a still from “Hello, Mrs. Money”
Holiday Box Office: A Look at National-day Films
Along with the Lunar New Year, China’s National Day (October 1) is one of the two lucrative weeks on China’s cinematic calendar. This year, local films are expected to dominate the box office again. Frontrunners include Zhang Yimou’s Shadow, Mahua FunAge’s Hello, Mrs. Money and Hong Kong crime drama Project Gutenberg. Hollywood science fiction film The Predator recently passed the Chinese censorship and may score a release date during the National-day holiday. Anther two noteworthy releases are Baby starring Yang Mi and Lost, Found starring Yao Chen and Ma Yili. Read more on Mtime
China Box Office: Mid-Autumn Festival Hits Record-Low in Four Years
The China box office totaled 492 million yuan this year during the mid-autumn festival holiday, which is the lowest record in recent four years. Since 2015, the mid-autumn festival season has been dominated by domestic films. This year, four of the box office top 5 are local films. No. 1 on the list is Golden Job, a Hong Kong action film that revives the 1980s Young & Dangerous action franchise. Guo Jingming’s Cry Me A Sad River had a lukewarm opening but gradually caught up and became No. 2 on the list. As most new releases are relatively weak, previous releases L Storm and Mission: Impossible-Fallout are able to take the No. 3 and No.4 spots. Jia Zhangke’s highly anticipated drama film Ash Is Purest White is only ranked No. 5, but has become the director’s highest-grossing film of all time. Read more on Mtime
Chinese Actor Chen Tang Joins ‘Mulan’ Cast
Chen Tang has been cast as Yao in Disney’s live-action remake Mulan, which stars Chinese actress Liu Yifei as Mulan. In the animated version of Mulan, Yao is a middle-aged soldier who likes to pick fights with Mulan but eventually becomes Mulan’s dear friend. Mulan is currently being filmed in New Zealand, according to sources familiar with the matter. The film has been set to hit theaters on March 27, 2020. Read more on people.com
