Will Endeavor Come Out On Top in Latest Bout With an IPO?

EXCLUSIVE: Shawn Xiang Yue, one of the producers of Chinese box office juggernaut franchise Detective Chinatown, is launching U.S. production banner Bamboo Curtain.

Warner Bros. and Legendary Entertainment's Godzilla Vs.

Rebecca Davis editor“Godzilla vs. Kong” was once again muscled out of the top China box office slot by local drama “Sister” thanks to a $13.2 million third weekend cume that was no match for the latter’s $21 million.Its China tally was a touch less than its $13.4 million second weekend sales in North America.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken danced around the notion of a 2022 China Winter Olympic boycott Sunday on NBC’s Meet the Press, calling such talk “premature.”

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefMainland China youth drama “The Day is Over” was named the best Chinese-language film in the Firebird Young Cinema competition at the Hong Kong International Film Festival.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefChina’s e-commerce and entertainment industry giant Alibaba Group has been hit with a fine of RMB18.23 billion ($2.8 billion) for alleged monopoly activities.The record punishment was announced Saturday morning local time by China’s State Administration for Market Regulation, which accused Alibaba of abusing its market dominance.The SAMR opened a formal investigation into the company on Dec. 24, 2020.

Rebecca Davis editorChina’s influential Douban review and culture online platform has wiped the 2021 Oscars from its site, the latest indication that this year’s Academy Awards have become a political flashpoint in the world’s largest film market.Douban is a trend-setting social networking site home to a vibrant message board community and a platform for user reviews for books, music and films.

Ashley Cain has shared heartbreaking pictures of him giving his baby girl Azaylia a final bath in hospital before taking her home, after announcing she could only have days to live. Ashley, 30, and girlfriend Safiyya Vorajee announced the devastating update that they are bringing their eight month old baby girl home to make her comfortable after doctors found tumours throughout her body, amid her ongoing battle with leukaemia.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefChina is set to host the winter Olympics in February, but the extent of American involvement is on shaky ground. There’s plenty of precedent for Olympic-scale strife — in 1980 and 1984, the U.S.

Rebecca Davis editorZhang Yimou’s historical spy thriller “Cliff Walkers” will hit North American cinemas on April 30, day-and-date with its China release.“Cliff Walkers” was previously title “Impasse” in English. Its Chinese title translates to “On the Cliff.” It will be distributed abroad by CMC Pictures.The film marks Zhang’s first foray into the spy genre.

Elsa Keslassy International CorrespondentPathe is relocating Guillaume Canet’s live-action movie “Asterix & Obelix” to France, instead of China where it was initially planned to shoot last year, and couldn’t do so due to the pandemic. Swedish soccer star Zlatan Ibrahimovic has joined the cast in a cameo role.Now titled “Asterix & Obelix, the Middle Kingdom,” the movie is budgeted at 60 million Euros and marks the next installment of the blockbuster French comic book franchise.

Rebecca Davis editorUniversal’s “Fast & Furious 9” has passed Chinese censorship to receive official approval for release, the company announced on Wednesday. A specific China release date has not been set yet.“See you on the big screen!” Universal Pictures said on its official Weibo social media account, alongside a Chinese version of the poster.“F9” debuts the U.S.

State Department spokesman Ned Price raised the possibility that the U.S. could coordinate with other countries to boycott the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing over human rights abuses.

Godzilla vs. Kong, Hollywood's newly crowned pandemic-era box-office champ, has already suffered a surprise upset in China.

For his Oscar-nominated short documentary Do Not Split, director Anders Hammer spent a year in Hong Kong’s streets, capturing the drama and chaos as China cracked down on pro-democracy protests. The work came with inherent danger.

Rebecca Davis editorWhile the U.S. industry celebrated “Godzilla vs.

Jazz Tangcay Artisans EditorAnimator-turned-director and producer Glen Keane remembers when basketball legend Kobe Bryant sat next to him as he prepared to animate the Oscar-winning short, “Dear Basketball.” The 2017 movie influenced his animation experience, which came in handy when working on his latest creation, “Over the Moon,” the Oscar animated film nominee about an adventurous Chinese girl who builds a rocket ship.“Dear Basketball” was a love letter to the sport about a young man who

Rebecca Davis editorTop Chinese director Feng Xiaogang will step in front of the camera alongside Chinese-American actor-director Joan Chen in a local adaptation of the 2009 Hollywood tearjerker “Hachi: A Dog’s Tale,” which began shooting Thursday.It is currently set to premiere on New Year’s Eve.Feng is best known for his work as a director on films such as “Youth,” “I Am Not Madame Bovary” and “Cellphone,” but he has also frequently taken on acting roles, with his most recent starring role in

Rebecca Davis editorLegendary documentarian Wang Bing is at HAF this year with his new project “I Come from Ikotun,” which follows two Nigerian families with a foothold in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou over the course of the pandemic.Known for his epically long, unflinching works that have previously tackled sensitive issues like China’s brutal re-education camps, Wang will this time turn his lens on a more cross-cultural subject.

Vivienne Chow Television Broadcasts, Hong Kong’s leading TV group, is set to boost its variety and music programs following a recent management reshuffle. It aims to bring back veteran entertainers who have experience and profile on the mainland Chinese market in order that the station can expand its foothold in the Greater Bay Area.The new appointments come after a difficult year amid the COVID-19 pandemic.