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Back in the noughties, Jingle Man delivered the Tony Leung Chu-wai starring “Tokyo Raiders” (2000) which combined a then fashionable Latino enthused soundtrack with a genuine sense of fun. It was then followed up in 2006 with “Seoul Raiders” that added Shu Qi to the mix. Whilst entertaining, the law of diminishing returns was setting in swiftly. So fast forward to 2018 and the belated third in the series came out in “Europe Raiders”. It kind of passed me by back then but ever the optimist thought I’d give it the once over.

One Christmas Lam (Tony Leung Chiu-wai) and the rest of the “Four Bounty Hunters” rescue the children of a kidnapped It programmer (George Lam) whist simultaneously freeing him. After celebrating together, Lam takes him voluntarily to the CIA where he has already designed a cell for himself. He creates the programme “The Hand of God” which...

Tony Leung Chiu-Wai and Andy Lau will team up in a new major action movie titled “Goldfinger,” local reports said Friday.

The two beloved Hong Kong-born A-listers haven’t worked together since the end of the “Infernal Affairs” trilogy 18 years ago.

The reunion will be written and directed by Felix Chong, the screenwriter for that series. It is backed by Emperor Motion Pictures and mainland Chinese partners, with a reported budget of around $30.8 million (RMB200 million).

Chong found success in mainland China in 2018 with his counterfeiting thriller “Project Gutenberg,” which he wrote and directed. Starring Chow Yun-Fat, Aaron Kwok and Zhang Jingchu, it grossed $183 million in China and $4.3 million in Hong Kong, going on to win best film, best script, best director and four other prizes from 17 nominations at the 2019 Hong Kong Film Awards.

Other members of the “Goldfinger” cast will include fellow veteran Hong Kongers Simon Yam and Philip Keung...

China’s theatrical box office is running $1 billion ahead of last year, showing a gain of nearly 17% in the first months. That is despite an uneven summer period.

According to data from local consultancy and researcher Ent Group, Chinese cinema-goers spent $6.79 billion (including ticketing fees) in the first eight months of 2018. The figure compares with a like-for-like $5.79 billion in the same period of 2017.

The continuation of double-digit growth in 2018 puts the year-long stall, between July 2016 and June 2017, further in the past. That is good news for Chinese cinema operators who continue to add capacity. Ent Group data shows 57,300 screens in operation at the end of August, a 6% increase on the end-2017 figure of 53,900.

The summer period saw an 8% gain on last year with July and August together worth $2.03 billion, compared with $1.87 billion in 2017.

The summer season was characterized by a succession of hits and an equally important number of flops.

The outcome of the China box office was far less controversial than the previous weekend, but no easier to predict.

Comedy, “The Island” retained its top spot in its second weekend. Giant shark movie, “The Meg” moved up to second place and crossed the $100 million mark.

But “iPartment,” the Chinese film which topped the chart on its opening ten days earlier, and claimed $70 million in its debut weekend, crumbled in spectacular fashion. According to data from Ent Group, it managed just $790,000 in its second weekend, a fall of 99%.

“The Island” took $38.8 million, a 47% drop from its opening $72.6 million. After 10 days on release, it has accumulated $162 million.

“The Meg” chomped another $30.6 million, including $4.34 million from IMAX screens. Its weekly total was down just 39% compared with its opening. After 10 days on release in China, “The Meg” has garnered $117 million, or more than a third of the film’s global cumulative.

Hong Kong- and Chinese-made adventure franchise movie,...

‘iPartment’ and ‘The Meg’ also scored well.

China’s box office finished a wild week (Aug 6-12) with $282m, including $84m on Friday alone. These figures represented this year’s highest weekly total and the biggest single day box office outside the Chinese New Year period.

The strong performance was mainly driven by three new titles, with local film The Island finally taking the crown after playing musical chairs with iPartment and The Meg in the top three spots.

The Island topped the charts with $76.2m from its first three days. After opening in second on Friday with only half of iPartment’s gross,...

As with many broad action-driven films these days, how “The Meg” performs in China could determine the financial fate of the $150 million picture. With its China-friendly storyline and cast, the giant-shark thriller would seem to have a head start – but look no further than “Skyscraper” for proof that such components are no guarantee audiences will bite.

“The Meg” releases Friday in China, more or less day-and-date with its outings in North America and other parts of Asia. It’s expected to start off with 15,000 to 20,000 screens in the Middle Kingdom – about 35% of available theaters – and have close to 100,000 screenings per day, including IMAX screenings.

But the pressure will be on for the film to deliver quickly. If it doesn’t, exhibitors are likely to switch over to other titles, such as next week’s Hong Kong-made actioner “Europe Raiders.”

“The Meg” premiered in China last week at the Water Cube,...