Tag: China

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‘Wonder Woman 1984’ Has Disappointing Opening At The International Box Office

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The box office blues continue, especially for American films. ‘Wonder Woman 1984‘ hit theaters in China this past weekend and made just $18.8 million.

It didn’t even place in the number one spot. It was beat by a local action film called, The Rescue. That film made over $36 million, but even that number was below the predictions.

Wonder Woman 1984 debuted in a total of 32 territories and made a combined total of $38.5 million.

For comparison, 2017’s Wonder Woman opened to $38 million in China before earning a total of $90.5 million. At this pace, it could be a tough road for the sequel to recoup its $200 million budget. Box office analysts anticipate Wonder Woman 1984 will make around $40 million in its theatrical run in China.

The superhero flick, which is receiving mixed-to-positive reviews from critics, will be released on HBO Max on Christmas Day. Clearly, they’re hoping they get a lot of new sign-ups.

I think when this pandemic first started earlier this year, people thought we might be somewhat back to normal by December, but clearly that hasn’t happened yet.

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Christopher Nolan’s ‘Tenet’ Set To Release In China In September

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Now that ‘Mulan‘ is headed straight to VOD, Christopher Nolan’s ‘Tenet‘ is the only film cinema owners have to look forward to. Their hope is that it brings people back to theater.

And it looks like we’ll know soon enough if they’re right because Tenet is still on track to premiere in several countries around the world.

It’s set to hit theaters in China on September 4, one week after China re-releases Nolan’s 2010 film, Inception.

Starting on August 26, Warner Bros. will begin rolling out the film in international markets.

Overseas, ‘Tenet’ will premiere in over 70 countries, including Australia, Japan, the United Kingdom and France. It was approved for release in China last week, but there remains some uncertainty around how cinemas will program the title.

It’s scheduled to be released in select theaters in the US sometime in September as well, although theaters in most major markets (including New York and Los Angeles) are still closed.

Check out the trailer below…

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Welp, China Orders All Cinemas To Close Once Again

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We told you on Monday that there was light at the end of the tunnel in China. Over 500 cinemas in China reopened last week, and while that only represented 4.5% of the country’s theater real estate, it was still a sign of hope.

In fact, many believed even more theaters across China would open in April.

But unfortunately, that looks less likely now that the government is ordering all cinemas to close once again.

The country’s national film bureau has contacted all exhibitors today saying that venues must be closed again, with no immediate timeframe for re-opening. The news has begun to spread across popular social media service Weibo.

And while community spread of the coronavirus has nearly went to zero in China, they are still experiencing imported cases (53 reported on Thursday) and they are fearful that could cause another spike.

As you can imagine, China is being very cautious with this. They were hit hard, with over 80,000 cases reported, but likely there were many more. They are doing everything they can to prevent another outbreak.

Their troubles started in late December/early January, and they are still largely shutdown. Our troubles here in the US started in late February/early March, so it makes you wonder how long we’ll be shutdown for.

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China Is Slowly Beginning To Reopen Theaters

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Some good news to report? I mean, it’s a stretch, but at least it shows signs of normalcy.

According to Variety, over 500 theaters across China have reopened. It still represents less than 5% of all cinemas in commercial operation, but hey, it’s a start.

Data from private-sector ticketing firm Maoyan showed that venues had opened in five provinces: far-flung Xinjiang; Shangdong, a coastal province that lies between Beijing and Shanghai; southern, landlocked province Sichuan; and two populous coastal regions, Fujian and Guangdong, which border Hong Kong.

Still though, not many people are going to the theater yet. On Friday, one of the first days the theaters reopened, ticket sales were less than $2,000. Some theaters didn’t move a single ticket.

But there is hope that as the weeks progress, more theaters will open and slowly things will return to normal. After all, China has managed (thanks to severe restrictions) to suppress the virus.

On Monday, China reported no new local cases of the virus, but confirmed 39 infections brought in from overseas, and nine more deaths, all in Wuhan, where the virus had its epicenter. Wuhan has not registered any new cases of Covid-19 for five consecutive days.

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‘Deadpool’ Has Reportedly Been Banned In China Due To Graphic Violence

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When violent and suggestive R-rated movies are released in China, they are usually watered-down versions of the original film we see here in the United States. China’s censorship officials frequently work with Hollywood studios to create these censored screenings.

Unfortunately, they weren’t able to do this with 20th Century Fox’s Deadpool. Sources claim cutting certain parts out of the movie wouldn’t work because it would cause serious problems with the plot.

This means, according to multiple reports, the film has been denied permission to screen in China. This is something the studio probably expected when they decided to embrace the R-rating; however, it has to sting a little considering China is the second-largest movie market in the world.

But still, the studio probably isn’t too worried. They were working with a budget that was significantly lower than most superhero films. Plus, the humor in the film and the marketing are clearly directed toward the hardcore audience back at home.

And the buzz surrounding Deadpool has been incredible. Last year, it received the loudest reaction of any film previewed at Comic Con, and here recently their last minute marketing efforts have been going viral. If it scores well with critics, it will most likely have a successful run at the box office.

Deadpool hits theaters Feb 12, 2016.

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‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens’ Becomes First Film To Reach $1 Billion Mark In Just 12 Days

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The 12 days of Christmas? Forget that. Let’s focus on the 12 days of Starmas. The Force Awakens continues to break just about every box office record there is to break. On Sunday, Disney announced that the film broke the $1 billion mark around the world faster than any other movie in history.

During the all-important Christmas weekend, Star Wars took home $153.5 million domestically. Not only was that the biggest number for the holiday weekend, but it was also the best second weekend for a film in box office history. No film came close to touching Star Wars over the weekend, Daddy’s Home was second with $38.8 million.

Before Star Wars reached $1 billion worldwide in 12 days, it was Jurassic World who held the record at 13 days. But get this, The Force Awakens hasn’t even opened in China (the world’s second-largest movie market) yet. It won’t be released there until Jan. 9.

Box office analyst Paul Dergarabedian of Rentrak is amazed, “You almost have to rewrite all the record books for this movie.” He told Fox News.

Disney will certainly have a lot to celebrate in 2016. By the way, the film has a 95% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, and some people believe it might take home some awards.

Fans love it. Critics love it. The world loves it. Your dog probably even loves it.

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‘Furious 7’ Is Now China’s Highest-Grossing Film Of All Time

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This Furious 7 movie just can’t stop breaking records. In its second full week in the Chinese market, the action film took home 450 million yuan ($74 million), which brings the impressive box office total up to over 2 billion yuan ($332 million).

In just 15 days, the movie has passed the previous record of $319 million held by the Transformers: Age of Extinction. According to the research group Entgroup, China is the biggest box office territory in the world for Vin Diesel’s baby.

Back in North America, Furious 7 is still holding strong. The film has been at the number one spot since its release earlier this month, although, that will change this weekend with The Avengers: Age of Ultron being released.

What other records does this movie have? Well, it’s the fastest live-action film to take home more than $1 billion worldwide. And after going over the $1.32 billion mark, it’s now more successful than Frozen.

Maybe Vin Diesel was right when he said this movie would win Best Picture at the Oscars?

“It will probably win best picture at the Oscars, unless the Oscars don’t want to be relevant ever. This will win best picture. There is nothing that will ever come close to the power of this thing.”

Okay, okay. We all know that’s never going to happen; however, the noise this movie is making around the world is pretty impressive.