Holiday Box Office: RMB 7 Billion for the 70th Anniversary of PRC?
As the summer movie-going season comes to an end, box office analysts start shifting their attention to the upcoming National Day Holiday season. After box office slowdown in the first half of 2019 and a slightly better summer season thanks to animated hit Ne Zha, the upcoming weeklong National Day holiday becomes crucial for the overall China box office results this year. While an ambitious goal of “RMB 7 billion for the 70th anniversary of PRC” kept being mentioned, some industry experts remain skeptical about the possibility of achieving this goal. Different from previous slates during the National Day holiday, this year’s slate lacks diversity. The three most anticipated films, including The Climbers, Chinese Pilot and Me and My Mother Land, are all “main-melody” films with nationalistic themes. Read more on Ent Group
Tony Leung Shares His Concerns Over Shang-Chi with Disney
In July, Marvel announced that Hong Kong actor Tony Leung Chiu-wai has been cast to play villain Mandarin in the upcoming Marvel film Shang-Chi. Many netizens in China expressed disappointment over Leung’s participation in the film due to the racist origins of character Shang-chi’s father. In a recent interview, director Philip Yung, who is currently collaborating with Tony Leung on crime drama film Theory of Ambitions, mentioned that Tony Leung was aware of netizen’s reactions and had shared his concerns with Disney. In Philip Yung’s opinion, audiences should not make any assumptions about the film if they haven’t seen the actual script. Read more on Mtime
Hungarian Film ‘Ruben Brandt, Collector’ Scores China Release
Directed by Milorad Krstic, Hungarian animated film Ruben Brandt, Collector has been confirmed to get public release in China. A Chinese poster of the film also came out in recent. Yet the film’s release date has not been announced. This spring, Ruben Brandt, Collector screened at the Beijing International Film Festival and received positive reviews from the audience. The film follows a psychotherapist Ruben and his four patient who steals paintings from renowned museums in order to prevent Ruben’s suffering from nightmares. Read more on Mtime
