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Stills from “Guilty of Mind”
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Feng Xiaogang’s ‘Youth’ Enters Toronto International Film Festival

(CFI) The annual Toronto International Film Festival has added acclaimed Chinese director Feng Xiaogang’s Youth to its roster, ahead of next month’s opening. Feng’s latest film ‘Youth’ will be one of the ten international films to premiere globally at the festival.
‘Youth’ tells the story of a group of adolescents in an army art troupe in the 1970s to 80s and their coming-of-age. It will be screened in the Special Presentations section at the 2017 Toronto International Film Festival, while its release date for China has been set for October 1.
Feng is considered one of China’s most influential and commercially successful directors and screenwriters. Often dubbed as ‘China’s Steven Spielberg’, he is known for his comedy and drama works such as The Banquet, Aftershock, Be There or Be Square and The Dream Factory. His 2008 romantic comedy If You Are the One, for example, was the first movie ever to pass the RMB$1 billion milestone in box office in China.
Meanwhile, in China, Feng’s 2016 film ‘I Am Not Madame Bovary‘ is leading nominations at the 26th Golden Rooster and Hundred Flowers Awards, one of the country’s biggest film events of the year. The satirical comedy starring Chinese superstar Fan Bingbing has been nominated in six categories including Best Director and Best Actress in a Leading Role. The awards ceremony will be held from Sept 13th to 16th.
Source: China Film Insider
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Joe Chen poses for photo shoot
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Chai Biyun poses for fashion magazine
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Conflict movies lift China’s second-half box office as studios find more yuan in every bang

(SCMP) With Wolf Warrior 2 crossing the 5 billion yuan (US$749 million) mark at the mainland Chinese box office on Sunday, analysts see the trend of patriotic military and action films continuing, not only boosting sluggish Chinese movie ticket sales in the second half but also lifting the fortunes of companies that invested in the smash hit.
One of the hottest topics for discussion on the mainland this summer, Wolf Warrior 2 tells the story of the rescue of Chinese nationals caught up in a fictional African revolution. It has created China’s own super hero, Leng Feng (played by director Wu Jing), in the mould of western fictional characters such as James Bond and John Rambo, who are deeply patriotic for their country. Patriotic themes are now seen as essential to winning a bigger share of the mainland movie market that saw 1.3 billion tickets sold in 2016, according to analysts.
Since opening on July 27, the film has brought in around 5.06 billion yuan in ticket sales in China, according to data compiled by Chinese box office monitoring site Mao Yan. It is now the country’s highest-grossing film in history, surpassing the 3.39 billion yuan Hong Kong fantasy romance film The Mermaid which topped the mainland box office last year.
“A large number of the movie goers to this film are young and patriotic Chinese born in the 1980s who are now in their early 30s and have spending power,” said Qiao Mu, a former journalism professor at Beijing Foreign Studies University.
“With limited entertainment choices [as a result of government censorship of foreign content] it seems natural for them to crave patriotic-themed films,” he said. The central government has ordered the removal of a number of foreign and animated films from the country’s popular video streaming sites, which had been major entertainment sources for the country’s youth.
With the final ticket sales tally for Wolf Warrior 2 expected to be 5.5 billion yuan, the net return on investment ratio could be 782.6 per cent or 1.8 billion yuan for the film’s production companies, while movie distributors could pocket 343 million yuan from the box office, according to Citic Securities.
“One of the major reasons for Wolf Warrior’s huge success is that domestic military themed films are in [a golden era] whereas other film genres face the problem of being highly homogenised,” wrote Citic analysts covering the media sector.
Action films that include elements of romance would lure a much larger audience if they include patriotism, said the brokerage.
“Adding patriotic elements into action films would evoke people’s resonance more easily as it can achieve the goal of combining ‘small love’ with ‘great love’, and can thus become a ‘national’ movie,” the analysts said.
In China, the term“small love” is often used to refer to people’s affection toward family and friends, while “great love” means one’s passionate love for their country. In a nation that has put so much emphasis on collectivism, “great love” almost always ranks ahead when it comes to emotions.
As proof of the huge financial potential of patriotic films, stocks of the companies that invested in Wolf Warrior 2 have soared. One of the major investors, Beijing Jingxi Tourism Development Co, saw its shares soar by more than 66 per cent at one point, adding more than 6 billion yuan to its market capitalisation.
As such, the bubble created by the inflows of capital that invested heavily in romance and celebrity-heavy movies will burst, according to Citic. However, thanks to the new breed of action films, China’s box office is expected to recover from its sluggish performance in 2016 by adding 15 to 20 per cent growth in 2018-2019, said Citic analysts.
“With the low base of China’s ticketing sales in 2016 due to excessive ticket subsidies, the film sector is looking good and should have a high growth rate in the second half,” said Zhang Heng, an analyst from Guosen Securities.
Box office figures in 2015 were inflated by the practice of ticket subsidies where film producers and distributors paid money to online platforms to sell tickets at discounts.
“With more high quality domestic films expected to be shown in the second half, the audiences long lost passion for domestic films could be reignited and thus boost the box office in the second half,” said Zhang.
Source: South China Morning Post by Jane Li
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First stills of Cry Me A Sad River starring Zheng Shuang and Ma Tianyu
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Stills from SPL 3: Paradox
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Zhao Wei and Zhou Dongyu on cooking show
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Zhou Dongyu poses for photo shoot
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Liu Yifei at brand event
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'Chinese heroism films have (huge) market potential'

(Xinhua) Record box office receipts (of more than 4.5 billion yuan or $672 million). Sold-out cinemas. Standing ovations. A new Chinese action film has grabbed the heart of the nation.
Wolf Warrior II, released at cinemas nationwide on July 27, has surpassed Stephen Chow's Chinese fantasy comedy The Mermaid and topped China's all-time box office sales, raking in the record moolah by Aug 13.
The film premiered simultaneously in Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Malaysia and Britain.
The film earned over 423 million yuan in China on Aug 6 alone, the second most by a single film on a single day in China, following The Fate of the Furious on its second day of screening.
Wolf Warrior II tells the story of a former Chinese Special Forces operative's adventure in Africa's wartorn regions occupied by insurgents and mercenaries.
The total revenue of the film is estimated to reach 5.15 billion yuan, which will exceed the previous all-time box office record of the world's largest film market by more than 1.7 billion yuan, according to Maoyan, a major film database in China.
"My blood literally boiled for more than two hours, and my heart was pumping with pride," said Wang Qiushi, a resident from Changchun, capital of Northeast China's Jilin province. "To get a ticket, I went to a remote cinema in the city, but it was still very hard to find."
People have to book tickets in advance at night and on weekends, said Sun Yeguang, general manager of Changying Cinema in Changchun.
"The film currently accounts for at least 60 percent of all films shown at Changying Cinema," Sun said. "There was a lack of a major blockbuster in July, but Wolf Warrior II really saved the day."
Sun said many of the audience cried while watching the film and gave standing ovations after the show.
Kang Mengwen, a Beijing resident, said that he thought a domestic film on themes such as war and history would be dull, but the film genuinely blew him away.
"I used to study overseas, and I know exactly how important it is to feel protected in foreign countries," Kang said. "When I heard the captain in the film shout 'Fire!,' I cried because I feel that our country can protect us when we are in danger."
It is not the first time a domestic film about heroism has become a hit.
In 2014,The Taking of Tiger Mountain, a film about a 1940s Chinese spy, garnered 800 million yuan at the box office. Last year, action film Operation Mekong, based on a true story set against the backdrop of the Mekong River Massacre, where 13 Chinese sailors were murdered by members of a Myanmar drug trafficking ring, generated 1.1 billion yuan at the box office.
"Wolf Warrior II has proved yet again that Chinese heroism films have market potential," Sun said.
Many people have said that the film came out amid a waning sense of there being "true heroes" in a Chinese film.
One Beijing resident said that many films today are filled with xiaoxianrou, or "small fresh meat," a phrase referring to handsome men under 25, who have seen consistent commercial success but receive little critical acclaim.
"Wolf Warrior II is about hot-blooded heroes, courage and uprightness, which are quite impressive," a moviegoer said. "We don't lack great heroism stories in China; we just need more people who can make good films about these stories."
Huang Haikun, editor-in-chief of Movie View magazine, said, "One impressive thing about the film is the fight scenes and stunts."
Many actors in the film, including Wu Jing, the lead actor and director of the film, sustained injuries as they filmed their own stunts instead of relying on body doubles and special effects. This not only tested the abilities of the actors but significantly increased the film's budget.
"Behind every shot of the film was a lot of effort," Wu said.
Born in the 1970s, Wu once won national competitions in martial arts before moving into kung fu and action films.
Experts say that one of the reasons behind the Wolf Warrior phenomenon is China's rising film industry.
By the end of May, China had more than 45,000 film screens across the country, while the United States had 43,531.
"Wolf Warrior II benefited from the rise of local commercial cinemas," said Shi Chuan, with the Shanghai Theater Academy. "China has the highest number of film screens in the world, which lays a solid foundation for new box office records."
The summer vacation is usually a booming season for the film industry, which also contributed to the film's success, Shi said.
According to the film's overseas distributor, the film surpassed The Mermaid and Monster Hunt in Malaysia to become the highest grossing Chinese-speaking film in its debut week.
In Australia and New Zealand, the film's box office was second only to the latest installment of the Spiderman franchise.
Source: Xinhua
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Luc Besson seeks salvation for sci-fi film ‘Valerian’ in Chinese mainland



(Global Times) It has been nearly two months since the last English-language blockbuster debuted in the Chinese mainland. But starting this Friday, imported films are set to take on the mainland market once again, with Luc Besson's Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets leading the charge.
Based on the French science fiction comic series Valérian and Laureline, Besson's sci-fi action adventure flick was released in the US on July 21 and in France on July 26. Receiving mixed views from critics and a mediocre box-office take worldwide, the film is now looking to the Chinese mainland market to hopefully cover the costs of the $177.2 million production. While China has previously saved films that bombed at the US box office, such as last year's Warcraft, the sci-fi film is sure to see stiff competition from other imports such as the well-received action film Baby Driver and Pixar's animated film Cars 3.
On Sunday, Besson sat down with Chinese media at a press event in Beijing to promote the film.
High confidence
While most sci-fi films that have dominated the big screen in recent years have mostly come from Hollywood, Besson is confident that Valerian - produced by Besson's own independent French studio EuropaCorp - beats most of them.
"It doesn't matter if you like or don't like the film. In terms of imagination, creativity and ideas, there is 10 times more imagination in this one film than any film from Hollywood in the last 10 years."
Calling James Cameron's sci-fi blockbuster Avatar the "best film I ever seen," and praising the first Star Wars film as "great and wonderful," the French director went on to attribute the imagination on display in Valerian to all the people behind the project.
"I am saying it not pretentiously, because it's not me, it's the people who worked on the film. And I thank them, because their imagination is crazy," Besson told the Global Times.
Call for diversity
Of particular note to Chinese audiences is the addition of Chinese pop star Kris Wu in the film.
Rising to fame as a singer and dancer in the K-pop group EXO, the 26-year-old Chinese star began his acting career three years ago. While Wu's popularity in China is beyond doubt, his acting ability in the supporting role of Sergeant Neza was brought into question by critics who have seen Valerian.
When asked at the conference if he had chosen Wu as a way of catering to the Chinese market, Besson said, "To be honest when I met Kris I didn't know at all that he was popular."
Besson further explained that because the film is set in the 28th century, he knew Chinese audiences would challenge him if no Chinese characters appeared in the film.
Emphasizing the need for diversity in film, Besson remarked, "You know, I don't want one cinema. I am for diversity. I love the Chinese films, I love Italian films, the French ones, the American ones, the English ones. I think the more diversity we have, the richer we are."
"'You need to eat a little bit of everything,' my doctor said that to me," he joked.
A competitive market
While Besson earned a great reputation for himself with early works such as La Femme Nikita (1990) and Léon (1994), his recent films like The Family (2013) and Lucy (2014) have received a more lukewarm welcome.
The same has been true of Valerian. On film site IMDB and review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, Valerian holds a 6.7/10 and 5.5/10 respectively. But what's worse for the film is that it has only earned a total of $38.83 million in the US and $155.25 million worldwide so far, according to box-office tracker Box Office Mojo.
According to a report from Forbes, one of the major factors behind the film's poor North American performance was its release time. The film released alongside with war film Dunkirk, which had almost all the same selling points as Valerian and at the same time "monopolized all the IMAX screens and most of the Premium Large Format auditoriums" with the consensus among audiences being "You must see this movie on a giant movie screen."
Fortunately for Valerian, the film will be able to avoid a face-to-face confrontation with Dunkirk in the Chinese mainland as Jonathan Nolan's war film will be released the following week.
This does not mean the film won't face any competition as Baby Driver and Cars 3 release the same day.
Baby Driver is sure to be a big competitor as it has received great reviews overseas. However, the Chinese cut of the film is listed as being four minutes shorter than the original version, which could add an unknown variable to the mix.
Source: Global Times by Wei Xi
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Christopher Nolan arrives in Beijing for film Dunkirk promotion


(China Plus) A promotional event has been held in Beijing for Christopher Nolan's latest effort, "Dunkirk."
Nolan is in Beijing, along with others connected to the film, to promote it ahead of its September 1st release in China.
Although "Dunkirk" is set during World War II, Nolan says he believes it's better to describe the film as a suspense thriller, rather than a war movie.
"I think it's one of the great thriller suspense stories of all times. Our heroes face impossible loss and really no solution to the problems can be seen is what makes one of the great stories for me. So I needed a form of storytelling that would draw attention to what's different about the story; not to allow the usual characteristics of war movies that audiences are very familiar with to disguise what's unique and different about the film. So I approach it not as a war film but as a survival story and a suspense thriller," Nolan said.
This World War II thriller is centered on the real-life evacuation of Allied troops from the French city of Dunkirk while being encircled by Nazi forces in 1940.
"Dunkirk" follows the story of a handful of soldiers, sailors, Royal Air Force pilots and civilian volunteers.
With a budget of some 100-million US dollars, the film stars, among others, Tom Hardy, Harry Styles and Kenneth Branagh.
Source: China Plus by Xu Fei
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China Box Office: ‘Wolf Warriors II’ Continues Record Run, Extends Total to $769 Million

(Variety) “Wolf Warriors II” narrowly won its fourth weekend at the Chinese box office ahead of a pack of new releases. It extended its record haul in China to $769 million after 25 days.
Data from local provider Ent Group show that “Wolf Warriors II” briefly lost its top box-office spot last Friday to “Paradox.” But on Saturday and and Sunday, the patriotic action sensation reclaimed the No. 1 ranking. Both films enjoyed about 70,000 screenings per day.
Every ticket sold pushes “Wolf Warriors II” further into the lead as the all-time biggest movie ever released in China. Its total is now 50% bigger than previous claimant “The Mermaid.”
This was also another weekend in which the top Chinese film outpaced the top film at the North American box office. Stateside winner “Hitman’s Bodyguard” earned $21.6 million.
Hong Kong-made crime actioner “Paradox,” which opened the Hong Kong Summer International Film Festival, was released last Thursday and scored $31.4 million over the weekend. It finished on $41.2 million after four days.
“Paradox” was one of several Chinese-language titles taking advantage of the final week of the blackout period in which major foreign movies cannot be released in China. Other new releases included documentary “Twenty Two,” animated franchise movie “One Hundred Thousand Bad Jokes II,” the latest in the “Seer Movie” animated action series, and “Peace Breaker,” a crime actioner starring Aaron Kwok.
“Twenty Two” highlights the plight of Chinese and Korean women who were forced into prostitution during World War II by the Japanese army. It had its premiere at the Busan film festival in October 2015. Released nearly two years later last Monday, it earned $8.97 million over the weekend and finished its seven-day opening run with $18.7 million.
Backed by Tencent, comedy animation “Bad Jokes II” earned $8.28 million. Including previews, it has earned $8.78 million. “Seer Movie 6: The Invincible Puni” took fifth place over the weekend with $7.43 million. Including last week’s previews, it has a total of $9.38 million.
“Peace Breaker” earned $4.45 million in sixth place. Including its Thursday first day, it has $6.99 million over four days. Holdover title “Guilty of Mind” enjoyed $2.99 million over the weekend, for a 10-day cumulative total of $38.2 million.
Andy Lau-starring “The Adventurers” slumped to just $1.54 million in its second weekend. It s cumulative is a disappointing $34 million after 10 days.
BBC documentary “Earth: One Amazing Day” took ninth place with$1.23 million. After 10 days it has $4.71 million. Tenth spot belonged to “The War of Loong” with $560,000 over the weekend and $6.1 million after 16 days.
The blackout period is expected to end this Friday, with the release of “Cars 3,” “Baby Driver,” and “Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets.”
Source: Variety by Patrick Frater
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Golden Roosters set to crow


(China Daily) The 26th Golden Rooster and Hundred Flowers Film Festival will be staged in Hohhot, capital of the Inner Mongolia autonomous region, from Sept 13 to 16, organizers announced in Beijing recently.
During the four days, five themed exhibitions will debut the latest domestic movies, including acclaimed films from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan, plus foreign classics and titles about China's ethnic groups.
A highlight is the Golden Rooster International Exhibition, which will premiere 25 movies from 18 countries, including Italy, Iran, Japan and Israel.
The Golden Rooster Awards — the event's top honor — will be presented to 19 winners in categories ranging from the best drama to the best editing, on Sept 16.
Over 260 films, including 86 feature dramas and 18 documentaries, have been shortlisted to 84 candidates for the 19 awards.
Mr Six, starring Feng Xiaogang, and Feng's directorial feature, I Am Not Madam Bovary, have been nominated for best drama. These films will compete with SoulMate, Operation Mekong and Battle of Xiangjiang River in the category.
Mongolian filmmaker Lisi Mai's biopic Genghis Khan will be released at the festival's opening ceremony on Sept 13.
Up to 20 movies about Chinese ethnic groups, including 10 about Mongolians, will be screened.
Source: China Daily by Xu Fan
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Tong Dawei and Guan Yue celebrate ten years of marriage
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Angelababy poses for fashion magazine
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Film review: Last Romance – Maggie Cheung, Cherie Chung play best friends in Yonfan’s poignant 1988 melodrama

(SCMP) Two of Hong Kong’s most adored screen goddesses lend their girlish charm to Last Romance, re-released 29 years after it became a rare commercial hit in the career of art-house director Yonfan.
While its fashion and social setting are somewhat dated, the 1988 film still packs a punch with its deeply poignant tale of friendship and love that is repeatedly derailed by materialistic greed and lamentable life decisions.
Maggie Cheung Man-yuk and Cherie Chung Chor-hung play Nancy and So-so, best friends since age 17. Romantic yet unadventurous, Nancy soon settles for a thankless job at a fashion company and enters her mid-20s without ever being in a relationship. Meanwhile, So-so plots aggressively to rise above her humble family background, stopping her education early to work as a nightclub hostess. She then surrounds herself with rich older men, before agreeing to marry one for money.
The pair’s friendship comes under threat when their mutual high school crush, Jia-ming (Shingo Tsurumi, also in 1986’s Immortal Story), re-enters the picture. Nancy is helplessly smitten with Jia-ming, but Jia-ming only has eyes for So-so. However, So-so proceeds with her marriage despite knowing that Jia-ming is her one true love. Meanwhile, the Sino-British negotiations over Hong Kong and the 1987 financial crash bring tragedy to the characters in more ways than one.
Melodramatic yet admirably unpretentious, Last Romance evokes a world of melancholy regrets, in which characters are trapped as much by unfulfilled romantic desire as they are by their misguided belief in their own capitalist pursuits.
The unfortunate love triangle aside, Yonfan manages to capture the transience of youthful optimism through the changes in Cheung and Chung’s characters, who vividly lose their innocence over the course of 10 years.
The gorgeous but rather loose adaptation of Yi Shu’s novel simply shouldn’t be missed by any Hong Kong movie fan who is remotely enamoured by the two stars. It really is quite an experience seeing Cheung and Chung – who were both in their prime – playing off each other in this emotional roller coaster of a film.
Last Romanceopens on August 25
Source: South China Morning Post
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‘Valerian’ Looks to China After Tanking in Most Markets

(Variety) “Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets” is shaping up to be one of the biggest flops of the year. Considered the most expensive independent film ever made, the $180 million sci-fi epic never recovered from its crash at the U.S. box office on its opening weekend and has under-performed in most overseas markets.
With China, South Korea, Spain, and Italy left to open, “Valerian,” based on a French comic book, has grossed $93.3 million overseas, including an estimated $39.2 million from the U.S. as of Monday.
It has made just over $130 million globally. By contrast, EuropaCorp’s 2014 action-thriller “Lucy” — whose budget was $40 million — had passed $100 million in the U.S. at the same stage and had grossed more than $130 million worldwide, with 44 additional foreign territories still awaiting its release. In other words, it cost significantly less, had made nearly as much, and still had many more markets left to open. “Lucy” would end its run with an impressive $463.4 million in global ticket sales.
Even in France, where “Valerian” has clinched its best results so far, the film has grossed an estimated $30.5 million in a little more than three weeks — again well below “Lucy,” which earned about $37 million after its third week in France.
The release in China, set for Friday, could give “Valerian” a significant push, but even in the best-case scenario, it will be a challenge for “Valerian” to reach its break-even point, which analysts believe is over $400 million globally, or even to pass the $300 million mark that EuropaCorp said would allow the company to kick off a new franchise and recruit investors for a sequel.
Even if “Valerian” proves successful in ancillary markets, executives at rival studios currently estimate that “Valerian” could lose roughly $100 million from its theatrical release, though not all that loss would be borne by EuropaCorp.
A spokesperson for EuropaCorp acknowledged late last week that the film has failed to meet expectations in the U.S. and other English-speaking territories (Canada, Australia, U.K.) but argued that “Valerian” has performed well in France, as well as in Russia, where it opened on Aug. 10 and ranked first with $5.6 million (three times better than “Annabelle: Creation”) during its first weekend.
The stakes are particularly high for Fundamental, “Valerian’s” distributor in China and other Asian territories, which invested 60 million euros in EuropaCorp to become its second-largest shareholder a year ago, and put an additional $50 million into “Valerian.”
The hope is not only for “Valerian” to outpace the $45 million that “Lucy” grossed in China, but to rack up at least $100 million in China and South Korea, said Alexandre Koller, an analyst at Gilbert Dupont.
Fundamental is expected to roll out the movie on 5,000 to 7,000 screens in China, on a par with “Lucy.”
“We will really stay quiet until the film release and we have a clear view on where we will land,” said Fundamental.
So far, “Valerian” has received mixed reviews, including a 6.7 score out of 10 for audience anticipation on Douban, the influential Chinese listings and database site. But the movie has a couple strong marketing hooks, such as director Luc Besson, who has become a brand name in China and has a solid fan base there. The movie’s casting could click with Chinese audiences. The film has pop-culture cachet because its cast includes Rihanna, Cara Delevingne, and Kris Wu, a Taiwanese actor and model.
“Valerian,” however, may have to scramble for screens in China with two other anticipated Western films, “Cars 3” and “Baby Driver,” also set for a release on Aug. 25, following a six-week summer blackout without any new Hollywood titles.
While EuropaCorp took steps to mitigate its risk, bringing in nine different equity partners and selling rights to foreign distributors, one insider said that despite those moves, the studio could lose $20 million. That’s without taking into account the cost of the prints and ads (P&A) for the U.S., which is estimated at $60 million. STX, which distributed the film in the U.S., put up the P&A and will recoup it from the theatrical run before the equity investors receive their money, according to an industry source.
Because different distributors own the foreign rights to the film in different markets, some will make money. Others, who have the misfortune of handling the rollout in territories where the picture has not been embraced, will lose millions.
Then there’s a question of optics. The failure of “Valerian” is a major embarrassment for EuropaCorp. The studio has suffered a string of money losers such as “The Circle,” “Miss Sloane,” and “The Disappointments Room,” and recently shuttered its stateside marketing and distribution operations.
Koller predicts that if the movie ends up making less than $300 million globally, EuropaCorp will need to raise more capital. He said that the company would also be forced to concentrate their activity on TV series such as “Taken,” while producing fewer films with more modest budgets.
Besson, whose credits include “The Fifth Element” and “The Professional,” has some experience
with rejection. At the premiere of “Valerian” in Paris last month, he noted that, apart from “Lucy,” none of his films was successful in the U.S. They only became cult hits later on home entertainment platforms.
Source: Variety by Elsa Keslassy, Brent Lang and Patrick Frater
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Character posters for a new drama starring Li Yitong and Deng Lun
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