Another Co-produced Cash Grab Failed at the Box Office in China
American action film Escape Plan 2: Hades, which is co-financed by China’s Leomus Pictures and stars Sylvester Stallone and Chinese actor Huang Xiaoming, opened in Chinese theaters on June 29. By the time of this publication, the film received a score of 3.2/10 on Chinese review site Douban and had only made about 70 million yuan ($10.5 million) in ticket sales after 4 days in release. Upon scrutiny, this blockbuster-like movie seems more like a cash grab. First, the film is full of close-ups and close shots, which is likely for the sake of reducing production costs. Second, the film was shot within 20 days and didn’t even secure a theatrical release in North America, which indicates that it is treated as a B-movie in American market. Third, in this author’s opinion, the overall quality of this film amounts to that of a poorly produced Chinese web-movie. The only difference is that Escape Plan 2: Hades has a few well-known actors in the cast. Read more on yiqipaidianying
Pearl Studio Officially Names Justinian Huang as Head of Development
Today, Peilin Chou, Chief Creative Officer of Pearl Studio (formerly known as “Oriental DreamWorks) officially announced the company’s decision to appoint Justinian Huang as the Head of Development. It’s also announced that Huang will oversee the development of over ten projects, including Tiger Empress, a story based on an idea by Huang, and an untitled Chinatown project. Huang joined Oriental DreamWorks in 2015 and has been a core member of the company’s development team. Last month, Huang led his company’s conversation with Stephen Chow and eventually sealed a deal with the famed director to co-develop animated film about the Monkey King. Read more on Mtime
Chinese Regulator Suspends Douyin’s Advertising Feature for Insulting War Hero
Yesterday, China’s Central Cyberspace Affairs Commission was rumored to have suspended Douyin’s advertising feature as a penalty for “insulting war heroes.” Several advertisers who place ads on Douyin verified this news. On June 6, netizens found that ads displayed on Douyin’s search page included content mocking the Chinese martyr Qiu Shaoyun. Jinri Toutiao, Douyin’s parent company, released an apologetic statement immediately, stating that the inappropriate content appeared on Douyin because the platform did not carefully review the ads’ key terms provided by a third-party company. On the same day, a case was placed on file with the initiation of investigation against Douyin. It is likely that the suspension of Douyin’s advertising feature is the decision made upon the results of the investigation. Read more on entgroup.cn
