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At the end of a spell of underperforming Hollywood imports that led to November tallying the lowest monthly box office total of the year thus far, The Martian (火星救援)—with its combination of cool, cutting-edge science and old-fashioned, high-wattage star power—struck a chord with Chinese moviegoers over the final weekend of the month, grossing $48.4 million Read More

This is the second in a series of posts about China’s system for the takedown of copyright subject matter stored or posted online without the copyright owner’s approval. In our first post, we provided a general summary of the regulations that establish the takedown procedures. These regulations enable enforcement of the “right of communication through an Read More

Once Darth Vader hits the catwalks, there’s no denying it—the force is now with big names in the Chinese fashion scene as part of a Disney marketing campaign that is spreading across industries to get Star Wars fans excited for the upcoming film. The craze took hold of the Great Wall last month thanks to Read More

Faced with a glut of poorly received Hollywood imports this past weekend, Chinese moviegoers instead chose Our Times (我的少女时代 Wǒ de shǎo nǚ shídài), a Taiwanese “youthfulness film” (青春片qīngchūn piàn) which earned $17.1 million since its debut on Thursday, Nov. 19. In just four days since its release, Our Times has become the highest-grossing Taiwanese Read More

After Spectre’s $49 million debut last weekend, bolstered by Sony’s marketing bonanza, another major Hollywood release, The Hunger Games: Mockingjay—Part 2, opens in Chinese cinemas on Friday, the latest in a wave of revenue-sharing imports to land in China in what netizens are jokingly calling “Hollywood’s unofficial protection period.” Both Spectre and Liongate's Mockingjay will not screen unchallenged, going up against Our Times an import from Taiwan that’s generating considerable buzz. Read More

Bond-mania swept over China this past weekend, much to the delight of Sony, which has struggled with underperforming releases this year in the world’s second-biggest film market. Spectre, the 24th installment in the enduring spy series, pulled in nearly $49 million from Chinese moviegoers in its first three days. Spectre’s $15 million opening day on Read More

China has a pretty good system for taking down copyrighted subject matter illegally stored or posted online without the approval of the copyright owner. This is the first in a series of posts looking at online takedowns. In this post we provide a general summary of the regulations that establish the takedown procedures for copyrighted Read More

The latest twist in Xi Jinping’s vision of wholesome Chinese culture involves Chinese celebrities pledging their adherence to morally upstanding conduct. It would be difficult to imagine a similar scene in Hollywood, with, say, Jennifer Lawrence and Warner Brothers CEO Kenji Tsujihara proclaiming their intention to behave according to government directives. Yet that is exactly Read More

As reported last week, the Motion Picture Association of America has signed an agreement with China Film Group Corporation that will allow US rights owners to realize more money from film exhibition in China. Read More

China’s National People’s Congress issued a draft of the Film Industry Promotion Law for public comment on November 6, 2015. The law is to apply to “film activities” such as film development, production, distribution and release within the PRC. The published annotations indicate the law is intended to simplify the regulation of screenplays, film productions and Read More