jiangsen

BoxOffice.com Weekly Preview According to EntGroup's EFMT Index for this weekend's new releases, box office expectations are highest for Tiny Times 4.0 (小时代4：灵魂尽头), the final chapter in novelist/screenwriter/director Guo Jingming's Tiny Times series. Despite heavy criticism condemning the young protagonists as materialistic and vain, the Tiny Times series has proven very popular with the Post-90s female demographic, grossing a combined $211 million since summer 2013. Last summer's third installment alone grossed ($84.77 million) and we think this fourth and final film will bring out even more young fans (and the boyfriends they drag along). Aimed at a similar demographic and receiving just as much buzz as Tiny Times is the youthful romance pic Forever Young (栀子花开2015) based on a hit song by He Jiong (何炅) from 2004. He Jiong, the congenial host of China's hippest variety show Happy Camp, also takes the reins as first time director, and producers are hoping his rabid fans will come out to support the film. Weekend predictions: Tiny Times 4.0 - $35M, Forever Young - $18M, Monkey King: Hero is Back - $15M, Monk Comes Down The Mountain - $8M, I Am Somebody - $2.5M

BoxOffice.com Weekend Actuals Jurassic World is winding down its China run, but held strong with $9.41 million (-40%) from ~47,000 screenings on its fourth and final weekend. That brings the total for Universal's global blockbuster to $221.7 million and places Jurassic as the fourth highest grossing film of all-time in China behind Avengers: Age of Ultron ($235M), Transformers 4 ($319M), and Furious 7 ($390M). Despite the great hold, Jurassic's 30-day imported film license will expire on Thursday, preventing it from passing Ultron. Universal must be disappointed that the run will be cut short with gas still left in the tank and one can only imagine how much longer Hollywood studios will put up with this treatment.

Numbers are from Paramount

From BO Global Report: Disney/Pixar’s Inside Out conjured up another $18.6 million (-30%) from 43 overseas territories this weekend, lifting the international cume to $117.3 million and the global total to $363.46 million. The film’s only new territory this weekend was Poland. Inside Out posted strong mid-week numbers in Australia and France thanks to holidays and held well throughout the weekend. The family film was up 38% this weekend Down Under for a $13 million total, while France fell just 34% for a $12.2 million cume. In Russia, where the film has grossed $17.2 million so far, Inside Out is now the second highest grossing Disney/Pixar animated release ever behind Frozen. Other top markets include Mexico ($24.9M), Argentina ($9.4M), Brazil ($8.1M), and Colombia ($5.5M). Inside Out has only opened in ~45% of its intended overseas markets and will come to South Korea next weekend. Key future openings are Spain (July 17), Japan (July 18), UK/Ireland (July 24), Italy (Sep 16), and Germany (Oct 1).

From BO Global Report: Roaring to another $42.0 million (-50%) from 66 overseas territories this weekend for an international cume of $826.9 million, Jurassic World stampeded past Avengers: Age of Ultron to become the world’s 5th highest grossing film of all-time with $1.385 billion. China held very strong in the face of local competition, dropping just 40% for $9.4 million this frame and $222 million overall. It also passed Avatar to become the fourth highest-grossing movie of all-time in the Middle Kingdom. Jurassic World opens in its final territory Japan on August 5.

From BO Global Report Ahead of its North American release next weekend, Minions took in an estimated $54.3 million this weekend (+44%) from 26 markets for an early international total of $124.2 million. The animated franchise film opened on top in all 15 new territories it was released this weekend and retained the top spot in Australia, UK/Ireland, and Brazil for a second weekend. It also scored the biggest opening day of all-time for an animated film in Germany, Spain, Argentina, and Colombia. Germany opened with $9.0 million, 70% higher than Despicable Me 2’s opening weekend. Spain and Colombia both doubled DM2’s opening with $5.9 million and $3.4 million respectively, while Argentina tripled DM2’s opening weekend with $5.5 million. Minions has grossed $16.2 million in Brazil, $31.4 million in UK/Ireland, and $15.1 million in Australia. Next weekend sees 25 territories including France, Mexico, and Russia open day-and-date with the U.S. and Canada.

From BO Global Report Avengers: Age of Ultron finally blasted into its last overseas territory Japan this weekend and posted a very strong estimated two-day total of $6.5 million. That makes it the biggest opening weekend for a Marvel Cinematic Universe release in Japan, beating the Avengers opening by 60% in local currency. Its opening has also already exceeded the total runs of both Captain America films and both Thor films in local currency. In addition, Ultron scored the biggest opening weekend for an imported film this year beating out fellow Disney titles Big Hero 6 and Cinderella. Though its off to a strong start, Ultron’s legs will be tested over the next several weeks as Genisys, Inside Out, Minions, Jurassic World, and MI5 are released in quick succession. Ultron has grossed $929.3 million overseas and $1.383499 billion globally since its release in late April.

BO Global Report Genisys took the top spot in 28 of the 36 territories it opened this weekend with UK/Ireland, France, Brazil, the Philippines and Venezuela taking second. Top performing markets include Russia ($12.5 million from 1,150 locations), South Korea ($11.1 million from 1,275 locations), Mexico ($6.2 million from 670 cinemas), UK/Ireland ($5.6 million from 536 cinemas), Australia ($4.7 million from 258 cinemas), Brazil ($4.0 million from 549 locations), France ($3.8 million from 680 screens), India ($2.8 million from 600 cinemas), Venezuela ($2.4 million at 75 cinemas), Malaysia ($2.3 million at 131 sites), Taiwan ($2.1 million from 80 locations), Hong Kong ($1.9 million from 44 locations), the Philippines ($1.4 million at 149 locations), and Ukraine ($666K from 235 locations). Among holdovers Singapore dropped 54%, but retained the top position with $625K and $2.3 million total. Colombia grossed $840K for a third place finish and a $3.0 million cume while Peru earned $474K for a #1 ranking and $1.7 million total.

Who knows...will be announced about a month before release. Any rumor or speculation is BS at this point...no one knows when it comes to the Chinese film industry.

There will be no Hollywood releases until mid to late August in China

Weekly Chinese Box Office Preview: Familiar Directors Look To Heat Up Chinese Cinemas Jonathan Papish @ChinaBoxOffice Bowing to an underwhelming $27 million last weekend, Hollywood Adventures (横冲直撞好莱坞) failed to live up to its lofty expectations and couldn't attract Chinese moviegoers unimpressed with its premise and humor. This weekend seven new domestic and one new imported film will try to heat up what has been a tepid start to the summer movie season, with two in particular capable of breaking out. Fifth Generation director Chen Kaige (陈凯歌), best known to Western audiences for his Academy Award nominated Farewell My Concubine, brings an adaptation of the best-selling martial arts novel Monk Comes Down the Mountain (道士下山) to cinemas on Friday. Monk follows innocent Daoist priest He Anxia (played by comedic actor Wang Baoqiang) as he heads down the mountain to escape a famine that has struck his temple. The film boasts an impressive cast in Aaron Kwok (The Detective), Chang Chen (Helios), Lin Chi-ling (Red Cliff), and Fan Wei (If You Are The One), and should play well to wuxia fans and middle-aged crowds. Monk was originally set to be released during February's Chinese New Year period, but was sidelined due to SARFT's ban on films and tv shows featuring actors who had used drugs or solicited prostitution. Actor Jaycee Chan, son of martial arts star Jackie Chan, was arrested last August on possession of marijuana, but director Chen petitioned the government for months saying it would be impossible to edit out Chan from the movie or reshoot his scenes with another actor. According to EntGroup's EFMT Index, Monk Comes Down the Mountain has the highest levels of awareness and intent to purchase out of this week's new releases. Barring a complete disaster, we see Monk easily surpassing Chen Kaige's previous best Sacrifice which earned $28.6 million in December 2010. The second film this weekend with breakout potential is director Derek Yee's I Am Somebody (我是路人甲). Yee takes viewers to the booming eastern city of Hengdian -- "China's Hollywood" and home to the largest outdoor film studio in the world. Young aspiring actors and actresses migrate to Hengdian by the thousands and I Am Somebody follows one such actor Wan Guopeng as he tries to catch his big break. Yee recruited actual Hengdian extras for the main roles and adjusted the screenplay as he shot allowing the amateurs to ad-lib for more natural dialogue. I Am Somebody could also benefit from several high-profile celebrity endorsements. After seeing a preview screening in Hong Kong, Tony Leung praised the film's realism and saw similarities between Wan Guopeng's dreams and his own aspirations to become an actor thirty years prior. Actress Shu Qi (If You Are The One) also wrote a glowing review and was reminded of her own experiences leaving Taiwan for Hong Kong with nothing but $500 and the desire to act. In a country where the slogan "The Chinese Dream" is plastered across cities nationwide, we think the theme of "following your dreams" will find a receptive audience especially among younger crowds. Weekend predictions: Monk Comes Down The Mountain - $27M, I Am Somebody - $20M, Hollywood Adventures - $11M, Jurassic World - $6M Other films opening this weekend are: Good People (USA), Love Simply 简单爱 (China), Chang Chen Ghost Stories 张震讲故事之鬼迷心窍 (China), Silently Love 默守那份情 (China), The Autobots 汽车人总动员(China), and New Journey to the West: Truth or Dare 西游新专2-真心话大冒险 (China).

China Box Office Weekend Actuals: Disappointing 'Hollywood Adventures' Leads Sluggish Weekend; 'Jurassic World' Crosses $200 Million Jonathan Papish @ChinaBoxOffice Producer Justin Lin (Fast & Furious 3-6) and three of China's biggest movie stars couldn't save a tepid domestic box office as Hollywood Adventures (横冲直撞好莱坞) opened to an underwhelming $27 million this weekend from ~150,000 screenings. Co-financed by Lin's Perfect Storm Entertainment, Bruno Wu's Seven Stars Media Group, and Beijing Enlight Pictures, Hollywood Adventures had been predicted to easily make back its estimated budget of $30 million, but very poor word of mouth slowed the film down right out of the gate. Users from China's top three film rating aggregators, Mtime, Weibo, and Douban, gave Hollywood scores of 5.5, 6.8, and 4.9 respectively with many complaining about the film's clichéd plot and awkward humor. The disappointing opening led an overall sluggish week at China's box office with Monday-Sunday receipts totaling just ￥750 million ($121 million), a 16% slide from the corresponding frame last year. SARFT (The State Administration of Radio, Film and TV) had hoped to start off its domestic protection month with a bang, but it will have to wait and see if next week's crop of local fare can kickstart the engine. In second place this weekend, Universal's Jurassic World fell 60% from last weekend, earning $15.7 million from ~75,000 screenings. The global blockbuster has earned $202.3 million from China and became the third Hollywood movie in three months to top $200 million after Furious 7 in April and Avengers: Age of Ultron in May. SPLII (杀破狼2) continued its strong run this weekend with $11.2 million from ~75,000 screenings, giving the HK/China coproduction an 11-day total of $73.9 million. Chinese media outlets have started calling the action flick this season's "dark horse" (黑马), a moniker last given to Wolf Warriors which also starred action star Jacky Wu and grossed $84 million. Two Hollywood holdovers round out the top 5 this weekend with San Andreas jumping up a spot from last weekend to grab $2.8 million from ~14,000 screenings. The disaster film dropped just 29% and will cross the century mark on Monday or Tuesday, a milestone that seemed out of reach a few weeks ago. Conversely, The Divergent Series: Insurgent tumbled 80%, grossing $1.8 million from ~16,000 showtimes. However, its $15.8 million 10-day total has surpassed the first installment and indicates a growing audience for American YA films in China. The rest of this weekend's top ten can be found below with data from China's EntGroup.

Monday Estimates 1). Hollywood Adventure ￥25.5M/cume: 193M($31.1M) 2). Jurassic World￥15.6M/cume: 1274M($205M) 3). SPL2 ￥11.6M/cume: 471M($75.8M) 4). San Andreas, ￥3.5M/ cume: ￥620M ($99.9M) 5). Insurgent￥1.9M/cume: ￥100M($16.1m) 6). Begin Again ￥1.1M/cume: ￥5.4M($0.87m)

From BO Terminator: Genisys opened to $8.3 million from 1,277 screens in 10 smaller territories ahead of its US debut. Paramount’s sequel opened at #1 in Singapore ($1.4 million on 28 screens), Colombia ($1.2 million on 162 screens), Peru ($881K on 85 screens), Vietnam ($694K on 69 screens), Turkey ($578K on 309 screens). Genisys expands to 34 more territories next weekend including Australia, Brazil, France, Mexico, Russia, and the UK/Ireland.

Yeah, pretty strong holds throughout its run despite losing a lot of screens. Seems like members of the forum had thought it would've made about $40-50M based on presales, but disaster flicks are still mega popular in China as is Dwayne Johnson.

Friday Estimates 1). Hollywood Adventures ￥55.5M/cume: 57M($9.2M) 2). Jurassic World￥22M/cume: 1181M($190.2M) 3). SPL2 ￥17.7M/cume: 407M($65.6M) 4). San Andreas, ￥3.3M/ cume: ￥603M ($97.1M) 5). Insurgent ￥2.8M/cume: 89.8M($14.5m) Begin Again ￥0.8M ($129K)

B.O. Dom. $436,936,980 Int'l $645,652,545 WW $1,082,589,525

Opens in Chile today (6.25)

Releases this weekend 6.25 Brazil, Czech Republic, New Zealand, Slovakia 6.26 Poland, UK/Ireland

Universal's Release Date Report 6.24 Trinidad 6.25 Albania, Australia, Croatia, Germany, Hong Kong, Israel, Italy, South Korea, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Malaysia, Portugal, Russia, Serbia & Montenegro, Slovenia, Switzerland, Ukraine 6.26 Austria, Bulgaria, Estonia, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, South Africa, Taiwan

Hollywood Adventures ￥1.2M ($0.2M) from midnight shows

Thursday Estimates 1). SPL2 ￥22M/cume: 389M($62.6M) 2). Jurassic World￥21M/cume: 1158M($186.4M) 3). Insurgent ￥5.7M/cume: 87M($14M) 4). San Andreas, ￥5.1M/ cume: ￥600M ($96.6M) 5). The Ark of Mr. Chow ￥3.1M/cume: 44.6M($7.2m)

It's a mistake...mojo and the-numbers had it wrong, it started getting some press without Universal's official announcement so they took it down

Wednesday Estimates 1). SPL2 ￥24.4M/cume: 366M($59.0M) 2). Jurassic World￥22.2M/cume: 1137M($183.2M) 3). Insurgent ￥6.1M/cume: 81.3M($13.1M) 4). San Andreas, ￥5M/ cume: ￥595M ($95.9M) 5). The Ark of Mr. Chow ￥3.4M/cume: 41.4M($6.7m)

Tuesday Actuals were revised this morning: 1). SPL2 ￥27.1M/cume: 342M($55.1M) 2). Jurassic World￥24.2M/cume: 1115M($179.6M) 3). Insurgent ￥6.8M/cume: 75.2M($12.1M) 4). San Andreas, ￥4.9M/ cume: ￥590M ($95.0M) 5). The Ark of Mr. Chow ￥3.8M/cume: 38M($6.1m)