. The deal involves upgrading seven of Jinyi’s existing Imax sites to use laser technology, and the installation of Imax kit at five new sites.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefSingapore-based mini-conglomerate GHY Culture Media made its debut on the local stock exchange on Friday. In early trading its shares traded up by more than 6%.The company was founded and remains headed by screenwriter and producer Guo Jingyu and has significant mainland Chinese connections.

The racial insensitivity scandal that derailed the China release of action film Monster Hunter is starting to impact other high-profile movies in the country. Sources in Beijing tell The Hollywood Reporter that the China Film Administration has tightened its censorship process in the wake of the controversy, calling back several previously approved imported films for a second, more thorough review.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi needs to explain why she put Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., on the Intelligence Committee amid backlash over his relationship with a Chinese spy, Sen.Tom Cotton argued Wednesday.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefChinese streaming platform iQIYI is returning to the U.S. financial markets for a twin-pronged capital injection.

Refresh for latest...: The international box office continues to provide welcome surprises during the pandemic era. Where movie theaters are open and people feel safe, they turn up for new or enduringly exciting product that’s on offer.

Refresh for more analysis, chart, etc. Even in a normal, healthy economy, the major studios are typically skittish about opening big movies before Christmas with many busy with holiday activities, so it comes as no surprise during a pandemic where just north of 40% of all 5,500 domestic movie theaters are open that there wouldn’t be any new wide openings this weekend.

Disco Elysium’s website has been replaced by a single screen which reads ‘SOON’ and the logo of the stars and antlers.In Disco Elysium’s world, the symbol represents the game’s Communist party. Because of that, PC Gamer are predicting this is the lead up to a prequel announcement.The publication also suggested the news could be regarding a translation of the novel The Sacred and Terrible Air, by Robert Kurvitz, the game’s head writer.

China on Tuesday lashed out at the U.S. over new sanctions against Chinese officials and the sale of more military equipment to Taiwan.

Refresh for latest…: Sunday’s international box office reporting looks vastly different to what was expected coming into the weekend. A Friday gross that portended a high-teens launch for Monster Hunter in China was quickly thwarted when local authorities pulled the feature game adaptation from the country’s cinemas.

Rebecca Davis editorDirector Frant Gwo has announced that the sequel to his sci-fi hit “The Wandering Earth,” China’s third highest grossing film of all time, will release over the 2023 Lunar New Year holiday, consistently the country’s biggest movie-going week of each year.“The Wandering Earth” became a surprise hit after its 2019 Lunar New Year debut, beating competitors including Ning Hao’s “Crazy Alien” and Han Han’s “Pegasus” to top that year’s holiday box office.

Universal's The Croods: A New Age was the decisive winner of a competitive three-way race at China's box office over the weekend, topping both holdover local hit Caught in Time and the latest release from venerated Chinese filmmaker Zhang Yimou. Croods 2 opened in China to a healthy $19.2 million, which was $5 million more than its five-day holiday start in North America.

Refresh for latest…: DreamWorks Animation/Universal’s The Croods: A New Age led the weekend in China with a $19.2M debut, outpacing local titles One Second and Caught In Time. This is the third best bow for a studio movie in the Middle Kingdom during the pandemic era (behind Tenet and Mulan).

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefHit variety TV show “China’s Got Talent” has been renewed for a seventh season and will be produced by Shanghai Canxing Culture and Media for Star China Media.The “Got Talent” property was created by Simon Cowell’s Syco Entertainment, with the international rights represented by Fremantle. The two companies are the format’s co-owners.“ ‘China’s Got Talent’ is renowned for discovering new and incredible local talent.