‘Vanguard’ Review: Jackie Chan Globe-Trots in Cluttered Action Toy Box

Rebecca Davis editorPatriotic Chinese viewers flexed their muscles this weekend to topple Paul W.S. Anderson’s “Monster Hunter,” which grossed just $4.8 million before it was pulled from cinemas due to complaints that interpreted a line of dialogue to be racist and “insulting to China.” In a slow week, however, that was enough to net it a fifth place open, even though cinemas had entirely pulled the title from their line-ups by early Saturday.

It was a drama-filled weekend at the Chinese multiplex. Tencent's big-budget video game adaptation Monster Hunter was yanked from cinemas one day into its release over a scene local audiences decried as derogatory.

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.

supply chain problems are already surfacing — AMC Theaters has already voiced its objections to the studio’s plans and promised to defend its interests in ongoing talks.“Croods: A New Age” will soon join the ranks of early streaming releases, as the deal made between Universal and several major theater chains will allow them to release the film on PVOD after next weekend.

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.

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.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefChinese action film “The Rescue” has pulled forward its local and international release plans. It will now go out in a plum pre-Christmas slot on Dec.

Fremantle and Syco Entertainment have announced that China’s Got Talent has been renewed for a seventh season, but declined to reveal what network will broadcast the show, raising questions about Dragon TV’s future involvement.

Studiocanal confirmed Wednesday that it has pre-sold the world, apart from the U.S.

Nancy Tartaglione International Box Office Editor/Senior ContributorJapan’s runaway smash Demon Slayer The Movie: Mugen Train continued its reign at the top of the local charts this weekend, despite the release of Stand By Me Doraemon 2. Monday is a holiday in Japan, so full official weekend figures are not expected to be reported until Tuesday.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefHong Kong-produced “Caught in Time” gave fresh life to the mainland China box office over its opening weekend.The fantasy crime thriller about a cop chasing a gang through different eras earned $30.3 million. Produced by Emperor Motion Picture, the film stars the popular Daniel Wu and Wang Qianyuan, and was directed by Lau Ho-leung.It edged aside patriotic war film “Sacrifice” which had held the top spot for the previous three weekends.

The most deadly wave of COVID-19 infections yet has had its expected impact on the box office. With multiple states ordering closures of movie theaters, the sole wide release of the weekend, Gravitas Ventures’ “Vanguard,” grossed just $400,000 from 1,375 screens this weekend.Meanwhile, Universal/Blumhouse’s “Freaky” was able to hold on to the No.

Anthony D'Alessandro Editorial Director/Box Office EditorSUNDAY AM UPDATE, refresh for chart and more analysis: The weekend before Thanksgiving is one of the most lucrative ones on the calendar, last year bringing in $204.9M off the opening of Disney’s Frozen II which posted November’s fifth best domestic opening of all-time at $130.3M.Who would ever think that the domestic box office would sink to such an atrocious level as this weekend.

The laziness of Jackie Chan’s latest fighting flick becomes obvious right away — when a secret security force called Vanguard heads to Africa to rescue an accountant’s daughter.We cut away from London to a sun-drenched landscape, and the screen reads: “Africa.” Africa is the second-largest continent in the world and contains 54 culturally and geographically distinct countries, from Egypt to Sierra Leone.

If nothing else, director Stanley Tong and martial arts superstar Jackie Chan’s latest effort, Vanguard, proves the law of diminishing returns. Not too long ago a Chan film guaranteed an entertaining time at the movies and heaps of awe at what the human body could endure.

Warning: This story contains spoilers from Dash & Lily on Netflix.If you’ve already binged Dash & Lily, Netflix’s new holiday rom-com series, you know that the ending was pretty much perfect. But does that mean a season 2 is unnecessary? Not exactly.“You know, [season 2] seems to be a conversation,” Austin Abrams, who portrayed Dash in the TV adaptation of Rachel Cohn and David Levithan’s book series, recently told Us Weekly exclusively.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefWar film “The Sacrifice” was the most watched title in Chinese theaters for the third consecutive weekend. It earned $9.2 million over the frame and extended its cumulative score to $150 million, since release on Oct.