Headlines from China: ‘Deadpool 2’ Projected to Make No More than $45 M in China

‘Deadpool 2’ Projected to Make No More than $45 M in China

The PG-13 version of Deadpool 2 finally opened in Chinese theaters last Friday and made 56 million yuan ($8.34 million) on its opening day. Given its massive screen share, its opening box office is rather disappointing. What’s more concerning is that its ticket sales dropped by 7.5% on Saturday, which rarely happened to revenue-sharing Hollywood imports in the past. WeChat media account “yiqipaidianying” projects that the total China box office of the film will not exceed 300 million yuan ($45 million). Hollywood superhero movies actually had a great year in China in 2018. Avengers: Infinity War, Venom and Aquaman all made over 2 billion yuan in the China market. So why can’t Deadpool 2 make it in the Middle Kingdom? Here are a few reasons: first, the film was released before Chinese new year when people are busy wrapping up work and getting ready for the holidays; secondly, the film is only given 11 days to win over audiences before a strong slate of local films will open next week during the Chinese new year; thirdly, the film’s China release date was confirmed 10 days before its opening day, leaving not enough time for its distributor to promote the film; last but not least, as many Chinese audiences have watched pirated versions of  the original Deadpool 2 online, they are not motivated to see a censored version anymore. Read more on yiqipaidianying

Lou Ye’s ‘The Shadow Play’ Set for April 4 Release

 The Shadow Play, an upcoming crime drama film directed by Chinese director Lou Ye, has been set to open in Chinese theaters on April 4. Starring Jing Boran, Song Jia, Qin Hao and Chen Yanxi, the film centers around the death of a government official and a rookie cop’s investigation into the case. According to sources familiar with the matter, Lou Ye has always wanted to make a film about China’s economic reform and the ups and downs people went through during this time period. Read more on Mtime

Hit Japanese Anime ‘Natsume’s Book of Friends The Movie: Tied to the Temporal World’ Scores China Release

Japanese anime film Natsume’s Book of Friends The Movie: Tied to the Temporal World has been scheduled for a March 7 China release. The news quickly became a hot topic on Weibo and has been shared by many Chinese netizens, including actor Chen Kun and writer Liu Tong. The film’s Chinese trailer, which came out at the same time, also received 3 million views within 5 hours. According to the movie site 1905, it is the first movie adaption of the Natsume’s Book of Friends franchise, a hit Japanese manga and anime series. The film received many positive reviews as well as a high score 4.16/5 at Yahoo! Japan when it first released in Japan in 2018.   Read more on 1905.com