Most Read Stories of 2017 on China Film Insider

As the new year approaches, take a look back with us at the most read stories of 2017 on China Film Insider.

Chinese Films to Watch on Netflix Tonight

Netflix has created a new time of film viewing, with an almost on-demand experience available for the movie watcher, without the need to go to the cinema or video store (the what?). For the Chinese film fan — or for the film industry professional trying to bone up on the best of the recent oeuvre — Netflix is a good resource, but it’s not a great one. In any case, here’s a bit of a starter kit of what’s available and what we think is missing from their collection. READ MORE

 

What Everybody ‘Knows’ About Insta-Star Jing Tian

In the last few years, 28-year-old starlet Jing Tian has ascended with unusual speed into the white-hot center of China’s entertainment world. Naturally, Chinese filmgoers are wondering what’s up. And in the vacuum left by the lack of a reliable independent press, Chinese gossip, with its penchant for detailed embellishment and invasive speculation can make TMZ look like The New York Review of Books. Add the Internet into the mix, and it goes to the next level, a web of conspiratorial, celebrity-denigrating innuendo that is wildly judgmental, sexist, and almost impossible to respond to. READ MORE

 

‘XXX,’ ‘La La Land’ among Hollywood Films Headed for China in February

a still from “La La Land”

One of the more contemporary Spring Festival traditions celebrated in China is the foreign film blackout period that descends upon Chinese cinemas each lunar year to halt the onslaught of Hollywood flicks and give local films the inside track. But after the Spring Festival, films from Hollywood and elsewhere are once again welcome in China, and in February 2017 musicals and films based on video games are the main themes. READ MORE

 

Is This 22-year-old Australian Actress Disney’s Choice for Mulan?

photo: Weibo.

Chinese social media was abuzz back in January with speculation that 22-year-old Australian actress Natasha Liu Bordizzo had scored the role of Hua Mulan in Disney’s upcoming live-action adaptation. Of course now we know that Chinese actress Liu Yifei has been chosen for the role. READ MORE

 

The Top 10 Male Chinese Actors You Need to Know

Photo: Weibo

The year 2017 has been prolific for the Chinese film industry so far, from the star-dusted cast of the East-meets-West collaboration “The Great Wall” to Kris Wu’s bigger-than-minor character in Luc Besson’s “Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets,” Chinese actors are rising stars in the global film industry. Here is a list of the top 10 Chinese actors who are doing extremely well domestically, and (if not already) are likely to gain more international recognition in the coming years. READ MORE

 

Film Review: More ‘Kung Fu’ Than ‘Yoga’ in Jackie Chan’s Chinese New Year Gift

a still from “Kung Fu Yoga”

A scenic, fast-moving treasure hunt spanning China, Tibet, Dubai, and India, Jackie Chan’s action-comedy Kung Fu Yoga reunites him with one of his most simpatico collaborators, director Stanley Tong (Supercop, Rumble In The Bronx, First Strike, The Myth), for a result that’s easygoing and fun, a good-natured comedy that’s more Kung Fu than Yoga—if never quite fulfilling its potential as a true cross-cultural Chinese/Indian hybrid, it is nonetheless comfort food for CNY family viewing. READ MORE

 

Meet Disney’s Next ‘Mulan’, Chinese Actress Liu Yifei

photo: Weibo.

Disney recently announced that it will cast young Chinese actress Crystal Liu Yifei as the lead of its upcoming live-action film MulanThe movie, which will be released in 2019, tells the classic Chinese tale of a female warrior who, against all odds, joined the army to defend her country and her family. We take a look at Liu’s rise to fame and why she is chosen for the role. READ MORE

 

Dangal: China’s Leggiest Film Ever

On Friday May 5, the Indian wrestling drama Dangal debuted with little fanfare on Chinese screens, grossing just RMB 14.6 million ($2.1 million) against Disney/Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2’s RMB 100 million ($14.7 million). Yet from that point forward, the two films would take completely opposite box office trajectories. READ MORE

 

Foreign Films in China: How Does It Work?

Furious 7: China’s highest-ever grossing import film.

If you’re a non-Chinese film producer (a foreign film producer from the Chinese perspective), and you hope to exhibit in China and add its robust market to your revenue picture, there are basically two different ways for that to happen. READ MORE

Kung Fu Star Jet Li Talks about The Film He Just Made with Alibaba’s Jack Ma

“Gong Shou Dao,” which stars Jack Ma — the founder and executive chairman of Alibaba, China’s largest e-commerce platform — brings together 11 of China’s best-known martial artists and will premiere during the eighth annual Singles’ Day shopping event, when hundreds of millions of the world’s consumers will scour Taobao, Alibaba’s shopping platform, for deals. And the man behind the film is Jet Li, a celebrated actor whose movies include “Shaolin Temple,” “Fist of Legend,” and “Hero.” In this interview, Jet Li talks about the power of tai chi, his friendship with Ma, and his future hopes for Gong Shou Dao. READ MORE