‘Moon Man’ Holds Off ‘Warriors of Future’ on Another Strong China Box Office Weekend

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefShares of China’s Bona Film Group soared by 44% on Thursday, their first day of trading following an initial public offering on the Shenzhen stock market.The company had offered its shares for sale at RMB5.03 apiece. They quickly climbed to RMB7.24, before hitting the market’s ceiling on daily price movements. At this price, the company is valued at RMB9.96 billion or $1.47 billion.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefTencent, the Chinese games and social media giant, revealed a more than 50% drop in profits for the three months to June 2022, the second quarter of its financial year. The figures were affected by a slowing economy in China, an operating environment made harder by regulatory changes and a slowdown in video games as users adjusted to post-pandemic activity.Net profits for the quarter weighed in at RMB19.2 billion ($2.83 billion), which represented a 55% slump compared with the same quarter in 2021, and down 19% compared with the first quarter of the current year.

Dozens of school bus routes have been cut for pupils last minute in North Lanarkshire on the first day of term.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefSpace comedy Moon Man held on to the top spot at the mainland China box office for a third weekend. It has now accumulated $363 million.Released on July 29, “Moon Man” earned RMB217 million ($32.4 million) between Friday and Sunday earning some 45% of the nationwide weekend total, according to data from consultancy Artisan Gateway. The film’s invulnerability underlines once again how the Chinese exhibition and distribution sector has become focused on major hits and top-heavy.There could scarcely be more powerful demonstration of that than the photographs carried over the weekend by Mainland Chinese of Hong Kong star Louis Koo apparently in tears over the disappointing box office stars for “Warriors of Future,” the sci-fi fantasy that he starred in, financed and produced.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefThomasin McKenzie (“Life After Life,” “Jojo Rabbit”) and Devon Terrell (“Rap Shit”) star in “Totally Completely Fine,” a series co-production between Sundance Now and Australia’s Stan, which has now started production in Sydney. McKenzie plays a young woman whose life was a mess even before she inherited her grandfather’s coastal clifftop house and became tasked with helping people who come too close to the edge. Strangely though people respond to her chaotic, nihilistic brand of psychology.

Arsene Wenger not only revolutionised Arsenal when he arrived at Highbury in 1996, he revolutionised English football too.Le Professeur, as he would become known, introduced new preparation methods, training drills and tactical ideas that had never been seen or thought of before in Blighty - the home of 'get rid of it, son' and 'get stuck in, lads!'.What also caught everyone's eye was Wenger's penchant for foreign players.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefThe Asian Project Market, the film financing event attached to the Busan festival’s Asian Contents & Film Market, will return this year as an in-person event. To increase the focus on regional projects it has selected 29 titles and excluded those from outside Asia.The APM will be held at the Busan Exhibition and Convention Center (BEXCO) and run Oct.

A man told a police officer that he would 'find him on the dark web' and 'torture his family'. Wayne Parker also kicked out at the constable and racially abused another during a six-hour rampage.

Joe Biden signed legislation on Wednesday the extends veterans’ health benefits to those exposed to toxic burn pits, praising Jon Stewart for his role in rallying public support to compel Congress to act.

Twelve jurors have this morning been sent out of court for deliberations, to decide the fate of a teenager who is accused of the murder of student in Bury earlier this year. Abdikarim Abdalla Ahmed, 18, tragically died after being knifed to the chest by a combat knife with 'severe' force outside the entrance to the Mill Gate shopping centre in Bury on March 11.

It's been revealed that the late Olivia Newton-John was haunted by the disappearance of a lover "lost at sea". The actress, who passed away yesterday at the age of 73 after a 30-year battle with breast cancer, is believed to have never "found peace" following the unsolved mystery.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief“Minions: The Rise of Gru” has been given a mainland China theatrical release date of Aug. 19, 2022.

China has set an August 19 release date for Universal/Illumination’s Minions: The Rise Of Gru. This will be the first major tentpole from Hollywood to hit the market since Universal’s own Jurassic World Dominion which has grossed $157.4M there through Sunday and during an extended nine-week run; it is the biggest studio import of 2022.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief“Emergency Declaration,” a timely Korean-made action thriller, flew to an opening weekend of $6.5 million. But it was old-fashioned naval actioner “Hansan: Rising Dragon” that stayed afloat at the top of the South Korean box office for a second week.“Hansan,” a sequel to a 2014 record breaker, earned $9.18 million from over 1,600 screens, according to data from Kobis, the tracking service operated by the Korean Film Council (Kofic).

Love Island star Amy Day has bagged a new man, after her relationship with contractor Patrick Deaco recently came to an end - and she's having the "best sex of her life".The reality star, 26, who appeared on last year's series of the dating show, was spotted at the launch of Bertie Garratt and Michael Beckford's clothing brand, WHSKY, this week, hand in hand with new beau, Sam Pilkington.According to insiders, Amy put on a loved-up display with the former model who hails from Manchester.READ MORE: Love Island daily briefing scenes are 'so upsetting' says former Casa Amor bombshellA source opened up about Amy's new romance to OK!, saying: "Sam Pilkington's her new boyfriend."He's an ex-model and ex-close protection operative from Manchester. He's now an artist."They've been together for a month and have known each other for over a year."The source also referenced an article published by the Daily Star in which Amy said: "I'm dating a very sexy 6'5 man with a 9.5 inch penis.

Householders believed they were tradesmen who could be trusted to carry out work on their property. But these rogue traders left innocent members of the public out of pocket.

China's increasing tension with Taiwan went up another notch as the former launched "precision missile strikes" around the latter during its military exercises.The missile strikes were a punishment for Taiwan who welcomed US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi earlier this week, with the aim of demonstrating the US' commitment to Taiwan's democracy.John Kirby, the White House Coordinator for Strategic Communications at the National Security Council representative, warned that China could respond with missile strikes near Taiwan to demonstrate its disapproval of a US politician visiting the region.READ MORE: China launches multiple ballistic missiles just 12 miles off Taiwan amid fears of 'accidental WW3'Footage of multiple Dongfeng series missiles being fired was shown by state media, while videos of beachgoers staring at the missiles were posted on social media.The last time China had fired missiles into waters surrounding Taiwan was in 1996 and has since sparked fears that World War 3 might be a possibility.“Long-range armed live fire precision missile strikes were carried out on selected targets in the eastern area of the Taiwan Strait,” confirmed the Eastern Theatre Command of the People’s Liberation Army – the ruling Communist Party’s military wing.They added: "The expected outcome was achieved,” as well as stating it had "comprehensively tested the combat capability of the troops under actual combat conditions.” As well as the missile strikers across Taiwan, Chinese navy ships and military aircrafts reportedly also crossed the Taiwan Strait median in what has caused an extreme escalation of tension in the region.To stay up to date with all the latest news, make sure you sign up to one of our newsletters here.A Taiwanese

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefNet earnings at Alibaba, the Chinese e-commerce giant and media owner, dropped by 50% to $3.40 billion (RMB22.7 billion) in the three months between April and June, the first quarter of its current financial year. Revenues were unchanged at $30.7 billion (RMB206 billion).

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Prime Video announced Tuesday the "Road House" remake, which will star Oscar and Tony nominated actor Jake Gyllenhaal.  The original movie was released in 1989 and starred the late Patrick Swayze as James Dalton. Now, Gyllenhaal will step into the leading role.

Neil Patrick Harris discussed what it was like to play his latest role in Uncoupled, which had some commonalities with his own life.