How Are Chinese Films and TV Shows Doing on Netflix
Over the past few years, several Chinese films and TV series were acquired by Netflix and made available to the platform’s international audience. While these acquisition deals were able to make the headlines and generate buzz, this article questions how these films and TV shows are doing overseas and what China can really get from Netflix. Although suspense and drama are popular genres on Netflix, Chinese shows of these genres, such as Day and Night and Empresses in the Palace, don’t seem to have gained international attention through Netflix. Netflix’s recent acquisitions of Us and Them, a hit romantic drama involving dubious ticket sales practices, and Meteor Garden, a remake TV series with poor reviews, even make people start questioning Netflix’s taste and judgment regarding Chinese content. Although it’s a good thing that more and more international platforms are trying to acquire Chinese content, how to choose good content and effectively promote the content to an international audience should be more important and attention-worthy than the acquisition deals themselves. Read more on entgroup.cn
Box Office of ‘Dying to Survive’ to Cross $442 M
China box office earnings totaled 91.9 million yuan ($13.53 million) on Wednesday, July 25. Skyscraper topped the charts with 47.68 million yuan. Local hits Dying to Survive and Hidden Man raked in 24.17 million yuan and 9.54 million yuan, respectively. Cumulatively, dark comedy Dying to Survive has earned 2.98 billion yuan, and is expected to become the fifth film that crosses 3 billion yuan ($442 million) in China. The four films that are already in the “3-billion club” are Wolf Warrior 2, Operation Red Sea, Detective Chinatown 2, and The Mermaid. This Friday, a new batch of films will open in Chinese theaters. Among them, Hello Mr. Billionaire and Detective Dee The Four Heavenly Kings are highly anticipated. Read more on Mtime
Venice Film Festival Sets Jury Members Including Sylvia Chang
The jury of the 2018 Venice Film Festival has been unveiled. Taiwanese director and actress Sylvia Chang is among the 9 jurors led by director Guillermo del Toro, the winner of last year’s Golden Lion for The Shape of Water. This makes Sylvia Chang the 7th female filmmaker from the Greater China region to judge the Venice Film Festival. Sylvia Chang was a jury member for the Berlinale in 1992 when Maggie Cheung won Best Actress at the festival for her performance in Center Stage. Read more on Sina
