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On Screen China: Christmas Eve Date Night at the Movies

Dec 24, 2015 / Box Office /

After a quiet start to the annual Chinese box office “New Year’s period” (贺岁档)—just $212 million grossed during the first 17 days of December—ticket sales exploded last weekend as homegrown blockbuster Mojin—The Lost Legend (寻龙诀) debuted with a record $93 million. Mojin will continue its trek this weekend as it attempts to topple Monster Hunt as the highest-grossing film of all-time in China. But the distributors of two new releases will try to take advantage of the considerable space left over in the market by an underwhelming run from Surprise (万万没想到). Read More

A Supporting Role for Culture at China’s World Internet Conference

Dec 22, 2015 / News /

The World Internet Conference in the east coast city of Wuzhen last week sparked a good deal of debate about the China’s influence on global web governance. In its second year, the conference received a major boost in its significance when President Xi Jinping appeared in person to give a speech on the subject (Last year, he only sent a congratulatory message to mark the event’s opening)

On Screen China: ‘Mojin’ Racks Up the Box Office Records

Dec 21, 2015 / Box Office /

While the rest of the world flocked to see Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Chinese moviegoers instead rushed to catch a homegrown blockbuster, Mojin—The Lost Legend (寻龙诀), buying tickets worth $91.9 million in just three days and helping the film from Wanda Pictures, Enlight Pictures, and Huayi Brothers to set several box office records for Chinese-language films. As predicted, Mojin and runner-up Surprise (万万没想到)—which grossed a modest $22.9 million over the three-day weekend—completely dominated China’s box office, accounting for a weekend market share of over 96%. Read More

On Screen China: ‘Mojin’ Boasts Major Mojo

Dec 17, 2015 / Box Office /

Get ready for an unprecedented weekend at the global box office, with a twist in China. While North America and the rest of planet Earth prepare for the outbreak of Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Chinese audiences will be flocking to theaters for what is almost certain to be the highest-grossing weekend in the history Read More

On Screen China: ‘Surprise’!—Low-Budget Web Series Adaptation Wins the Weekend

Dec 14, 2015 / Box Office /

Surprise (万万没想到)—a low-budget comedy based on a popular web series set for official release next Friday, December 18—stormed into theaters early last weekend, netting $17.3 million from its Friday and Saturday preview screenings, while Hollywood holdovers Point Break ($30.4 million total) and The Martian ($86.9 million total) both withstood a barrage of 15 new releases, hanging on Read More

On Screen China: A Busy Weekend of Theatrical ‘Cannon Fodder’

Dec 10, 2015 / Box Office /

A whopping 15 new films will be cast into Chinese theaters this weekend, representing the largest number of new releases within such a short time frame this year. Such a crowded calendar would be more typically seen in the United States, which had about twice the number of releases as China last year, and represents a relatively Read More

Protecting Copyright Online in China: Regulation of the Cloud

Dec 8, 2015 / Legal /

This is the third in our series on online copyright takedowns. In the first part, we provided a general summary of the regulations that establish the takedown procedures. These regulations enable enforcement of the “right of communication through an information network” as it applies to sound recordings and audiovisual recordings. In the second, we looked Read More

‘Martian,’ ‘Point Break’ Deliver 1-2 Import Punch to Four New Chinese Films

Dec 7, 2015 / Box Office /

Director Ridley Scott’s sci-fi survival saga The Martian held on to its lead at China’s box office for a second weekend, grossing $13.7 million and pushing up its overall take to $75.1 million after 12 days in theaters. The 20th Century Fox film narrowly edged out Alcon Entertainment’s extreme sports action film Point Break, which Read More

China’s Struggling Screenwriters Fear Being Cut by Alibaba Pictures Proposal

Dec 4, 2015 / News /

Last week, Alibaba Pictures vice president Xu Yuanxiang set off a firestorm of controversy among China’s screenwriters when he proposed a new model for crowdsourcing film scripts online that potentially would bypass industry professionals altogether. Read More

On Screen China: Can ‘Point Break’ Ride Out the Crowded Weekend?

Dec 3, 2015 / Box Office /

China’s booming box office hit another milestone Thursday afternoon, passing RMB 40 billion ($6.25 billion) for the first time ever in a calendar year. All 12 months of 2014 produced a box office gross of RMB 29.6 billion. December could add an additional RMB 4 billion – 5 billion to the 2015 gross with the release of Read More

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