These Hit 2018 Hollywood Movies Didn’t Make It To China
Walt Disney’s Christopher Robin earned $25 million this past weekend following a $9.5 million opening day in North America. However, this box office hit didn’t have the luck to secure a theatrical release in China, the world’s second largest film market. In addition to Christopher Robin, there are several other hit Hollywood movies that didn’t make it to the middle kingdom this year. Among them are Deadpool 2, Ocean’s 8, A Wrinkle in Time, Fifty Shades Freed, I Can Only Imagine, Insidious: The Last Key, and The First Purge. Most of these films are R-rated films, horrors, or dramas with cultural specificities unrelatable to Chinese audiences. Read more on yiqipaidianying
Three Chinese-language Films Enter 56th New York Film Festival
New York Film Festival announced its 2018 main slate, which features films from 22 countries, including China, Japan, Poland, South Korea, Argentina, and Qatar, among others. 4 out of the selected films were directed by women. The Festival will open with The Favourite by Yorgos Lanthimos and close with At Eternity’s Gate by Julian Schnabel. In addition, Alfonso Cuarón’s ROMA is set as the centerpiece presentation. This year, three Chinese-language titles were selected. They are Jia Zhangke‘s Ash Is Purest White, Bi Gan’s Long Day’s Journey Into Night, and Ying Liang’s A Family Tour. Other noteworthy titles include Coen brothers’ The Ballad of Buster Scruggs, Jean-Luc Godard’s Le livre d’image, and Hirokazu Koreeda’s Shoplifter. Read more on Mtime
With Government Support, eSports Goes Mainstream in China
At the recent 2018 ChinaJoy (China Digital Entertainment Expo & Conference), eSports was a key word that constantly appeared in various discussions. According to a report from Joy News, the worth of Chinese eSports market has reached 77 billion yuan ($11.26 billion) in 2017 and is expected to cross 88 billion yuan ($12.87 billion) this year. As the eSports market continues to grow, the Chinese government also starts paying attention to this sector. Recently, China’s General Administration of Sports announced that China would host national eSports competition in 2018 and also put together a national eSports team to participate in international competitions. This will surely facilitate the development of eSports in China and cultivate more talents in this area. Read more on National Business Daily