Headlines from China: Will Sports Film Become a Popular Genre in China? 

Will Sports Film Become a Popular Genre in China? 

In this past month, legendary ping pong player Deng Yaping announced an upcoming web series based on her life stories. Meanwhile, Chinese pair skater Tong Jiang announced his plan to film his pair skating performance. In addition, Chinese sports movie You’ll Never Walk Alone was released in May and American biographical film I, Tonya will be released in China in June. It seems that more and more sports films are emerging in the China market. Over the past five years, sports films had a hard time gaining popularity in China. Yet the success of Indian sports drama Dangal seems to have reignited filmmakers’ interest in this genre. In addition to the aforementioned projects,  a biographical film about Chinese professional tennis player Li Na and a film about the women’s national volleyball team of China are also in production right now. Read more on entgroup.cn

Japanese Drama Film ‘Survival Family’ Set for June 22 China Release

According to a recent announcement, Survival Family, a critically acclaimed Japanese drama film, has scored a June 22 China release. The film is directed by Yaguchi Shinobu, whose previous works include Waterboys, Wood Job! and Swing Girls. Survival Family is centered around a Tokyo family that is caught up in the chaos after a sudden worldwide power cut. This film is the first disaster film directed by Yaguchi Shinobu. After its release in Japan last year, the film received critical acclaim and has been highly anticipated by Chinese audiences. Read more on Mtime

‘Avengers: Infinite War’ Becomes Highest-grossing IMAX Movie in China

Today, IMAX announced that Marvel’s superhero movie Avengers: Infinite War had replaced Furious 7 as the highest-grossing IMAX movie of all time in China. As of May, Avengers: Infinite War has been played in over 500 IMAX theaters in China, raking in 235 million yuan ($36.6 million). Thanks to the strong performance of the film, IMAX China earned record-breaking 264 million in May, which also makes this past May the second highest-grossing month in the history of IMAX China. Currently, Avengers: Infinite War is still playing in Chinese theaters and will stay in theater for a few more weeks. Read more on Mtime