Chollywood rising

[GeneChing]

JUNE 16, 2019 3:36PM PT
Chinese Script Development Requires A Different Touch, Top Producers Say
By REBECCA DAVIS


CREDIT: COURTESY OF WARNER BROS. PICTURES

Leading film producers highlighted the challenges of developing good scripts in China and abroad at a panel during the Shanghai International Film Festival on Sunday.

Wanda Media GM Jiang Wei (aka Wayne Jiang) recommended that producers remain aware of the real differences between the scriptwriting process for Chinese productions versus international and co-productions.

The fundamental distinction is that in China, “the screenwriting system is a service centered on the director, who is the creative center,” rather than the producer, he assessed. In his experience, he’d seen that this could be frustrating for Chinese writers, who, eager to finally put their own spin on things, would often fail to execute what he’d asked of them, and turn in scripts that veered too far away from the company or the director’s original vision, making it necessary to switch from writer to writer until someone stuck.

But when working on Hollywood films like “The Meg,” he saw that writers were used to doing multiple iterations of the same story without touching its overall direction or main storyline, and were used to discussing what elements they’d like to add before going ahead with them.

“I think this experience of mine is something to note for great producers… coming to China,” he said. “The type of screenwriter system you’re jumping into is an important factor in your choice of what kind of project to undertake.

Siddharth Roy Kapur, Indian producer of smash hit “Dangal,” provided advice on how producers should balance different players’ creative visions. “It’s important to bring the director on board as early in the process as possible,” he said. “If you bring the director on at the end of the process, the director wants to come in, but the writers want to make it their own.”

He added: “It is important as the producer to pick your battles – very often, there are producers that have writing aspirations, and they want to jump on writing the script. That leads to a larger conflict later.”

“You need to realize you’re not the writer. If you have a vision you’ve got to let the writers see it so that they can then go out and create magic. It can’t be a writing by committee — that never works.”

Huayi Brothers Pictures CEO Jerry Ye also highlighted the differences between China and the West when it comes to screenwriting.

“The thing with China right now is that there’s a huge lack of creative power… so we spend a huge amount of time finding a good script. I now require all my producers to spend 60% of their energy on the script,” he said. “This is something that’s hard to understand for foreign filmmakers because in many countries, there are loads of great scripts and stories sitting around, but no capital or market to support them. It’s the opposite in China.”

Most younger Chinese creatives still don’t understand the logic needed to create a successful script, Ye said, urging them to study foreign films and screenwriting techniques. Huayi therefore often had to resort to hiring foreign writers to “build the bones of a screenplay” before bringing in Chinese screenwriters to then “fill it out with flesh and blood,” Ye said. He laughed: “We could also just do more remakes — as long as they can pass censorship.”

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[GeneChing]

The Hollywood box office is down too. Maybe filmmakers need to lower their projected expectations.

JULY 3, 2019 8:07PM PT
China Box Office Drops in First Six Months, Revealing Mounting Problems
By REBECCA DAVIS


CREDIT: COURTESY OF CHINA FILM GROUP

China’s total box office fell 2.8% to $4.53 billion (RMB31.1 billion) in the first half of 2019. That was the the first such decline since 2011, Chinese media said.

Reports noted the dip with alarm and dismay. “Although the decline is not large, the situation does not look promising,” wrote Chinese industry website Mtime, while online news source The Paper wrote: “This year audiences could clearly feel that after Chinese New Year, there were no good films to watch, especially among domestic (Chinese) films.”

The slight fall in ticket sales also masks what The Paper called an even graver “hidden crisis”: a steep decrease in actual cinema-going. China’s total number of screenings has gone up, rising 7.98 million to 61.5 million in the first half of year, but at the same time, there has been a more than 10% drop in actual trips to the theater. Only 806 million tickets were sold in the past six months, down from 901 million in the first half of 2018.

This significant change has been offset by a rise in average ticket prices. Alibaba’s Lighthouse data app shows that average prices in the first half of the year rose some RMB3.04 ($0.44) apiece to RMB38.6 ($5.61)— a figure that might appear as even higher for consumers who are hit with rising online booking fees and falling e-commerce subsidies.

Despite this slowdown, movie theater construction has continued unabated. China has built 3,492 new screens so far in 2019, bringing the national total up to 64,944. Nevertheless, the rate of new screens appearing this year decreased by 15% compared with the same period last year. More than 9,000 were added in 2018.

Per film averages also dropped, as there were 246 films released in the first six months, 18 more than the same period a year before. But just six of those — three imported titles (“Avengers: Endgame,” “Bumblebee” and “Captain Marvel”) and three Chinese titles (“The Wandering Earth,” “Crazy Alien” and “Pegasus”) — had earning that broke the RMB1 billion ($145 million) threshold. Just 42 (16 local and 26 imported) broke the RMB100 million ($14.5 million) mark.

Overall, local Chinese films saw their relative performance weaken compared to imported ones in the first six months. Chinese films accounted for 47.5% of the total box office, with earnings of RMB14.8 billion ($2.15 billion). This marked a decline of RMB1.7 billion ($247 million) from the year before.

Chinese reports noted with concern that only one Chinese film has topped the monthly box office so far this year — February’s sci-fi hit “The Wandering Earth.”

The Chinese market overcame a dismal January with more robust sales in February’s hot Chinese New Year period, during which “The Wandering Earth” led in ticket sales to gross a whopping $691 million and become the country’s second most successful film of all time. In March, Taiwanese romantic melodrama “More Than Blue” led with $140 million. “Avengers: Endgame” broke records in April and May with its $614 million haul, single handedly accounting for 55% of China’s total box office in April. “Godzilla: King of the Monsters” and the opening weekend of “Spider-Man: Far From Home” propped up the box office in June.

It wa snot only the Chinese titles that underperformed. Several of the anticipated Hollywood titles also failed to live up to expectations. They included “Shazam!,” “X-Men: Dark Phoenix,” “Men in Black: International,” “Toy Story 4” and “Aladdin.”

This bodes poorly for the rest of the summer, particularly after government interference pushed back releases for two of the season’s most hotly anticipated films, war epic “The Eight Hundred” and youth drama “Better Days.”

Last summer, China had five films that made over RMB1 billion ($145 million), but it will be difficult to match that tally in 2019. Only 58 are scheduled for release this July and August, a sharp decrease from 77 films last year, according to Maoyan. Among local films, big budget contenders include sci-fi film “Shanghai Fortress” and Bona’s firefighting rescue flick “The Bravest,” but almost no others.

Several weeks in July and August are in many years unofficial blackout months during which China protects its local industry by halting imports of foreign fare. But unusually, numerous U.S. titles are lined up this year. They include “The Secret Life of Pets 2” on July 5, “The Lion King” on July 12, “Fighting with My Family” on July 19, “UglyDolls” on August 9, and the Universal-distributed “Yesterday” on August 16.

China has announced theatrical runs for “The Angry Birds Movie 2” and “Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw” but not yet set release dates. It remains to be seen whether Quentin Tarantino’s Bona-backed “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood,” which debuts stateside July 26, will hit the Chinese big screen.

[GeneChing]

Jul 29, 2020 8:26pm PT
‘Tenet’ Approved for Theatrical Release in China
By Rebecca Davis


Melinda Sue Gordon

“Tenet” announced Wednesday that it has passed government approvals for a theatrical release in China, an indication that an official release date is now on the horizon.

The film has released a poster in Chinese, swapping the English tagline “time runs out” for a clarion call to return to cinemas that roughly translates to “make every second count; invade the theaters.”

Chinese cinemas reopened in regions at low risk for COVID-19 on July 20, taking in $12.6 million in their opening weekend. Currently, around 44% of its cinemas are back in business, but have been required to operate at just 30% capacity to allow for social distancing, as well as reduce their total number of screenings to half their usual tally.

Additionally, guidelines for reopening released by the National Film Bureau request that cinemas not screen films that are over two hours long — which could potentially pose problems for “Tenet,” which runs at two hours and 31 minutes.

This directive was soon contradicted, however, by Chinese authorities’ subsequent approval of numerous films longer than two hours for nationwide theatrical release. These include “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone” and Nolan’s own “Interstellar” — currently scheduled for a theatrical re-run starting Aug. 2 — as well as local blockbusters already in play like “Operation Red Sea.”

Until the guideline is more formally lifted, it appears that cinemas in different regions under different levels of COVID-19 threat have been given varied amounts of leeway, or at least have been variously willing to stick their neck out and program longer films.

All eight of the “Harry Potter” films run over two hours, but they are all currently screening as part of the Shanghai International Film Festival.

Yet at least two cinemas in Beijing said Wednesday in private chats posted to social media that due to the confusion, they currently didn’t dare program approved, available titles over 120 minutes long — even the patriotic blockbuster “Wolf Warrior 2,” which runs 123 minutes.

Elsewhere in China, however, that film’s re-run has already made $1.1 million since cinemas reopened Monday.

“Tenet” had to reschedule its release numerous times due to COVID-19 before Warner Brothers this week settled on the unconventional plan of debuting it internationally before it hits North America.

It is now prepared to open in around 70 countries abroad starting on Aug. 26, including the U.K., Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Korea and Russia. It will then premiere in select U.S. cities over Labor Day weekend from Sept. 3.

China is far and away the most important foreign market for “Tenet” director Christopher Nolan’s films.

The Chinese box office for almost every film he’s made as either director or executive producer has blown away earnings from other territories by a large margin. The only exceptions are “Dunkirk” and “The Dark Knight Rises,” for which China was the second largest market globally behind the U.K., and “Batman Begins,” which hit the Middle Kingdom all the way back in 2005, when its box office was still comparatively nascent.

Of the Nolan-directed films, “Dunkirk” made $51 million in China in 2017, while “Interstellar” grossed $122 million there in 2014. The “Dark Knight Rises” grossed $52.8 million in 2012 and “Inception” $68.4 million in 2010.

Films executive produced by Nolan have also seen strong showings in the country. They include “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice” with $96 million, “Justice League” with $106 million, “Transcendence” with $20 million, and “Man of Steel” with $63 million.

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[GeneChing]

Coincidentally, I just watched Doolittle last night (not going to review it here although there are some sword brandishing but no real sword fights). Produced $175 million, earned $126 million, plus now another 11.8 million. Still a ways to go...

'Dolittle' Tops China Box Office, 'Interstellar' Rerelease Scores Single-Day Record Since Reopening
10:06 PM PDT 8/2/2020 by Abid Rahman


Paramount Pictures/Universal Pictures
'Interstellar' and 'Dolittle'

With limits on the number of screens, a wary public and social distancing measures in place, weekend box office in China hit a modest $17.5 million.

Universal's Dolittle topped China's box office for a second week as the country's cinemas continued their tentative reopening following the novel coronavirus shutdown.

With limits on the number of screens, a wary public and social distancing measures in place, weekend box office in China hit a modest $17.5 million according to local box office consultancy Artisan Gateway. This weekend's gross takes this year's severely truncated China box office total to $364.1 million, a 93.2 percent drop year on year. At the same point last year, China's box office was humming along at $5.4 billion.

Dolittle's $3.3 million take was enough to secure consecutive weekends at the top in China, giving the fantasy film a 10-day total of $11.8 million. Produced for a hefty $175 million, Dolittle bombed disastrously in North America, and has earned just $126 million worldwide prior to its China release. The sluggish performance of China's box office since the restart is unlikely to add too much to Dolittle's final cume, despite Robert Downey Jr's unquestioned Marvel-powered popularity in the country.

In second place was the local drama The Enigma of Arrival which debuted with $3 million. A new release, something of a rarity as cinemas reopen, Song Wen's Enigma was first screened at Busan Film Festival in 2018 and was originally scheduled to be released in China in February before being moved in calendar due to the lockdown.

With the conspicuous lack of new films in recent weeks, the rerelease of Christopher Nolan's Interstellar was the story of the weekend in China. Debuting on Sunday, Interstellar's $2.8 million take, boosted by its presence at over 400 higher priced IMAX theaters, was the biggest opening of any film since China's cinemas officially reopened. The 2014 sci-fi epic, which stars Matthew McConaughey, Anne Hathaway and Jessica Chastain, also secured the biggest single-day performance since the restart.

Including its original run, Interstellar has now grossed $111 million in China, according to Artisan Gateway, and its performance bodes well for the Middle Kingdom release of Nolan's high concept sci-fi movie Tenet, which has cleared the country's censors but is yet to be given a release date.

Rounding out the top five is two local films, the rerelease of Sam Quah's 2019 crime drama Sheep Without a Shepherd in fourth place with $2.4 million and the animated new release Mr. Miao in fifth with $1.2 million. A remake of the Indian thriller Drishyam, Sheep Without a Shepherd was a big commercial and critical hit when it was first released in December, and its total cume now stands at $180.4 million.

ABID RAHMAN
abid.rahman@thr.com
@gentlemanabroad

[GeneChing]

Aug 11, 2020 4:56pm PT
China to Ease Limits on Movie Ticket Sales, Screening Length Starting This Weekend
By Rebecca Davis


Melinda Sue Gordon/Warner Bros.

Cinemas in some parts of China have been told that they may now sell up to 50% of their available tickets for each screening and play films over two hours in length without restrictions starting from Aug. 14, local reports and leaked directives show.

Concessions may also now be sold — not to snack on in theaters, but, amusingly, as take-away.

The easing of theater restrictions is a big positive sign for the China box office prospects of Disney’s “Mulan,” which confirmed on Monday it would hit Chinese theaters “soon,” and Christopher Nolan’s “Tenet,” which is set to debut in the country on Sept. 4.

COVID-19 has dealt a blow to the global box office dreams of both films, with Disney choosing to forgo theatrical in most markets and release its live-action remake on its own streaming platform.

Chinese cinemas reopened for the first time in six months on July 20. Initial national guidelines required them to cap ticket sales at just 30% of their max capacity to allow for more extensive social distancing. They also banned the sale and consumption of concessions, and requested that screenings not go over two hours. Local authorities in some regions began asking cinemas to program a short intermission into longer films, but not others.

Now, the screening length issue appears to cleared up in time for the weekend debut of two hotly anticipated longer titles: a 3D, 4K restoration of “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone” and the censored Chinese war epic “The Eight Hundred,” which both open Friday. “Bad Boys for Life” starring Will Smith and Martin Lawrence, which runs at 123 minutes, is also set to premiere alongside them.

Giving cinemas the ability to sell up to half the available seats for each showing will be a welcome boon for exhibitors. Business has been “better than expected,” analysts say, but still slow as audiences appear to await more enticing offerings.

The most successful cinema in the country, a five-hall, 565-seat venue on Hainan island, sold 1,379 tickets worth $7,000 on Tuesday.

The images below show the seating availability for two different Imax theaters in Beijing last Saturday night for the opening weekend of “1917.” The red icons indicate seats already taken, while the grey, locked seats are those left empty for social distancing purposes. For a major title on the most popular weekend evening, the 30% capacity rule left most good seats occupied, leaving only options at the very front or side.


Courtesy of Tao Piaopiao


Recently, a few other foreign titles have announced an upcoming theatrical outing in China.
Courtesy of Tao Piaopiao

They include the 2017 U.S. historical drama “The Current War,” starring Benedict Cumberbatch as Thomas Edison and Nicholas Hoult as Nikola Tesla, which will arrive in China on Aug. 28. Co-produced by Harvey Weinstein and originally set for distribution by The Weinstein Company, the film’s release got caught up in Weinstein’s sexual abuse scandal and did not debut until last fall. It’s made $12 million worldwide so far, with $6 million of that from North America.

Two Japanese titles are also preparing to hit cinemas. They are the 1999 Cannes competition title “Kikujiro” — written, directed and starring Takeshi Kitano — which has yet to set a date, and “Masquerade Hotel,” a 2019 crime film directed by Masayuki Suzuki that will premiere in China on Sept. 4.

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AMC Theatres to Reopen Next Week at 15 Cents Per Movie
AMC Theatres announced 100 theaters will reopen on Aug. 20 with the cost of 15 cents per ticket.
By David Crow
|
August 13, 2020


AMC Theatres
Photo: Noam Galai / Getty Images

“Movies in 2020 at 1920 Prices.” That is the amusing slogan AMC Theatres trumpeted Thursday in relation to their confirmation of 100 movie theaters definitely reopening across North America. With this reopening signaling one-sixth of their U.S. locations being ready for business in a week’s time, AMC will charge only 15 cents per ticket on the first day of the rollout.

The pricing is an amusing gimmick that harkens back to when going to the movies was not only safe but also the primary form of populist entertainment in the U.S. Indeed, if one was to argue, like director Christopher Nolan has, that cinema is the most democratic form of art, it’s with those kind of prices that it became possible. Of course by Aug. 20 none of the intended studio wide releases on which theaters are resting hope will be out to reawakening audiences’ appetites.

Indeed, The New Mutants, the first major studio wide release since March, does not open until Aug. 28. And Tenet, the real tentpole that theaters are banking on to be truly must-see, does not open in “select U.S. cities” until Sept. 3. Even Solstice Pictures’ Unhinged, which stars Russell Crowe as a maniac driver, doesn’t bow until Aug. 21.

But the novel approach of returning to ‘20s era prices in a different decade is a gambit designed to get those who really miss moviegoing to try AMC locations out on the first day, likely by watching old favorites such as Nolan’s Inception, which is celebrating its 10th anniversary. Of course it’s trying to get audiences to try it during the heat of the coronavirus pandemic.

Despite infection rates going down in May, infection rates have increased again this summer, particularly in states like Florida, Georgia, Arizona, and California. For that reason, movie theaters remain mandatorily closed in more than 10 states, and in major moviegoing markets like New York City.

Still, AMC Theatres is pledging that the reopening will come with new safety features which include reduced capacity seating to enforce social distancing, new ventilation systems in the theaters, and an emphasis on no-contact ticket buying and concessions. Perhaps in AMC’s biggest acceptance of the current health crisis though is the theater chain agreeing to require moviegoers to wear masks… but that only came after backlash to the initial announcement that mask-wearing would merely be a guideline and AMC did not want to wade into the “politics” of hard science.

Still, on Aug. 20 you can expect to get some version of the 1920 experience. Just hope it isn’t the 1919 one when the Spanish Flu still was hanging on.

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[GeneChing]

China Box Office: 3D 'Harry Potter' Rerelease Wins the Weekend
11:33 PM PDT 8/16/2020 by Abid Rahman


Warner Bros./Photofest
'Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone'

'Bad Boys For Life' bombs as previews for local war epic 'The Eight Hundred' point to a monster opening next weekend.
Harry Potter And The Sorcerer's Stone cast its spell over the box office in China this weekend, as Hollywood rereleases continue to entice people back to recently reopened cinemas.

The 3D, 4K rerelease of the first film in Warner Bros' multi-billion dollar franchise was able to magic up a stellar $13.4 million this weekend, according to local box office consultancy Artisan Gateway. The strong showing from The Sorcerer's Stone pushed the total box office to $21.9 million, the best single weekend performance since China's cinemas reopened.

Theaters in China are now into their fourth week of reopening after a COVID-19 enforced lockdown put in place back in January. Despite the restart, the country's exhibitors are still operating with limits on the number of screens and strict social distancing measures on top of having a public still wary about returning to the movies. The stronger week-to-week performance is in stark contrast to the year-on-year decline of 92.8 percent.

Puffed up partly by higher-priced IMAX admissions, on Saturday The Sorcerer's Stone scored the biggest single-day take since the restart and its total China gross, including all previous releases, now stands at $21.4 million according to Artisan Gateway. The China rerelease of the 2001 film, based on the first book of J.K. Rowling's phenomenally successful book series, is edging the movie closer to a $1 billion worldwide cume.

In second place was Sony's delayed release of Bad Boys For Life which made a modest $3.1 million. The post-COVID-19 theatrical landscape has notably lacked new Hollywood releases but the third film in the Bad Boys franchise didn't bring the crowds out, with the film hampered by its lukewarm critical reception including a 5.7/10 rating on the popular media review platform Douban.

Coming in third was local war epic The Eight Hundred which made an impressive $2 million in previews. Directed by Guan Hu and produced by Huayi Bros., The Eight Hundred is an $80 million tentpole based on a pivotal battle in 1937 during the Sino-Japanese war: the historic siege and defense of the Si Hang Warehouse in Shanghai where 400 fighters, an unlikely mix of soldiers, deserters and civilians became known as the “Eight Hundred Heroes," after holding out against waves of Japanese forces for four days and four nights.

The hotly anticipated war film was originally supposed to be released last summer but had its world premiere dramatically pulled from the Shanghai Film Festival and then its nationwide release canceled at the 11th hour by China's censors, although no official reason has ever been given.

With stellar reviews, an 8.1 rating on Douban and buoyed by nationalistic fervor, The Eight Hundred should breakout big next weekend when it goes on general release.

The rerelease of Christopher Nolan's Interstellar continued to rack up solid numbers, making another $1.3 million this weekend. Including its original run, the 2014 sci-fi epic, which stars Matthew McConaughey, Anne Hathaway and Jessica Chastain, has now made $123.9 million in China.

Interstellar's strong performance and Nolan's name recognition in China bodes well for the Middle Kingdom release of his high concept sci-fi movie Tenet, which has cleared the country's censors and is set to be released on Sept. 4. To drum up a little more Nolan-mania in China, Warner Bros. is also rereleasing Inception in the country on Aug. 28.

Rounding out the top five this weekend was the rerelease of Sam Quah's 2019 crime drama Sheep Without a Shepherd which made $1.1 million and now has a cume of $187.7 million.


ABID RAHMAN
abid.rahman@thr.com
gentlemanabroad

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[GeneChing]

Aug 17, 2020 12:00pm PT
Peter Chan’s Volleyball Drama ‘Leap’ to Hit China Over National Day

By Rebecca Davis


"Leap"

Peter Chan’s hotly anticipated biographical sports drama “Leap” is set to hit China on Sept. 30, becoming the first of the Chinese New Year blockbusters canceled due to COVID-19 to set a theatrical outing.

Local animation “Jiang Ziya: Legend of Deification,” which was also originally scheduled to premiere over the lunar new year, will premiere the day after. They will both hit theaters over the China’s patriotic National Day holiday that begins Oct. 1, typically one of the busiest movie-going weeks of the year.

They will compete against the patriotic anthology film “My People, My Homeland,” a sequel to last National Day’s “My People, My Country,” and Chinese comedy “Coffee or Tea?,” as well as a local animated take on the classic “Mulan” legend.

The fact that major new local blockbusters are now willing to set release dates is a signal of renewed confidence in China’s box office, as cinemas slowly get back on their feet after six months of closures. Theaters are still currently only allowed to sell up to 50% of their available tickets to enable social distancing.

Seven major films were expected to release Jan. 24 over the lunar new year holiday, but all were pulled just before their premieres as COVID-19 swept the country and made mass cinema-going look less and less feasible. Theaters were officially ordered shut by authorities just afterwards.

Of those titles, “Leap” is the first to set a theatrical release date. The others include helmer Dante Lam’s “The Rescue,” Wanda’s “Detective Chinatown 3,” Stanley Tong’s Jackie Chan-starring “Vanguard” and two animations, “Jiang Ziya” and “Boonie Bears: The Wild Life.”

Xu Zheng’s “Lost in Russia,” which was thematically tied to the lunar new year holiday, stoked controversy by deciding to skip theatrical altogether and release for free via ByteDance’s video platforms, including Douyin (China’s version of TikTok), Toutiao and Watermelon video.

“Leap” tells the story of the Chinese women’s national volleyball team and their tribulations over the course of decades. It features Huang Bo (“The Island,” “Crazy Alien”) and Gong Li, who stars as the legendary coach Lang Ping.

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[GeneChing]

When covid first struck, I thought it would hobble the rise of China's film industry. Now it looks like it was just what was needed to eclipse Hollywood.

Aug 27, 2020 7:05pm PT
China Is World’s First Market to Achieve Full Box Office Recovery, Says Analytics Firm
By Rebecca Davis


The Eight Hundred
Courtesy of Huayi Bros

China this week became the first global market to make a “full box office recovery” according to targets developed by the U.K.-based film industry analytics firm Gower Street, the company said Thursday.

The firm created five targets to track and compare the paths of different territories’ exhibition sectors back to recovery. The indicators move from stage one — a point when a significant majority (80%) of cinemas are ready to resume operations — to stage five, in which business over the course of a week is equivalent to that of the top quartile of weekly earnings from the past two years.

After reaching this stage five goal, a particular market “should react as normal, with an ebb and flow dependent on the release calendar,” Gower Street explained.

To reach that target, post-COVID China needed to generate a weekly box office of $184 million (RMB1.27 billion). According to data from Comscore Movies, China hit this target just five days into the week starting Friday, Aug. 21, having taken in $189 million (RMB1.31 billion) by the end of the day Tuesday.

China’s national box office for the full week was $252 million (RMB1.74 billion), more than 18% greater than that of the equivalent week in 2019, which saw earnings of around $209 million (RMB1.44 billion).

More than 90% of Chinese cinemas by market share are now open, although they continue to operate with capacity restrictions allowing them to sell only half their available tickets.

Despite these limitations, China’s performance stands out worldwide at a time when nearly 65% of global cinemas by market share are now back in business in the wake of COVID-19 closures, up from 55% a week ago, Gower Street said.

The global box office so far in 2020 is just $6.88 billion, a fraction of the $27.2 billion three year average year to date score. Nevertheless, sales are increasing, with the $200 million collected globally this week marking a rise of 54% from the one previous. China, said Gower Street, was “undoubtedly the driver” of this growth.

This week’s success was due to massive sales for local war film “The Eight Hundred,” as well as Tuesday’s Qixi Festival, a type of Chinese Valentine’s day, which saw the release of popular local time-travel rom-com “Love You Forever,” which grossed more than $39 million on its opening day.

Giving the box office a further mid-week boost, local romantic drama “Wild Grass” and Greta Gerwig’s Oscar-winning “Little Women” also premiered Tuesday, debuting to the tune of $5.5 million and $1.5 million on day one, respectively, according to data from Maoyan.

This week’s box office tally accounts for nearly a third of all ticket sales in China to date this year, with “The Eight Hundred” alone accounting of 27% of the national 2020 box office as of Wednesday. The film has grossed $210 million (RMB1.45 billion) and Maoyan now projects a total of $459 million (RMB3.16 billion).

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The Chinese market’s revival comes just in time for Christopher Nolan’s “Tenet,” which is set to further galvanize recovery once it premieres in the country on Sept. 4. A re-release of his “Inception” will compete with “The Eight Hundred” once it hits cinemas on Friday.

Disney’s “Mulan” has yet to receive an official release date in the territory, but is expected to hit theaters in the near future.

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[GeneChing]

The U.S. is a long way from that now...

Sep 15, 2020 4:16pm PT
China’s Cinemas to Soon Operate at 75% Capacity, as Pandemic Restrictions Ease

By Rebecca Davis


"Leap"
China announced on Tuesday that it will soon relax pandemic-related restrictions currently placed on cinemas and allow venues to sell up to 75% of their available tickets.

Chinese cinemas are currently limited to just half capacity, but can shift over to selling 75% of their available tickets from Sept. 25, the China Film Distribution & Projection Association said in new guidelines released on their official social media accounts.

The move is a boon to struggling exhibitors, who have suffered through six months of shutdowns this year and only re-opened their doors in late July. It also comes after the release of Hollywood tentpoles “Tenet” and “Mulan,” but just as major Chinese blockbusters are set to bow over the upcoming National Day holiday.

Chinese authorities are seeking to ramp up cinema-going ahead of that period, when a slew of patriotic films will hit theaters, intended to boost morale and feelings of national pride.

Notably, Peter Chan’s “Leap,” a volleyball drama starring Gong Li that was initially supposed to launch over Chinese New Year, has shifted its originally scheduled release five days earlier to stand out from the crowd, and is now set to debut on Sept. 25 — the same day the new guidelines will come into effect.

Eight other films will fight for attention in what is turning out to be an unexpectedly competitive battle. Most notably, they include two other Chinese New Year blockbusters, the hotly anticipated animation “Jiang Ziya: Legend of Deification” and Jackie Chan-starrer “Vanguard,” as well as the patriotic omnibus film “My People, My Homeland” and, incongruously, the 1999 Japanese road movie “Kikujiro,” starring, written and directed by Takeshi Kitano.

The new pandemic rules require continued vigilance from cinemas on coronavirus prevention, stating that key public areas such as lobbies, corridors and screening halls should be disinfected with spray no less than twice a day, while places like toilets, vending machines and seats in public areas should be wiped down at least five times a day.

Tickets will remain sold online-only, via reservations attached to people’s real names, and retrieved without human contact via vending machines.

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[GeneChing]

Asian Films Dominate Global Box Office While US Films Struggle
BY JON JACKSON ON 10/19/20 AT 12:28 PM EDT

The Japanese anime adventure Demon Slaver The Movie: Mugen Train was named the best performing film in the world this past weekend, while China surpassed all of North America as the world's largest box office earner.

The coronavirus pandemic continues to drastically restrict any movies that dare opening in front of live audiences in theaters, with Liam Neeson's Honest Thief bringing in a very modest $3.7 million over a three-day opening in the US, with a cumulative total of around $4.2 million in North American when including its haul in Canada. Taking the second spot was critically-maligned The War with Grandpa, followed by Christopher Nolan's Tenet, which increased its domestic total to $50.6 million in eight weekends of release—the high-water mark for any film released in the US after the pandemic hit.


Demon Slayer, from hit Japanese show to the world's box office film champ.
ANIPLEX

These totals are not unexpected given many theaters remain shuttered throughout the country, including all indoor cinemas in New York City.

Meanwhile, Japan's Demon Slayer opened with an a robust $44 million over three days, breaking box office records there to become the biggest launch in Japanese history. These numbers are even more impressive when compared to last year's Japanese opening of Frozen 2, which brought in $30 million over a three-day period and finished its theatrical run there with $121 million. Demon Slayer managed to bring in its massive total even with spaced seating that limits admissions to about half of normal capacity in Japan.

Demon Slayer no doubt benefitted from its popular source material—a Gotoge Koyoharu comic that since its first appearance in 2016 has gone on to print nearly 100 million copies circulating in paperback editions and digital formats. Before the new feature film, the comic spawned a popular TV anime series in 2019 that's been distributed on Netflix, Amazon and Hulu. North American audiences will have their first chance to catch the feature-length film in early 2021.

Meanwhile, China continued its domination of the global box office for the year as it closed in on $2 billion on Sunday after adding $46.4 million over the weekend. This came despited a 32% decline from last weekend's box office totals in China and no major new release. That nearly $2 billion total was enough for China to take the 2020 global crown over North America's $1.94 billion, according to consultancy Artisan Gateway. However, these totals conflict slightly from the numbers found by Comscore, another industry-reporting agency, which has North America at $2.085 billion and nearly $100 million above China. Though, even by those statistics, China should soon surpass North America. It could happen as soon as this weekend, when the highly-anticipated Korean War drama Sacrifice (or Jin Gang Chuan, as its known locally) opens in China on October 23.

Current box office champs in China include My People, My Homeland, which added $25.6 million for a $366 million total, and Jiang Ziya: Legend Of Deification, which sits at at $228 million in its run thus far. The country's World War II epic The Eight Hundred remains the most successful movie of the year globally with $460 million and growing. The second highest-grossing film globally is Bad Boys for Life at $426.5 million, which it accomplished as one of the last North American major releases before the coronavirus shutdown.

Back in the US, the box office picture continues to look bleak with many of the season's major blockbusters being pushed forward to 2021 or getting VOD/streaming channel releases. Still, Disney managed to find a bright spot by simply re-introducing older hits to theaters again. These catalogue releases, The Nightmare Before Christmas and Hocus Pocus, took the fourth and fifth spots at the box office with

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[GeneChing]

Chinese New Year Box Office Hits $1.2B, Sets Record High Over Holiday Period

By Nancy Tartaglione
International Box Office Editor/Senior Contributor
@DeadlineNancy

February 17, 2021 12:40pm


Wanda Pictures
The Chinese New Year box office achieved yet another milestone Wednesday, with grosses for the holiday period growing to an estimated RMB 7.78 billion ($1.2 billion). This beats the previous all-time high set during the comparable 2019 holiday (RMB 5.9B). China often outdoes itself, but the fact that 2021’s Lunar New Year frame came with Covid capacity restrictions makes the performance even more staggering.

Factors working in the session’s favor included a diverse slate of seven new local titles (including two powerhouses at the top), as well as increased ticket prices in some areas, additional screens versus 2019 and a reduction in travel which made moviegoing the first-choice activity for people who were not journeying to see family as would normally be the case during the holiday.

After setting new records for opening day and opening weekend in a single market (February 12-14), Wanda Pictures’ Detective Chinatown 3 has grossed RMB 3.56B ($551 million) through Wednesday. It is not only far and away the top movie of the year globally, but is also nearly 20% bigger than 2020’s top worldwide title, China’s The Eight Hundred — and this after just six days of play, with more to come.

While DC3 led the weekend, Beijing Culture’s time-travel comedy Hi, Mom was atop the daily charts from Monday-Wednesday and has grossed RMB 2.73B ($423M). Hi, Mom is projected by Maoyan to top out at RMB 5.28 ($817M), which would make it the No. 2 movie ever in the market. DC3 is eyeing RMB 4.51B ($698M), estimates Maoyan, a 33% local currency increase on the previous installment in the popular franchise.

Overall, there were seven new local movies for the New Year session which rolled out beginning February 12; the public holiday in China ran from February 11-17, though celebrations continue. Through Wednesday, the titles above are rounded out by A Writer’s Odyssey (RMB 538.2/$83.32M), Boonie Bears: The Wild Life (RMB 407M/$63M), New Gods: Nezha Reborn (RMB240.1M/$37.2M), The Yin Yang Master (RMB 211M/$33M) and Endgame (151M/$23.4M).

Xinhua reports that more than 155 million tickets were sold during the New Year frame, up from 130M in 2019. That’s reflective of pent-up demand for big new titles — especially given Detective Chinatown 3 was delayed by a year when Covid shuttered cinemas in early 2020 — and in part reflective of the increased number of screens in the market, which was 75,500 by the end of 2020, compared to just under 70,000 at the end of 2019.

China was the first country severely hit by the coronavirus, and implemented strict lockdown measures across the board. After six months of cinema closures, it slowly re-acclimated audiences. That began in July 2020 with some import titles whose releases had been delayed by Covid (think: Dolittle) and library movies like the first Harry Potter and some older Christopher Nolan pics. Once the market was primed, China released The Eight Hundred to huge results last August. Notes an international exec, “What China is showing is that where the virus is under control and people feel safe, they’re coming back (to cinemas) in droves.” We’ve seen some similar phenomena in Korea and Japan, although with more Covid ebbs and flows affecting momentum.

The early estimated RMB 7.78B Chinese New Year period (which also includes holdover play from movies like Disney-Pixar’s Soul), is already 38% of the total box office for 2020 in China. It’s also about 10% of 2020 global box office, 12% of international box office and 55% of domestic box office last year.

For the first month and a half of 2021, China box office has crossed RMB 10B, according to state news media, meaning it’s already more than 50% of 2020’s full gross. The good news out of China hopefully serves as an indicator of recovery that will be seen in other markets as they get back up and running with new product.

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[GeneChing]

China’s Lunar New Year box office revenues soar by a third to record US$1.21 billion as cinemas fill up amid travel restrictions
Strict measures to avoid a return of Covid-19 meant more people stayed put during the festival season instead of returning to their hometowns for family reunions
Ticket sales were dominated by the comedies Hi, Mom and Detective Chinatown 3, which became the fifth and sixth top-grossing movies of all time in the Chinese film market

Cheryl Heng
Published: 6:44pm, 23 Feb, 2021


People queue to enter a cinema in Beijing on February 17, 2021. Photo: Xinhua
China’s box office revenues climbed to a record high during the week-long Lunar New Year holiday, signalling a promising recovery of the world’s largest film market from the coronavirus fallout last year.
Holiday movie ticket sales in China reached 7.8 billion yuan (US$1.21 billion) during the week of February 11 to 17, up 32.5 per cent from the 2019 Lunar New Year holiday, according to Chinese ticketing platform Maoyan Entertainment.
Ticketing revenue for 2020 was omitted as cinemas were shut between January and July amid the coronavirus crisis.
The resurgence at the box office may have been powered by stricter travel measures put in place to limit the annual Lunar New Year mass migration, in a bid to prevent a return of Covid-19. People stayed put during the festival season instead of returning to their hometowns for family reunions.
Some 44 per cent of those surveyed by the Maoyan Research Institute said they watched more movies during this year’s festive season than they did in 2019, citing more leisure time as their main reason.
More than 40 per cent of theatre screenings were fully booked in the first three days of the festive season.
Box office sales in the period were dominated by family comedy Hi, Mom and mystery comedy Detective Chinatown 3. The films had raked in earnings of 4.24 billion yuan and 4.1 billion yuan respectively as of Tuesday, making them the fifth and sixth top-grossing movies of all time in the Chinese film market, a whisker behind Avengers 4: Endgame at 4.25 billion yuan, Maoyan data showed.
Detective Chinatown 3, the third instalment of the popular cop series, led China’s box office in the first few days of the holiday with its strong franchise appeal and marketing buzz.
But it was inched out of first place by the strong word-of-mouth appeal of comedian Jia Ling’s maiden directorial work, Hi, Mom, a heartwarming story of a daughter who travels back in time to meet her mother.
The first six days of the Lunar New Year emerged as being among the top 10 highest box office revenue days in China’s film history, even as most theatres were limited to three-quarters seating capacity.
China took the top spot for global cinema receipts last year, overtaking the US as the pandemic shut American cinemas for longer than their Chinese counterparts. Ticket sales in China came to 20 billion yuan (US$3.06 billion) in 2020, surpassing the US$2.28 billion of receipts in the US, according to data from Maoyan and Comscore.

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[GeneChing]

Ticking Debt Bomb in China’s $18.1 Trillion Bond Market
Business
China Tycoon Who Lost $32 Billion Tries to Salvage an Empire
By Shirley Zhao, Venus Feng, and Rebecca Choong Wilkins
March 15, 2021, 12:00 PM PDT Updated on March 16, 2021, 2:31 AM PDT
Wanda Group’s cinemas, malls hit by pandemic as debt ballooned
Founder Wang Jianlin’s wealth is now a sliver of its 2015 peak


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Wang Jianlin used to be Asia’s richest person, busy expanding his Dalian Wanda Group Co. by acquiring trophy assets overseas, all aided by easy credit.

Now the 66-year-old doesn’t even figure among China’s top 30 richest people, having lost about $32 billion of his personal fortune in less than six years -- the most for any tycoon in that period. As Wang seeks to cut the group’s total debt from 362 billion yuan ($56 billion) and turn his entertainment-to-property empire around, he’s facing skeptical bond investors.

Braced for a wall of maturing onshore notes peaking this year, some of Wanda’s dollar bonds were among the first to tumble earlier this month, when a broader decline hit the Asian credit market. The selloff, partly triggered by concerns over the looming payments, came as a warning from investors eager to see how Wang will manage to steer his group clear of the debt risks that convulsed peers such as HNA Group Co., China Evergrande Group and Anbang Group Holdings Co.

“The group’s liquidity is a key consideration for investors,” said Dan Wang, an analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence. A representative for Wanda didn’t respond to requests for comment on the debt risks.

Wanda’s Wang, who once purchased Spanish soccer club Atletico Madrid as part of the binge-buying and aspired to compete with Walt Disney Co., is still shedding some of those assets. The latest came last week, when Wanda gave up control of AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc., with its stake now representing less than 10% of the world’s largest movie-theater chain. Its chief executive officer said the company would be governed by a wide group of shareholders, and the stock has surged more than 42% in the past three days.

Despite the disposals following a government crackdown on credit-fueled expansion, Wanda Group’s debt as of June ballooned to the highest since 2017. The pandemic has only added to the woes, dealing a blow to its cinemas, malls, theme parks, hotels and sports events.

Three Pillars
Malls and hotels accounted for almost half of Wanda's 2019 revenue


Source: Wanda Group

Note: Graphic excludes 7.5 billion yuan in losses from Wanda's other investment activities

As China stabilizes its economy after containing the virus, the reopening of movie theaters and malls is providing Wang the much-needed time to steady his ship. He’s pressing ahead with a strategy he’s advocated for years, called the “asset-light” model, to reduce leverage.

That means spending less by cutting back on land purchases. Dalian Wanda Commercial Management Group Co., one of the world’s biggest mall operators that accounts for almost half of the group’s revenue, will stop buying plots starting this year and license its brand to partners instead, the company’s President Xiao Guangrui told mainland media in September.

No Alternative
“Wanda had no real alternative to its new asset-light strategy,” said Brock Silvers, chief investment officer at Kaiyuan Capital in Hong Kong, who doesn’t hold any Wanda unit shares or bonds. “The company’s debts were unsustainable.”

The effect of the pandemic on Wanda has been astounding.

Movie producer and cinema operator Wanda Film Holding Co. said it may have racked up a record $1 billion in net loss last year. Despite becoming a favorite in the recent Reddit-fueled share rally, AMC warned several times it was near the brink of insolvency and reported its worst-ever annual loss as revenue plunged 77%. Wanda Commercial Management said sales and profit fell nearly 50% in the first nine months of 2020, while Wanda Sports Group Co.’s American depositary receipts were delisted in January after losing more than two-thirds of their value since they began trading in July 2019.


A closed AMC movie theater in Tucson, Arizona, in June 2020.Photographer: Cheney Orr/Bloomberg
Even if Wanda’s businesses tide over the global health crisis, there’s no certainty creditors will be kind after the developments at other indebted Chinese conglomerates such as HNA, Evergrande and lately at Suning Appliance Group Co.

In an offering circular in September, Wanda told investors that the group’s level of indebtedness may “adversely affect” some operations. The conglomerate is also facing tighter credit rules in the real estate sector as Chinese regulators look to curb financial risk.

Wanda and its units raised about 48.2 billion yuan in local and offshore debt last year, the most since 2016. A part of it was used to pay older obligations as the group needs to refinance or repay about 32 billion yuan of domestic bonds due in 2021.

While the group’s dollar bonds have almost erased their losses since tumbling earlier this month -- their worst week in almost a year -- credit traders cited concerns over the group’s maturing local bonds and a selloff in some of its onshore notes.

Wanda Commercial Management’s debt is rated non-investment grade by Fitch Ratings, S&P Global Ratings and Moody’s Investors Service.

The Good, Bad and the Offloaded
Businesses are still bouncing back from lockdowns


Sources: Filings, Wanda Group, Bloomberg

In his heyday, Wang -- a former People’s Liberation Army soldier -- jetted around in his Gulfstream G550 private plane, paying top prices for assets including a luxury property in Beverly Hills, Hollywood studio Legendary Entertainment and One Nine Elms in London, one of Europe’s tallest residential towers.

His fortune took a dive as China started to crack down on such expansion and capital outflows. His wealth has shrunk to about $14 billion from a peak of $46 billion in 2015, when he was crowned Asia’s richest person, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

“Wanda gained surprisingly little from its period of unconstrained investment opportunity,” said Kaiyuan Capital’s Silvers. “The company has since been quicker to shed assets than other conglomerates, but it still has far to go.”

The asset-light strategy would help generate sustainable recurring rental income for Wanda Commercial Management, the “cash cow” of the group, said Chloe He, corporate-rating director at Fitch. It can also prevent the company from committing heavy capital expenditure and taking on too much debt, she added.

“This is going to be very helpful for them to deleverage in the future, provided they don’t invest in something else,” He said.


— With assistance by Emma Dong, Evelyn Yu, Adrian Yim, and Jack Witzig

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[GeneChing]

Mar 15, 2021 11:21am PT
Alibaba May Be Forced to Sell Media Businesses by Chinese Government (Report)

By Patrick Frater


Alibaba Group
The Chinese government may order e-commerce to entertainment giant Alibaba to sell off or cut back its vast array of media assets. In addition to the company’s too-big-to fail status derived from activities that range from food retailing to electronic payments, China’s government has reportedly become concerned about Alibaba’s ability to influence public opinion.

After government regulators drew up an inventory of the group’s media assets earlier this year, they have begun negotiations with Alibaba that may lead to disposal of some of its media businesses, according to a Wall Street Journal report citing anonymous sources.

Alibaba’s media and entertainment portfolio is huge and diverse, though it is almost entirely focused on Greater China. The businesses range from print publishing to video streaming, and include minority stakes in social media firms, cinemas and film production companies.

One of its most prominent overseas jewels is a minority stake of unknown size in Steven Spielberg’s Amblin Partners, bought in late 2016. Another is its majority stake in the South China Morning Post, Hong Kong’s leading English-language newspaper publisher, bought earlier the same year.

In response to the report, Alibaba said in a statement: “The purpose of our investments in these companies is to provide technology support for their business upgrade and drive commercial synergies with our core commerce businesses. We do not intervene or get involved in the companies’ day-to-day operations or editorial decisions.”

The vast majority of media in China is owned or controlled by the state at some level. That allows central authorities to direct news flow, emphasize favored topics, demonize enemies and exclude information and opinion that does not support Communist Party messaging.

Social media, with its diversity and speed, is increasingly being seen as a challenge to the China government’s ability to speak with one voice. Over the years, social platforms have been required to do the government’s bidding by employing ever increasing number of staff to censor user comments and user-generated content.

Despite companies’ compliance, Chinese authorities have also spent several months devising ways to rein in the country’s tech giants. Financial regulatory authorities halted the spinoff and IPO of Alibaba’s financial arm, Ant Group, in late 2020. They have also used the State Authority for Market Regulation to punish tech firms for unauthorized merger and acquisition activity, and in late December Alibaba was given formal notification of an investigation into alleged monopolistic behavior.

Among Alibaba’s core media and entertainment businesses is Youku Tudou, one of China’s largest generalist video streaming firms. Its Alibaba Pictures unit, which has a separate share listing in Hong Kong, contains film production and distribution businesses as well as Tao Piao Piao, one of two companies that dominate cinema ticketing.

Alibaba also amassed minority stakes in publisher Yicai Media (37%), video streamer Mango TV (5%), Twitter-like social media platform Weibo (30%), video entertainment group Bilibili (6.7%) and Focus Media (5.3%), China’s top online advertising network.

It also has stakes in film studios Huayi Bros. Media, Bona Film Group, film financier Hehe Pictures and exhibition chains Dadi Cinemas and Wanda Pictures. Those investments have often appeared to be at the behest of Chinese authorities as a means of using Alibaba’s massive financial strength to shore up the country’s entertainment sector, which is huge but remains in its industrial infancy.

Alibaba shares are listed in ARD form on the New York Stock Exchange. The company has a secondary listing in Hong Kong. The conglomerate’s market capitalization was around $620 billion on Monday.

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