18 | Thursday, June 20, 2019 LIFE CHINA DAILY HONG KONG EDITION Shanghai film fete offers clues about upcoming releases
By XU FAN ing the United States to top the world. Besides, TV and online What can we expect to see in series received more than 48 bil Chinese cinemas over the next few lion hits last year.” months? But despite the numbers, the Some of the answers may be domestic entertainment industry found at the ongoing Shanghai is undergoing a painful slow International Film Festival. down, as China with its huge mar A pivotal indicator of Chinese ket and population continues to cinema, the annual event is again yearn for quality content. seeing a flood of new films. And this is something that the Encouraged by hits such as Beijingbased studio Bona Film Dying to Survive, Operation Red Group is focusing on by recruiting Sea and The Wandering Earth, the Hong Kong talents to direct Chi forthcoming cinema showing will nese mainland patriotic epics — be dominated by films based on exemplified by Tsui Hark’s The real stories or adapted from scifi Taking of the Tiger Mountain novels. (2014) and Dante Lam’s Operation In the 2019 lineup released by Mekong (2016). Tencent Pictures on Monday, Separately, on Wednesday, the nearly 75 percent of the 34 films company released two films, both Projecting a new image and TV dramas based on true feature realistic stories of Chi themes. nese heroes — One of the The Chinese China’s first boxoffice decline in eight years has prompted brainstorming among highlights is Pilot directed The Rescue, by Andrew Lau industry insiders at an ongoing movie festival, Xu Fan reports. Hong Kong and The Brav director Dante est by Tony hina’s JanuarytoMay box Lam’s action Chan. Besides, office revenue has declined packed thriller the company is for the first time since 2011. made on a bud also scheduled This cause for concern get of 700 mil to release Camong industry insiders has lion yuan ($100 Shandongborn become a major topic of discussion million). director Ning at the ongoing 22nd Shanghai Inter Based on H a i q i a n g ’ s national Film Festival. reallife mis Chairman Mao Statistics from the country’s top sions of the Chi 1949 on Sept 12. film regulator show that China’s na Coast The Chinese 64,510 screens had grossed 27 bil Guard, the film Pilot starring lion yuan ($3.9 billion) as of May 31, starring Eddie actor Zhang down 5.1 percent yearonyear, Peng has finan Hanyu is about according to China Film News. cial backing Liu Chuanjian, A report from boxoffice tracker and production the captain who Maoyan released during the festival support from last year saved says the decline may be due to a the Ministry of 119 passengers drop in the number of theatergoers. Transport. on a Sichuan From January to May, cinemas on The movie, Airlines flight the mainland registered 688 million Top, below left and right: Still shot in Fuzhou when the wind admissions, plummeting 13.5 per images from Shanghai and Xiamen in shield shattered cent from 796 million admissions in Fortress, a much anticipated East China’s and his copilot the same period in 2018. Chinese scifi movie, starring Fujian province was sucked The report says Chinese films are actress Shu Qi and actor Lu Han. as well as in halfway out of encountering a bigger decline than Above: Studio chiefs attend a Mexico, is set to open across China the cockpit over the Tibetan Pla foreign films. Chinese films forum at the ongoing 22nd on the first day of the 2020 Spring teau. accounted for 54.8 percent of the Shanghai International Film Festival, which falls on Jan 25. Scifi films are carving out a total box office — while the number Festival to discuss the As for the other films expected niche for themselves with The in 2018 was 63 percent — and challenges and future of the to hit Chinese cinemas, many will Wandering Earth grossing a domestic movies raked in 14.8 bil Chinese cinema industry. focus on the 70th anniversary of whopping 4.7 billion yuan earlier lion yuan, a fall of 17.5 percent com Left: Alibaba Pictures chairman the founding of the People’s this year, enticing more entries at pared to last year. Fan Luyuan calls on Chinese Republic of China. the Shanghai festival. At the Shanghai festival, which filmmakers to come together For Tencent Pictures, that One of them features pop idol runs through Monday, seven top and enhance cooperation to means the TV series The Founding Lu Han and Alist actress Shu Qi. Chinese studio chiefs gathered for combat economic risks. of Republic and the featurelength The film, Shanghai Fortress, the first forum there to discuss the PHOTOS PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY film, Me and My Motherland. directed by Teng Huatao, is about challenges ahead. The movie brings together sev the city of Shanghai battling to Yu Dong, chairman and CEO of en top directors, including Chen defend itself against an attack by the Bona Film Group, says last year Kaige, Ning Hao, Guan Hu and an alien force. was “a severe winter” for the indus Xue Xiaolu — and is an anthology A set covering an area of 6,000 try. Nearly half of the publiclylisted of seven short tales, which respec square meters was built to bring film companies saw their market tively explore how an ordinary to life the Chinese army’s head valuations shrink. person feels at a historic moment. quarters for the film, which is Following Alist actress Fan Bing Producer Huang Jianxin says based on a novel penned by Yang bing’s tax scandal, China ordered that filming for six of the seven Zhi, better known as Jiang Nan. film and TV companies and indi stories has been concluded, except Director Lu Chuan’s film Bureau viduals to fully declare their earn for the one directed by Ning Hao 749 is another hotly anticipated ings and “selfexamine taxpaying”. stars renowned actor Ge You. scifi flick. The film, based on his A total of 11.8 billion yuan of unpaid Recalling that he visited the early experiences, is about an orga taxes was filed with the tax authori film set of director Zhang Yibai nization which specializes in inves ties by the end of 2018, according to recently, Huang says that Zhang’s tigating mysterious incidents. Xinhua News Agency. story explores what a worker in Lu says the film is being shot in Anxious about the market slow the science and technology sector Beijing, Chongqing, Baiyin in down, Yu says Chinese filmmakers felt the day when China success Gansu province and in Ordos in should work harder toward devel fully tested its first atomic bomb Inner Mongolia autonomous oping new film genres and raising in October 1964. region. the quality of their storytelling to As for how China’s cinema sec While it is hard to predict which draw back audiences to the cinema. tor is growing, Cheng Wu, the film will be a hit, the flood of new “When I started to work in the CEO of Tencent Pictures, says: movies shows how Chinese film film sector in 2001, China’s annual “China saw its cinema admissions makers are determined to capture boxoffice takings were less than reach 1.72 billion in 2018, overtak the viewers’ attention. 900 million yuan. The figure expanded to 60.9 billion yuan in 2018. We should keep this (earlier) momentum going despite 2019 looking like a difficult year,” Yu encefiction movies after The Wan 12 other countries in 2018, data and polishing stories. says. dering Earth — a game changer in from the China Film Coproduction Ren Zhonglun, chairman of the And huddling for warmth has the film genre in China — has so far Corporation shows. Shanghai Film Group, says the become one of the main themes of drawn 12 companies on board, with Fan of Alibaba Pictures says Chi slowdown could also become a the festival forums this year. five involved in coproduction and nese filmmakers can learn from turning point to rebuild a better Fan Luyuan, chairman of tech the other seven in codistribution. their foreign counterparts. Holly future for the local film industry. giant Alibaba Group’s film subsidi Other forthcoming major films wood’s formula for global populari “The slowdown will make us ary Alibaba Pictures, says Chinese with multiple investors behind ty has contributed to producing think more about how to shape Chi filmmakers should get together to them include Li Shaohong’s war bankable franchises, such as Mar nese cinema’s own style and appeal, enhance cooperation and combat epic Liberation, and Me and My vel’s superhero stories, The Fast instead of hurrying up to catch up economic risks. Motherland, an anthology codi and the Furious and Star Wars. with the United States,” says Ren. Instead of investing alone in big rected by Chen Kaige and six other “Few smash hits in China have “Movies are always about people budget films, as in the past, most top directors to celebrate the 70th shot more than two sequels,” Fan and their stories. I believe a good studios now prefer to join forces to anniversary of the founding of the says. film, no matter what genre it falls cofinance them, echoes Jiang Ping, People’s Republic of China this China should aim to become an in, should be thoughtprovoking general manager of the China Film year. important player in conveying cul and artistically creative,” he adds. From top: Posters for the Chinese films The Rescue and The Group. Last year, up to 122 foreign films tural values in the global film mar Chinese Pilot; Director Lu Chuan (left) joins his team to promote For instance, Shanghai Fortress, were released in China. In addition, ket in future, he adds, but for now it Contact the writer at the new scifi film Bureau 749 at the ongoing 22nd Shanghai one of the most anticipated sci China coproduced 47 movies with should focus on cultivating talent [email protected] International Film Festival. PHOTOS PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY