U.K. Regulator Revokes TV Broadcast License of China’s CGTN

Rebecca Davis editorChina’s state broadcaster China Central Television (CCTV) announced late Monday evening that it has signed a strategic partnership in program development and online video with South Korean public broadcaster KBS.

Rebecca Davis editorChloe Zhao’s awards season frontrunner “Nomadland” has been approved for a limited release in China starting April 23 through the country’s arthouse cinema circuit, according to information published on the government-backed distributor China Film’s website.The date would put its debut just three days ahead of the Academy Awards, where the title is expected to be a top pick.

Chinese blockbusters Hi, Mom and Detective Chinatown 3 both sailed past the $600 million mark during their second weekend in cinemas — an unprecedented feat for two films competing head-to-head in a single market. Heartwarming comedy Hi, Mom, produced by Beijing Culture, has emerged as China's 2021 Lunar New Year champion despite beginning the holiday in distant second behind Wanda Pictures' comedy franchise hit Detective Chinatown 3.

As China's booming Lunar New Year box-office period winds down, Beijing's film regulators are beginning to let Hollywood titles back into the marketplace. Warner Brothers’ live-action/animation hybrid Tom and Jerry has secured a release on Feb.

With presumed Western blockbusters such as Black Widow, No Time to Die, and The Eternals delayed until later this year, the rambunctious Detective Chinatown franchise has leaped into the void in a very, very big way. Few, if any movies have ever raked in so much coin in so little time.

Rebecca Davis editorThe Beijing Culture-backed tear-jerking comedy “Hi, Mom” grossed $134 million this weekend to finally surpass Wanda Film’s record-breaking Chinese New Year holiday frontrunner “Detective Chinatown 3” in overall box office, having led the latter in single-day returns since Monday.It is now only the sixth film to ever have grossed more than RMB400 million ($62 million) in China, a feat achieved by “Detective Chinatown 3,” “Avengers: Endgame” and four other local titles.The

Rebecca Davis editorWarner Brothers’ live action-animation hybrid film “Tom and Jerry” has quietly locked in a Feb. 26 release date in China, which will make it the first foreign film to hit theaters in the wake of the Chinese New Year.The lunar new year public holiday, which this year ran from Feb.

Rebecca Davis editorDespite nearly six months of cinema closures due to COVID-19, China actually built nearly 6,000 more new screens in 2020, according to a new report from the country’s film authorities.The data contradicts the disastrous predictions made over the summer about the extent to which the pandemic would devastate the Chinese exhibition sector.China now boasts 75,581 screens nationwide at some 12,700 complexes, having built 5,794 more screens last year, said the National Office for

A television broadcasting war has broken out between the UK and China. Just days after the UK revoked the broadcasting license of Chinese state-backed network CGTN, Beijing has today retaliated by banning BBC World News.

UK media regulator Ofcom has revoked the broadcasting license of Chinese state-backed network CGTN after it was unable to show that it operates independently of the Chinese Communist Party.

its ongoing lies and distortion and insisting that their official death toll is underreported by as much as tens of thousands.Called “In The Same Breath,” the HBO film begins hours after a massive New Year’s Eve celebration in Wuhan, China, a city of 11 million and the one-time epicenter of the pandemic.The next day, a slew of robotic news anchors recited a government script, meant to minimize the impending disaster.

straight to your inbox every day for freeOdion Ighalo has penned an emotional Manchester United farewell message as his time at Old Trafford comes to an end.The 31-year-old striker's loan from Chinese side Shanghai Shenhua expires at the end of this month. The Nigeria international joined United in January last year on an initial six-month deal that was later extended to 12 months.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefSingapore-based TV production firm, Beach House Pictures is expanding its Asian production capacity. It has acquired a majority stake in Japanese producer Vesuvius Pictures and appointed Felix Feng as GM in China.Founded in 2012, Vesuvius specializes in premium original factual, factual entertainment, reality and scripted programming.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefMildly titillating romantic comedy “Big Red Envelope” topped the box office rankings in China as overall takings in the world’s biggest theatrical movie market amounted to a lowly $37.5 million over the weekend.The new release title may be intended as a critique of obsessions with money, gifting culture and societal status – red packets are gifts of money in Chinese culture, given especially, but not exclusively, at Chinese New Year – but chunks of the audience