China’s Reliance on Hollywood Increases Again
For China’s film bureau, regulating the release of foreign films is always a balancing act. On one hand, it’s important for them to maintain and enhance the dominant position of domestic films in the market. On the other hand, it’s equally imperative to satisfy Chinese moviegoers’ needs and maintain a relatively steady growth of the total box office. This year, the Chinese film industry cooled down due to the country’s crackdown on tax evasion and lack of capital investments in the sector. As a result, local production companies have to scale back. This presents new opportunities for Hollywood imports and foreign buy-out films to thrive in China. This week, thanks to Hollywood movie Venom, the China box office finally saw a surge after several weeks of weak performance. According an unnamed industry source, the domestic slate for the first half of 2019 is rather weak. It’s expected that China’s reliance on Hollywood increases again in the next several months. Read more on Caijing
China Premiere of ‘Ralph Breaks the Internet’ Takes Place at Shanghai Disneyland
Walt Disney Animation Studio’s 3D animated film Ralph Breaks the Internet recently had its grand China premiere at the Shanghai Disneyland. Xu Longli, General Manager of Disney Pictures China, attended the event and gave remarks.In this sequel to the 2012 film Wreck-It Ralph, Ralph and Vanellope, now friends, discover a wi-fi router in their arcade, leading them into a new adventure. In addition to a number of cameos and references to video games, internet culture and various Disney IPs, several Chinese internet platforms, such as Tencent’s QQ, Sina’s Weibo and Alibaba’s Tmall, also appears in the sequel. Distributed by China Film Group and Huaxia Film, Ralph Breaks the Internet will be released across China on November 23 in 3D/IMAX 3D/CGS 3D/Dolby. Read more on Mtime
China’s Film Bureau Sets New Rules on Domestic Film Re-release
On November 8, China’s Film Bureau announced new regulations on the theatrical re-release of domestic films, taking effect on December 1, 2018. According to the new regulations, a “re-release film” is defined as a film that has already obtained theatrical release permit and premiered publicly at least two years ago. In order to be re-released, films should be submitted to and reviewed by the Film Bureau or the local administrative departments again. Companies should “strictly protect the legitimate rights of copyrights holders” in re-releasing films. In addition, re-release films can at most screen at 2, 500 cinemas in total. Each cinema can only have one theater to screen re-release films. Read more on Mtime
