Latest in China

"The impact in 2020 from Covid-19 (coronavirus) on the motion picture business cannot be overstated," a finance source recently told us. That's as the closure of cinemas in China alone is approaching a loss of $2B to the global box office, while the disease has now seen spikes in Korea and Italy. What looked in late…

Paramount’s China office has announced that it’s pushing the release date of Sonic the Hedgehog due to the coronavirus outbreak with a future date TBD. The Jeff Fowler-directed movie recently clocked past $203M WW this past weekend. Note, no other Hollywood movies in the PRC have been officially dated or moved in the…

UPDATED with details from call: Imax CEO Rich Gelfond said he expects to see a surge in moviegoing in China as people want to get out and about once the coronovirus in controlled. It’s what happened in 2003 after the SARS epidemic, he noted on a conference call with investors Wednesday to discuss quarterly…

Apple, which sounded an alarm bell on China in late January, acknowledged Monday the situation had precipitated more quickly than anticipated and it wouldn’t meet revenue forecasts it made then as the coronavirus decimates production and demand for its products in the key nation. “Our quarterly guidance issued on…

An executive and director who worked with Hubei Film Studios in Wuhan, China, has died after contracting coronavirus, along with three other members of his immediate family. Chang Kai, 55, succumbed to pneumonia caused by the coronavirus on February 14, Hubei said on social media. His father and mother reportedly died…

A planned April premiere in Beijing and a tour of other cities in China for the new James Bond film, No Time To Die, has been cancelled because of ongoing problems caused by the coronavirus quarantine, Deadline has confirmed. Daniel Craig and the cast will not attend the Beijing screening or the subsequent publicity…

Disney anticipates a combined $175-million dollar hit from two theme parks in Asia due to the recent coronavirus outbreak if they remain closed for two months. That includes a $135-million squeeze on operating income at Shanghai Disneyland and $40 million from Hong Kong Disneyland. Both are temporarily shuttered due…

Chinese film companies, film crews, actors and actresses were ordered to stop work by the China Alliance of Radio, Film and Television Production Committee and China Federation of Radio and Television Association as the tally of Coronavirus cases, and fatalities, continues to rise. Film and TV-industry employees have…

Sony's Bad Boys For Life continues to lead the international box office, taking the top spot for the 3rd weekend in a row. The offshore frame was $30.8M in 63 markets for an overseas cume of $142.7M and a worldwide total of $291M to date. Globally, it's the biggest in the franchise and is holding well, down just 38%…

As the coronavirus continues its rapid spread, China continues to struggle with consequences of the disease on myriad levels. The updated count of confirmed cases has crossed 6,000 on the mainland, with 132 people dead. Separately to the tragic human toll of the virus, the economic impact could exceed $40B on a global…

Today’s news that all local film releases scheduled for the highly lucrative Chinese New Year period have been kiboshed has wide-ranging implications. Beyond being a prudent move by authorities and producers to stave off apotential spread of the coronavirus, this is expected to mean a $1B+ blow to global box office…

UPDATED with more detail: Amid the escalating outbreak of the deadly coronavirus — and in an unprecedented move — Chinese producers and distributors have cancelled the local release of all films set for the Lunar New Year period that begins this weekend. There were seven potential blockbusters due to hit Middle…