Madame Web is headed East. Sony said today that its stand-alone origin tale from Marvel will hit China on March 1, two weeks after its North American bow. Dakota Johnson stars as Cassandra Webb, a paramedic in Manhattan who develops the power to see the future and realizes she can use that insight to change
China
Warner Bros/Heyday Films’ Wonka has been granted a December 8 release in China, a week ahead of the domestic start and as part of an early overseas rollout for the Timothée Chalamet-starrer. Wonka will be going the same day as Universal/Illumination’s Migration in China. These are just two of a raft of Hollywood movies to recently
In yet another move to increase its footprint in Asia, IMAX is expanding its partnership with Hengdian Films via an agreement for 20 new IMAX with Laser systems across China. This marks the largest deal for new IMAX systems in four years, reinforcing the strong demand among Chinese exhibitors and audiences for the premium experience
Disney/Marvel’s The Marvels has secured a China release on November 10, day-and-date with North America. The sequel to the $1 billion+ worldwide grossing Captain Marvel is the latest major studio tentpole to be granted access to the market since Oppenheimer went out August 30. It’s also wasting no time in spreading the word locally, leveraging
Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer officially launched in China today, grossing an estimated $5.4M. Word of mouth is strong with the Universal title carrying a 9.5 on Maoyan, the platform’s best-ever audience score for a Nolan film. The Douban critics score at 8.7 is on par with 2012’s The Dark Knight Rises. The weekend is shaping up to
Time was, Hollywood filmmakers would regularly travel to China in support of their movies, attending premieres and holding Q&As to drum up buzz in the massive box office market. The pandemic halted that ritual — until this week when Christopher Nolan became the first major Hollywood filmmaker since Covid to stroll a red carpet in
Disney’s live-action take on The Little Mermaid has been cleared for theatrical release in China, as has Fast X — the penultimate installment in Universal’s long-running Fast & Furious action franchise. Dates are still to be set for both films in the market which has increasingly been handing out day-and-date releases for Hollywood titles even
In another sign of the return to China for Marvel after a long drought, Disney/Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 has been set for a day-and-date release on May 5. The James Gunn-directed finale in the series is due to hit North American cinemas that same day while international rollout will begin on May
It’s been a long time coming, but it looks like China’s unofficial ban on Marvel is lifting. Disney/Marvel’s Black Panther: Wakanda Forever and Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania have both secured release dates in China, ending a three-and-a-half year period during which movies featuring Marvel characters did not gain entry to the world’s second largest
Reading the tea leaves with regard to China in 2023 is even more difficult than usual. The country’s about-face on its longstanding zero-Covid policy has implications from geopolitics to economics and, closer to home for Hollywood, the state of the market after a dismal 2022. Exactly what those implications are is where the guesswork comes
China’s box office in 2022 dropped 36% versus 2021, reaching a little over RMB 30B ($4.35B). According to Chinese state media, citing figures from the China Film Administration, 85% of the 2022 revenue was generated by local movies, led by The Battle at Lake Changjin II with RMB 4.07B ($636M at historical rates, per comScore).
Universal/DreamWorks Animation’s Puss In Boots: The Last Wish has secured a China release date on December 23, two days after its North American bow. Apart from Avatar: The Way of Water, this currently appears to be the only other Hollywood title dated through the end of the year in the PRC. After a series of previews,
Ahead of the rollout of James Cameron’s Avatar: The Way of Water in China this week, the original Avatar is getting a surprise rerelease in a limited promotional run from tomorrow locally — and will include an exclusive Easter egg for local audiences. The remastered 4K/HDR version is so far expected in up to 80
Imax just cut a deal for six new big-screen installations in China this year — “a very positive development,” according to CEO Rich Gelfond. The company is a big player in the Chinese market, which is still strained by Covid lockdowns and in limbo for Western theatrical releases. He noted the new contract during a
Universal/Illumination’s Minions: The Rise of Gru bowed in China today (Friday), grossing an estimated RMB 21.74M ($3.2M), including midnights. This was good for the biggest opening day of a Hollywood animated film during the pandemic. Overall, and not including China’s Friday, Rise of Gru has grossed $461.2M at the international box office for $807.7M worldwide.
China has set an August 19 release date for Universal/Illumination’s Minions: The Rise Of Gru. This will be the first major tentpole from Hollywood to hit the market since Universal’s own Jurassic World Dominion which has grossed $157.4M there through Sunday and during an extended nine-week run; it is the biggest studio import of 2022.
The bomber jacket of Top Gun‘s Maverick is looking a bit more familiar in international trailers these days, according to a report in Fortune. Two flag patches on the back of the jacket – representing Taiwan and Japan – appear to have been returned to their original spots. The flags were missing, or obscured, in
China recently set release dates for two summer films – Universal’s Jurassic World Dominion on June 10 and big local-language production Mozart From Space (by the director of the Detective Chinatown series) on July 15. That’s good news for the giant market’s reopening, said Imax CEO Rich Gelfond. But he doesn’t expect heightened scrutiny of
The dinosaurs are ready to stomp into China with a June 10 date confirmed for Universal’s Jurassic World Dominion. This will be in step with the North American release — a rarity of late — after international rollout begins a few days prior. Universal confirmed the China release date on its official Weibo account with
Hopes that Doctor Strange In The Multiverse Of Madness would break the curse of Marvel movies not being released in China may now be dashed. The Benedict Cumberbatch-starrer has made waves on local social media over a scene in the opening bit of the sequel where a newspaper kiosk bears the Chinese characters for The
A trio of studio movies has received China release date confirmations for next month, including new films Ambulance and The Bad Guys, as well as last summer’s Escape Room: Tournament Of Champions. Universal’s Michael Bay-directed Ambulance, which began early offshore rollout last weekend and bows domestically on April 8, is now dated for April 22
Warner Bros/DC’s The Batman released in China today, getting off to an RMB 23.3M ($3.7M) start, including previews. The inauspicious bow was expected given that about 35% of the market’s cinemas have been temporarily shuttered amid a new Covid spike. The good news is that the film has a strong 9 score on platforms Tao
Roland Emmerich’s big-budget sci-fi disaster pic Moonfall has been set for a March 25 release in China (check out the new poster below). The movie, which released via Lionsgate domestically on February 4, is heavily backed by China’s Huayi, so this is an important piece of its recoupment prospects. The China date falls one week
Sony Pictures Animation’s Hotel Transylvania: Transformania has been granted an April 3 theatrical release date in China. Sony last summer licensed the fourth installment in the successful franchise to Amazon worldwide, but retained China rights. With the date now confirmed, Sony gets a month’s lead time on promotion and marketing in China where the previous
China has cleared Warner Bros’ Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets Of Dumbledore for release in the market, though a date is still to be set. The WB Weibo account posted today that “magic is coming” and said, “stay tuned.” This is the third film from the studio this year to be granted access, following The Matrix
Sony’s Tom Holland/Mark Wahlberg-starrer Uncharted has been dated for a March 14 release in China. The studio’s Weibo account shared the news today with a video message from Holland and Wahlberg and a subtitled trailer, as well as a new poster (see it in full below). This comes at the same time as China has
Warner Bros/DC’s highly-anticipated The Batman has been cleared for a release in China. A date has yet to be confirmed, but the approval is significant given the market has been light on studio titles across the past year. In a video posted to the Warner Bros Weibo account, Batman star Robert Pattinson addressed Chinese fans
Vladyslav Heraskevych, who is representing Ukraine in the skeleton race at the Beijing Winter Olympics, unfurled an 8 X 10″ sign as he came off his third of four heats that read simply, in English, “No War in Ukraine.” The act marks the first overtly political statement from a competitor in a Games that has
At a press conference in Zhangjiakou, Professional skate and snowboarder Shaun White, 35 has announced this will be his last Olympics. A litany of injuries over time contributed to this decision. “I was in Austria. The pipe wasn’t in the best conditions. I had this ankle issue which prevented me from competing further at the
After being forced to sit out the annually lucrative Chinese New Year period as the Covid crisis was just beginning in 2020, Chinese box office blasted to an all-time high during the comparable 2021 session. This week, the Year of the Tiger will be ushered in with eight movies beginning February 1, and with potential