Vue Becomes Latest Cinema Chain To Delay UK Re-Opening

Tom Grater International Film ReporterEXCLUSIVE: News yesterday that Warner Bros is taking Christopher Nolan’s Tenet off the theatrical release calendar has prompted further trepidation on UK shores, with the country’s major cinema chains scheduled to re-open the majority of their sites in just 10 days’ time.Tenet was set for August 12, but sources we’ve spoken to today are convinced that this won’t end up being the date, even if the studio opts for an unconventional international-led release,

Vivienne Chow Chinese streaming giant iQIYI is to boost its Southeast Asia operation with the appointment of three new country managers. Two hail from Iflix, the regional streamer now being acquired by Tencent Video.IQIYI said that former Iflix executive Sherwin Dela Cruz had been hired as its country manager for the Philippines.

LOS ANGELES — Nick Cannon said on Thursday he was stepping away for a while from his radio show after an uproar over anti-Semitic comments that led to him being dropped by one television network but kept on as host of “The Masked Singer.”

Nancy Tartaglione International Box Office Editor/Senior ContributorAs Chinese cinemas began the reopening process today, box office crossed $472K by 8PM local. Maoyan’s real-time ticketing platform reports that play is led by new entry A First Farewell at around $184K.

LOS ANGELES — Nick Cannon said on Thursday he was stepping away for a while from his radio show after an uproar over anti-Semitic comments that led to him being dropped by one television network but kept on as host of “The Masked Singer.”“I have decided to take some time away from my radio show so I can commit myself to deeper, more thorough reflection and education,” Cannon said on Twitter. His “Nick Cannon Mornings” show is syndicated nationwideMorning radio family.

As cinemas in China look to reopen on Monday amid the novel coronavirus pandemic, Imax Corp. has signed a 20-theater deal with Chinese industry giant Wanda Film Co.

Jill Goldsmith Co-Business EditorImax China has expanded its decade long partership with Wanda Film Co.

China's largest cinema chain operator Wanda Film said it expects to lose $214 to $228 million (RMB 1.5 to 1.6 billion) in the first half of 2020 thanks to over five months on continual cinema shutdowns in response to the coronavirus pandemic. The decline represents a stark reversal of fortunes from the $75 million profit the Chinese exhibition giant reported during the same period in 2019.

Rebecca Davis editorChinese production firm Aim Media has sold the North American rights of director Yang Lina’s “Spring Tide” to distributor China Lion. Smart Cinema, the new venture by former Wanda executive Jack Gao, has also bought the rights to screen the film on its platform in South Korea.

Tom Grater International Film ReporterEXCLUSIVE: Leading Russian animation outfit Riki Group has signed a deal with Beijing-based producer and distributor Joy Culture and Chinese platform Tencent Video to partner on season four of animated series The Fixies.Following its acquisition of the show’s third season, Tencent will now invest in the production of 52 new episodes of the series, which follows the comical misadventures of Tom Thomas and his secret friendship with Simka and Nolik, two young

Shaun the Sheephas gone truly global. Aardman's much-loved animated farmyard creation and his flock of woolly friends are heading to China following a deal with Tencent Video, which will see the Chinese streaming platform become home to all 170 episodes of the Shaun the Sheep TVseries, including season 6, which launched earlier this year.

Tom Grater International Film ReporterAardman, the Oscar-winning UK animation studio, has inked a deal with Chinese major Tencent that will see its Shaun The Sheep series hosted on the latter’s video platform. Shaun is hosted around the world by Netflix, which isn’t in China so this latest deal completes the global picture on the franchise.

Rebecca Davis editorLeading Hollywood visualization studio The Third Floor (TTF) has opened its first Beijing office. It seeks to create a hub in China on par with its other main outposts in Los Angeles and London that will cater primarily to local projects.

Rebecca Davis editorMusic industry service provider Outdustry has this week launched Outdustry Songs, a new independent music publisher focused on China, with an exclusive sub-publishing deal with U.S. indie Reservoir.Founded in 2006, Outdustry provides specialist A&R, rights and marketing services, aimed at the China and India markets.

Denise Ho — Becoming the Songpresents a thoughtful, if surprisingly reserved portrait, of Hong Kong-born, Montreal-reared singer Denise Ho, the first Cantopop superstar to come out publicly as gay.