‘The Predator’ Tops Weekend Box Office in China
American science fiction film The Predator opened in Chinese theaters on October 26 and undoubtedly topped the weekend box office charts. The Predator is also the only film that made over 100 million yuan this past week. Overall, last week’s China box office totaled a lukewarm 478 million yuan, down 3% compared with the previous week. Prior to The Predator, two films in the Alien franchise, Prometheus (2012) and Alien: Covenant (2017), were released in China and made 220 million yuan and 310 million yuan, respectively. It’s predicated that the total box office of The Predator will likely fall between 220 million yuan and 310 million yuan. Read more on Mtime
Bilibili Officially Forms Strategic Partnership with Tencent
On October 25, Bilibili and Tencent jointly announced that the two companies had formed a strategic partnership to collaborate in animation, comics and games. Many industry observers predicted such a partnership early this month when Tencent increased its stake in Bilibili to 12%. According to the joint announcement, the two companies will give each other access to their libraries of animated films. In addition, the two companies will collaborate on production, financing and releasing of future animated content. As two largest companies in animation and comics, Tencent and Bilibili’s marriage will further consolidate China’s ACG (anime, comics, and games) sector. Read more on Sansheng
Chinese Version of ‘Venom’ is Five Minutes Longer Than Its U.S. Version?
A copy of the Chinese theatrical release permit for upcoming Hollywood movie Venom is being circulated on the internet. The permit shows that the total running time of the film is 117 minutes, which is 5 minutes longer than its U.S. version. This leads Chinese netizens to speculate what extra content is included in the Chinese version of the film. Some guess that maybe it’s a typo. Some believe there must be an extra ad or promotional music video. As Tencent Pictures has 25% stake in the film, many believe that the extra content is added by Tencent. As of this writing, no official statement has been released regarding the total running time of the film. Read more on Mtime
