'The Eight Hundred' ('Babai'): Film Review

Rebecca Davis editorDisney’s “Mulan” made only $6.47 million over its second weekend in China, allowing it to be handily defeated once again by the local war epic “The Eight Hundred,” according to data from industry tracker Maoyan.As of Sunday evening, the Disney title has earned a cumulative $36.5 million (RMB 247 million) in the key territory.

There are still idealistic young writers out there aiming to transform the world, at least in China, and the newsroom drama The Best Is Yet to Come (Bu zhi bu xiu) catches the viewer up in the fast-paced story of an untutored youth from the provinces who breaks a scoop on hepatitis B.

Set in 1940 in Kobe, Japan, with an epilogue during the bombing of the city in 1945, Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s intriguingly titled Wife of a Spy (Spy no Tsuma) bookends the Second World War in an absorbing, exotic, well-paced thriller with moments of disconcerting realism and horror. Its spot in Venice competition is a well-earned promotion for the director after his many accolades for films like Kairo, Tokyo Sonata and Before We Vanish.

Taking Soviet films from the past as its model, Russian veteran Andrei Konchalovsky’s Dear Comrades! (Dorogie Tovarischi!) pinpoints a moment inhistory when people’s unquestioning belief in the high-minded principles of the Communist party wavered as evidence to the contrary mounted and personally impacted their lives. Although at first sight this dramatization of a 1962 strike at a factory in the U.S.S.R.

Tom Grater International Film ReporterEXCLUSIVE: Epic Chinese war drama The Eight Hundred has been acquired for UK theatrical after mining box office gold in its native China.The film became the first blockbuster-level hit in the pandemic era when it released in China on August 21, grossing $336M in the territory to date, which places it at no.2 on the global box office chart for this year behind only Bad Boys For Life.Now, Trinity Cine Asia has moved to acquire UK and Ireland rights and has set

Rebecca Davis editorChristopher Nolan’s “Tenet” has been hailed by the Western film industry as a savior of the in-person theatrical experience around the world, but this weekend in China it lost out repeatedly to the local savior of Chinese cinema, Huayi Brothers’ war film “The Eight Hundred.” The Chinese title bested “Tenet” each day of its three-day debut weekend.

Peter Debruge Chief Film CriticOf the dozen young women whom the Walt Disney Co.

China's blockbuster war epic The Eight Hundred earned a healthy $69 million during its second weekend on Chinese screens, retaining the global box office crown over Christopher Nolan's Tenet. Tenet brought in $53 million-plus from 41 international markets, including Canada, according to Warner Bros.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefChinese war film, “The Eight Hundred” was the highest scoring film in the world over the weekend.According to data from Artisan Gateway, “The Eight Hundred” grossed $69 million between Friday and Sunday, its second weekend on release in China.

Nancy Tartaglione International Box Office Editor/Senior ContributorChristopher Nolan’s Tenet has begun its offshore rollout, and while Warner Bros is keeping a tight lid on grosses until fully reporting Sunday, some international box office information is available on the highly-anticipated title.In Korea, one of the key plays on Tenet, the Wednesday opening day was a little over $827K from 2,228 screens.

Dade Hayes Finance EditorWalmart stock is up more than 5% — a major move for the typically sleepy large-cap shares — on news that the retail giant is interested in teaming with Microsoft to make a bid for TikTok.Microsoft, along with Oracle and Twitter, has already been in the mix as a potential acquirer of the fast-growing social platform’s U.S. operations.Owned by ByteDance, a conglomerate founded by a Chinese entrepreneur, TikTok ran afoul of U.S.

Todd Spangler NY Digital EditorNeedless to say, this isn’t how Kevin Mayer expected his bold career move to go.Mayer, after just three months on the job as TikTok’s CEO and chief operating officer of Chinese parent company ByteDance, said Wednesday that he is resigning amid the tumultuous geopolitical climate battering TikTok — led by Donald Trump’s anti-China agenda — which ultimately will force ByteDance to sell the TikTok app business in the U.S. (and likely other countries).

Maggie Lee Chief Asia Film CriticFour days feels like an eternity in “The Eight Hundred,” mainland Chinese writer-director Guan Hu’s monumental, if sometimes unwieldy epic interpretation of the courageous defense of a warehouse by the Chinese Nationalist Army in October 1937. For those with little knowledge of the Sino-Japanese War, the bombardment of facts, action and characters in the 147-minute film can be too much to take in at one go.

The second film by Chinese art-world star Ai Weiwei to debut in 2020, Coronationlooks at the first chapter of the COVID-19 story: the Wuhan lockdown. Directed from afar by the now Europe-based artist, who had volunteers and employees send him hundreds of hours of footage, it's a very different work from 2017's epic-scaled, tightly focused refugee-crisis doc Human Flow.

Dade Hayes Finance EditorImax stock surged 9% Monday after the stellar debut in China for The Eight Hundred. The locally produced war epic took in $83 million over the weekend, the biggest Friday-to-Sunday tally for any international release in 2020.Multiple Wall Street analysts have also given Imax shares a boost, reaffirming their “buy” ratings on its shares and noting the company’s unique strategic position as theatrical moviegoing gets back on its feet.

Rebecca Davis editor“The Eight Hundred” has marched out ahead of all competitors at the China box office with earnings reminiscent of pre-COVID times, grossing $75.7 million over its opening weekend, according to data from industry tracker Maoyan.

IMAX theatres at the Chinese box office continues to exceed our expectations and reinforces our belief that audiences are eager to return to theatres where local guidelines allow,” said Rich Gelfond, CEO of IMAX in a statement.

The box office blockbuster has returned. Over the weekend, the Chinese war epic The Eight Hundred opened to an estimated $107 million in China, including previews.

Rebecca Davis editorChinese war epic “The Eight Hundred” has grossed $88 million as of Saturday, after two days officially in theaters and a week of previews, according to data from industry tracker Maoyan. It is the strongest performance of a new film yet since China reopened its cinemas on July 20.Although cinemas are still only allowed to operate at 50% capacity to encourage social distancing, “The Eight Hundred” made $18.5 million (RMB128 million) on opening day Friday.