Alibaba to Release New Cinema Management System and Tao Piao Piao Pro App
On August 24 (Beijing Time), Alibaba announces that the company will release two new products, including cinema management system ‘Fenghuang Yunzhi’ and Tao Piao Piao Pro App. ‘Fenghuang Yunzhi’ provides cinema management solutions in three aspects, including box office management, data management, and ad management. By releasing these two products, Alibaba aims to further integrate itself into the Chinese film market and assist China’s film industry in upgrading its infrastructure. Read more on Ent Group
Most Domestic Films in China are Still Losing Money
While ‘Wolf Warriors II’ and ‘Twenty Two’ close China’s blackout period on high note, most domestic films in China still lose money. Among the 237 domestic films released so far in 2017, only 30 films have eared more than 100 million yuan, and 14 of them were released during the blackout period. In terms of content, comedy is generally well received, especially the ones released during holiday seasons. Arthouse movies are rising. A few small budget arthouse films managed to make money this year. Read more on yiqipaidianying
Chinese Millennial Market is Near Fully Saturated
The growth of China’s film market has been slowing down since 2016, and this situation is unlikely to be changed in 2017, according to the 2017 Chinese Film Industry Report released by UBS China this month. Based on UBS China’s analysis, the Chinese millennial market is almost fully saturated. In addition, building more theaters in third, fourth, and fifth tier cities in the coming years can’t effectively stimulate the overall box office growth anymore, but will only reduce the average box office revenue generated by each screen. Read more on yiyuguancha
Chinese Actors Join Forces with Kris Wu in Promoting ‘Valerian’
Luc Besson’s ‘Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets’ will open this Friday in China as one of the first batch of foreign movies to be released after China’s summer blackout. Well-known Chinese actors Sun Honglei and Wang Luodan attended the preview screening of the film in Beijing this week and expressed their appreciation of the film to Luc Besson at the post-screening Q & A session, which has also been edited into a promotional video of the film. Chinese-Canadian pop star Kris Wu, who plays a role in the film, appears during the last seconds of the promotional video to invite Chinese audiences to support the movie in theater. Read more on Mtime
Edward Yang’s Unfinished ‘Zhui Feng’ to be Finished by Enlight Media
China’s State Administration of Radio, Film, and Television recently released a list of films registered to be made in near future. Acclaimed Taiwanese filmmaker Edward Yang’s unfinished animation ‘Zhui Feng’ (‘The Wind’) is also included in this list. The project was registered under Enlight Media, and Edward Yang is listed as the screenwriter. Edward Yang worked on the script of ‘Zhui Feng’ since 2000, but didn’t manage to make the film before he passed away in 2007. Read more on Mtime
