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The Chinese box office hit a record high over Lunar New Year with animation Ne Zha 2 and prequel Detective Chinatown 1900 helping deliver a total gross of more than $1.1bn (RMB8bn) over six days from January 29 to February 3

The Year of the Snake made a strong start last Wednesday (January 29), the first day of the holidays, with takings of $250m (RMB1.8bn), up 35% on 2024 and the biggest single day gross ever in China – beating the previous record of $235m (RMB1.69bn) from 2021.

Six new local titles were released over the period and the total gross is expected to...

Chinese New Year box office started with a bang today in China, as Maoyan estimates 1.8B yuan ($248.3M) was generated for all films on day-one of the holiday period. This would mark a new milestone that well exceeds 2021’s previous first-day New Year record of 1.69M yuan.

For its part, Imax topped itself on Wednesday, seeing a Cny day-one record-breaking haul of $12M, besting its previous high of $11M in 2021. With 5% of the Cny box office so far, and on less than 1% of total screens, Imax captured its biggest percentage of the first-day results ever. Attendance for Imax was also at a new peak with 1.2M admissions nationwide.

The No. 1 title ushering in the Year of the Snake on Wednesday was Enlight’s Ne Zha 2, the follow up to 2019’s animated hit, with 486.6M yuan ($67.1M). In Imax, it grossed $2.5M.

Behind Ne Zha 2 at No. 2 for the day is...

The sole survivor of a blood-drenched massacre must team up with a rag-tag bunch to defend a police station from an invasion of Lovecraftian monsters in How to Kill Monsters, and the official How to Kill Monsters trailer highlights many of the practical creatures within.

Dark Sky Films releases How to Kill Monsters on Digital on December 6, 2024.

Director Stewart Sparke (Book of Monsters) describes How to Kill Monsters as a “love letter to the 80s and 90s horror movies that I grew up watching on VHS.”

Stewart promises that the movie will inject “a dash of British humour in the vein of Hot Fuzz and the self-aware twists and turns of Scream to deliver genre fans a blood-soaked popcorn horror movie that feels both nostalgic and fresh.”

Here’s the official synopsis…

“Jamie Lancaster is the sole survivor of a blood drenched massacre at a remote cabin in the woods.

Before heading off to mainland China to direct those patriotic but commercially successful films like “Operation Mekong” (2016), “Operation Red Sea” (2018), “The Battle of Changjin” (2021), Dante Lam's last Hong Kong film starring Nick Cheung was “The Demon Within” (2014). Now, back to his roots and home turf almost a decade later and this time co-directing with Calvin Tong, he delivers us the extremely violent Category III, adults only “Bursting Point”, again with Cheung in the lead.

Veteran chief inspector Bond Sir of the anti-narcotic branch is desperate to apprehend the boss of a local drug traffickers' gang Yang (Shaun Tam). Bond then plants a young cop Jiang Ming (William Chan) as a mole into their organization. After several unsuccessful confrontations with high casualties on both sides, the police manage to retain Yang's brother but he later dies in custody which further angers Yang. Furthermore, Ming seems to have blown his undercover...

State of the art tech, exciting action sequences, swaggering young heroes … it’s no surprise that the world’s new superpowers have fallen for blockbuster air force films. But can they be anything more than military propaganda?

In an era of rising global tension, there are a few status symbols the self-respecting global superpower can’t do without. Nuclear weapons? Sure. A space programme? Natch. But the latest geopolitical must-have is superficially more niche: a supersonic, hyper-nationalistic blockbuster air force film. There wasn’t a soul on the planet who failed to notice the media sonic boom as Tom Cruise passed overhead with Top Gun: Maverick in May 2022, while its Chinese counterpart Born to Fly came out a year later. And this month India gets in on the game with its own flyboy extravaganza Fighter, starring Hrithik Roshan, whose quiff alone qualifies as some kind of national monument.

In the...

With its world premiere at Frightfest only a couple of weeks away, the first teaser trailer for How to Kill Monsters is now available for everyone to watch. For full transparency, I supported the film's Kickstarter campaign because I was so impressed with their campaign trailer, but I haven't see the film yet and I'm as excited as everyone else to check out all of the practical effects and gallons of fake blood!

"The sole survivor of a blood-drenched massacre must team up with a rag-tag bunch of rookie cops and lawbreakers to fight off an invasion of monsters from another dimension.

With a menagerie of monsters realised entirely with practical effects and buckets of fake blood and guts thrown in for good measure, How To Kill Monsters will scratch the itch of horror fans craving a throwback popcorn horror movie that delivers thrills, kills and laughs in equal measure.

The sole survivor of a blood-drenched massacre must team up with a rag-tag bunch to defend a police station from an invasion of Lovecraftian monsters in How to Kill Monsters, the latest splatter comedy from the filmmakers that brought you Book of Monsters.

Ahead of the film’s World Premiere at Frightfest in London on August 25, the official teaser trailer for How to Kill Monsters has been unleashed today. You can check it out below.

Director Stewart Sparke (Book of Monsters) declares How to Kill Monsters a “love letter to the 80s and 90s horror movies that I grew up watching on VHS.”

Stewart promises that the movie will inject “a dash of British humour in the vein of Hot Fuzz and the self-aware twists and turns of Scream to deliver genre fans a blood-soaked popcorn horror movie that feels both nostalgic and fresh.”

Here’s the official synopsis…

The...

The top-earning film at the box office this weekend wasn’t “Barbie,” but rather “The Meg 2: The Trench.” The Warner Bros. Discovery/Cmc Pictures shark tale earned $142 million worldwide in its global debut, including a robust $53.3 million in China.

That opening weekend was already 11% higher than “Jurassic World Dominion,” 41% above “Transformers: Rise of the Beasts” and more than double “Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One.” It is also higher than the $50 million first weekend posted by “The Meg” in China back in August 2018.

It’s a big deal that “The Meg 2: The Trench” is performing anything like a pre-covid business-as-usual Hollywood tentpole. The key advantage might be old-fashioned star power.

The earlier Jason Statham/Li Bingbing-led actioner eventually earned $153 million of its $530 million total in the Middle Kingdom. If the sequel, which swaps Li for Wu Jing, legs out accordingly, we could see a $162 million Chinese total.

Some of the biggest blockbusters to come out of Hollywood have been kept from theaters in China, and even after the virtual ban on Western films was lifted, the major titles have struggled to earn as much as they did prior to China's nationwide cultural shift.

A new analysis from The Economist, using user review data on Douban, offered insight into the ever-changing trends regarding Hollywood films in China and the steep rise in popularity where the country's domestically-produced films are involved. While 2020 saw the most notable decline, owing to the pandemic, followed by sweeping cultural changes brought on by the Communist Party's centennial, the report shows Chinese audiences were already losing interest in Hollywood films by mid-2018, with Western films (labelled "Anglo films" in the report) beginning to lose their share of total views on Douban.

Related: Disney CEO Admits the Studio Sometimes Got It Wrong With China

Hollywood...

After a down year for the second-biggest moviegoing marketplace, China’s theatrical industry may be back with or without Hollywood’s help. “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” earned just 7.5 million after four days in China, but the Middle Kingdom’s two biggest Lunar New Year releases continued to soar. “The Wandering Earth 2,” a prequel to the early-2019 disaster epic, topped 518 million, while Zhang Yimou’s period-piece suspense comedy “Full River Red” sailed past 609 million.

“This is a great reminder of what the Chinese box office looks like when it’s firing on all cylinders — strong results driven by a broad, diverse offering of films across genres from local and Hollywood filmmakers alike,” IMAX China CEO Daniel Manwaring told TheWrap.

That “The Wandering Earth 2” is not the season’s top Chinese tentpole and probably won’t match its 699 million-grossing predecessor is a slight surprise. There is a recent pattern in...

The team that created Book of Monsters and The Creature Below are back with a new project that is sure to pique the interest of Daily Dead readers! Inspired by 80s classics and with the promise of being practical FX-driven, How to Kill Monsters is now on Kickstarter and we have all the details:

"The sole survivor of a blood-drenched massacre must team up with a rag-tag bunch of rookie cops and lawbreakers to defend a police station from an invasion of Lovecraftian monsters in How to Kill Monsters.

Dark Rift Horror is thrilled to release the Kickstarter Trailer and Poster for How to Kill Monsters, an entirely practical FX driven horror comedy movie from the people that brought you Book of Monsters and The Creature Below.

Inspired by genre classics like Evil Dead 2, Gremlins and Hellraiser; How to Kill Monsters is a feature length movie made for fans of 80s horror.

The sole survivor of a blood-drenched massacre must team up with a rag-tag bunch of rookie cops and lawbreakers to defend a police station from an invasion of Lovecraftian monsters in How to Kill Monsters, the latest splatter comedy from the people that brought you Book of Monsters and The Creature Below.

Dark Rift Horror today launched a hilarious and immersive promo trailer for the horror comedy that’s being partially funded through Kickstarter. This practical FX-driven horror looks well worth a donation.

Inspired by genre classics like Evil Dead 2, Gremlins, and Hellraiser, How to Kill Monsters is a feature-length movie made for fans of 80s horror.

“With a dash of British humour in the vein of Hot Fuzz and the self-aware twists and turns of Scream, the film will deliver horror fans a blood-soaked popcorn horror movie that will have you on the edge of your seat from start to finish.

Trinity Cine Asia is releasing on Friday 19th of November, The Battle At Lake Changjin, the biggest worldwide box office hit of 2021, with more than $878 million in ticket sales to date, far ahead of No Time To Die, making it the second-biggest Chinese grossing film, only behind Wolf Warrior II (also released by Trinity Cine Asia). The UK will mark the first international territory release of the film outside of Asia in over 25 cities.

Billed as the most expensive Chinese film ever made, with a reported $200m budget, The Battle at Lake Changjin stars Wolf Warrior I & II and Better Days leading men Wu Jing and Jackson Yee, respectively; and is co-directed by three leading, acclaimed directors Chen Kaige (Farewell My Concubine), Tsui Hark (Once Upon a Time in China) and Dante Lam (Operation Red Sea).

Trinity Cine Asia co-founder and director Cedric Behrel says: “The Battle at Lake Changjin...

“Aided by the star magnetism of Yen and Tse and back in his element on the colorful streets of Hong Kong, Chan goes out with both guns blazing.” ~ G. Allen Johnson, San Francisco Chronicle

An explosive action thriller boasting a powerhouse cast headlined by international martial arts action superstars Donnie Yen and Nicholas Tse (Shaolin, New Police Story), Raging Fire will debut exclusively on the martial arts streaming service Hi-yah! on October 22, before hitting Digital, Blu-ray and DVD November 23 with a new English dub from Well Go USA Entertainment.

A “blistering action/thriller exploring police corruption, violent regret, and all the heroic bloodshed you can handle” and the last film from acclaimed action auteur Benny Chan, Raging Fire co-stars Patrick Tam, Kenny Wong (New Police Story), Deep Ng (Stool Pigeon), Jeana Ho, Angus Yeung, Bruce Tong, Henry Mak (Operation Red Sea), Yu Kang (Ip Man 3), German Cheung (The White Storm 2: Drug Lords...

Trinity Cine Asia has acquired “The Battle at Lake Changjin” from Taipei-based sales firm Distribution Workshop and is set to release the war epic in the U.K. and Ireland on Nov. 19.

The film is currently the highest-grossing title in the world and in China so far in 2021, having earned $881 million in its home market alone — good news for the movie billed as China’s most expensive production of all time.

The U.K. and Ireland outings will occur in 25 cities. They will hit after the film’s Thursday’s release in Singapore, but day-and-date with North America and ahead of Australia (Dec. 2), where the movie is being distributed by China’s Cmc Pictures.

“It’s a privilege for us to be able to release the biggest box office story of 2021, when cinemas are just seeing the first real shoots of recovery,” said Trinity Cine Asia co-founder and director Cedric Behrel,...

Most Notorious Chinese Blockbusters Of All Time

Are you a fan of Chinese films? If so, you are probably familiar with the country’s notorious blockbusters. The Chinese film industry reportedly grossed $12.8 billion in 2018, compared to the $60.1 billion reported by the global movie industry. Like the US film industry, the China film industry took a big hit from the Covid-19 pandemic. The country was forced to close around 2,300 land-based cinemas in response to the Covid-19 shutdown. This is not to mention, the country also shut down film production to help prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus.

Chinese officials have called for the reopening of land-based cinemas across the country. The country’s film market is expected to fully recover, but no one really knows how long it will take. China has some of the world’s highest-grossing movies of all time. Learn more about some of the country’s...

Romcom starring Greg Hsu and Zhang Ruonan grosses $65.1m, while Zhang Yimou’s spy thriller takes $37.7m in opening three days.

Youth Enlight Pictures’ romantic comedy My Love and Zhang Yimou’s spy thriller Cliff Walkers were the clear winners at the China box office over the May Day holiday weekend (April 30-May 2), although the romcom easily took pole position despite weak reviews.

A remake of hit South Korean romantic drama On Your Wedding Day (2018), My Love grossed $65.1m over the three-day weekend, according to figures from theatrical consultancy Artisan Gateway.

Directed by Han Tian, the film stars Taiwanese actor Greg Hsu,...

Zhang Yimou’s “Cliff Walkers” is kicking off a multi-territory release this weekend, with day and date outings in North America, New Zealand, and Singapore coordinating with the espionage thriller’s official launch in mainland Chinese theaters on Friday.

That makes it one of the first major Chinese pictures to take advantage of the improving theatrical conditions in the U.S. since the coronavirus sent movie distribution and exhibition industries into near lockdown. That has been a contrast with Chinese cinemas which have been operating largely normally since October, and which enjoyed a record box office at Lunar New Year in February.

The film is a showcase for Zhang’s ability to deliver spectacle with vast numbers of moving parts in different settings. He’s put on live theater performances with several hundred horse-riding extras at an altitude of over 3,000 meters, staged the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games,...

Director Zhang Yimou returns to theaters this weekend with Cliff Walkers, an espionage thriller set in 1930s China. It’s a change of tone for the director of Shadow, House Of Flying Daggers and Hero, who also helmed Matt Damon-starrer The Great Wall in 2016.

Based on a script by Quan Yongxian, Cliff Walkers opens in pre WWII north east China, where the titles inform us that secret Japanese camps committed heinous crimes against the Chinese. In an aerial shot over the snowy wilderness, four white parachutes appear. Special agents — two men and two women — are landing on a secret mission, codenamed “Utrennya.” The two couples split up for safety, and are met by handlers. But it soon becomes clear that there’s at least one traitor spilling their secrets, so they must fight to evade detection and complete the mission. Over the coming days, the action flits between various groups of communist spies,...

Another classy Chinese action thriller whose dazzling style seems to take place in a deliberate narrative void, Cliff Walkers (previously titled Impasse) marks leading Chinese director Zhang Yimou’s first foray into the espionage genre. Following on the heels of his censorship-plagued One Second, which was abruptly withdrawn from the 2019 Berlin Film Festival and only came out in China last November, the new film would seem to the naked eye to have nothing for the censors to object to; in fact, it is dedicated to “the heroes of the Revolution.” What foreign audiences will take away is not the negligible storyline but a visually entrancing parade of attractive actors in a pleasingly fluid spy-counterspy dance.

Though bound to make most of its millions domestically, aided by its well-known cast, Cliff Walkers is being released day-and-date in China and the U.S. on April 30. Having one big English-language co-production under his belt — the Matt Damon-starring,...

Box office slumps ahead of busy May Day holiday weekend when several big local titles are scheduled for release.

Japanese anime Detective Conan: The Scarlet Bullet topped the China box office over the weekend (April 23-25), according to figures from Artisan Gateway, grossing $4.8m.

The film, which is the 24th installment in a popular franchise, has grossed $26m since its April 17 release in China. It was followed by Lian Ray Pictures’ Sister, starring Zhang Zifeng, which grossed $4.6m over the weekend for an impressive cume of $128.2m.

The re-release of the second installment in the Lord Of The Rings franchise,...

Zhang Yimou’s period thriller Cliff Walkers is set to open theatrically in China and North America on April 30. It’s the Chinese filmmaking legend’s first attempt at the spy genre, taking place in the snowy, shadowy world of 1930s Manchukuo, the puppet state set up in northern China by pre-wwii imperial Japan.

The film’s international distributor, Cmc Pictures, gave The Hollywood Reporter an exclusive look Tuesday at the first English-subtitled trailer.

Cliff Walkers stars Zhang Yi (Operation Red Sea), Yu Hewei (I Am Not Madame Bovary), Qin Hailu (The Pluto Moment) and Zhu Yawen (The Captain).

The film finds ...

Zhang Yimou’s period thriller Cliff Walkers is set to open theatrically in China and North America on April 30. It’s the Chinese filmmaking legend’s first attempt at the spy genre, taking place in the snowy, shadowy world of 1930s Manchukuo, the puppet state set up in northern China by pre-wwii imperial Japan.

The film’s international distributor, Cmc Pictures, gave The Hollywood Reporter an exclusive look Tuesday at the first English-subtitled trailer.

Cliff Walkers stars Zhang Yi (Operation Red Sea), Yu Hewei (I Am Not Madame Bovary), Qin Hailu (The Pluto Moment) and Zhu Yawen (The Captain).

The film finds ...

Cmc Pictures will bring director Zhang Yimou’s historical spy thriller Cliff Walkers to theaters across North America and internationally on April 30, 2021. Marking the acclaimed director’s first foray into the spy genre, Cliff Walkers follows four Chinese special agents who embark on a secret mission in the 1930s puppet state of Manchukuo. After being sold out by a traitor, the team find themselves surrounded by threats on all sides. Cliff Walkers stars Zhang Yi (Operation Red Sea), Yu Hewei (I Am Not Madame Bovary), Qin Hailu (The Pluto Moment) and Zhu Yawen.

Cliff Walkers

Release Date: April 30, 2021

Director: Zhang Yimou

Writer: Quan Yongxian

Cast: Zhang Yi, Yu Hewei, Qin Hailu, Zhu Yawen

Synopsis

Based on the script by Quan Yongxian, Cliff Walkers is director Zhang Yimou’s first foray into the spy genre. Set the puppet state of Manchukuo in the 1930s, the film follows four Communist party special...

Zhang Yimou’s historical spy thriller “Cliff Walkers” will hit North American cinemas on April 30, day-and-date with its China release.

“Cliff Walkers” was previously title “Impasse” in English. Its Chinese title translates to “On the Cliff.” It is distributed in North America by Cmc Pictures. International sales are handled by Emperor Motion Pictures.

The film marks Zhang’s first foray into the spy genre. Based on a script by Quan Yongxian, it is set in the 1930s in China’s snowy northeast, known then as the Japanese puppet state of Manchukuo. It follows four Communist party special agents who return to China after receiving special training in the Soviet Union. They are sent on a secret mission code-named “Utrennya,” but the moment they parachute in, they find they’ve been sold out by a traitor, and are now in deep water.

The title stars Zhang Yi (“Operation Red Sea”), Yu...

Chinese auteur Zhang Yimou continues his assault upon genre film with his first foray into the spy field: Cliff Walkers, which is running toward theaters across North America and internationally on April 30, courtesy of Cmc Pictures. Gadzooks! That's only 22 days from now. Zhang Yi (Operation Red Sea), Yu Hewei (I Am Not Madame Bovary), Qin Hailu (The Pluto Moment) and Zhu Yawen (The Captain) star. Here's the official synopsis: "Based on the script by Quan Yongxian, Cliff Walkers is director Zhang Yimou's first foray into the spy genre. Set the puppet state of Manchukuo in the 1930s, the film follows four Communist party special agents who return to China after receiving training in the Soviet Union. Together, they embark on a secret mission...

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

Chinese director Zhang Yimou’s stylish, snowy spy thriller “Impasse” is set to debut in China over the May 1 Labor Day weekend, joining what will be an unusually competitive line-up.

“Impasse” was supposed to hit screens last year, but its release was pushed back to this upcoming April 30 due to the pandemic. Starring Zhang Yi (“Operation Red Sea”), Yu Hewei (“A Writer’s Odyssey”), Qin Hailu (“White Deer Plain”) and Zhu Yawen (“The Witness”), the 1930s-set story tells the tale of four Chinese agents specially trained in the Soviet Union who parachute into the puppet state of Manchukuo, as northeast China was called under Japanese rule, to carry out a secret operation — only to discover they’ve been set up in a trap.

Including “Impasse,” six strong titles are now set to debut over the three-day holiday.

Three will premiere alongside Zhang’s latest on Friday, April 30: video game adaptation “Dynasty Warriors,...

Beijing-based sales agency is also handling war epic Sacrifice and Vincent Zhao’s Counter Attack.

Beijing-based sales agency Blossoms Entertainment is launches sales on three new productions from leading Chinese studio Huayi Brothers at Filmart Online, headed by historical war epic Railway Heroes.

Starring Zhang Hanyu (Operation Red Sea) and Fan Wei (One Second), the film follows a group of Chinese railway workers during the Sino-Japanese War, who attempt to sabotage the enemy’s vital transport links whilst evading arrest. The film, directed by Yang Feng, is currently in production for release over China’s National Day Holidays in October.

More than 80% of movie tickets in China are sold online or via mobile device, one of the world’s highest penetration rates. That gives the country’s ticketing agencies unusually accurate insight into audience behavior and film tracking.

After the early part of last year was wiped out by the coronavirus, how strong is the theatrical industry’s recovery?

Liu Zhenfei, analyst at leading ticketing agency Maoyan ran his slide rule over the upcoming Chinese New Year peak season and shared his analysis with Variety.

Variety: What is Maoyan’s overall forecast for the Chinese New Year week’s box office? Higher or lower than in 2019?

Liu: The data from Maoyan “Want to Watch” reflects audience expectations for the upcoming films during the week-long Chinese New Year holiday. And it is encouraging. “Want to Watch” numbers for “Detective Chinatown 3” exceeded 4 million. No other film has generated more than 2 million “Want to Watch” clicks before.

The Rescue opened with $36.3m over soft weekend, while Wonder Woman 1984 took $18.8m.

Dante Lam’s The Rescue topped the China box office over its opening weekend (December 18-20), according to figures from Artisan Gateway, pulling in almost twice the gross of Hollywood tentpole Wonder Woman 1984, which opened on the same date.

The Rescue, a $90m action film revolving around an emergency rescue team working for the Chinese Coast Guard, grossed $36.3m in its first three days, compared to $18.8m for Warner Bros’ superhero sequel, starring Gal Gadot. However, both openings were considered soft as December is usually a...

This weekend pit the best of Hollywood’s action tentpole rolodex against China’s — and found that fresh local content has greater sway over local audiences in what is now the world’s largest film market.

“Wonder Woman 1984” grossed just $18.8 million in China, almost half the approximately $34 million haul of Chinese actioner “The Rescue.” Both films far underperformed against expectations, however, as the Chinese box office saw its lowest pre-Christmas weekend since 2014, despite the country’s low levels of coronavirus threat.

Dante Lam’s big budget spectacle “The Rescue” was one of the most hotly anticipated films of the late January Chinese New Year — and of 2020 — but saw its release indefinitely bumped after cinemas shut nationwide just before the holiday due to Covid-19 lockdown. It was initially planning a Chinese New Year 2021 release, but as that window has filled up with majorly competitive titles — including other strong holdovers from last year,...

Warner Bros/DC’s Wonder Woman 1984 begins offshore rollout today in such markets as Indonesia, Portugal and the UK — though on a very limited basis in the latter where London cinemas have been re-shuterred as the capital moves into a Tier 3 Covid lockdown.

In total, there will be 32 markets open through Friday with Brazil, Mexico, Taiwan, Spain, Japan and China among those coming on board over the next two days. Missing out on the Patty Jenkins-directed sequel, for now, are such important hubs as France, Germany, Italy and the Netherlands whose movie theaters are all currently closed.

As we saw with Tenet, the only other major tentpole getting a wide international theatrical release during the pandemic era, prospects are difficult to measure. However, industry sources estimate the overseas opening to land in the $60M+ range. There are asterisks aplenty for the weekend given the disruption caused by the...

Hong Kong’s highest grossing director, Dante Lam, will soon be releasing his next action-packed film, “The Rescue“. Arriving in theaters just in time for the holiday season, the film chronicles a Chinese rescue team’s death-defying mission to save survivors of a fiery offshore catastrophe. Comprised of men of women from various backgrounds and led by a maverick captain (played by heartthrob and action star Eddie Peng), the unit must set aside their differences to face escalating challenges across air, land and sea. In addition to Peng, the film’s ensemble cast includes Xin Zhilei (Crosscurrent) and Wang Yanlin (Operation Red Sea).

The Rescue is, to date, the largest Chinese film production set at sea. Many water scenes were filmed at Mexico’s Baja Studios facilities, which was first built in 1996 for James Cameron when he filmed his epic “Titanic.” The Rescue used the studios’ largest tank, which has...

Chinese action film “The Rescue” has pulled forward its local and international release plans. It will now go out in a plum pre-Christmas slot on Dec. 18 in mainland China, North America and major English-language territories.

The $80 million tentpole is directed by Hong Kong’s Dante Lam, who previously delivered a slew of other muscular and highly successful patriotic Chinese movies, including “Operation Mekong” and “Operation Red Sea.”

“The Rescue” takes a less military tone and instead focuses on China’s lavishly-equipped civilian Coast Guard. The story takes in multiple air, sea and mountain rescues, with Lam ambitiously aiming to deliver five action movies for the price of one ticket.

Production locations include the Chinese coastal city of Xiamen, while the major rescue scenes at sea lensed in the large filming tanks at the Baja Studios in Mexico, where “Titanic” was shot.

In the lead role as the captain of an...

After a long tussle with China’s censorship authorities, director Zhang Yimou’s Cultural Revolution-set film “One Second” will finally hit local cinemas on Nov. 27, more than a year and a half after it was first set to debut.

The title was originally to premiere in competition at the Berlin Film Festival in February 2019, but was abruptly yanked from the lineup just days before due to “technical reasons,” a common euphemism for state censorship in China. The incident stands as the highest profile case of censorship of Chinese cinema abroad in recent years.

The newly approved version of “One Second” clocks in at 104 minutes, a minute shorter than the listed run time when it was set to debut in Berlin.

Chinese reports have said that the crew likely returned last October to their original shooting location on the edge of the Gobi desert in the Dunhuang, Gansu, province to shoot additional footage,...

Chinese director Zhang Yimou’s Cultural Revolution-set film “One Second” has at long last passed government censorship, clearing it for a theatrical release in China, local reports and an image of the approval document circulating online show.

No release date has yet been set for the film, but it is listed on Chinese ticketing platforms as scheduled for this year.

The title was set to premiere in competition at the Berlin Film Festival in February 2019, but was abruptly yanked from the lineup just days before its premiere due to “technical reasons,” a common euphemism for state censorship. The incident stands as the highest profile case of censorship of Chinese cinema abroad in recent years.

The newly approved version of “One Second” clocks in at 104 minutes, a minute shorter than the listed run time when it was set to debut in Berlin.

Chinese reports have said that the crew likely returned...

The 19th New York Asian Film Festival (Nyaff) has announced the names of the recipients of its Rising Star Award and Action Cinema Award, as well as the international jury members who will select the winner of the Nyaff “Uncaged” Competition Award during the upcoming virtual edition, running from August 28-September 12 on the Smart Cinema USA app. Tickets for this year’s special virtual edition go on sale August 23.

The 2020 Screen International Rising Star Award goes to South Korean actress Lee Joo-young for Baseball Girl, making its international premiere and screening throughout the festival. The award recognizes her daring choice of roles across her already diverse body of work, as well as her fierce commitment to every performance, whether in indie cinema, where she already stands as a star, or the TV drama scene. These notable traits are exemplified by her tour-de-force turn as the eponymous underdog female athlete in Baseball Girl.

“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.

A trio of Hollywood titles previously approved for China announced Thursday that they are set to hit the big screen now that cinemas are kicking back into gear.

“Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone,” in 3D and 4K restorations, will screen in China starting Aug. 14 to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the franchise. “We invite you to re-experience the infinite magic of Hogwarts and bizarre and motley Wizarding World,” Warner Brothers said in a Chinese statement.

That film, and the seven others in the series, anchor an eclectic line-up at the Shanghai Int. Film Festival, where they are set to screen over the course of the event’s July 25 to Aug. 2 run, giving audiences an early taste of the magic.

“Harry Potter” will go up against the Will Smith-starring “Bad Boys For Life,” which will also premiere Aug. 14. The film announced it would release in China back in January, but...

The eyes of the world were pointed at Donnie Yen after the end of the spectacular “Ip Man” saga. His choice of an action comedy as a follow-up might be seen as a bit of a surprise, but “Enter the Fat Dragon” blends the well-known elements, like the breath-taking, laws-of-physics-defying action, humor, references and a bit of covert social commentary into an efficient time-killer about the good cops, bad cops and even worse gangsters in Hong Kong and Tokyo. It premiered in the Chinese New Year slot earlier this year, but its theatrical run was impaired by the Covid-19 pandemic. However, this type of film is equally suitable for video formats, where we also caught it.

The title is taken from the cult Sammo Hung’s 1978 action-comedy about an overweight Bruce Lee fan getting involved in a fight with a gang of thugs that threaten his family,...

As China rushes to lockdown the deadly coronavirus epidemic, which has claimed at least 25 lives and infected more than 800 people, thousands of the country’s cinemas have been forced to close their doors.

Yesterday, all local film releases scheduled for the highly lucrative Chinese New Year holiday were pulled by distributors. In response, widespread cinema closures are being reported. At the time of writing, it wasn’t clear how many of the country’s roughly 70,000 screens across 10,000 venues had shuttered, but it stands to reason that few will remain open without the key product available.

According to a source, no directive has been served at state level, but provincial-level governments have advised closing, and all of the major cinema owners in China including Ume, Wanda, Jinyi, Bona, Emperor, and Lumiere have announced that they are shutting their venues for four days from today.

As Deadline reported yesterday, the closures could...

Updated with more detail: Amid the escalating outbreak of the deadly coronavirus — and in an unprecedented move — Chinese producers and distributors have cancelled the local release of all films set for the Lunar New Year period that begins this weekend. There were seven potential blockbusters due to hit Middle Kingdom theaters, kicking off what is annually a highly lucrative session at local turnstiles, but the government has warned people not to congregate in crowded areas and producers are understood to have made the decision to delay releases given the potential risk of spreading the disease. It is estimated that over $77M worth of tickets had already been pre-sold for the coming week.

Chinese health authorities announced today that 571 confirmed cases of pneumonia caused by the virus had been reported in 25 provincial-level regions, while 17 people have died. This morning, the city of Wuhan, where the outbreak originated, was placed on lockdown...

Despite some dazzling, nail-biting chopper stunts, there’s an excess of pointless rushing around in this hymn to China’s emergency services

This goofy event movie is vying for the attentions of the Chinese lunar new year audience: a frenetic, exhausting mix of soap and spectacle. It’s overseen by Dante Lam, a sometime cult director confirming the transition into commercial respectability he made with the state-sanctioned seat-filler Operation Red Sea (2018). The pitch was presumably Top Gun with air-rescue workers.

Heroic winchman Gao (Eddie Peng) is introduced swinging through a collapsing oil rig and winds up in fraught navigation of a stricken ship. Yet, once back on dry land, Lam proves just as preoccupied with Gao’s curly-haired moppet Congcong (Zhang Jingyi) and his progress through toilet training.

In the more than six months that protest movements have rocked Hong Kong, a whole range of business sectors have become color-coded, as both Beijing-loyal blue elements and yellow pro-democracy forces have weaponized the economy.

Companies on the front line include leading bank Hsbc, airline Cathay Pacific and even the subway operator Mtrc. Effects range from a poorly observed boycott of Starbucks, where a family member of the local franchise holder has spoken out against protesters, to lonely hearts who choose to flag their political colors on dating apps in order to avoid future incompatibility.

Hong Kong movie-goers have largely turned their backs on mainland Chinese films. The phenomenon is not entirely new, but it is starkly illustrated by the upcoming Chinese New Year season.

Films releasing in Hong Kong over the next two weeks are a mix of those driven by Hollywood’s global schedules – “Dolittle” and “Spies in Disguise” release on Jan.

Hong Kong’s highest-grossing film director, Dante Lam, returns this 2020 Lunar New Year with Eddie Peng-starring action-thriller, “The Rescue.” With over 700 million Rmb (100million Usd) and film locations in both Xiamen and Mexico, “The Rescue” claims to be the biggest Chinese production set at sea. Despite the impressive titles however, what should be a two-hour-long, tightly-choreographed dance with death slips up at the seams.

“The Rescue” follows the story of the captain of an Emergency Response Unit of the Chinese Coast Guard, Gao Qian (Eddie Peng). After years of peacefully leading his all-male troop, his team suddenly gets shaken up when individual members leave, one by one — allowing beautiful, but outspoken female pilot, Fang Yuling (Xin Zhilei), to substitute them instead. While Gao must balance this new voice on his team, the single father must also care for his shy, musically-gifted son CongCong (Zhang Jingyi). Though poop jokes, bubbling romantic tension,...

The Rescue is the latest action thriller from the legendary Dante Lam, director of Operation Mekong and Operation Red Sea, and is set to be one of the biggest hits of Chinese New Year, with a budget of over 700 million Rmb and underwater scenes shot at the world-famous Baja Studios in Mexico, where James Cameron produced Titanic. The first Chinese film to focus on China’s Coast Guard rescue organisation, The Rescue has an all-star cast of top Chinese talent including Eddie Peng (Operation Mekong), Wang Yanlin (Operation Red Sea), Xin Zhilei (Brotherhood of Blades) and Lan Yingying (Pacific Rim Uprising). Five years in the making, the film had a high caliber Chinese and Hollywood crew headed up by Dante Lam’s long-time production partner Candy...

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

The Rescue is one of the most anticipated Chinese release of the year, and the latest action thriller from legendary director Dante Lam, whose films Operation Mekong and Operation Red Sea were stellar box office hits in China and internationally. Released in time for Chinese New Year through Cmc, distributor of global phenomenon The Wandering Earth, the film hits cinemas across the UK day and date with China on 25 January.

The first Chinese film to focus on China’s Coast Guard rescue organisation, The Rescue has an all-star cast of top Chinese talent including Eddie Peng (Operation Mekong), Wang Yanlin (Operation Red Sea), Xin Zhilei (Brotherhood of Blades) and Lan Yingying (Pacific Rim Uprising).

The film is one of the biggest Chinese productions of recent years, with a budget of over 700 million Rmb, shot on location in China and with underwater scenes shot at the world-famous Baja Studios in Mexico,...

The most anticipated action film “The Rescue”, directed by Dante Lam, produced by Candy Leung, will be released in North America, Australia, New Zealand, United Kingdom on January 25, 2020, Chinese Lunar New Year. Starring Eddie Peng, Wang Yanlin, Xin Zhilei as the lead roles, the film is anticipated to hit local theaters on Chinese New Year in early 2020.

This is the second time that Dante Lam’s film releases in Chinese New Year, one of the biggest holiday seasons in China’s film market. “The Rescue” has scheduled a day-and-date opening with China in North America, Australia, New Zealand and United Kingdom on the first day of Chinese New Year. Cmc Pictures acquires the distribution rights of United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom. The company has distributed several top Chinese films oversea during the past several years, including the hit sci-fi blockbuster “The Wandering Earth” in 2019, which...

Director Dante Lam is back once again with his latest big-budget action film “The Rescue”. The impressive trailer for the film promises a high-stakes action film filled with big set-pieces that warrant to be seen on the big screen.

Synopsis

A rescue unit within the Chinese Coast Guard are forced to overcome their personal differences to resolve a crisis.

In addition to China’s most in-demand actor Eddie Peng in the lead role, the film also stars Xin Zhilei (“Crosscurrent“), Wang Yanlin (“Operation Red Sea“), Lan Yingying (“Pacific Rim Uprising”), Xu Yang, Li Mincheng (“A Better Tomorrow 2018“) and Wang Yutian. It releases in China on January 25th, 2020. Whether it is able to replicate the success of Lam’s last film “Operation Red Sea”, which went on to become the 2nd highest grossing film of all time in China last year before falling to 5th spot this year with the...

Beijing Juben Productions has taken over rights to the popular “Wolf Totem” novel from China Film Group and is working on a sequel to be delivered in 2021 or Chinese New Year 2022. It also has a zombie film up its sleeve, as well as a British co-production about Shakespeare and a Chinese drama with half an eye on Cannes.

The firm, whose Mandarin name “Juben” translates to “script,” was founded by producer Luna Wang in 2013 and employs a team of ten. It focuses on artistic films with mainstream commercial potential and has mostly worked with early-career directors.

One of its first projects was 2013 comedy “American Dreams in China,” by Peter Chan Ho-sun who is this week head of the competition jury at the International Film Festival Macao.

Juben went on to back “12 Citizens,” a 2014 Chinese remake of “12 Angry Men,” and last year’s “Ayka,” which was shortlisted for the Oscars...