China Box Office: ‘The Marvels’ Disappoints With $11.5 Million, Second Place, Opening Weekend

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief “Wellington Paranormal,” the series spinoff from 2014 breakout hit film “What We Do In the Shadows,” is launching an audio companion piece. It is produced by Frank Podcasts, a new New Zealand-based podcast network, headed by Mike Minogue and Tim Batt. The podcast will feature actors, writers, directors and more, delving into the making of the Jemaine Clement produced and Taika Waititi executive produced TV series, “Wellington Paranormal.” The show is hosted by Minogue (who played Officer Minogue in the series) and Karen O’Leary (Officer O’Leary), with Maaka Pohatu (Sarge) and Tom Sainsbury (Officer Parker) as recurring guests.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Mirror, the Hong Kong boy band that shot to fame in 2018 but had its live career cut short by a tragic on-stage incident, will return to in-person live performances in January. The 12-piece band will play 16 shows at the Asia World Expo auditorium, one of Hong Kong’s largest venues, as part of their ‘Mirror Feel the Passion Concert Tour 2024.’ They will perform Jan. 15-17, 19-22, 24-27, 29-31, and Feb.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Producer and screenwriter, Darren Dale has been named as the new board chair of the Sydney Film Festival, following the retirement of Dianne Weir. He is a leading advocate for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander content and has been director of Blackfella Films since 2000.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Marco Mueller, the veteran film festival curator and director, is set to launch a new festival and market in Macau. It will have its first edition in January. The Asia-Europe Young Cinema Festival, running Jan.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Chen Shaojie, the chairman and CEO of leading Chinese gaming live-streaming platform Douyu, has been arrested. The NASDAQ-listed company confirmed the previously-reported news in a regulatory filing late on Tuesday. DouYu said that it was informed that Chen was arrested by police in Chengdu “on or about Nov. 16.” Reputable Chinese and international media previously reported that he had been missing for at least three weeks and had been away from public view since August. In China, suspects in criminal cases are often detained for weeks or months prior to their formal arrest.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief The QCinema Project Market, the industry initiative that accompanies The Philippines’ QCinema International Film Festival, revealed its winners list on Tuesday delivering almost $500,000 of grants and in-kind support. The prizes followed a two-day networking and pitching event on Nov. 18 and 19 for 19 feature-length fiction film projects from Southeast Asia.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Cannes’ Directors Fortnight section has joined forces with The Philippines for the latest edition of its Directors Factory professional training program. Operating since 2013, when it kicked off in Taiwan, the Directors’ Factory works with a new partner country each year to mentor eight budding filmmakers who are preparing ambitious first or second feature projects that they will make in pairs. The four resulting co-written and co-directed short films will be screened as part of the Directors’ Fortnight (aka Quinzaine des Cineastes) in May. Four pairs were selected in Manila in October: Eve Baswel (Philippines) and Gogularaajan Rajendran (Malaysia); Maria Estela Paiso (Philippines) and Ashok Vish (India); Arvin Belarmino (Philippines) and Lomorpich Rithy (aka YoKi) (Cambodia); Don Josephus Raphael Eblahan (Philippines) and Tan Siyou (Singapore). They have now begun writing their screenplays and are expected to shoot their films March in Dapitan, a city in The Philippines’ Zamboanga Peninsula, known for its many shrines and as the place of exile of Philippines’ national hero, Jose Rizal. These days it is a hub for domestic and international tourism. Post-production of the four titles will then be hosted in Quezon City, which seeks to become the new film capital of the Philippines and where many of the country’s post-production houses are already based. The program is operated and co-produced by Epicmedia Productions of The Philippines and Dominique Welinski, founder and curator of DW (France).

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief EST Media, the Asian-focused film and video group, hatched by Jaeson Ma and former Vice Media executive Eric Tu, is now diversifying into publishing. It is launching EST Articles under its Eastern Standard Times journalism banner. The digital-only publication is “dedicated to exploring the voices and stories of the Asian and Asian diaspora communities through written medium to long-form, in-depth articles,” EST Media said.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief iQiyi, the NASDAQ-listed Chinese streaming firm, confirmed its recent swing from loss to profitability with a July-September quarter that saw revenue and profits growth even as subscription numbers dipped fractionally. Net income attributable to iQIYI was RMB476 million ($65.2 million), compared to a net loss of RMB396 million in the same period in 2022, the company said in a filing on Tuesday. Using the company’s preferred non-GAAP statement of its accounts, net income was RMB622 million ($85.3 million), compared to non-GAAP net profits of RMB187 million in the same period last year. Total revenues in the period were RMB8.0 billion ($1.1 billion), a 7% year over year increase. Within that figure, subscription revenue was RMB5.0 billion ($687 million), up 19% year over year.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Blackpink, the multinational female music act that is the biggest girl group in the Korean pop (K-pop) firmament, may finally be close to renewing its collective contract with YG Entertainment. The news was widely reported in Korea on Monday and comes after months of speculation that the four-piece act – Jisoo (real name Kim Ji-soo), Lisa (Lalisa Manobal), Jennie (Kim Jennie) and Rose (Roseanne Park) – would take their acts to another shop. Blackpink’s previous contracts with YG expired in August. The Munhwa Ilbo (or Culture Daily) publication Monday claimed an exclusive with the information that Blackpink will re-up with YG, but the four individuals will not renew their exclusive contracts with the agency.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Veteran actor Ciaran Hinds and Odessa Young have joined Euphoria star Jacob Elordi in the cast of premium Australian miniseries “The Narrow Road to the Deep North.” Production is now under way. An adaptation of the Booker Prize-winning novel by Richard Flanaghan, the five-part series is love story set against the backdrop of World War II. Production is by Curio Pictures with Prime Video releasing the title in Australia, New Zealand and Canada.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Mystery-horror film “Five Nights at Freddy’s” landed on top of the South Korean cinema box office. But fellow new release title “The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songs and Snakes” managed only a fourth placed start. “Five Nights” earned $1.78 million between Friday and Sunday, according to data from Kobis, the tracking service operated by the Korean Film Council.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Local crime drama film “Last Suspect” returned to the top spot at the mainland China box office over the latest weekend, as “The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes” opened quietly in third place. Narrowly beaten last week by “The Marvels,” “Last Suspect” climbed one place while “The Marvels” fell out of the top five in China. In its third weekend of release, “Last Suspect” recorded $10.1 million (RMB76 million), according to data from consultancy Artisan Gateway.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Chinese authorities have banned artist and film director Guo Zhenming from traveling to Singapore for the world premiere of his documentary film “Tedious Days and Nights.” The film is scheduled to play at the Singapore International Film Festival on Dec. 4 in the festival’s Standpoint strand. It was advertised as including a Q&A session with the director.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Sting, Jonas Brothers, Halsey and OneRepublic are among the headline acts set to perform at Lollapalooza India. The music festival is set for a second edition Jan.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief The Ridley Scott-directed historical epic “Napoleon” is set to get a release in mainland Chinese theaters next month. The Apple Original Films and Sony Pictures’ title has received approval for import into China and release in a Dec. 1 slot, Sony said on Thursday. Per a Sony synopsis, the film “details the checkered rise and fall of the iconic French Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte, played by Oscar-winner Joaquin Phoenix.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Alibaba, China’s e-commerce and entertainment giant, revealed a 9% revenue improvement and a return to profits in the three months to the end of September, the second quarter of its financial year. The group, which is in the process of breaking itself up into six separate businesses, had revenue of RMB225 billion ($30.8 billion). Net income of RMB26.7 billion ($3.66 billion) compared with a net loss of RMB22.5 billion in the same period last year.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Modest increases in its Chinese and international games sectors helped Chinese tech giant Tencent achieve respectable results for the three months from July to September, the third quarter of its financial year. Group revenues weighed in at RMB154 billion ($21.5 billion), an increase of 10% year on year and 4% quarter on quarter. Some analysts interpreted that as below their forecasts, but others saw it as beating China’s currently sluggish economy. Profit for the period was RMB36.8 billion ($5.14 billion), which was down 5% year on year, but a 38% improvement on the group’s second quarter. Moreover, Tencent claims that a non-IFRS treatment of its accounts better reflects core earnings.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief “Deep Sea,” an innovative Chinese-made animation film that has played the international festival circuit throughout this year, will release in North American theaters later this month. Theatrical rights were acquired by Viva Films from Netherlands-China sales outfit Fortissimo Films. Viva plans an outing on Nov.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Growing streaming subscriptions lifted the bottom line at Tencent Music Entertainment, in the third quarter of its financial year, despite a top line decrease in revenues. Net profits hit $173 million (RMB1.26 billion), representing a 16% year-over-year increase. Tencent Music, which is a major stakeholder in both Spotify and Universal Music Group, reported figures on Tuesday, for the three months from July to end September 2023.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief “The Marvels” topped the South Korean box office on its opening weekend, but failed to lift cinema activity out of its recent slump. “The Marvels” opened with $2.35 million between Friday and Sunday, and a market share of nearly 42%, according to data from Kobis, the tracking service operated by the Korean Film Council (KOFIC). Over its five-day opening run the film pulled in a total of $3.4 million. Those scores were enough to take top place from “The Boy and the Heron,” which had been number one for the two previous weekends, but not enough to increase cinemagoing in Korea.