Headlines from China: China Box Office Saw Significant Drop in March 

China Box Office Saw Significant Drop in March 

This past March, China box office totaled RMB 4.14 billion, which is RMB 977 million less compared to the same month of 2018.  The total grossing of the first quarter was RMB 18.62 billion, RMB 1.61 billion less than the same period last year. Captain Marvel topped the March box office charts with an RMB 1.02 billion earning. It is also the second foreign film that crossed RMB 1 billion at the box office in China, following Bumblebee. Taiwanese romantic drama More than Blue took second place on the monthly list with total earnings of RMB 914 million in March. No film produced in mainland China made the March top 5 list. The highest-grossing local film in March was Song of Youth, which is ranked No. 6 among all films released in March. Read more on Mtime

Beijing International Film Festival Announces Full Lineup

On March 31st, the 9th Beijing International Film Festival announced its full lineup, with China-Kazakhstan co-production The Composer set to open the festival and Indian film Zero to close. Nuri Bilge Ceylan’s The Wild Pear Tree, Greg Berlanti’s Love, Simon,  Hong Sang-soo’s latest film Hotel by the River, Casey Affleck’s Light of My Life. The online ticket sales begins on April 1st and the festival opens on April 13th. Read more Mtime

Theatrical Version of Lou Ye’s ‘The Shadow Play’ Is Five Minutes Shorter

Directed by Lou Ye and Starring Jing Boran, Song Jia, Ma Sichun, and Qing Hao, Chinese film The Shadow Play will be widely released on April 4th in China. According to the info on the film’s official screening permit, the total running time of The Shadow Play is 124 minutes, which is five minutes shorter than its 129-minute premiere version at Golden Horse Awards, and one minute shorter than its 125-minute version shown at Berlinale. Read more on Mtime