Upscale TV Dramas Take Pride of Place at China’s Virtual Pavilion

“Wonder Woman 1984” — Warner Bros.’s much-anticipated sequel to its superhero franchise starring Gal Gadot — suffered a weak weekend debut in China, where it earned a mere $19 million in ticket sales, or less than half of what Hollywood had expected. Media watchers had pegged the follow-up film to 2017’s “Wonder Woman” to reel in at least $40 million in the Middle Kingdom.

While we may be talking about the unfortunate death of movie theaters in the US, considering they have yet to fully bounce back from being closed most of the year and 2021 isn’t looking as promising as we hoped, Chinese cinemas are not only open but thriving.

China's box office was the scene of disappointment over the weekend, as Warner Bros.' Wonder Woman 1984 got trounced by local action flick The Rescue. The Rescue, directed by Dante Lam, opened to $36.3 million, nearly double Wonder Woman 1984's meagre $18.8 million start, according to data from Artisan Gateway.

Elsa Keslassy International CorrespondentStrand Releasing has acquired all North American rights to Anthony Chen’s “Wet Season,” which represents Singapore in the Oscar race for best international feature film.The movie world premiered in the Platform section at the Toronto International Film Festival, and is being represented in international markets by Memento Films International.Penned and directed by Chen, “Wet Season” revolves around a Chinese language teacher whose marriage and school

Wonder Woman 1984 opened to an underwhelming $18.8 million in China, behind expectations and a less-than-wondrous start for WarnerMedia as it embarks on a bold plan to release its films both in theaters and on HBO Max. The Warner Bros./DC superhero pic placed No.

Kelly Clarkson and Coldplay fans, unite.

Rebecca Davis editorThis weekend pit the best of Hollywood’s action tentpole rolodex against China’s — and found that fresh local content has greater sway over local audiences in what is now the world’s largest film market.“Wonder Woman 1984” grossed just $18.8 million in China, almost half the approximately $34 million haul of Chinese actioner “The Rescue.” Both films far underperformed against expectations, however, as the Chinese box office saw its lowest pre-Christmas weekend since 2014,

Brent Lang Executive Editor of Film and MediaDiana Prince may be able to best Cheetah, but she’s no match for a global pandemic.“Wonder Woman 1984” opened to a less than heroic $18.8 million in China over the weekend and a disappointing $38.5 million overseas.

Chinese warplanes and naval ships "tailed and monitored" an American destroyer as it sailed through the Taiwan Strait Saturday. The US Navy said the guided missile destroyer USS Mustin had conducted "a routine Taiwan Strait transit Dec.

With a newly elected Democratic president, this is the season of speculation, where names are being floated as potential ambassador picks. And this time around, The Walt Disney Co.’s executive chairman Bob Iger is getting attention as a prospect for one of the highest profile foreign posts, China.

Warner Bros/DC’s Wonder Woman 1984, as expected, landed at No. 2 in its China debut on Friday, coming in behind local actioner The Rescue. The Patty Jenkins-helmed sequel to 2017’s Wonder Woman grossed an estimated RMB 44.2M ($7M, including sneaks). This portends a weekend in the mid $20M range for the Middle Kingdom, lower than where the industry was seeing it heading into the session, thus also pushing down the full international box office launch.

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.