China Box Office

A goal of the Chinese government is to export domestic films to the rest of the world and thus increase its influence abroad. At the recent Cannes Film Festival, at the China Film Pavilion, one topic of discussion was the international distribution of Chinese films.

China is positioning itself as a leader of cultural influence, and it learned its lessons from Hollywood, according to Erich Schwartzel in his book “Red Carpet: Hollywood, China, and the Global Battle for Cultural Supremacy". Schwartzel writes about a meeting in 2008 of Chinese executives and Hollywood leaders in Los Angeles.

Jurassic World: Dominion continues to make money in China, but it fell out of the No. 1 slot this weekend.

Jurassic World: Dominion continues to dominate the Chinese box office in its second week, earning a total of $92. 23 million so far in 10 days, and $23 million over the weekend with 20% of its cinemas still closed for Covid reasons.

Top Gun: Maverick broke box office records in Taiwan, taking in $3. 4 million in its opening week, according to NBC news.

Jurassic World: Dominion will open in China on June 10, 2022. But Top Gun: Maverick doesn’t have a release date and probably will not get one.

At the Cannes Film Festival going on now, the China Film Co-Production Corporation (CFCC) set up the China Film Pavilion at the Marché du Film and a China booth at the Palais des Festivals to establish “confidence in the development of the industry and restart international exchanges and cooperation in the field. ” There are no Chinese films being screened at the Festival aside from a handful of shorts.

Covid lockdowns continue in China affecting the entire economy. Shanghai has been shuttered for over a month.

After much controversy over the removal of six seconds of dialogue editing out all references to the romantic relationship of Dumbledore (Jude Law) and Grindlewald (Mads Mikkelsen), Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore won the week at the China box office, earning $14. 7 million since its opening on April 9.

For four months last year Fan Bingbing, the most famous actress in China, disappeared, alarming her fans and causing all kinds of conspiracy theories on social media. She reemerged from her (voluntary?) seclusion when she was charged with tax evasion for understating her earnings on at least four fake movie contracts, something that is apparently common practice in China.