There may be a glimmer of hope —may being the operative word– in regards to China’s movie theaters re-opening after being shuttered since the Lunar New Year holiday over the COVID-19 outbreak. We hear from multiple sources, both industry and on-the-ground in the PRC, that China Film Group, the state-owned film enterprise that oversees theaters,
China
Amid the coronavirus epidemic, organizers of the Beijing International Film Festival have indefinitely postponed the event which was set to take place from April 19-26 this year. The move was expected as China has now recorded 80,735 cases of Covid-19 and 3,119 deaths. However, the National Health Commission said there were only 40 new cases
“The impact in 2020 from Corvid-19 (coronavirus) on the motion picture business cannot be overstated,” a finance source recently told us. That’s as the closure of cinemas in China alone is approaching a loss of $2B to the global box office, while the disease has now seen spikes in Korea and Italy. What looked in
Paramount’s China office has announced that it’s pushing the release date of Sonic the Hedgehog due to the coronavirus outbreak with a future date TBD. The Jeff Fowler-directed movie recently clocked past $203M WW this past weekend. Note, no other Hollywood movies in the PRC have been officially dated or moved in the wake of the coronavirus
Sony’s Bad Boys For Life continues to lead the international box office, taking the top spot for the 3rd weekend in a row. The offshore frame was $30.8M in 63 markets for an overseas cume of $142.7M and a worldwide total of $291M to date. Globally, it’s the biggest in the franchise and is holding
As the coronavirus continues its rapid spread, China continues to struggle with consequences of the disease on myriad levels. The updated count of confirmed cases has crossed 6,000 on the mainland, with 132 people dead. Separately to the tragic human toll of the virus, the economic impact could exceed $40B on a global level. Today,
Today’s news that all local film releases scheduled for the highly lucrative Chinese New Year period have been kiboshed has wide-ranging implications. Beyond being a prudent move by authorities and producers to stave off apotential spread of the coronavirus, this is expected to mean a $1B+ blow to global box office for 2020. Says a
Amid the outbreak of the deadly coronavirus, Chinese producers and distributors have pulled the release of all films set for the Lunar New Year period that begins this weekend. There were seven potential blockbusters due to hit theaters this weekend, which typically kicks off a highly lucrative session at local turnstiles, but the government has
Sony Pictures said Tuesday that Greta Gerwig’s Little Women will be released February 14 in China. The news comes a day after the latest adaptation of Louisa May Alcott’s iconic novel scored six Oscar nominations including Best Picture. The film recently passed $100 million at the worldwide box office, with its current global cume at
Disney/Lucasfilm’s Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker has been set for a December 20 China release, in step with domestic. This marks a change from the saga’s recent holiday installments which have each bowed in the Middle Kingdom in January, after initial rollout elsewhere. The official Star Wars Weibo account posted a Chinese-subtitled trailer today
Sony’s reboot of Charlie’s Angels starring Kristen Stewart, Naomi Scott, and Ella Balinska has landed a China release date of Nov. 15 which is timed exactly with its domestic release. While the pic was originally scheduled to go during the first weekend in November, which is where the first 2000 movie bowed, Terminator: Dark Fate elbowed its way
EXCLUSIVE: Another casualty of China’s crackdown on potentially sensitive local films this past summer has been given a lifeline. Derek Tsang’s Better Days will release this Friday in the Middle Kingdom after being okayed just this week. Well Go USA has the movie domestically and was forced to postpone the release this summer when Better
As pro-democracy protests continued in the streets of Hong Kong on Sunday despite threats of Beijing’s military force, the Walt Disney Company could find itself caught between the two sides, on and off-screen. Disney has continually demonstrated a forward-thinking approach when it comes to doing business in China and Asia, even propelling properties like Black
After what began as an upside-down summer for homegrown titles in China, the box office may be primed for a rebound. Last weekend, local movie Ne Zha set opening records for an animated title, and today passed Zootopia as the biggest toon ever in the market. Per local reporting, the Ne Zha gross through Friday
Disney’s The Lion King will take pride of place this weekend in China where it’s bowing ahead of the rest of the world. With anticipation and a clear runway for the opening, the CGI/live-action adaptation of the 1994 classic is poised for a $50M-$60M three-day bow, per industry projections. The Middle Kingdom debut could notch