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by kijA

Last Song for You, the directorial debut of Jill Leung, opened in Hong Kong cinemas during Christmas 2025 and has just screened in international premiere at the 54th International Film Festival Rotterdam, taking place from 30 January – 9 February 2025.

Last Song for You is screening at International Film Festival Rotterdam

What if all you need to turn your life around is a little magic, a song and a teenage girl from your past? In his mid-forties, So Sing Wah’s career as singer and music writer hit rock bottom and he, suffering from insomnia and depression, hit a bottle. When he was ready to let go, he met his high school love Ha Man Huen in hospital. Shortly after she dies, a girl in her teens enters Sing Wah’s existence with a stubborn idea to shake him back to life.

“Last Song for You” is a genuine, straightforward, Cantopop-infused melodrama,...

The “Cesium Fallout” narrative takes place against the backdrop of Hong Kong from 1996 to 2007, a time of major political change and social anxieties. The film starts off with a terrible fire at a recycling plant that starts a Cesium 137 leak that puts the lives of seven million people in danger. Not only does this premise lead to action, but it also represents deeper worries about environmental crises and government choices.

The story intertwines governmental inertia with the urgent actions of frontline heroes as we follow Simon Fan (Andy Lau), a former politician haunted by a personal tragedy. The striking images of dusty skies and jumbled landscapes in the film create a sense of dread, and the editing and sound design make tense moments even worse.

“Cesium Fallout” follows the usual rules for disaster movies, but it also offers a new viewpoint that points out problems with the way things are set up.

Hong Kong’s box office in 2024 saw local films record a bigger market share than Hollywood blockbusters for the first time since 2004, but overall takings for the year dropped 6.2% to $172.7m (Hk$1.34bn) – the lowest in 13 years.

In a rare coup, two local hits topped the annual chart. Soi Cheang’s action feature Twilight Of The Warriors: Walled In and Anselm Chan’s funeral business drama The Last Dance made history as the second and third local film to ever reach the Hk$100m milestone, taking $13.94m (Hk$108.44bn) and $18.28m (Hk$142.26bn) respectively. The latter also smashed all records...

Drama film “To Gather Around” topped the mainland China box office over the weekend and deposed “Venom: The Last Dance.”

The film, which also goes by the title “Brave New World,” is directed by Liu Xunximo and stars Deng Chao and Deng Jiajia in a tale of an internet company employee who is caught up in workplace dispute. He joins forces with others in order to defend his rights, but ends up in a bigger spiral of trouble.

According to data from consultancy firm Artisan Gateway, “To Gather Around” earned RMB63.8 million ($9.0 million) over the weekend from Friday to Sunday.

“Venom: The Last Dance,” in its fifth weekend of release in China, earned $4.9 million. That lifted its total to $90.7 million since releasing in China on Oct. 23. The film was the top title in China in its first, second and fourth weekends and is now the third best performing Hollywood picture of the year in China.

Over the weekend, a new Chinese comedy swept the box office, showing that Chinese films are popular. The movie “The Untold Story” stars Roy Chiu and Lang Yue-ting, made RMB80.8 million ($11.4 million) in just two days, making it the year’s most successful movie.

The movie, which Zhang Yan directed, is about an undercover police officer with a complicated life because he is also a cab driver and restores cultural artifacts. Its quick success is a sign of a bigger trend in the Chinese film market: 79.3% of all the money made at the box office this year has gone to Chinese films.

Over the weekend, international movies had a range of success. “Venom: The Last Dance” kept going strong in its third weekend, making $7.5 million, bringing its total to $83.2 million. “Cesium Fallout,” a Hong Kong movie about a nuclear disaster starring Andy Lau and Karen Mok, came in second with $7.4 million in its second weekend.

Chinese melodrama film “The Untold Story” opened on top of the mainland China box office on its debut weekend, despite playing for only two days.

It earned RMB80.8 million ($11.4 million), according to data from consultancy firm Artisan Gateway.

Adapted from a novel, the film tells the story of an undercover drugs cop, who sometimes goes undercover as a taxi driver, and restorer of cultural relics. The film (aka “That Untold Story”) stars Roy Chiu and Lang Yue-ting and is directed by Zhang Yan.

In second place was “Venom: The Last Dance,” playing its third weekend in China. It scored $7.5 million between Friday and Sunday, for a running total of $83.2 million after 19 days in Chinese cinemas.

Close behind in third place was “Cesium Fallout,” a nuclear disaster film that opened a week earlier.

Produced through Hong Kong’s Edko Films and starring Hong Kongers Andy Lau and Karen Mok, the film was directed by Anthony Pun,...

Edko Films’ disaster film Cesium Fallout has bounced to the top of China’s box office from Monday (November 4) after opening in second place behind Venom: The Last Dance.

It had grossed a total of $16.8m (RMB120m) as of November 7, up from its $12.1 (RMB86.5m) opening weekend, which included previews.

The Cantonese-speaking Guangdong province in southern China contributed significantly to the film’s success, accounting for 26.8% of its nationwide cumulative box office. Hong Kong films are generally released in this province in their original Cantonese language, instead of being dubbed in Mandarin for other provinces. Guangdong was also instrumental...

Worldwide box office November 1-3 Rank Film (distributor) 3-day (world) Cume (world) 3-day (int’l) Cume (int’l) Territories 1. Venom: The Last Dance(Sony) $94.5m $317m $68.4m $227m 67 2. The Wild Robot(Universal) $23.3m $269m $15.8m $247.6m 80 3. Singham Again(various) $22.3m $22.3m $20.2m $20.2m 20 4. Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3(various) $20.4m $20.4m $18.3m $18.3m 18 5. Terrifier 3(various) $15.7m $74.6m $12.3m $24.9m 39 6. Smile 2(Paramount) $15.5m $109.8m $8.7m $57.1m 68 7. Amran(various) $11m $15.1m $10.3m $14.1m 14 8. Cesium Fallout(various) $10.5m $12.8m $10.5m $12.8m 3 9. L’Amour ouf $6.6m $26.8m $6.6m $26.8m 1 10. We Live In Time(A24/Studiocanal) $6m $21.7m $2.5m $4m 20

Credit: Comscore. All figures are estimates.

International gives...

The superhero movie “Venom: The Last Dance” remained the top film at China’s box office last weekend. For the second week in a row, it brought in 104 million yuan ($14.6 million). This keeps the film as one of the most successful international releases in China this year.

The sequel, called “Venom 3” overseas, has now earned over 70.8 million yuan (US$10.3 million) in China after 12 days in theaters. This puts it ahead of other recent major Hollywood films like “Deadpool & Wolverine,” which made 60.6 million yuan, and “Oppenheimer” with earnings of 63.3 million yuan. Box office analysts say these numbers show the film’s broad appeal, especially given recent challenges for Western films in China after the Covid-19 pandemic.

Last Saturday, the movie took in 7 million yuan from over 100,000 screenings. This makes it the second highest for any comic book sequel’s second Saturday, only behind “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3” and its 8.9 million yuan earnings.

“Venom: The Last Dance” held top spot at the mainland China box office for the second consecutive weekend. It beat newly released Andy Lau-starring thriller “Cesium Fallout.”

“Venom: The Last Dance” earned RMB104 million ($14.6 million) over the weekend, according to data from consultancy service Artisan Gateway. That is more than 50% lower than its debut weekend, but still lifts the film to a $70.8 million cumulative after 12 days on release. That is a pace very similar to “Alien: Romulus” in China and could see “Venom” among the top three Hollywood films in China this year.

Opening in second place, “Cesium Fallout” earned $9.8 million in its opening weekend. Produced through Hong Kong’s Edko Films and starring Hong Kongers Andy Lau and Karen Mok, the film (previously titled “Burning City” and “Fallout”) is billed as China’s first nuclear radiation disaster film. It was directed by Anthony Pun, with Alibaba Pictures handling the China release.

Touted as Hong Kong’s first radiation-disaster blockbuster, Anthony Pun’s Cesium Fallout chronicles the political and frontline responses to a national catastrophe as it unfolds on the outskirts of the city. Emulating the blockbusters of Irwin Allen and Roland Emmerich, the rampant urban destruction is complemented by a star-studded ensemble of some of the local industry’s most prominent talent. Andy Lau takes top billing as the scientist drafted to advise Karen Mok’s bullheaded politician when a fire breaks out in a landfill site riddled with illegal radioactive waste. As the leadership bickers over the appropriate response and who is to be reprimanded, it falls to the blue collar heroes of the Hong Kong Fire Services Department to tackle the inferno head on.

Yu Bai and Louise Wong are among the heroes in helmets putting their lives on the line for the sake of seven million innocent souls,...

Hong Kong’s Edko Films has closed a string of key deals for Anthony Pun’s disaster feature Cesium Fallout.

Niu Vision Media will open the film in North America on November 1, day-and-date with Hong Kong and mainland China. The film is also heading to Singapore, Malaysia and Brunei through mm2 Entertainment, opening on November 7, and to Taiwan through Sky Films on November 8. The Polish release through 9th Plan is not yet scheduled.

Edko Films is also in negotiations for Australia and New Zealand, Cis and France at Acfm.

Starring Andy Lau, Cesium Fallout is billed as Hong Kong’s first radiation disaster film,...