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Chinese English textbook adapted into film

May 14, 2017, 8:50 am
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A film based on the fictional characters in the most popular Chinese English textbook will hit theaters in June.
"How Are You" tries to draw on the nostalgia of former Chinese students who used the textbook to study English in their junior high school years from 1990 - 2000. It was compiled by the People's Education Publishing House and the London-based Longman Publishing Group.
The film producers claim about 200 million students used the textbook.
The editors designed several fictional characters such as Han Meimei, Li Lei, Jim, Lily, Lucy, Miss Gao and an English-speaking parrot named Polly. The educational materials were built around their dialogues and interactions in the book and an accompanying oral English cassette, which later became an unforgettable memory for numerous students.
This generated a cult pop culture after such students started to remember their youthful days in discussions via the internet since 2005. Various cultural creations were made based on these characters, mainly Li Lei and Han Meimei, including a comic strip, books, a music group, merchandise, stage play, amateur music video, mini movie and a TV series.
The new film "How Are You", directed by Yang Yongchun and starring young actors Zhang Zifeng and Zhang Yijie, will offer a new puppy-love romantic storyline based on the original characters from the textbook. The film will be released in China on June 9, 2017.
Source: china.org by zhang rui
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China looks for film cooperation along the Maritime Silk Road

May 14, 2017, 8:52 am
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(Global Times) Established by the Chinese Guangxi Film Group, the Center for Film Translation of ASEAN Languages serves as an important platform for co-produced film projects between China and its Southeast Asian neighbors.

"Facing Southeast Asia, South China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region provides the nation with one of the most convenient routes to the sea. It's this special location that makes the region an important portal for the 21st Maritime Silk Road and the Silk Road Economic Belt," said Pan Huaiyuan, vice president of the Guangxi Film Group and the head of the center.

The center started translating and producing films in 2013. It was responsible for translating Vietnamese films, such as Hot Sand, Scent of Grass Ashes and Adrift, into Chinese, while also translating Chinese movies such as The Gift of Life into Vietnamese and Monkey King: Hero is Back, Saving Mr Wu and The Nightingale into Thai.

According to Pan, another important part of the center's efforts has been the cross-nation film weeks it has hosted. In December 2013, the first China-Vietnam Film Culture Week was held in Pingxiang, Guangxi ; the China-Singapore Film Culture Week in Nanning, the capital city of Guangxi in September 2014; and a China-Thailand Film Culture Week in Bangkok, Thailand in April 2016.

In 2016, Vietnam was the guest nation of honor at the 13th China-ASEAN Expo.

This connection between the two nations continues this year. The second China-Vietnam Film Week will be held in September and November in Nanning and Ho Chi Ming City, respectively. During the three-day film festivals, a total of six films from both countries will be screened. Additionally, forums and business talks on film will be held.

The center has also worked on a number of co-productions over the years. According to the Guangxi Film Group, the current plan is to complete one co-production every one or two years.

Distance is one example of the center's co-productions. Directed by filmmakers from China, Singapore and Thailand, the film tells three stories focusing on family, friendship and love that cross national boundaries. Distance was the opening film of the 52nd Taiwan Gold Horse Awards in 2015 and released internationally in 2016.  

The center is currently working on Da Ben Xiang (The Giant Elephant), a Sino-Thai coproduction. It tells the story of a Chinese Thai archeologist who lives a disappointing life in a city. However, after he has a run in with an elephant, the two take on a mission to search their shared lost homeland. Production of the film is expected to finish during the second half of 2017.

"Film is a universal art form enjoyed by audiences around the world," Pan said. "China has the largest number of film screens in the world and is the second largest film market, while Southeast Asia is one of the fastest growing markets for film. Both sides are eager to communicate and cooperate to expand movie co-productions." 

Source: Global Times by Wei Xi
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India’s ‘Dangal’ to Upset ‘Guardians’ at China Box Office

May 14, 2017, 8:54 am
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(Variety) India’s “Dangal” is set to swap places with “Guardians of the Galaxy vol. 2” and take the top spot at the Chinese box office. Both will trounce newly released “King Arthur.”

The Aamir Khan-starring “Dangal” topped the Chinese charts on both Friday and Saturday, with sharply improved scores, compared with its opening frame. On Friday “Dangal” grossed $6.21 million, followed by $13.9 million on Saturday. The previous weekend “Dangal” had scores of $2.27 million and $4.70 million on the comparable days and finished its three-day opening with $11.3 million.

Exhibitors increased the film’s outings to 35,000 screenings on Friday and 55,000 on Saturday. That compared with an average of 30,000 a week ago. Per screen takings were the highest in the chart.

After nine days “Dangal” has a cumulative of $47.2 million in China. That puts it some way behind “Guardians,” which released on the same day and stands on a cume of $75.4 million.

“King Arthur” opened on Friday in fourth place and climbed to third on Saturday. After two days, it has scored $3.73 million. “Power Rangers,” which also opened on Friday, has earned $2.68 million to date. “The Fate of the Furious” has now edged up to $383 million after 30 days on release.

Source: Variety by Patrick Frater
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Zhou Dongyu poses for photo shoot

May 14, 2017, 8:55 am
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Actress Zhou Dongyu


Source: Xinhua
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Elephant Dee and Lin Chi-ling's fashion shoot

May 14, 2017, 8:57 am
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  Dee Hsu and Lin Chi-ling pose for the fashion magazine


Source: China Daily
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Sony Pictures to Remake Two Russian Comedies for China

May 15, 2017, 8:50 am
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(THR) '8 First Dates' and '8 New Dates' will be first-ever Russian movies adapted by a Hollywood major in China.

Sony Pictures Entertainment has struck a deal with Russian production companies GORAD and Green Films to remake two comedies as Chinese-language films for the Chinese market.

8 First Dates and its sequel, 8 New Dates, will become the first-ever Russian movies adapted by a Hollywood major for Chinese viewers.

"We are glad that our comedies attracted Sony by their original ideas," producer Yekaterina Gorodetskaya said in a press release. "China is currently one of the world's biggest film markets, and we are glad that Chinese audience will soon see adaptations of our films, produced by a Hollywood major."

"China is just the first step in the adaptation process of 8 First Dates and 8 New Dates," said producer Marius Vaisberg, adding that a success in China could lead to more international adaptations, including those in the United States.

Romantic Comedy 8 First Dates focused on the relations between a TV star and her fiance, a tennis player, was released in Russia in 2012, followed by 8 New Dates three years later.

The franchise's two parts collectively grossed just under $15 million in theaters.

The deal comes as a second adaptation project for Russian film and TV content in China in less than two months.

In late March, China’s Ulan Culture Media and Russia’s Yellow, Black & White agreed to adapt the Russian sitcom How I Became a Russian (Kak ya stal russkim) for the Chinese market.

Source: The Hollywood Reporter by Vladimir Kozlov
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Power Rangers sequel 'appears unlikely' after box office flop

May 15, 2017, 8:53 am
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A sequel to the 'Power Rangers' movie is reportedly unlikely to be given the go-ahead due to its underwhelming performance at the box office.

The Dean Israelite-directed reboot of the popular TV series was released earlier this year - but modest ticket sales in China mean a sequel now appears unlikely, according to Den of Geek.

The movie - which starred the likes of Dacre Montgomery, Naomi Scott, Bryan Cranston and Elizabeth Banks - earned as much as $85 million at the US box office, with a further $50 million being earned in other overseas markets.

But the film failed to garner much attention in China, which has become a critical market for the movie industry over recent years, because it can breathe life into movies that failed to capture the attention of the US public.

'Warcraft', for instance, struggled in the US but was a significant success in China, which has considerably boosted the prospect of there being a sequel.

On the other hand, 'Power Rangers' opened to a disappointing $1.2 million on its first day, thereby reducing the chances of there being a follow-up movie.

The film is not released in Japan - another crucial overseas market - until July, but it is thought highly unlikely it will be sufficiently successful there for a sequel to be demanded.

'Power Rangers' has already surpassed its budget in terms of box office earnings, but the movie has reportedly fallen short of Lionsgate's pre-release hopes.

What's more, 'Power Rangers' - which is the first blockbuster movie to feature LGBT and autistic superheroes - received mixed reviews from critics upon its release.

Source: Rome News Tribune
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China Box Office: ‘Dangal’ Takes Weekend Win From ‘Guardians’

May 15, 2017, 8:55 am
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(Variety) Aamir Khan-starring Indian sports drama, “Dangal” expanded in its second week at the Chinese box office and took top place from “Guardians of the Galaxy vol 2.”

In its second week of release, “Dangal” earned $32.5 million, giving it a 10-day cumulative of $59.7 million, according to data from Ent group. The weekend score was nearly triple its opening frame, when it scored $11.3 million. The cumulative in China is now on a par with film’s score, of $58.1 million, in its native India.

Exhibitors in China increased the screen count for “Dangal” to some 55,000 screenings per day on Saturday and Sunday.

“Guardians,” which had opened on the same day as “Dangal” and topped the box office in its first week, slipped to $15.8 million in its second frame. After 10 days, it has a cumulative of $81.1 million.

The action was all at the top of the chart. “King Arthur: Legend of the Sword” turned out not to be one of the Hollywood films that will be saved by China. The Guy Ritchie-directed fantasy epic placed fourth on its opening day and rose only as far as third place on Saturday and Sunday. Its three day opening score was $6.05 million. It tussled with Hong Kong-Chinese co-production “Dealer Healer” which made $4.42 million for fourth place. Another opener, “Power Rangers” landed in fifth spot with $4.39 million.

Chinese comedy “What A Wonderful Family” took sixth place with $2.97 million, ahead of “Absurd Accident,” a Chinese crime comedy with $1.49 million.

“The Fate of the Furious” continued to add to it record breaking total. It added just $1.16 million, but pushed its cumulative after 31 days to $384 million.

“Smurfs: The Lost Village” added $1.1 million, to extend its cumulative to $24.4 million after 24 days. Hong Kong-Chinese crime action film “Shock Wave” took tenth place with $790,000 for the weekend and a cumulative of $55.7 million after 17 days.

Source: Variety by Patrick Frater
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Stills from “Wine War”

May 15, 2017, 8:57 am
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Stills from “Wine War”


Source: Xinhua
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Happy Birthday Wan Qian

May 15, 2017, 8:59 am
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Chinese actress  Wan Qian


Source: Xinhua
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Street shots of actress Wang Ou

May 15, 2017, 9:00 am
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From teenager to warlord in ‘Farewell My Concubine’

May 16, 2017, 7:57 am
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(AP) — As a teenager, Zhao Hailong had a role in the award-winning film “Farewell My Concubine,” the story of the life-long friendship between two men who met as apprentices in China’s famed Peking opera.

Today, almost 25 years later, Zhao is playing the lead on stage in the Peking opera classic of the same name.

At a theater in Beijing, he plays a warlord from more than 2,000 years ago who, surrounded by enemy forces, seeks out his favorite concubine, played in the production by Shang Wei. When she realizes that the warlord is on the verge of defeat, and not wanting to become a burden to him, she kills herself with his sword.

In the 1993 film by acclaimed director Chen Kaige, Zhao played the teenage incarnation of Shitou, or Stone, one of the main characters, while Shang is the granddaughter of the late Peking opera master Shang Xiaoyun.

Performers in the Peking style of Chinese opera sing, affect ritualized gestures and stances, and employ acrobatics and martial arts moves, often in stylized battle scenes.

Reporters were taken to watch the weekend performance at the Liyuan Theater as part of China’s attempt to showcase traditional Chinese culture on the sidelines of a global forum promoting Chinese investment and transit links with other parts of Asia, Africa and Europe.

The initiative, formally known as “One Belt, One Road,” seeks to recreate ancient Silk Road land and maritime trading routes.

Source: Associated Press by Louise Watt
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Cannes: ‘Dumpling Queen’ Animation Set as German-Chinese Venture (EXCLUSIVE)

May 16, 2017, 7:59 am
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(Variety) Chinese firms, Huawen Pictures and Gravity Pictures have teamed with Berlin- and Los Angeles-based production house MovieBrats Pictures to develop and produce animated comedy “The Dumpling Queen.”

The film is based on a screenplay by U.S. screenwriter Raven Burnett from an original story by Burnett, Alexander Weimer, and Tobias Trebeljahr. No director has yet been attached.

Visual development is currently under way in Berlin by MovieBrats Studios, an affiliate animation and vfx studio to MovieBrats Pictures. Animation duties will later be shared with a studio in China.

Pitched as an action-packed and empowering story of family, tradition, and finding one’s place in the world, the story sees a girl take over from her father in the family dumpling restaurant. She has to learn to cook from the heart after losing control of the magic recipe that she thought would keep her evil uncle at bay.

Huawen’s Liu Yiwei and Gravity’s Wayne Wei Jiang (“Meg”) serve as executive producers. Production will be by Weimer and Esther Friedrich for MovieBrats.

“The magic of food is that it is that universal language that we all speak fluently. I’m pretty confident that with ‘The Dumpling Queen’ we cooked up a recipe that audiences both in China and the rest of the world will relish,” said MovieBrats co-managing director Weimer.

“We are continuing our successful efforts of Sino-Western jointly-developed projects with the vision of establishing a new brand franchise for an ever-growing Chinese animation audience,” said Jiang. 

Production and distribution operation, Gravity Pictures is part of the China Media Capital group of companies and is the designated Chinese distributor of films flowing from Flagship Entertainment, the joint venture between CMC and Warner Bros.

Huawen, which spans investment, development, production, publicity, distribution and advertising roles, was originally set up by TV personality Liu to provide training programs for young directors, producers and writers. Liu has credits in front of and behind the camera, and is also secretary general of the China Film Director’s Guild.

MovieBrats will be at the Cannes Film Festival taking part in the series of events hosted by Sino-European producers association Bridging the Dragon.

Source: Variety by Patrick Frater
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Wanda Cinema Line To Acquire 1.9 Percent Stake In Bona Film Group

May 16, 2017, 8:02 am
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(CFI) Wanda Cinema Line,  China’s biggest exhibitor, announced Monday that it has signed a framework agreement to invest 300 million yuan ($43.51 million) for a 1.9 percent stake in Bona Film Group.

New Bona cinemas — including both newly constructed and newly purchased cinemas — will now become a part of Wanda Cinema Line, according to the agreement.

Wanda Cinema Line — which recently announced it was rebranding as Wanda Film Holding — will also take over any Bona cinemas that are currently tied up in agreements with other companies when those deals expire.

In addition to the cinema alliance, the two companies also agreed to cooperate on advertising and film investments, according to the announcement.

Wanda has been rapidly expanding its assets and capability in the entertainment industry in recent years buying up overseas cinema chains and said earlier this year it planned to spend about RMB 2 billion (US$290 million) to open 80 cinemas across China in 2017.

The company, headed by China’s richest man, Wang Jianlin, has a stated goal of owning 20 percent of the world’s movie screens. Beijing-based distributor and producer Bona Film Group currently operates 41 theaters with 336 screens across the country.

In February, Bona Film Group. signed a 30-theater deal with IMAX, making the distribution company one of IMAX’S top five exhibitor partners in China.

The news comes days after Beijing-based distributor and producer Bona Film Group inched a step further towards relisting on China’s A-share market this week, just over a year after it retreated from the NASDAQ.

Earlier this month, John Zeng, president of Wanda Cinema Line/Wanda Film Holding, told local media the company also has plans to launch its own video streaming website this year.

Source: China Film Insider by Fergus Ryan
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Movie remake transports family tale to Beijing

May 16, 2017, 8:04 am
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(China Daily) Film What a Wonderful Family, the Chinese remake of Japanese master Yoji Yamada's 2016 comedy with the same title, was presented in a preview screening recently in Beijing.

Most of the viewers say they could relate and they enjoyed the family conflicts and affections featured in the movie.

Localizing the setting to a Beijing family of three generations, the Chinese remake keeps the main conflict of the Japanese original: The grandmother asks a divorce as a birthday gift, but draws the family into chaos.

Actors-turned director Huang Lei joined all of the cast members, including Taiwan actor Lee Li-chun and veteran actress Hai Qing, after the screening to share some of the back story.

The movie is Huang's first directorial feature in his showbiz career spanning 20 years.

Huang has set some scenes in the remake to act as an homage to Yamada, such as Yamada's 1977 comedy The Yellow Handkerchief of Happiness, which airs on television in one take.

The movie hit screens on the Chinese mainland on May 11.

Source: By Xu Fan | chinadaily.com.cn
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Leon Lai Ming Teams up with Zhang Hanyu in waging a wine war in France

May 16, 2017, 8:06 am
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(China Plus) 50-year-old Chinese star Leon Lai Ming's directorial debut, "Wine War," is due to open this Friday.

This is Lai's latest collaboration with veteran actor Zhang Hanyu.

In a recent interview, Leon Lai said he selected Zhang Hanyu to be his co-star in the treasure hunt adventure because of their close friendship off the set.

The film also stars supermodel-turned-actress Du Juan, as well as Taiwan actor David Wang and model/actor Nan Fulong from Tianjin.

Leon Lai and Zhang Hanyu last worked together in the 2011 film "White Vengeance."

Source: China Plus 
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Angelababy collides with classic cartoon characters

May 16, 2017, 8:08 am
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Chinese actress Angelababy is featured in a series of fashion photos for the May issue of the magazine Harper’s Bazaar China. The photo shows her playing the classic role of Sailor Moon.


Source: China Daily
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Actress Liu Tao poses for fashion magazine

May 16, 2017, 8:09 am
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Distributing deal is music to Tencent and UMG

May 17, 2017, 8:07 am
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(Shanghai Daily) Tencent Holdings Ltd, China’s biggest gaming and social media firm, has reached a deal with US music firm Universal Music Group to distribute licensed content in China.

Tencent Music Entertainment Group, the Chinese firm’s music subsidiary, will also own exclusive rights to sub-license UMG’s content to other content providers in China, the two firms said in a statement yesterday.

“The digital opportunity in China’s music market is truly extraordinary, with over half a billion people enabled with smart phones. Our expansive new partnership with Tencent will enable UMG to fully address this opportunity,” said Michael Nash, UMG executive vice president of digital strategy.

Last year, Tencent and leading Chinese music-streaming company China Music Corp struck a deal to combine their music businesses under a new venture valued at US$6 billion.

In 2015, Germany’s BMG music rights company reached an agreement with Tencent rival Alibaba Group Holding Ltd to license 2.5 million copyrights in the Chinese market.

But despite the wide proliferation of streaming sites, China’s music industry is still in its infancy unlike Japan and South Korea, and subscription services are still less developed.

In 2015, the country said it was targeting a music industry output of US$47 billion by 2020.

According to research firm IFIR, China’s music industry was worth US$170 million in 2015.

Tencent’s music unit, which has more than 600 million monthly active users and 15 million paying subscribers, oversees music services QQ Music, KuGou and Kuwo.

It will also work with UMG to build a recording studio “inspired” by the famous UMG Abbey Road studio in London, it said.

Source: Shanghai Daily 
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China-France Film Festival opened by 'Finding Mr. Right II'

May 17, 2017, 8:09 am
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(China Plus) The 7th China-France Film Festival on Monday opened on Champs Elysees.

Directed by Xue Xiaolu, 'Finding Mr. Right II' served as the opening movie. Xue and the leading actor Wu Xiubo attended the ceremony together with French super star Juliette Binoche and director Claude Lelouch.

Another selected 10 Chinese films, including 'Call of Heroes', 'Chongqing Hot Pot', and 'Crosscurrent' are also going to be screened in Paris, Strasboug, Lyon, Marseilles, Cannes and other French cities during the festival.

All films are highly rated on the Chinese market.

According to CCTV, Yan Zhenquan, director of the China Cultural Center in Paris, said the event has gradually becoming recognizable locally.

"The China-France Film Festival has been a really popular project in France. More and more French learn about quickly changing China via films."

The event runs from May 15th to June 27th.

Source: China Plus by Xu Yaqi
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