Chollywood rising

[GeneChing]

APR 3, 2018 @ 01:00 PM 11,246 The Little Black Book of Billionaire Secrets
Box Office: China Powers 'Ready Player One' Past $200 Million
Scott Mendelson , CONTRIBUTOR
I cover the film industry.
Opinions expressed by Forbes Contributors are their own.


Warner Bros.
'Ready Player One'

Ready Player One earned another $5.25 million on Monday, a drop of 53% from Sunday, bringing its five-day domestic cume to $58.96m. That 53% drop is right in line with (for example) Batman v Superman (-55% during the first Monday of Spring Break), although Ready Player One was a lot leggier (and had better buzz/reviews) over the course of what turned out to be a four-day opening weekend. Oh, and it has earned another $9.8m in China, which is a drop of just 57% from Sunday, compared to Coco (-65%), The Last Jedi (-70%), Black Panther (-68%) and Pacific Rim: Uprising (-70%).

So, yeah, with $181 million worldwide as of Sunday, another $9.8m Monday in China (plus whatever it did yesterday, since yesterday was "Tuesday" in China), $5.25m in North America and whatever it made overseas since Sunday, Ready Player One has crossed the $200m mark at the worldwide box office. It's playing ridiculously well in China, and there's already talk of a run like Zootopia ($235m in 2016) in what is about to become the biggest moviegoing marketplace in the world. It's also the third time in a row that a day-and-date China/US release resulted in a much bigger opening for China than for North America.

If you recall, Tomb Raider snagged a $23 million domestic bow but a $40m Fri-Sun opening in China toward a current $78m cume. Pacific Rim: Uprising earned $28m in its domestic Fri-Sun opening weekend while opening with $63.5m Fri-Sun debut for a current (and swiftly dropping) $90m cume. And now Ready Player One opened with $41m in North America (over its Fri-Sun debut) but $62m in China. This difference is that Ready Player One pulled a whopping 4.26x weekend multiplier and seems primed for a longer run.

Most Hollywood offerings of late (save for Coco) have opened big but then quickly vanished while Chinese moviegoers spent their money on local biggies like Operation Red Sea ($564 million in China alone) and Detective Chinatown 2 ($535m). It's no secret that most Hollywood movies aren't terribly leggy in China (Warcraft was more frontloaded in China than in North America), which is as much about much of the demand being filled on opening weekend and a near-weekly schedule of new biggies (sound familiar?). So that Ready Player One has even the potential for long legs is interesting, especially considering that Chinese moviegoers aren't as obsessed with 1980's Hollywood pop culture.

Now, to be fair, we're probably looking at a domestic finish of $125-$150 million, which is solid by today's standards but not necessarily a windfall for a $175m Warner Bros./Village Roadshow production. That will still, shockingly, make it the second-biggest domestic grosser of 2018. And when it passes the $369m global total of Fifty Shades Freed, it'll be the second-biggest Hollywood release of the year and still 3.4x smaller than Black Panther's current $1.275b gross.

A boffo run in China (where studios can get as little as 25% of the ticket sales) may merely be what separates Ready Player One from other acclaimed/buzzy $150-$175 million sci-fi fantasy actioners like Edge of Tomorrow ($370m worldwide in 2014) and Mad Max: Fury Road ($378m in 2015). Or it could really catch fire all over the world, in which case we're looking at a run not unlike Kong: Skull Island ($168m domestic/$168m in China/$566m worldwide on a $185m budget) or beyond.

But, more importantly, I would argue that the relative success (it's not like the film will be drowning in profits unless it really levels up) will be another chance to Warner Bros. to say that they are more than just DC Films and the various challenges those films have offered. And that's why, whether it makes a ton of money or merely breaks even, it's probably going to be a relative win even if it ends up grossing less than (for example) WB's Justice League or Paramount/Viacom Inc.'s Transformers: The Last Knight.

Reviewed on KungFuMagazine.com
Batman v Superman
Black Panther
Tomb Raider
Justice League
Pacific Rim: Uprising

Threads
The Last Jedi
Detective Chinatown 2
Warcraft
Mad Max: Fury Road
Transformers: The Last Knight

[GeneChing]

JUNE 29, 2018 7:02AM PT
Local Hits Power Chinese Box Office to Strongest First Six Months Ever
By Vivienne Chow


CREDIT: T.NOR

Local blockbusters “Operation Red Sea” and “Detective Chinatown 2” powered the Chinese box office to its best-ever first six months of the year, with domestic productions accounting for nearly 60% of receipts, a significant increase from the same period last year.

According to the half-year industry report from China’s Ent Group, box office as of Friday for the first six months of 2018 totaled 31.6 billion yuan ($4.77 billion), with 889 million viewers, up more than 16% from the 27.2 billion yuan ($4.1 billion) recorded in the first half of 2017.

Domestic productions accounted for 18.8 billion yuan ($2.8 billion), or 59.6%, of the total. It was a huge increase from the 10.5 billion yuan ($1.59 billion) that accounted for 39% of total box office during the same period last year. Of the 40 movies released this year that have achieved more than 100 million yuan ($15 million), 18 were domestic productions.

The wild success of homegrown films was driven largely by military blockbuster “Operation Red Sea” and crime thriller “Detective Chinatown 2.” The former raked in more than 3.6 billion yuan ($544 million), becoming the second-highest grossing film of all time in China after last year’s “Wolf Warrior 2.” “Detective Chinatown 2” grossed 3.4 billion yuan ($513 million). Fantasy comedy “Monster Hunt 2” took in 2.2 billion yuan ($332 million).

Box office records show Chinese audiences continue to embrace foreign-language films produced outside of Hollywood, particularly Bollywood. So far this year, four of the five best-performing films imported into China for a flat fee (instead of for revenue-sharing) were Indian titles, with “Bajrangi Bhaijaan” on top, with 285 million yuan ($43 million). “Secret Superstar,” co-produced by Aamir Khan and imported on a revenue-sharing basis, scored the most out of all Indian films in China, earning 747 million yuan ($112.8 million).

China overtook North America as the world’s biggest movie market in the first quarter of 2018 but lost the throne mid-year, with North American box office hitting nearly $6 billion through June.

We have a thread on Detective Chinatown 2 but not Operation Red Sea. I should start one...

[GeneChing]

JULY 8, 2018 3:52PM PT
China Box Office: ‘Dying to Survive’ Hits $200 Million After Opening Weekend
By Patrick Frater
Asia Bureau Chief


CREDIT: COURTESY OF HUANXI MEDIA

Chinese comedy drama, “Dying to Survive” opened with a massive $151 million to be the second largest film across the world this weekend. Its cumulative score by Sunday stands fractionally short of $200 million.

Based on real events, about a cancer survivor who took it on himself to import cheap drugs from India, the film is an unlikely winner in terms of subject matter. The film, directed by first time feature maker Wen Muye, changes the lead role to a non-patient, creating parallels with “Dallas Buyers Club.”

The picture got commercial traction by starring comedy titan Xu Zheng, veteran of “Lost in Thailand” and “Breakup Buddies,” and was powered by strong social media interest. It was the first Chinese-language film in 16 years to score 9 out of 10 on the Douban rating site. Adding to the film’s pedigree, Xu also co-produced with serial hitmaker Ning Hao (“Crazy Stone,” “No Man’s Land”). It premiered last month at the Shanghai International Film Festival.

After four days of successful previews, worth $48 million, the film was given a maximum push by exhibitors. Releasing with 167,000 screenings, it raced off to a $36.1 million Friday, according to data from Ent Group. On Saturday, it expanded to 187,000 sessions for $57.8 million, and followed that on Sunday with $57.2 million from 193,000 screenings.

The cumulative according to Ent was $199.7 million. The total included $5.7 million earned from 532 IMAX screens.

Chinese comedy, “New Happy Dad and Son 3: Adventure in Russia” took second place with a decent $10.5 million in three days.

Chinese action adventure, “Animal World” took third place with $8.57 million. After 10-days its cumulative is $64.3 million.

“Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom” took fourth place. It added $5.53 million for a 23-day score of $243 million.

“Incredibles 2” fared less well. Having never reached top spot, it sank to fifth place, scoring $3.30 million. Its cumulative after 17 days on release is $47.9 million.

No other film achieved more than $1 million over the weekend. “Escape Plan 2: Hades” was the best of the rest, scoring $330,000 for a 10-day total of $13.4 million.

I could've sworn I posted a review on Lost in Thailand. Animal World is playing now in local theaters here in the SF Bay Area. I'm hoping to catch it but I don't think I'll have the opportunity.

[GeneChing]

JULY 19, 2018 11:04PM PT
Hollywood May Win Quota Concession in China (Report)
By PATRICK FRATER
Asia Bureau Chief


CREDIT: COURTESY OF UNIVERSAL

The quantity of Hollywood movies imported into China may increase under the terms of a trade deal.

The number of films able to be distributed in China on revenue sharing terms could grow from 34 at present to 44, according to news publication The Information. No sources are cited.

The publication also says that the bilateral talks, which started in February 2017, have been stalled since the Chinese New Year period in February this year.

The negotiations seek to renew and replace an existing deal which has been in place since 2012. In addition to the number of revenue sharing film imports, the negotiations cover matters including the size of the revenue share to be paid to rights owners, the number of films that can additionally be imported on flat fee terms, and other terms of trade.

Currently, Chinese government regulators choose which films are to be imported on revenue sharing terms, as well as their release dates. In most cases only state-owned companies are allowed to distribute the revenue sharing films in China. The U.S. Trade Representative, which heads negotiations for the American side, has sought greater flexibility on these matters.

All films released in China also need to be approved by censors, and to be cleared for audiences of all ages. That has meant significant cuts in some cases.

Of all the photos to use for this - the Great Wall.

[GeneChing]

JULY 29, 2018 7:29PM PT
China’s ‘Billionaire’ Earns $131 Million in Its Opening Weekend
By PATRICK FRATER
Asia Bureau Chief


CREDIT: COURTESY OF STARRY ENTERTAINMENT

By far the biggest film of the weekend outside North America, China’s “Hello Mr. Billionaire” opened with $131 million in its home territory.

The comedy was far ahead of “Mission: Impossible – Fallout,” which earned $92 million in international markets, plus a further $61.5 million in North America, for a global total of $153.5 million.

“Billionaire” is the latest product from the team – director Yan Fei and writer Peng Damo – behind 2015 surprise hit “Goodbye My Loser.” It sees a failing soccer player challenged to spend $147 million (RMB1 billion) in a single month.

The film was released in competition with the fourth installment in one of Chinese film’s most beloved franchises, “Detective Dee: The Four Heavenly Kings.” That scored $42.5 million over the same three-day period. On any other weekend, figures for “Detective Dee” might have been considered a triumph. But exhibitors quickly moved to support the runaway success of “Billionaire” over the fantasy adventure.

On Friday “Billionaire” scored $32.5 million from 138,000 screening sessions, according to data from Ent Group. On Saturday it was expanded to 155,000 screenings and earned $45.7 million. On Sunday, it went further, earning $51.8 million from 165,000 screenings.

“Detective Dee” delivered $15.8 million on Friday from 112,000 screenings. On Saturday it earned $14.2 million from 96,000 screenings and $12.3 million from 88,000 screenings.

The large complex of IMAX screens in China enjoyed a selection of three films. “Detective Dee” earned $2.5 million, while “Billionaire” and “Skyscraper” earned a combined $1.5 million.

“Skyscraper” was the No. 3 movie of the weekend in China. It earned $6.87 million, from a daily 20,000 screenings, for a 10-day cumulative of $85.8 million.

China’s “Dying to Survive,” another phenomenon at the Chinese box office, earned $4.65 million in its fourth weekend. After 23 days of release, “Dying” has earned $444 million, making it the third biggest film of this year and the fifth highest grossing film of all time in China.

Animation, “Animal Crackers” (aka “Magical Circus”) was the fourth-placed film and the only other this weekend to cross $1 million. It earned $1.22 million, for a nine-day cumulative of $6.75 million.

Mission Impossible
Goodbye Mr. Loser
Detective Dee: The Four Heavenly Kings
Skyscraper

[GeneChing]

AUGUST 03, 2018 6:00am PT by Tatiana Siegel
Disney’s 'Christopher Robin' Won't Get China Release Amid Pooh Crackdown (Exclusive)

Chris Kleponis-Pool/Getty Images; Laurie Sparham/Disney Enterprises, Inc.
Chinese leader Xi Jinping and Winnie the Pooh in Disney’s 'Christopher Robin'

A source pins the blame on the country’s crusade against images of the Winnie the Pooh character, which has become a symbol of the resistance with foes of the ruling Communist Party, namely Chinese leader Xi Jinping.
For only the second time this year, a Disney movie has been denied release in China. Christopher Robin, a live-action/CGI family film that stars Ewan McGregor, received a no-go from the country's film authorities.

No reason was given for the denial, but a source pinned the blame on China's crackdown on images of the Winnie the Pooh character, which is featured in a central role in Christopher Robin. Last summer, authorities began blocking pictures of Winnie the Pooh on social media given that the character has become a symbol of the resistance in China with foes of the ruling Communist Party, namely Chinese leader Xi Jinping. Bloggers have drawn comparisons between the pudgy bear and Xi, which has put the country's censors in overdrive. In June, Chinese authorities blocked HBO after Last Week Tonight host John Oliver mocked Xi's sensitivity over being compared to Winnie the Pooh.

But an insider counters that the decision likely has to do with the size and scope of the film given the foreign film quota and the fact that there are several new Hollywood tentpoles in the Chinese market right now.

The move won't likely hurt the PG film much at the box office. Christopher Robin is expected to make a solid debut in the U.S. when it opens today, earning between high $20 millions and $30 million. But it's still a small blow given that other recent movies from Disney's live-action division, like 2014's Maleficent and 2015's Cinderella, have made tidy sums in China ($48 million and $72 million, respectively).

Disney put Christopher Robin into development in 2015, long before Winnie the Pooh became a lightning rod for controversy in China. And shooting began on the Marc Forster-helmed film in summer 2017 in the United Kingdom, right around the same time the Chinese Winnie the Pooh crackdown began.

The only other Disney film this year to receive a no from China was A Wrinkle in Time. Disney will open Ant-Man and The Wasp in China on Aug. 24, when it will join other Hollywood tentpoles like Skyscraper and Mission: Impossible – Fallout.

I guess Xi hasn't read The Tao of Pooh.

[GeneChing]

China just needs to get its propagandistic head out of its butt and make a movie that the world will enjoy.

Movie madness: Why Chinese cinemas are empty but full
By Stephen McDonell
BBC News, Beijing
31 August 2018


GETTY IMAGES
Chinese movie theatres may appear to be sold out online, but in reality could be completely empty

For a country which will soon assume the mantle of the world's largest cinema audience, China comes out with a surprising number of big budget B-grade flops.

Some blame this on censorship, others on a lack of creativity but there are also those who see a more sinister force at work, which has nothing to do with film-making.

It also has nothing to do with selling tickets: at least not real ones.

Some investors are apparently financially backing movies with the sole goal of boosting their stock price that can shift on the perception of a movie's performance, irrespective of its true popularity.

Chinese film critic and industry observer Raymond Zhou has been digging into the darker side of film financing in his country.

"When you have a hit film, your stock price will go up several times in terms of market valuation compared with the grosses from the box office so some 'financial genius', came up with this idea: Why don't I have fake box office numbers so that I can make much more money from the stock market?" he said.


GETTY IMAGES
Box office manipulation is a growing problem in China, says one film critic

I asked if it could really be true that producers were seeking to make money in ways that had nothing to do with putting bums on seats in theatres; nothing to do with making beautiful films?

"The natural way is to make a good movie and then your stock price will go up right?" he responded.

"But some people have reversed this equation. They have seen the rise of the stock price as the ultimate goal and have just used the making of the movie as an excuse."

Phantom tickets

So what is actually happening?

According to Chinese government investigators, certain production and investment companies have developed ways of faking box office results.

Then, if these publicly available figures appear to show that a film is doing well, people will buy shares in the companies which paid for the movie.

So a film might be on in the cinema and one of the companies which paid for it might buy out entire late night screenings. These will register as full houses when they are, in reality, entirely empty theatres.

Regulators have been catching onto this so producers have allegedly started just buying all the bad seats across many hours of screenings.

Yet the authorities have now worked out that if a showing is somewhat empty in the middle and for some reason all the seats around the walls have been purchased something must be amiss.

You might wonder, if box office manipulation has been a broad problem within the Chinese film industry, if it's still worthwhile financially.

How many hundreds of thousands of seats would a company need to buy to boost the figures enough to make a difference to its own stock price?

Well what if the cinema chain is also an investor? It can just sell itself the phantom tickets for free.


GETTY IMAGES
Asura (L) was China's most expensive film, and one of its biggest flops

Cinema journalist John Papish is an expert in the Chinese box office and says considerable conflicts of interests in this country would be illegal in, say, the United States.

"An owner of an exhibitor can also distribute their own movies and use their cinemas as a launching pad," he said.

"They can manipulate the number of screenings in their own cinemas. Often times the third party ticketing apps also have their hands in the promotion of the films so they can push a film that they have an interest in; that they have invested in themselves."

So, in effect, a company - or connected companies - can distribute the film, have ownership of the theatres and then maybe also involve those selling the tickets. Even those apps rating the film could potentially have a financial stake.

'Cook the books'

Some films are also suspected of being used as a method of getting around China's laws designed to restrict capital flight.

This country has an annual international transfer limit per person of $50,000 (£38,921) without official clearance.

But you can "cook the books", according to Mr Zhou, if your movie is hiring international actors or even set and costume designers.

For example, in your budget, you might say you are paying a Hollywood star $10m but you're really only paying them $2m.

The other $8m you can transfer offshore without questions. And most importantly without the need to collect official Chinese receipts.

"Inside China we have this very strict invoice system," says Mr Zhou.

"Receipts can be checked and double checked using the super computers of the tax bureau. But once a lot of overseas talent or overseas service providers are involved then the system doesn't work and money can legally be moved off shore."

He thinks the authorities must be onto this and are likely to be looking at ways of closing the loophole.

This is not to say that China no longer has honest, committed filmmakers producing quality work.

The low budget drama "Dying to Survive", about a group of hapless criminals trying to smuggle cheap cancer drugs, has been described as showing what's best about this country's cinema, as well as being hugely popular.


GETTY IMAGES
Dying to Survive has proven to be a box office hit

Yet the Chinese government knows there is something rotten going on which needs to be cleaned up.

The National People's Congress has introduced fines for misreported box office figures ranging from $7000 to $74,000 and the authorities are allowing the Motion Picture Association of America to use an accounting firm to audit box office data here.

Communist Party anti-corruption investigators say they are now chasing a high-profile producer, who they've accused of fraud, claiming that he is currently on the run in the United States.

However there still seems to be no move to break up the vested interests in Chinese movie making, which many analysts believe will continue to pump out poor quality fare as long as there is money to be made - irrespective of how many actually people go to see the film.

[GeneChing]

SEPTEMBER 4, 2018 12:01AM PT
China Box Office Leaps by $1 Billion Despite Mixed Summer
By PATRICK FRATER
Asia Bureau Chief


CREDIT: COURTESY OF HUANXI MEDIA

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. (Measuring summer as June to August, the data shows a similarly modest 5% gain.)

The summer season was characterized by a succession of hits and an equally important number of flops. “Dying to Survive” with a $453 million gross, “Hello Mr Billionaire,” with $367 million and “The Island” on $188 million were among the season’s successes. The outright failures included “Asura” and “Europe Raiders,” while neither “Detective Dee: Four Heavenly Kings” not “Hidden Man” lived up to their billings. Throwback kung fu film, “Oolong Courtyard” also crumpled quickly.

The summer “blackout period,” the 4-6 week corridor in which Hollywood films are not allowed to open, was far less marked than normal. But getting a mid-summer release did not translate always into success. “Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again,” released on Aug. 3, and “Hotel Transylvania 3,” on Aug. 17, performed weakly.

Greater riches went to those films that mixed Chinese and U.S. content or investment. “The Meg,” structured as a co-production released on Aug. 10 and is a hit with $152 million to date. Legendary Entertainment’s “Skyscraper,” which is largely set in Hong Kong, but counted as an import, opened on July 20 and earned $98 million. Alibaba-backed “Mission: Impossible – Fallout” rounded off the summer with a smashing $77 million opening weekend.

The year to date figures also show Chinese films are increasingly measuring up to those from Hollywood. This is the first time that two Chinese films (“Operation Red Sea” and “Detective Chinatown 2”) have exceeded $500 million in the same year. Those two are also the ninth and tenth best-performing films worldwide so far this year.

Asura
Europe Raiders
Detective Dee: Four Heavenly Kings
Hidden Man
Oolong Courtyard

Operation Red Sea
Detective Chinatown 2

[GeneChing]

SEPTEMBER 16, 2018 3:57PM PT
China Box Office: ‘L Storm’ Blows to $30 Million Opening
By PATRICK FRATER
Asia Bureau Chief


CREDIT: COURTESY OF PEGASUS MOTION PICTURES

Hong Kong-made action-thriller “L Storm” topped the Chinese box office with an opening weekend score of $29.4 million. That gave it nearly 60% market share on another quiet weekend in Chinese theaters.

The weekend was characterized by the release of a large number of smaller titles into a window ahead of the Autumn Festival holiday blockbusters at the end of the month. Only “L Storm” made any significant impact, and was the third highest grossing film worldwide, according to ComScore.

The movie is a sequel to 2016 title “S Storm” and involves popular star Louis Koo as an anti-corruption investigator, this time apparently on the wrong side of the law. Directed by David Lam, it is produced by Raymond Wong’s Pegasus Films, and counts Huace Pictures, Wanda, and Er Dong Pictures as mainland Chinese co-producers. Data from Ent Group show it given a wide release, with over 120,000 screenings per day.

The top ten films earned a collective $51 million over the three days from Friday to Sunday. That was the fourth consecutive weekend decline and the third lowest grossing weekend of the year.

Tom Cruise-starring “Mission: Impossible – Fallout” slipped to second place and took $12 million in its third week on release. After 17 days, its cumulative in China is $162 million. Some $14 million of that has come from IMAX locations.

Japanese detective drama, “Destiny: The Tale of Kamakura” took third place for state-owned distributor Huaxia. Its opening score was $3.69 million. (Another Japanese film, romance “Let Me Eat Your Pancreas,” was also released this weekend. It scored $420,000, enough for tenth place.)

Fourth place belonged to U.S. prehistoric adventure “Alpha.” It earned $1.59 million in its second weekend, giving it a 10-day cumulative of $15.3 million.

“Ant-Man and the Wasp” earned $1.18 million in its fourth week on release in China. After 24 days it has earned $120 million.

Chinese action adventure, “Born to be Wild” was the only other film to exceed $1 million. It earned $1.02 million.

Next week “Wolf Warriors 2” gets a re-release. It will compete with Japanese animation “Godzilla: Planet of the Monsters” and Jia Zhang-ke’s “Ash is Purest White.”

I haven't seen S Storm or L Storm yet. Anyone?

[GeneChing]

I'm rooting for Shadow.

China’s golden week: which movie will win big at the box office, Shadow, Project Gutenberg or Hello, Mrs Money?
A small-time film production company may have found the formula for big-screen success with its comedy of manners starring Celina Jade
BY CLARENCE TSUI
28 SEP 2018



As China’s National Day “golden week” begins, so does the latest battle for box-office supremacy. The holiday is, traditionally, a lucrative period for the Chinese film indus*try and many observers predict a race between Zhang Yimou’s epic Shadow and Felix Chong Man-keung’s action movie Project Gutenberg.

The former, a period piece in the same vein as Zhang’s international breakthrough Hero (2002), received criti*cal acclaim at the Venice and Toronto film festivals while the latter is by a director who counts the Overheard and Infernal Affairs (as screenwriter) trilogies among his works and boasts a stellar cast including Chow Yun-fat and Aaron Kwok Fu-shing.

Both films are bound to generate brisk business but the real deal lurks elsewhere. The winner, we predict, will be the feel-good film starring Hong Kong-born Celina Jade that is set in an exotic location, driven by an over-the-top narrative and filled with sensation*alist gags and one-dimensional characters.

No, we are not talking about Wolf Warrior 2 (2017), China’s highest-grossing film of all time, in which Jade stars as a United Nations doctor and which is taking a second stab at the box office after being re-released on September 19. Instead, the winner-in-waiting is a movie called Hello, Mrs Money, which, like Shadow and Project Gutenberg, hits mainland screens on September 30.

Set in a luxury resort in Malaysia, this comedy of manners involves a group of men who go to farcical lengths – including an extended gag in which one of them dresses up as a woman – in an attempt to swindle a rich widow (Jade) out of her fortune.

Before you brush it off as a crass mash up of Some Like It Hot (1959) and Tootsie (1982), it is worth noting the commercial pedigree of those behind Hello, Mrs Money. Originally a theatrical troupe specialising in comical plays aimed at festive audiences during the New Year holidays, Mahua FunAge has diversified into filmmaking with remarkable success.



Since 2015, the company has scored three major hits. Goodbye, Mr Loser (2015), Mahua FunAge’s debut film, about an unemployed musician who travels back in time to his teenage years, raked in 1.4 billion yuan. Its next film,Mr Donkey (2016) – a social satire about rural teachers securing state subsi*dies for their school by registering a donkey as a member of the staff – earned just 172 million yuan (US$25 million), but last year Mahua FunAge regained its touch with the comedy Never Say Die, which out*perform*ed its debut by earning 2.2 billion yuan.

Its latest comedy, this summer’s Hello Mr Billionaire, has grossed 2.5 billion yuan and counting. The film – about a failed footballer’s struggle to inherit a wealthy uncle’s fortunes – is still showing at a handful of cinemas in the mainland, more than two months after its release.

All the films are adaptations of Mahua FunAge’s own stage productions and were made with mainland audiences in mind. And unlike some of its comical peers – for example, Xu Zheng and his wanderlust-driven gag fests Lost in Thailand (2012) and Lost in Hong Kong (2015) – Mahua is not exactly clamouring for global exposure.

A wise move, that, because it won’t be long before someone discovers that Good*bye, Mr Loser is a copy of 1986 Hollywood comedy drama Peggy Sue Got Married. (Mahua FunAge was at least honest when it came to Hello, Mr Billionaire, which was credited as a remake of Walter Hill’s 1985 film Brewster’s Millions.)


Chow Yun-fat (right) and Aaron Kwok in Project Gutenberg.

Mahua FunAge – whose Chinese name, Kaixin Mahua, translates as “Happy Doughnut” – is just the latest in a long line of canny operators cashing in on mass appeal. Its success is bizarre only in the fact that its silly and at times tasteless comedies have reigned supreme during a period of po-faced patriotism in public discourse.

Then again, maybe Mahua FunAge’s output fits rather than undermines the dominant national narrative: it’s worth remembering that Chinese authorities dialled down the rhetoric earlier this year by yanking propaganda film Amazing China from mainland screens before putting a halt to the film industry’s feeding frenzy for nationalistic war-drum movies in the wake of the success of Wolf Warrior 2 and Operation Red Sea. Even the masses seem to be experiencing patriotism fatigue, as shown by the withering online response to the re-release of Wolf Warrior 2.

Amid the China-United States trade war, as fears of an economic downturn deepen, comedies might be just what Beijing needs to appease public anxiety – and Mahua is dishing them out in spades. While its output can hardly be called ground**breaking, its conquest of Chinese hearts and minds – with the films bolstered by stage performances in nearly every provincial capital in the country – says much about the state of China today.

THREADS (COPIED):
Chollywood rising
Shadow by Zhang Yimou

Films mentioned (for reference):
Wolf Warrior 2
Operation Red Sea
Goodbye, Mr Loser
Hero

[GeneChing]

While I'm bummed that Shadow didn't out-perform Mrs. Money, take note of my comment on the Wolf Warrrior 2 thread:

Celina Jade has tremendous potential to play to both sides of the Pacific. She's poised and one to watch.

SEPTEMBER 30, 2018 6:01PM PT
China Box Office: Celina Jade’s ‘Mrs. Money’ Wins Pre-Holiday Weekend
By PATRICK FRATER
Asia Bureau Chief


CREDIT: COURTESY OF MAHUA FUNAGE

On a pre-holiday weekend, in which new films unusually were released Sunday instead of the normal Friday, “Hello Mrs. Money” starring Celina Jade topped the Chinese box office. Zhang Yimou’s “Shadow” took the second spot.

Their first day of release gave “Mrs. Money” $16.8 million, and “Shadow” $10.4 million, according to data from Ent Group. They were followed by Hong Kong crime thriller “Project Gutenberg,” with $8.17 million.

China’s week-long National Day holiday begins Monday. For many people, Saturday was treated as an additional working day. Once the holiday period gets underway for more people, box office numbers are likely to swell.

“Money” was produced by Mahua FunAge, a company that is China’s market leader in live comedy and that made a successful transition into film with 2015’s “Goodbye Mr. Loser,” which made $218 million, 2016’s “Mr. Donkey” and last year’s sports comedy “Never Say Die.” “Never Say Die” was released at this time last year and grossed $340 million.

Starring Jade, the female lead in Chinese blockbuster “Wolf Warriors II,” “Money” is a story involving mistaken identities, wedding plans and the surprise participation of a man’s wealthy aunt (Jade) at his engagement party.

“Shadow” is a big-budget, period action drama, directed by Zhang Yimou (“Hero,” “Curse of the Golden Flower”). It had prestige launches at the Venice and Toronto film festivals.

The delayed new releases meant that holdover titles enjoyed two extra days of release before losing their screens. Romantic drama “Cry Me a River” headed the chart Friday and Sunday and earned $6.14 million, for a 10-day cumulative gross of $31.9 million. Fifth place belonged to new release “Fat Buddies.”

Holdover actioner “Golden Job” earned $4.71 over the weekend, for a 10-day cumulative of $43.9 million. Previous chart-topper “L Storm” earned $2.38 million for seventh place and a 17-day cumulative of $63.3 million. “Mission: Impossible – Fallout” edged its cumulative to $181 million after 31 days.

THREADS (COPIED):
Chollywood rising
Shadow by Zhang Yimou

[GeneChing]

China Box Office Drops 22 Percent During Holiday Week as Local Titles Underperform
1:14 AM PDT 10/8/2018 by Patrick Brzeski


Courtesy Panasia Films Limited
'Project Gutenberg'

Bona Film Group's 'Project Gutenberg' came out on top during the weeklong National Day holiday, which is usually one of China's biggest box-office periods of the year.

Hong Kong action flick Project Gutenberg, starring Chow Yun-fat and Aaron Kwok, was the winner of a markedly downbeat National Day holiday season at the Chinese box office.

The weeklong holiday corridor, which commemorates the founding of the People's Republic of China and runs Oct. 1-Oct. 8, is typically one of the most lucrative moviegoing periods of the year. But total ticket sales during the frame were down 22.2 percent compared to the 2017 National Day stretch, data from box-office analysis company Artisan Gateway shows.

Last year's holiday served as the launchpad for local comedy blockbuster Never Say Die, which went on to earn more than $330 million. It's already clear that no National Day title will come close to hitting those heights this year, however.

Project Gutenberg, produced by Bona Film Group, Alibaba Pictures and others, pulled in $85.4 million during the frame, coming from behind to beat local comedy Hello, Mrs. Money, from Funage Pictures, which totaled just $55.5 million for the week.

Both Project Gutenberg and Hello, Mrs. Monday opened during the weekend prior to the holiday, which were replacement workdays in China. The films' total earnings stand at $92.9 million and $70.4 million, respectively.

No Hollywood titles were granted a release date during National Day, as is China's usual practice durning lucrative holiday seasons — a continual point of contention between Beijing and the Motion Picture Association of America.

Chow Yun-Fat stars in Project Gutenberg as a criminal mastermind, code-named "Painter," who leads a shadowy gang of currency counterfeiters. Outwitted at every turn, the Hong Kong police recruit a man (Aaron Kwok) from inside Painter's crew in order to unmask the elusive crook's true identity.

Zhang Yimou's critically acclaimed martial arts saga Shadow ranked third during the holiday break, earning $52.6 million for a cumulative gross of $62.1 million. Produced by Perfect Village and Le Vision Pictures, Shadow is widely tipped to be China's submission for the best foreign-language film category at the Oscars, but Beijing has yet to officially confirm its choice.

Maglim Pictures' Fat Buddies, a copy comedy about a pair of obese officers, brought in $22.6 million, lifting its total to $27.2 million. Enlight Pictures' holdover romantic drama Cry Me a Sad River added $12.4 million during the holiday frame for a $42.2 million total.

Alibaba Pictures may have scored a win with its participation in Project Gutenberg, but it also was responsible for National Day 2018's biggest flop: the visual effects-heavy video game adaptation Legend of the Ancient Sword. Directed by former Hollywood filmmaker turned Beijing transplant Renny Harlin (Die Hard 2, Jackie Chan's Skip Trace), the film earned just $1.8 million during its first seven days, spelling millions in losses for Jack Ma's film studio.

Despite the "light local title performance" during National Day, China's total box office for 2018 to date remains up 11.5 percent, Artisan Gateway said.

THREADS:
Chollywood rising
China's National Day & Golden Week

[GeneChing]

Chinese Film Industry Facing "Bloodbath," Producer Andre Morgan Says
10:48 PM PDT 10/24/2018 by Georg Szalai


Amanda Edwards/WireImage
Andre Morgan

"There will be a lot of money written off, because there were so many movies made that made no economic sense," says Andre Morgan.
The Chinese film industry is facing a "bloodbath" after a glut of "dumb money" led to too many movies being made, producer Andre Morgan (The Cannonball Run; Way of the Dragon; Walker, Texas Ranger) said at the Tokyo film festival’s TIFFCOM market on Thursday.

In what was dubbed a Master-Class Seminar by a pioneer of developing relationships between the U.S. and Chinese film industries, Morgan shared his take on the state of the business in the second-largest box-office market in the world. 


The founder of production company Ruddy Morgan Organization, the producer started his work with China when he assisted on the production of Bruce Lee’s Way of the Dragon (1972) and Enter the Dragon (1973). He has also worked with the likes of Jackie Chan, Jet Li, Andy Lau and director John Woo. For the past 13 years, he has been the co-chairman of the Chinese-American Film Festival.

"China has gone through phenomenal growth," including a couple of "phenomenal years" where local hits, such as Lost in Thailand, started breaking Chinese records, which meant that "the Chinese public started to discover there was quality product being made in China," Morgan said. "It wasn't to the exclusion of Hollywood, but it was parallel to what Hollywood was doing."

This gave "courage" to people in China to invest more money in homegrown product, he added. But "like everything in China — they kind of feast or famish — they kind of overshot the market," he argued. "And so now we have a situation where an awful lot of dumb money went into the industry and overinflated the price of the actors,” some of whom, such as Fan Bingbing, have been facing tax and financial investigations.


"The government has stepped in to clean [this] up," Morgan said. Stars and others have basically been given until Dec. 31 "to clean up their act," but "come January, it will be open season on those that haven’t paid their taxes." He said the same goes for production companies and others in the industry.

"I think, personally, next year will be a bloodbath," Morgan predicted. "There will be a lot of money written off, because there were so many movies made that made no economic sense." Too often producers tried to beat Hollywood at its game by making effects movies while ignoring the need for a good script or a story consumers actually want to see.


He also said: "China right now is suffering from a glut of money," meaning there will have to be a phase of "constriction," which will affect "the number of production companies" and the amount of money spent. 

That likely means "a painful coming 18 months," but after that there will be a "leaner, more vibrant" industry in China.


The expanding entertainment industry ties between Japan and China have been a key focus of this year’s TIFFCOM, which is wrapping on Thursday.

Morgan emphasized in his session that a co-production treaty signed by China and Japan this year will open up opportunities for Japanese entertainment industry professionals in China.

Not sure I agree with this. Chicoms know how to toe the line...or get sent to the gulag...or worse.

[GeneChing]

$3.99 per month? I might subscribe to this.

HOME DIGITAL ASIA OCTOBER 31, 2018 10:07AM PT
Cinedigm Sets Launch of ‘Bambu’ Chinese Entertainment Streaming Service
By TODD SPANGLER
NY Digital Editor
@xpangler


CREDIT: COURTESY OF CINEDIGM

Cinedigm is prepping a new internet-streaming service designed for American fans of Chinese entertainment.

The company plans to launch of Bambu in the first quarter of 2019, with a package of content aimed at Gen Z and millennial audiences in the U.S. Bambu will be available as both a free ad-supported VOD service and an ad-free subscription-based service for $3.99 per month.

Bambu will offer thousands of hours of Chinese film and TV shows, according to Cinedigm. The company, and independent content aggregator and distributor, will procure content for Bambu from licensor partners, including top Chinese licensors and distributors.

The upcoming launch of Bambu comes after Cinedigm last year sold a majority stake in the company to Bison Capital, a Hong Kong-based investment firm. It subsequently inked deals with Chinese entertainment companies including Starrise Media and Youku Pictures. Cindeigm also has a partnership with state-run broadcaster Central China Television.

Bambu “is another very important step in our bilateral content-distribution strategy for China and North America,” Bill Sondheim, president of Cinedigm Entertainment Group. In addition, he said, Bambu will provide audience feedback to Chinese producers working to produce movies and TV series for a global audience.

Cindeigm currently operates six other niche-oriented OTT streaming networks: mixed-martial arts channel CombatGO; CONtv, geared around pop-culture and fandom; documentary service Docurama; the faith-and-family Dove Channel, HallyPop, and esports channel Wham.

The move by Cinedigm to expand its specialty OTT services comes amid a pullback on the niche-SVOD front by AT&T’s WarnerMedia, which in the last two weeks pulled the plug on K-drama service DramaFever and FilmStruck, catering to fans of classic, arthouse and indie films.

Programming available on Bambu will include action epics, serial dramas, romantic comedies, sci-fi, horror, and fantasy adventure sagas, as well as music and reality series and educational programming like instructional Chinese-language courses and cultural cooking shows.

Film titles eyed for Bambu include bomb-squad thriller “Shock Wave,” starring Andy Lau; sci-fi epic “Kung Fu Traveler”; and “The Monkey King: Havoc In Heaven’s Palace,” starring Donnie Yen and Chow Yun-Fat. TV series slated for distribution on Bambu include “Journey to the West,” billed as the most-watched show in Chinese TV history; historical drama “Nirvana in Fire”; thriller “Lost in Translation”; food/cooking documentary series “A Bite of China”; fantasy crime show “The Four”; and new hits such as “The Advisors Alliance” and “Diamond Lover.”

“Young Americans are incredibly culturally savvy, and proudly receptive to the latest global trends,” Erick Opeka, Cinedigm’s president of digital networks, said in a statement. “Bambu allows these modern tastemakers to stay at the cultural forefront, introducing them to a roster of new series and up-and-coming artists that they can discover and show their friends.”

[GeneChing]

I've been trying to think of how best to present this because it's dense. I decided to present the full list here on the Chollywood rising thread and partial lists to start new indie threads for the titles that look martially interesting or are relevant to other threads.

AFM 2018: The buzz titles from Hong Kong and China
BY LIZ SHACKLETON 2 NOVEMBER 2018

Despite dipping box office and a censorship process slowing up the production pipeline, there are some knockout titles to get excited about for Chinese New Year.


SOURCE: WANDA PICTURES
‘AIRPOCALYPSE’

Mainland China’s film industry is going through a turbulent period. Despite the success of Bona Film Group’s Project Gutenberg, which grossed nearly $160m over the National Day holidays, box office was on a downward trend in October 2018 compared to the previous year. In addition, the censorship process has slowed following the Chinese authorities’ overhaul of their regulatory infrastructure and the government’s recent request that talent and production companies pay their back taxes has sent the industry into a spin.

As a result, production is expected to slow down in the last quarter of this year, which could result in a shortage of big titles in the second half of 2019, but there is still a large volume of films in production and post-production that are on offer at AFM. Big titles scheduled for release before the end of the year include Wanda Pictures’ fantasy drama Airpocalypse and Huayi Brothers’ action adventure Mojin: The Worm Valley.

Although it is still early days for scheduling, films jostling for release during the peak Chinese New Year holiday period in February 2019 include Mega-Vision Project Workshop’s Enter The Fat Dragon, starring Donnie Yen; Emperor Motion Pictures’ Integrity, directed by Alan Mak and starring Sean Lau and Nick Cheung; and Jackie Chan’s The Knight Of Shadows: Between Yin And Yang.

Airpocalypse - dir Xiao Yang
Xiao Yang is directing and heading the cast of this fantasy drama, about four gods who are relegated to living on Earth and create an environmental catastrophe in their attempts to get back into heaven. Jennifer Du and Xiao Shenyang also star in the film, which is scheduled for release on December 21. Xiao previously directed Old Boys: Way Of The Dragon and stars in both of the hit Detective Chinatown films.
Contact: Wen Mengchen, Wanda Pictures

Anita - dir Longman Leung
Currently in production, this long-awaited biopic of Anita Mui stars model Louise Wong, making her acting debut, as the hugely popular singer and actress who died in 2003 aged just 40. Produced by Edko Films and Irresistible Films, the drama also stars Terrance Lau and is due for release next year. Director Leung is co-director of hit action dramas Cold War and Cold War 2 with Sunny Luk.
Contact: Julian Chiu, Edko Films

Bodies At Rest - dir Renny Harlin
Nick Cheung, Richie Jen and Yang Zi head the cast of Renny Harlin’s Chinese-language action thriller, which is in post-production for release in April 2019. Scripted by David Lesser, the film follows a group of masked thugs who break into a morgue demanding access to a body that contains evidence of a crime they committed. Wanda Pictures and Media Asia co-produce, with the latter also handling international sales.
Contact: Fred Tsui, Media Asia

Chasing The Dragon II: Master Of Ransom - dirs Wong Jing, Jason Kwan
In post-production, the second instalment in Wong Jing’s Chasing The Dragon series is based on a real-life spate of kidnappings that terrorised Hong Kong’s elite in the 1990s. Tony Leung Ka-fai plays the kidnap king, while Louis Koo is the undercover agent who infiltrates his gang. Wong and Kwan also co-directed Chasing The Dragon, based on the true story of drug dealer Ng Sek-ho, which was a hit in Hong Kong and China last year.
Contact: Angela Wong, Mega-Vision Project Workshop

A City Called Macau - dir Li Shaohong
Fifth Generation filmmaker Li Shaohong (The Door, Stolen Life) directs this Macau-set romantic drama from a script by Yan Geling (Youth). Bai Baihe, Huang Jue and Wu Gang head the cast of the film about a woman working as a VIP client servicing manager at a casino, who falls for a charismatic gambler. Produced by Bona Film Group, the film is currently in post-production.
Contact: June Wu, Distribution Workshop

Enter The Fat Dragon - dir Kenji Tanigaki
Donnie Yen and Wong Jing both produce and star in this action title about an overweight cop with emotional issues who is tasked with escorting a convict to Japan. Scheduled for release over the Chinese New Year holidays in February 2019, the film is directed by renowned action choreographer Kenji Tanigaki, whose credits include The Monkey King and Japanese manga adaptation Rurouni Kenshin.
Contact: Angela Wong, Mega-Vision Project Workshop

Hotel Soul Good - dir Anthony Yan Pak-wing
Produced by Hong Kong’s Plus One Motion Pictures, this romantic comedy features an ensemble cast of Hong Kong talents including Chrissie Chau (29+1), Louis Cheung (Zombiology: Enjoy Yourself Tonight), Eric Kot (Fantasia), Maggie Shiu (PTU) and Richard Ng (Vampire Cleanup Department). Chau plays an executive in the hospitality industry who opens a new hotel when she loses her job and boyfriend after a meteor shower enables her to see dead people. The film was released in Hong Kong on October 18.
Contact: Tiffin Shing, Golden Dragon Pictures

Integrity - dir Alan Mak
Director Alan Mak and producers Felix Chong and Ronald Wong, who worked together on the Overheard trilogy, are reteaming on this crime thriller, which is in post-production for tentative release over Chinese New Year 2019. The story follows a leading anti-corruption agent who is forced to team up with his ex-wife to salvage an investigation in which both the defendant and the whistleblower have disappeared. Sean Lau, Nick Cheung and Karena Lam head the cast.
Contact: Raymond Liu, Emperor Motion Pictures

Invincible Dragon - dir Fruit Chan
Max Zhang (Ip Man 3) and mixed martial-arts expert Anderson Silva star in Fruit Chan’s $12m action film about an undercover agent who helps the police solve mysterious cases, but clashes with a Macau detective and a US army veteran with a secret link to his past. Scheduled for release in the first quarter of 2019, the film also features behind-the-scenes talent such as DoP Cheng Siu Keung (Election) and action director Stephen Tung Wei (Operation Mekong).
Contact: Kat Yeung, Mandarin Motion Pictures

Ip Man 4 - dir Wilson Yip
The fourth instalment in producer Raymond Wong’s blockbuster Ip Man franchise will again star Donnie Yen as the eponymous hero, along with Chan Kwok Kwan, Vanness Wu and Scott Adkins. In post-production, the $52m film follows the eponymous kung-fu master to the US where his student Bruce Lee has upset the local martial-arts community by opening a Wing Chun school. Yuen Wo Ping is again on board as action director.
Contact: Kat Yeung, Mandarin Motion Pictures

The Knight Of Shadows: Between Yin And Yang - dir Vash
Jackie Chan stars as a demon hunter defending humanity from an inhuman invasion in this period action comedy, which also stars Ethan Juan, Elane Zhong and Lin Peng. When a mysterious force starts kidnapping village girls to feast on their souls, Chan’s character encounters another demon hunter who is not fully human. In post-production for release during Chinese New Year 2019, the film is produced by Kiefer Liu (The Monkey King series) and backed by iQiyi Pictures, Beijing Sparkle Roll Media and Golden Shore Films & Television.
Contact: Tiffin Shing, Golden Network Asia

Airpocalypse
Bodies At Rest
Chasing The Dragon II: Master Of Ransom
Enter the Fat Dragon redux with Donnie Yen
Invincible Dragon
Ip Man 4
The Knight of Shadows Between Yin and Yang

continued next post