This Company Wins Big This Chinese New Year Film Season
The total Chinese New Year box office earnings have reached over 5.7 billion yuan ($890 million), almost double the amount compared to last year, with suspension comedy Detective Chinatown 2 leading the chart, raking in about 1.891 billion, and Monster Hunt 2 and Operation Red Sea following closely behind. Being the co-producer of all three of the highest-grossing films, HG Entertainment, a subsidiary of Hengdian Group, has certainly profited from the box office success. Publicly listed since August 2017, HG Entertainment has been involved in film distribution, production, screening, and merchandising; being part of Hengdian Group, which is known for Hengdian World Studios, has helped HG Entertainment gain its market share in the film industry. Read more on shouxiyuleguan
Actor Ge You Wins Lawsuit Over Use of Meme
Veteran actor Ge You has sued elong.com, a travel website, for the use of a meme that features Ge slouching on the couch. The image, known as the “Beijing slouch,” was taken from 90s sit-com I Love My Family, and went viral on the internet in 2016. In a Weibo post by elong.com, the company mentioned Ge’s name and used seven of Ge’s photos for promotional purposes, which sparked the lawsuit. Ge subsequently won the lawsuit, and elong.com has been ordered to apologize to Ge and pay him 75,000 yuan ($11,718) as compensation. Read more on NBD
Chinese New Year Films’ Global Box Office
The top films this Chinese New Year season, Detective Chinatown 2, Monster Hunt 2, Operation Red Sea, and Monkey King 3, were also released overseas, some of them on Chinese New Year’s day. The performance of those films mirrored their domestic box office. Detective Chinatown 2, a suspension comedy set in New York City, has reached over $1 million in ticket sales across North America, while Monster Hunt 2 made almost half a million dollars. Detective Chinatown 2 was even released in Africa. For Chinese films to be more well-accepted overseas, not only does the content and storytelling need to change, building and maintaining distribution channels overseas is just as crucial. Read more on entgroup.cn
Lou Ye’s “Saturday Fiction” Nears Completion
Starring Gong Li and Mark Chao, Saturday Fiction, a film directed by Lou Ye is nearing the end of its production. Actress Gong Li was seen feeling very emotional about the end of production. The film also features German actor Tom Wlaschiha and Japanese actor Ayumu Nakajima. A realistic film set in 1941, the story revolves around Gong Li’s character, an actress and a spy for the allied forces, who risked her life to obtain intelligence before the Pearl Harbor attack. Lou’s other film, Hell Lover, is currently being reviewed for censorship. Read more on Mtime