China’s Hengdian World Studios (“Chinawood”) is the largest outdoor film studio in the world, and since the lifting of Covid restrictions, business has been booming, according to Global Times.

Located in Zhejiang province, five hours by car from Shanghai, it covers 2,500 acres. Its sets include the Forbidden City, Ming and Qing dynasty palaces and lifelike jungles. The sets are free to use for productions – the money is made by the rental of costumes and equipment as well as from the use of its hotels and restaurants. At present, 25 crews are shooting with 42 more booked to do so in the near future.

Film extras are registering in droves for work with China’s Screen Actors Guild, and 30,000 were recommended to crews in January alone, per Global Times. Each extra can earn $430 – $574 (3,000 – 4,000 yuan) per month.

Before Covid, more than 11 million tourists visited Hengdian each year, and they are definitely coming back as well. It is especially popular with retirees and wedding parties. Performances and shows like those at Universal and Disney theme parks are also popular.

Foreign crews are also welcomed. The Australian film Flying Tiger and the German documentary Time of Sorrow are already shooting there, with several others scheduling shoots this year.

Just for the Chinese New Year month starting in January, the Chinese box office was over $1 billion and has since almost doubled.

Deadline is reporting that Universal’s The Super Mario Bros. Movie is the latest Hollywood movie to get a release date in China. It will open on April 5 ahead of its domestic release two days later. The release date coincides with the Ching Ming Festival and with the long notice, the distributors will have time for marketing and promotion efforts, something not every release is granted.

Here are the top ten films for the weekend of March 3-5, 2023.

Last week’s winner, Hong Kong release A Guilty Conscience, traded places with a new Hong Kong film, Cyber Heist, through the weekend. Though A Guilty Conscience ended the weekend at No. 1 on Sunday with $5.15 million, that was less than Cyber Heist’s weekend take of $6.04 million.

Guilty’s total gross so far is $18.14 million over ten days including a week’s previews. Directed by Wai-Lun Ng, the courtroom drama stars Chi-Wah Wong, Louise Wong and Kai-Wa Ho and tells the story of a lawyer who works to free an innocent woman after his negligence landed her in jail.

At No. 2 on Sunday, Cyber Heist, previously known as Disconnected, is directed by Danny Wong and stars Aron Kwok, a cyber security expert who fights a virus attack that was secretly unleashed by his boss and gets caught up in a money-laundering scam. The film grossed $6.04 million over three days of release.

The Wandering Earth 2, in third place by the weekend’s end, has grossed $588.31 million over 43 days with $4.55 million over the weekend. The sci-fi disaster film stars Andy Lau, Wu Jing and Li Xuejian, is directed by Frant Gwo, and is about Chinese heroes saving the earth from annihilation.

The animated Boonie Bears: Guardian Code, Zhang Yimou’s historical suspense movie Full River Red (Man Jiang Hong) and Antman and the Wasp: Quantumania traded places for the fourth, fifth and sixth spots on the charts over the weekend.

Bears wound up in fourth place on Sunday with a total gross of $214.85 million over 43 days and a weekend take of $2.61 million. FRR’s total gross is $668.12 million over 43 days with a weekend gross of $3.2 million. It took fifth place on Sunday. Antman has made $37.74 million over 17 days so far with a weekend take of $3.11 million, settling for sixth place.

The Deep Sea (Shenhai), a Chinese animated film directed by Tian Xiaopeng came in at No. 7 with a total of $132.18 million over its 43-day run. The film is an underwater fantasy story in 3D based on the POV of a young girl.

At No. 8 is the new comedy Post Truth, which is playing in previews. It earned $0.80 million over the three-day weekend. The film tells the story of how a former mob boss, now a cemetery salesman, tries to clear the name of a woman he doesn’t know after ugly Internet rumors follow her death. It is directed by Da Peng and stars Dong Chengpeng and Li Xueqin.

Director Cheng Er’s World War II espionage thriller, Hidden Blade, took ninth place, grossing $136.57 million in 43 days. It stars Chinese superstar Tony Leung, Wang Yibo and Zhou Xun. The story is set during the Japanese occupation of Shanghai and focuses on the intelligence agents who risked their lives to save the motherland.

Avatar: The Way of Water rounded out the top ten on Sunday, ending with $250.75 million over its extended run of 80 days.