Film

Chinese cinema-goers might not have flocked to see Barbie in the same numbers as in the UK and US, but the film has been much more successful than other recent Hollywood releases and has sparked some interesting consumer trends Greta Gerwig’s Barbie film starring Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling has been a massive hit with audiences around the world – including China. After a fairly slow opening weekend, as of …

Can James Bond and Paddington beat out Marvel et al? Might Hollywood’s current fractious relationship with China be a chance for British movies to grab more screen time? And if it is, how can other industries cash in? Paul French speaks to author Erich Schwartzel to find out It’s no secret that Hollywood’s romance with China is over. Despite trying to find the Secret Sauce recipe for success at the …

The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA), has launched a new initiative to bring Chinese emerging talent in film, games and television to international attention. BAFTA Breakthrough China will see a jury of Chinese and British industry experts find five ‘Breakthrough’ talents from across China to take part in the year-long mentoring and guidance programme. Winners will be announced in October, and then flown to the UK to …

China’s latest box office hit has been called propaganda but the Pentagon has been using Hollywood for a century, writes Tom Pattinson The Wandering Earth – a big-budget sci-fi thriller that tells the tale of a future planet earth saved by a China-led rescue team – earned a whopping £500 million at the Chinese box office over the New Year holidays. Based on a Liu Cixin story, the film has …

As Chinese publishers gear up for their biggest ever year at the London Book Fair, Jo Lusby looks at the market for content in China, and a box office race that tells a bigger story about book, film and TV businesses in the world’s largest IP market. The race was on: Who would grab the lion’s share of the RMB 5.83 billion (£665.9 million) 2019 Spring Festival box office? Would …

Director Sam Voutas talks about the making of the film and ‘90s Beijing A far cry from the high-rise, glass and steel structures that dominate the capital today, 1990’s Beijing was a dusty city full of low-rise hutong buildings. Street-food sellers hawked their snacks on street corners and entrepreneurial ‘businessmen’ would sell pirated VCDs (a precursor to DVDs) of the latest Hollywood blockbusters. Writer and director Sam Voutas’ new film …

Lying across the Shandong Peninsula, Qingdao looks out over the Yellow Sea to Korea and Japan. Situated halfway between Beijing and Shanghai, it is just an hour flight to these main hubs. Situated on China’s east coast, Qingdao is the largest city in Shandong province. Although it is not the provincial capital (which is neighbouring Jinan) it is administered at the sub-provincial level, and it has jurisdiction over six districts …