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Anselm Chan’s The Last Dance has broken multiple records, rejuvenating the Hong Kong box office after a lacklustre six months since the release of blockbuster Twilight Of The Warriors: Walled In.

Just nine days after its opening on November 9, the Hong Kong drama has grossed almost $7.7m (Hk$60m) at the local box office so far.

This includes $1.1m (Hk$8.6m) – or $1.2m (Hk$9.18m) inclusive of Macau – on November 16 alone, surpassing 2016’s Cold War 2 to take the biggest single-day box office for a Hong Kong and Chinese-language film.

The data is provided by Hong Kong Box Office, a...

“The Last Dance,” a funeral parlor-set drama film directed by Anselm Chan, has broken Hong Kong’s single day box office record.

The story depicts a former wedding planner who changes career and enters the funeral business instead. He partners up with a Taoist priest who has doubts about the man’s suitability. Together, through various funeral rituals, the pair probe questions about life and death.

The film was released in its home town theaters on Nov. 9, but broke the record a week later on Nov. 16, when it scored Hk$9.18 million in Hong Kong and neighboring Macau, according to data from Hong Kong Box Office Co., Ltd. The previous single day record was 2016’s “Cold War 2,” which collected Hk$7.56 million.

“As of Nov. 17, the film’s box office in Hong Kong and Macau has reached Hk$58.0 million, in the nine days since its release. And the box office is...

Milestone has only previously been surpassed by Hollywood blockbusters.

Courtroom drama A Guilty Conscience has made history at the Hong Kong box office as the first local film ever to reach Hk$100m ($12.75m), a figure only previously achieved by Hollywood tentpoles.

The feature from first-time director Jack Ng reached the milestone on February 21, just 32 days after its release on January 21 – the eve of Chinese New Year.

Only a handful of Hollywood films have previously hit Hk$100m at the Hong Kong box office, with recent titles including Top Gun: Maverick and Avatar: The Way Of Water. Others include Marvel...

Cinema box office in Hong Kong rebounded over the recent Chinese New Year holiday period. They failed to recover to pre-pandemic levels, but local titles performed strongly.

Data from Hong Kong Box Office Limited showed gross revenues between Saturday and Tuesday amounted to HK50.89 million (6.52 million). That is a 19 improvement on the equivalent four-day period in 2020, when Covid was just starting to arrive in the city and revenues fell to HK42.89 million (5.50 million). But the number was still 17 below the 2019 figure of HK61.47 million (7.88 million).

Cinemas in the territory were closed during Lunar New Year holidays in both 2021 and 2022 due to the government’s anti-covid measures.

Unlike mainland China, Hong Kong has no film import quotas and does not operate blackout periods when foreign films cannot be released. The holiday period chart for Hong Kong contains a mix of local, U.S. and Japanese and none of the films that...

Exclusive: Endeavor Content has joined Cantonese-language crime-drama series Forensic Psychologist to handle global distribution and remake rights.

Currently in production in Hong Kong, the 12 x 30’ crime-drama stars Jeannie Chan (Cold War 2) as Dr. Mandy Cheung, who in each episode must investigate a suspect to determine if they are fit to stand trial. The interrogation room drama explores the minds of people charged with incomprehensible crimes and sees Dr. Cheung’s personal and professional lives start to blur.

Producing are Phoenix Waters Productions and Salon Films Japan Co. Ltd.

Also starring are Crisel Consunji (Still Human), Wiyona Yeung (We Are Legends), Locker Lam (Zero To Hero), Bryant Mak (My Prince Edward), “Jw” Joey Wong (Fraudstars), singer Eunice Chan (Murder Diary), Stephanie Au (Battle Of The Seven Sisters) and Stephen Wong Ka-Lok (Captain Of Destiny).

The producers and Endeavor are in early stage development on a U.S. remake.

Alistair Jennings,...

Following the recently released Hong Kong box office hit Cold War 2, Australian distributor Magnum Films is continuing its fantastic line-up of Chinese films with When Larry Met Mary, a light-hearted romantic comedy from director Wen Zhang that stars Bao Beier, Song Jia, Zhu Yawen and Jiao Junyan.    Lu Yao met his kindergarten classmate Ma Li in college, & his attraction towards her grows in his heart. Unfortunately, he was one step too slow to tell her his affection. In the following ten years, Ma Li went through following in love, breaking up, marriage, divorce, & getting married again soon. At the same time, Lu Yao has also experienced two fruitless relationships. What would happen next?   Thanks to Magnum Films, we have Five...

[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...

comScore today announced the official worldwide weekend box office estimates for the weekend of July 10, 2016, as compiled by the company's theatrical measurement services. Universal's The Secret Life Of Pets has knocked off Pixar's latest hit, Finding Dory, scoring $103 million in its first opening weekend, according to comScore. The Secret Life Of Pets is the biggest opening ever for an animated title that wasn't a sequel.

As the trusted official standard for real-time worldwide box office reporting, comScore provides the only theater-level reporting in the world. Customers are able to analyze admissions and gross results around the world using comScore's suite of products.

comScore's Senior Media Analyst Paul Dergarabedian commented:

"It's no secret that Universal's release of Illumination Entertainment's 'The Secret Life of Pets' had a much better than expected debut, earning $111 million this weekend from just 10 territories including a massive North American opening weekend of $103.2 million.  With 57 more...

The 4th of July holiday weekend didn't provided the usual fireworks at the box office, with Pixar's Finding Dory winning for a third weekend in a row with $41.8 million over the three-day frame, and $51.4 million over the four-day holiday. The animated holdover won for its third straight weekend in a row, taking down three newcomers, Disney's The Bfg, Warner Bros.' The Legend of Tarzan and Universal's The Purge: Election Year. This weekend, a different animated movie took th top spot, with Universal's The Secret Life of Pets scoring big with $103.1 million.

Universal and Illumination Entertainment's Secret Life of Pets was also a hit with critics this weekend, earning a solid 76% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Box Office Mojo reports that this animated comedy took in a whopping $23,609 per-screen average from 4,370 theaters. That rollout is the fifth widest of all time, behind Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 (4,375), Iron Man 2...

Thanks to a well-reviewed movie star, Bleecker Street took “Captain Fantastic” to a now-rare, once-common $20,000-plus limited per theater opening. With all well-oiled cylinders at work, Bleecker filled the demand for older-audience films after two failed recent attempts by others at corralling the younger market (“Swiss Army Man” and “The Neon Demon”).

Two New York-only docs, “Under the Sun” (Icarus) and Sundance opener “Norman Lear: Just Another Version of You” (Music Box) both attracted interest.

A wider Bollywood release, Salman Khan-starrer “Sultan” (Yash Raj), achieved something few specialized films have managed in recent months: a Top Ten placement despite playing at fewer than 300 theaters.

Meantime, The Orchard’s “Hunt for the Wilderpeople” expanded again to strong numbers close to last weekend’s. This word-of-mouth hit could play all summer and expand wider. There is still an audience out there: it’s just more selective.

Opening

“Captain Fantastic” (Bleecker Street) – Metacritic: 70; Festivals include: Sundance,...

This weekend Dory swam easily past Captain America to become the biggest grossing Us hero of the year. (Captain America still leads internationally by a lot, which is funny if you think about it). That's quite impressive for a forgetful blue tang who could have gone 'straight to video' -- Wait, are we still saying that? If not, what's the new phrase. I'm scared of what this means for the future with all those cheapie animated sequels but it is what happened. The current top ten of 2016 includes only two originals (Zootopia & Central Intelligence) but otherwise it's all brand extensions / revisions. It didn't use to be this way but it's been a slow erosion. Consider by comparison: 2006's top ten had 5 originals; 1996 had 6; 1986 had 7. Since we get less original hits every year how soon until we have none?

It should be noted that an original won the weekend but since...

Leung Ka Fai (aka Tony Leung, aka Big Tony) is the force of nature that propels Cold War 2 through nearly every tight spot it encounters. Returning as M.B. Lee, a granite-faced police official who graciously retired and ceded his power to Sean Lau (Aaron Kwok) in 2012's Cold War, he is alternately hot and cold in the sequel, but always cool. As a 30-year veteran of the Hong Kong Police Department (Hkpd), he has learned how to control his temper, but when the volcano wants to blow, it blows, and so does Lee, and he leaves a trail of destruction in his wake. Leung infuses Lee with a range of emotions that are only barely suggested when his eyes widen and narrow with anger...

[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...

Cold War 2 is the hotly anticipated sequel to the 2012 Hong Kong crime thriller, which was the highest grossing local film at the Hk box office in that year. It swept the Hong Kong Film Awards, winning Best Film, Best Director, Best Screenplay, Best Actor (for Tony Leung Ka Fai) and five other awards. Tony is back, along with Aaron Kwok and Eddie Peng, while Chow Yun Fat has joined the cast.    Thanks to Australian distributor Magnum Films, we have Five double passes for the film to give away to our readers.    For a chance to win, all you have to do is to follow these two steps:   1) Like the Magnum Film Facebook page, and   2) Email your name...

[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...

The past several months have seen a busy promotionial campaign for the new sequel thriller, Cold War 2. It's a sequel that is hugely deserving given how solid the first film in 2012 is despite some wonky CG work. Aaron Kwok and Tony Leung are back again following the explosive action and tumult that ensued with two opposing authorities of the Hong Kong police forced to settle their differences within the seedy limits politics of their police force to solve the case of a missing police van with several officers, and the rising body count in the wake of missing money. The first film brought us an exciting story with an open-ended plot twist and so it was only a matter of minutes before a...

[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...

Shanghai International Film Festival unveils 2016 line-up.Scroll down for full list of awards

Longman Leung and Sunny Luk’s Cold War 2 [pictured], the sequel to Edko Films’ hit 2012 action thriller, will open this year’s Shanghai International Film Festival (June 11-19).

Meanwhile, Werner Herzog’s Salt And Fire, Bruce Beresford’s Mr Church and Cao Baoping’s Coke And Bull are among the films selected for the Golden Goblet Awards (see full list below).

As previously announced the competition jury is headed by Emir Kusturica and also includes Atom Egoyan, Daniele Luchetti, African filmmaker Abderrahmane Sissako (Timbuktu), Tibetan filmmaker Pema Tseden (Tharlo), Hong Kong actress Karena Lam and Chinese writer Yan Geling.

Japanese filmmaker Kazuo Hara will oversee a separate jury for documentaries, while Swiss animation director George Schwizgebel heads the jury for animated films.

Siff also unveiled nominations in six categories for the Asian New Talent Awards, which has a jury headed by Hong Kong filmmaker...

Werner Herzog’s thriller Salt And Fire will have its world premiere at the festival.

Longman Leung and Sunny Luk’s Cold War 2 [pictured], the sequel to Edko Films’ hit 2012 action thriller, will open this year’s Shanghai International Film Festival (June 11-19).

Meanwhile, Werner Herzog’s Salt And Fire, Bruce Beresford’s Mr Church and Cao Baoping’s Coke And Bull are among the films selected for the Golden Goblet Awards (see full list below).

As previously announced the competition jury is headed by Emir Kusturica and also includes Atom Egoyan, Daniele Luchetti, African filmmaker Abderrahmane Sissako (Timbuktu), Tibetan filmmaker Pema Tseden (Tharlo), Hong Kong actress Karena Lam and Chinese writer Yan Geling.

Japanese filmmaker Kazuo Hara will oversee a separate jury for documentaries, while Swiss animation director George Schwizgebel heads the jury for animated films.

Siff also unveiled nominations in six categories for the Asian New Talent Awards, which has a jury...

Chow Yun Fat joins the original cast of Hong Kong thriller Cold War - the highest grossing Hk film of 2012 - for the upcoming Cold War 2. And this is one sequel that appears to be holding to the 'same but more' theory of sequels with the entire creative team back in place along with the original cast. And while this first trailer exists mostly to whet the appetite there's still plenty here to promise plenty of slick. glossy action within. Tony Leung Ka-fai, Aaron Kwok, Charlie Young, Eddie Peng and Aarif Rahman make up the rest of the core cast of the cop thriller with directors Longman Leung and Sunny Luk retunring. Check out the trailer - with English subtitles included - below....

[Read the whole post on twitchfilm.com...]...