Madame Web is headed East. Sony said today that its stand-alone origin tale from Marvel will hit China on March 1, two weeks after its North American bow. Dakota Johnson stars as Cassandra Webb, a paramedic in Manhattan who develops the power to see the future and realizes she can use that insight to change
China
Warner Bros/Heyday Films’ Wonka has been granted a December 8 release in China, a week ahead of the domestic start and as part of an early overseas rollout for the Timothée Chalamet-starrer. Wonka will be going the same day as Universal/Illumination’s Migration in China. These are just two of a raft of Hollywood movies to recently
In yet another move to increase its footprint in Asia, IMAX is expanding its partnership with Hengdian Films via an agreement for 20 new IMAX with Laser systems across China. This marks the largest deal for new IMAX systems in four years, reinforcing the strong demand among Chinese exhibitors and audiences for the premium experience
Disney/Marvel’s The Marvels has secured a China release on November 10, day-and-date with North America. The sequel to the $1 billion+ worldwide grossing Captain Marvel is the latest major studio tentpole to be granted access to the market since Oppenheimer went out August 30. It’s also wasting no time in spreading the word locally, leveraging
Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer officially launched in China today, grossing an estimated $5.4M. Word of mouth is strong with the Universal title carrying a 9.5 on Maoyan, the platform’s best-ever audience score for a Nolan film. The Douban critics score at 8.7 is on par with 2012’s The Dark Knight Rises. The weekend is shaping up to
Time was, Hollywood filmmakers would regularly travel to China in support of their movies, attending premieres and holding Q&As to drum up buzz in the massive box office market. The pandemic halted that ritual — until this week when Christopher Nolan became the first major Hollywood filmmaker since Covid to stroll a red carpet in
Disney’s live-action take on The Little Mermaid has been cleared for theatrical release in China, as has Fast X — the penultimate installment in Universal’s long-running Fast & Furious action franchise. Dates are still to be set for both films in the market which has increasingly been handing out day-and-date releases for Hollywood titles even
James Cameron’s Titanic is getting another release in China, this one timed to the 25th anniversary of the original film. An April 3 launch date has been set. The version going out on that day will be a remastered 3D 4K HDR update, as was the version that was released elsewhere in February, and will
In another sign of the return to China for Marvel after a long drought, Disney/Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 has been set for a day-and-date release on May 5. The James Gunn-directed finale in the series is due to hit North American cinemas that same day while international rollout will begin on May
Universal/Illumination/Nintendo’s The Super Mario Bros Movie has become the latest Hollywood title to secure a release date in China. The big-screen spin on the iconic videogame franchise will hit Chinese cinemas on April 5, in time for Ching Ming Festival and in step with some other international markets as well as two days before the
In a turnabout, China is handing out release dates for Hollywood movies at a clip these days — and with a fair bit of notice. Yesterday, we learned that Paramount/eOne’s Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves will go day-and-date on March 31, and today comes news that Universal/Blumhouse/Atomic Monster’s hit M3GAN has been granted a
Paramount/eOne’s Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves has become the latest Hollywood film to be granted access to China. The studio’s Weibo account posted the news early Monday local time, noting the adaptation of the iconic Hasbro role-playing game will debut March 31, day-and-date with North America. Paramount on Friday revealed its 30-second Super Bowl
It’s been a long time coming, but it looks like China’s unofficial ban on Marvel is lifting. Disney/Marvel’s Black Panther: Wakanda Forever and Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania have both secured release dates in China, ending a three-and-a-half year period during which movies featuring Marvel characters did not gain entry to the world’s second largest
Reading the tea leaves with regard to China in 2023 is even more difficult than usual. The country’s about-face on its longstanding zero-Covid policy has implications from geopolitics to economics and, closer to home for Hollywood, the state of the market after a dismal 2022. Exactly what those implications are is where the guesswork comes
China’s box office in 2022 dropped 36% versus 2021, reaching a little over RMB 30B ($4.35B). According to Chinese state media, citing figures from the China Film Administration, 85% of the 2022 revenue was generated by local movies, led by The Battle at Lake Changjin II with RMB 4.07B ($636M at historical rates, per comScore).
Universal/DreamWorks Animation’s Puss In Boots: The Last Wish has secured a China release date on December 23, two days after its North American bow. Apart from Avatar: The Way of Water, this currently appears to be the only other Hollywood title dated through the end of the year in the PRC. After a series of previews,
Ahead of the rollout of James Cameron’s Avatar: The Way of Water in China this week, the original Avatar is getting a surprise rerelease in a limited promotional run from tomorrow locally — and will include an exclusive Easter egg for local audiences. The remastered 4K/HDR version is so far expected in up to 80
Imax just cut a deal for six new big-screen installations in China this year — “a very positive development,” according to CEO Rich Gelfond. The company is a big player in the Chinese market, which is still strained by Covid lockdowns and in limbo for Western theatrical releases. He noted the new contract during a
Universal/Illumination’s Minions: The Rise of Gru bowed in China today (Friday), grossing an estimated RMB 21.74M ($3.2M), including midnights. This was good for the biggest opening day of a Hollywood animated film during the pandemic. Overall, and not including China’s Friday, Rise of Gru has grossed $461.2M at the international box office for $807.7M worldwide.
China has set an August 19 release date for Universal/Illumination’s Minions: The Rise Of Gru. This will be the first major tentpole from Hollywood to hit the market since Universal’s own Jurassic World Dominion which has grossed $157.4M there through Sunday and during an extended nine-week run; it is the biggest studio import of 2022.
As we get rolling into the new year, optimism and caution are part of the outlook for 2022 at the international box office. The issue of China also remains top of mind as the territory — which maintained its status as the top global market in 2021 — has been even more ornery to navigate
After having been cleared by authorities in late November for an eventual China release, the market has now given Warner Bros/Village Roadshow’s highly-anticipated The Matrix Resurrections an official date — on January 14, 2022. The Keanu Reeves-starrer begins early offshore rollout December 16 with domestic and the majority of international markets starting December 22 and
Already the top film of 2021 globally, Chinese war epic The Battle At Lake Changjin is taking over the title of highest grossing movie ever in China, edging the previous leader, 2017’s Wolf Warrior 2. Through Wednesday evening local time, Lake Changjin had reached an estimated RMB 5.693B ($890M) after 56 days in release. Wolf
Warner Bros/Village Roadshow’s highly anticipated The Matrix Resurrections has been cleared for release in China, however an exact date is yet to be fixed. Warner’s official Weibo account posted the news, saying the film “is confirmed to be introduced, and it will be released in theaters nationwide soon!” The fourth Matrix installment, both a reboot
China has dated a trio of studio movies for the early part of November, just as MGM/Eon/Universal’s No Time To Die bows today and with Warner Bros/Legendary’s Dune having opened last weekend. Notably, Disney’s Jungle Cruise will sail into the massive market on November 12. Before that, Paramount’s Snake Eyes: G.I. Joe Origins rolls in
Denis Villeneuve’s sci-fi epic Dune hit China today with an estimated RMB 42 million ($6.5 million) on 28,274 screens and a 34.3% share of the market. While we do not yet have a social score, Friday’s estimate would portend a weekend in the $20M+ neighborhood as we noted coming into the session. Handled in China
Disney’s 20th Century Studios’ Ryan Reynolds movie Free Guy is getting a China release date of Aug. 27. The most recent major Hollywood titles to hit the PRC are Disney/Pixar’s Luca today which made $1.18M on its opening day, behind the 22nd day of local title Raging Fire ($2.84M) and Sony’s Peter Rabbit 2: The Runaway in mid-June. To
Disney/Pixar’s sea monster story Luca has been granted an August 20 release date in China, signaling that the end of the giant market’s latest unofficial blackout period may be afoot. While Luca will take a prime slot amid a series of local holdovers and is the first Hollywood studio title to release since June, its
Refresh for latest…: As with domestic, a pair of new studio offerings opened at the international box office this weekend. However, the biggest grosses came from local pics in China where upcoming release dates for Hollywood continue to be a frustrating question mark. Getting to the studios first, in a 23-market rollout, Universal’s M Night
Disney’s Cruella has received a June 6 release date in China, which will see it start on a non-traditional Sunday next week. This is the latest Hollywood title to be confirmed by the Middle Kingdom with a shortened lead-time versus the usual 30-day advance. The Emma Stone-starrer began domestic and international box office rollout this