News

Since its inception over a decade ago, the “Boonie Bears” franchise has become a cultural mainstay, with 11 standalone installment movies that have collectively grossed nearly $1.2 billion at the box office, 14 animated series with over 700 episodes, and an impressive 200 billion online views across its content. Its influence extends far beyond the screen, encompassing theme parks, immersive family entertainment centers, and extensive merchandise. “Boonie Bears” also collaborates with educational partners to promote themes such as sustainability, ecological awareness, holistic well-being, and emotional growth, principles thoughtfully embedded throughout its storytelling. The latest installment in the franchise, “Boonie Bears: Future Reborn”, is currently screening in Ireland and the UK.

Boonie Bears: Future Reborn review is part of the Submit Your Film Initiative

When a mysterious time traveler named Saylor arrives in the forest, Bramble, Briar, and their old frenemy Vick find themselves hurled 100 years into a bleak future. The Earth they once knew is now a devastated wasteland,...

Chinese animated box-office hit Ne Zha and its sequel drew much praise, as did the success of the popular animated Boonie Bears film and TV franchise during an event held as part of the 15th edition of the Beijing International Film Festival. However, Chinese film industry representatives also warned that this was no time to rest on one’s laurels or be complacent, calling for creatives to focus on developing more homegrown content with broad appeal that can go beyond a single film.

The event, entitled “Film Investment and Financing Forum: Rediscovering Value and Restoring Confidence of Film Investment and Financing,” featured a lineup of illustrious speakers from the Chinese film industry, including Jiang Defu, CEO of Bona Film Group and producer; Liang Jing, Chinese actress (The Chef, the Actor, the Scoundrel; Love at First Sight), producer (The Eight Hundred, The Sacrifice, Black Dog) and chair of Beijing Seventh Art Pictures; Rao Shuguang,...

China and collaborations with Chinese partners in the TV space were in the focus at Mip London on Tuesday as a session entitled “In Partnership With China: Trends, Challenges & Strategies” explored opportunities and hurdles. Among the topics mentioned were the famous Terracotta Army, a philosophy program, and romantic comedies.

“Here in the U.K., we are now engaged in the co-production of documentaries. Richard (Bradley)’s Lion TV is our great partner,” Li Wei, deputy general manager, Golden Dreams Media & Communications (U.K.), said during a panel. “We have worked on at least five documentaries together. Right now we are working on a very exciting new project. It is about the two greatest minds in the history of East and West, Socrates and Confucius.”

There are certain challenges for it, she acknowledged. “It is not easy, we have to admit, because how (do you) tell the audience about philosophies, about minds on screen?...

Ne Zha 2, the Chinese animated blockbuster, continues to dominate both the domestic and international box office, setting new records with each passing day. The film grossed Rmb 1.1 billion ($152.9 million) from February 21–23, pushing its total earnings in China to $1.89 billion since its January 29 release, making it the highest-grossing film in the country’s history.

The film’s success extends beyond standard box office totals. Ne Zha 2 is also rewriting records in the Imax arena. Over the weekend, the film earned $15.2 million in Imax screenings, bringing its global Imax total to $131 million in just 26 days. This makes it the highest-grossing animated film in Imax history, surpassing The Polar Express by 69%, a record that had stood for over two decades. With Ne Zha 2 accounting for the majority of Imax’s earnings in the Lunar New Year period, Imax’s total for the season has hit $150 million.

The film’s strong...

Worldwide box office: January 31-February 2 Rank Film (distributor) 3-day (world) Cume (world) 3-day (int’l) Cume (int’l) Territories 1. Ne Zha 2(various) $283.6m $416.3m $283.6m $416.3m 1 2. Detective Chinatown1900(various)

$129.4m $247.4m $128.7m $246.3m 8 3. Creation Of The Gods II: Demon Force(various) $42.9m $125.1m $41.6m $123.8m 10 4. Dog Man(Universal) $40.2m $40.6m $4.2m $4.6m 31 5. Boonie Bears Future Reborn(various) $25.6m $56.5m $25.6m $56.5m 1 6. Legends Of The Condor Heroes: The Gallants(various) $21m $74.6m $21m $74.6m 3 7. Mufasa: The Lion King(Disney) $17.8m $653m $11.7m $423.5m 53 8. Companion(Warner Bros) $15m $15m $5.5m $5.5m 61 9. Operation Handal(various) $13m $35.4m $13m $35.4m 1 10. Sonic The Hedgehog 3...

China began ushering in the Year of the Snake last Wednesday, as local audiences sank their teeth into a host of new films with record-breaking gusto. The trend continued throughout the weekend with grosses for all films in release (including holdovers) reaching Rmb 7B ($965.4M) from Wednesday-Sunday, according to Maoyan. The Chinese New Year holiday was extended this year and runs through February 4, meaning it’s possible that 2025 becomes the biggest Lunar New Year period ever at the local box office.

This has also been a record-breaking few days for Imax which saw five of the new Chinese films released in the format adding up to $38.1M through Sunday in China. That’s already the biggest Cny ever for Imax, besting 2023’s $34M, and with two days left in the stretch.

Overall, as we noted on Wednesday, Enlight’s animated fantasy adventure sequel Ne Zha 2 from director Yu Yang...

Chinese New Year box office started with a bang today in China, as Maoyan estimates 1.8B yuan ($248.3M) was generated for all films on day-one of the holiday period. This would mark a new milestone that well exceeds 2021’s previous first-day New Year record of 1.69M yuan.

For its part, Imax topped itself on Wednesday, seeing a Cny day-one record-breaking haul of $12M, besting its previous high of $11M in 2021. With 5% of the Cny box office so far, and on less than 1% of total screens, Imax captured its biggest percentage of the first-day results ever. Attendance for Imax was also at a new peak with 1.2M admissions nationwide.

The No. 1 title ushering in the Year of the Snake on Wednesday was Enlight’s Ne Zha 2, the follow up to 2019’s animated hit, with 486.6M yuan ($67.1M). In Imax, it grossed $2.5M.

Behind Ne Zha 2 at No. 2 for the day is...

Boonie Bears came from the lively world of Chinese animation and has gone from being a TV show to a worldwide entertainment hit since its premiere in 2011. The show that began as a cute animated movie about two naughty bears and a logger has grown into a huge series that fans all over China and the world love.

In the past ten years, Boonie Bears has made ten full-length movies that each add to the strange world of Briar and Bramble. The movie “Time Twist” celebrates ten years of adventures in the movies. It has a unique plot twist pays tribute to the franchise’s roots while also surprising viewers.

In contrast to most animation sequels, this one isn’t about the bears themselves; instead, it’s about Vick, the former logger who used to be their main enemy. Vick is suddenly the main character in a crazy time-travel story...

Fang Li couldn’t quite believe his ears when a fisherman shared the story behind what would become the Chinese filmmaker’s latest documentary, The Sinking of The Lisbon Maru.

The year was 2014 and Fang was on set in his role as a producer shooting the feature film The Continent — a Han Han-directed road-trip comedy-drama — and it was while heading out from the coast of eastern Zhejiang province towards Dongji Island that the fisherman told a tale that had, for seven decades, remained remarkably untold.

Fang heard of how on October 1, 1942 a Japanese military cargo ship laden with 1,816 British prisoners of war hidden in its hull was on its way from Hong Kong to Japan when it was torpedoed by the USS Grouper.

In the aftermath of the strike — and as the ship slowly sank — Japanese troops locked the POWs inside the cargo holds. But the POWs fought for their lives,...

“Extinction,” the Malaysian-produced animation that is playing at the Shanghai International Film Festival, has struck its first international rights sales deals.

The film was recently picked up by All Rights Entertainment, the Paris, Hong Kong and Los Angeles-based sales agency. All Rights has subsequently licensed the title to Magic Film for the Cis region, to Dazzler Media for the U.K., to Red Cape Distribution for Israel and to Bir Film for Turkey.

Directed by Behnooud Nekooei and produced by Magic Picture Films (“Elephant King”), “Extinction” had its world premiere earlier this month at the Annecy Animation Festival in France. It enjoys its Asian premiere this week as part of the animation section of Shanghai’s Film Panorama section.

The narrative follows Mohsen, a young boy who is obsessed with superheroes. His life takes an unexpected turn when he comes across an endangered tiger while on a family picnic near the forest.

Top 10 Highest Grossing Movies Worldwide (2024)(Photo Credit – Instagram)

It’s only June, but we’ve witnessed some great content in the Hollywood industry. The list of the Top 10 Highest Grossing Movies Globally features films from versatile genres, including Kingdom Of The Planet Of The Apes and Inside Out 2. Dune 2 topples the list with a considerable margin from the rest. Scroll below for a detailed box office analysis.

As mentioned above, number 1 on the list of Top 10 Global Box Office Grossers of 2024 is Dune: Part Two. The Timothee Chalamet and Zendaya starrer is made on an estimated budget of $190 million. It went on to rake a whopping $712.4 million at the worldwide box office.

Dune 2 is followed by Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire, which was released on March 29, 2024. The sequel to Godzilla x Kong (2021), the Adam Wingard directorial, garnered $570 million despite receiving mixed reviews from critics.

Trending Bad...

The four strongest Chinese titles that launched over the Lunar New Year holidays continued to dominate the mainland China and global office charts for a third successive weekend, albeit with a change of order that put Zhang Yimou’s “Article 20” in top spot.

Global box office tracking service ComScore showed “Article 20,” “Pegasus 2,” “Yolo” and “Boonie Bears: Time Twist” as ranking first, second, fifth and sixth, respectively, in the world over the latest weekend.

Within mainland China, the quartet’s numbers were sufficiently solid that the year-to-date aggregate is now closely comparable to 2023’s. And, even in their third week, the four were many miles ahead of the top newcomer, “Argylle.”

China data, provided by consultancy Artisan Gateway, showed “Article 20” earned $40.1 million (RMB285 million) between Friday and Sunday. Having placed fourth on opening and third in its second weekend, the latest weekend win means that the gaps between the cumulative...

Four Chinese films dominated the mainland China and global box office charts over the latest weekend. “Yolo,” a comedy drama about weight loss and self-discovery, was crowned as the top earning film worldwide for a second weekend running.

“Yolo” took $86.5 million (RMB614 million) between Friday and Sunday, giving it a 9-day cumulative total of $402 million (RMB2.85 million), according to data from consultancy firm Artisan Gateway.

The second film by Jia Ling, who previously directed 2021 Lunar New Year smash hit “Hi, Mom”, “Yolo” released on Saturday, Feb. 10 and has retained the number one position since the second day of the Chinese New Year holidays, staying narrowly ahead of racing comedy “Pegasus 2.”

Over the latest weekend “Pegasus 2” earned $80.6 million, giving it a running total of $356 million.

“Article 20,” the Zhang Yimou-directed legal comedy, improved significantly. It climbed up one place to third in the Chinese and global weekend charts and earned $70.2 million over the weekend.

Eight Chinese-language films release simultaneously this weekend in mainland China and will vie for a slice of the Lunar New Year holiday box office business.

The week-long nationwide holiday period has in recent years become the most lucrative season for cinemas, and key films stake out their slot in the release calendar months or years in advance.

The new Chinese films all debut on Saturday (Friday is the normal day for releases in China) and should have an unchallenged two weeks on screen. But if the new Chinese films don’t perform well, there is already a string of new Hollywood releases queuing up for screen time, starting with “Argylle” on Feb. 23.

The week-long holiday this year officially runs Feb. 10-17, but employers are encouraged to give workers time off on Friday, Feb. 9 as well, ostensibly giving city dwellers time to return to their native villages and family seats in...

China has brought the figures, and it has brought the films to this year’s AFM as the country pushes the positive narrative of an industry in recovery from the woes of the past few years thanks to diverse content and a post-pandemic audience hungry for entertainment.

All told, there have been 40 Chinese film companies involved and more than 100 Chinese films showcased at AFM’s China Film Pavilion, providing an insight into an industry that has over the past few months inched its way ever closer to the record box office figures that were being enjoyed back in 2019.

The box office report released last week by film and cinema industry watchers Artisan Gateway for the Oct. 20-22 weekend showed revenue of just below $40 million, which was 11.9 percent down compared with the same period in 2019, but up 76.5 percent from the same weekend in 2022.

On top for the weekend was the slow-burn...

The studio is behind the hit ‘Boonie Bears’ franchise.

Fantawild Animation, the Chinese studio behind the hit Boonie Bears franchise, has expanded its sales division to represent titles from outside the company and arrives at the American Film Market (AFM) with a slate of films and series.

The Shenzhen-based studio has previously handled sales of its own titles, which includes the 10 animated features in the Boonie Bears series, which have collectively taken more than $875m at the box office worldwide.

Now, in a bid to further grow its business, Fantawild has secured sales rights to 10 titles – a mix of animated...

There were two bigger box office hits in China over the Lunar New Year, but the returns enjoyed by Boonie Bears: Guardian Code may, in hindsight, turn out to be the result that actually points to an emerging trend in Chinese cinema.

The country’s animation industry is certainly hoping so.

In collecting an estimated $136 million (Rmb 924 million) over its eight-day festive-season run, the ninth installment of the Boonie Bears franchise found itself tucked in behind two blockbusters: veteran helmer Zhang Yimou’s period thriller Full River Red, collector of an estimated $465 million (Rmb 3.16 billion), and Frank Guo’s sci-fi sequel The Wandering Earth 2 with $378 million (Rmb 2.57 billion).

But the bigger picture is how the film held its own against two such high-profile releases on its way to a total of more than $220 million (Rmb 1.5 billion), and amid reports that it had been sold to a slew of international markets,...

The UK, France, Canada and Emea among key sales.

China’s Fantawild Animation has closed multiple theatrical deals on its hit Chinese New Year release Boonie Bears: Guardian Code, including for the UK and France.

The feature has sold to UK (Movie Pioneers/Factoris), France (Factoris), Canada (Cinemaguzzo), Cis (Prime Time Media), Spain (Melies), Turkey (Bir Film), Middle East (Phoenicia), Sub-Saharan Africa (Redhead Global), and Singapore and Malaysia (mm2).

This latest nineth instalment in the animated family franchise is China’s third highest grossing film this year to date, having grossed over $210m (RMB1.46bn) at the local box office.

Chinese studio Fantawild Animation unveiled a slew of sales deals at Hong Kong’s Filmart content market Monday for the latest hit in its long-running Boonie Bears franchise. Boonie Bears: Guardian Code, the ninth film in the franchise, which earned $220 million during China’s Lunar New Year holiday in January, has closed theatrical deals for Canada (Cinemaguzzo), France (Factoris), the U.K. (Media Pioneers & Factoris), Cis (Prime Time Media), Spain (Melies), Turkey (Bir film), Middle East (Phoenicia), sub-Saharan Africa (Red head Global), and Singapore and Malaysia (MM2).

“Distributors have closed with us much earlier than expected with this film,” said Daniel Bort, Fantawild’s head of international. “We were able to presell at AFM with only a poster, not even images available. We are still closing deals even now, as we have yet to release the English version, which is an important factor in international localization. Buyers expect that our films...

Cinemas in mainland China remained busy over the latest weekend even a week after the end of the Lunar New Year holiday season and with few significant new release titles.

Aggregate nationwide box office hit 162 million according to data from consultancy Artisan Gateway. And “The Wandering Earth 2” reclaimed the top spot that it lost on the second day of the holiday period, which officially ran Jan. 21-27.

“The Wandering Earth 2” earned 56.4 million between Friday and Saturday. That gives the sci-fi prequel a running total of 502 million since release on Jan. 22.

“Full River Red” a historical drama directed by the veteran Zhang Yimou, earned 50.1 million over the weekend for a cumulative of 595 million, also since Jan. 22. That is the highest box office performance by one of Zhang’s movies.

In third place, “Boonie Bears: Guardian Code” earned 21 million for a running total of 188 million. That is the highest total...

Updated: The global and international box office had a wild weekend this session amid the continued advancement of Avatar: The Way of Water and a mega-comeback for Indian superstar Shah Rukh Khan, while China’s Lunar New Year period concluded as the market’s second-best ever.

Taking Avatar: The Way of Water first, it had already scaled up to become the No. 4 highest-grossing global release ever through Friday. Through Sunday, the James Cameron sci-fi adventure has reached an estimated 2.117B. It remains the fourth biggest movie on the worldwide chart, and should top Cameron’s own Titanic in the coming week or so to land at No. 3 (though there is an impending Valentine’s Day rerelease of Titanic afloat).

The international box office through today on WoW is estimated at 1.496B after a 42.4M seventh frame in 52 material markets. That was a drop of just 28 from last session. It remains the No.

The tear-jerking, patriotic pandemic film “Chinese Doctors” locked down a $53.5 million China opening weekend, according to Maoyan, setting itself up to become the most commercially successful political tribute film so far this year.

Such films have been helped along by a line-up cleared of competitors. This week, only political films, children’s content and a holdover rom-com grossed more than $1 million.

Produced by Bona Film, “Chinese Doctors” is inspired by the real experiences of medical personnel in Wuhan during the early days of the pandemic. It earned more than twice the three-day debut of fellow nationalistic tribute to the Communist Party, “1921,” which earned $21.4 million last weekend. Around $2 million of sales for “Chinese Doctor” came from Imax screens.

This week, “1921” came in second with further sales of $6.58 million, bringing up its cume so far to $64 million. Imax didn’t provide further data as to how much box office it earned from the title.