How ‘Gintama’ Win Over Audiences While Most Manga Adaptations Fail to Do So

Adapting manga into movies has been challenging, as manga fans are critical and hard to please. However, the recent live-action film adaptation of Hideaki Sorachi’s comedy manga ‘Gintama’ is very well received by both manga fans and general audiences in both Japan and China. As of September 6, the film has raked in 73 million yuan in China after 6 days in release. According to D-Entertainment’s analysis, ‘Gintama’ did a few things right: first, the director of the movie adaptation was chosen by Hideaki Sorachi. Second, the film casted Shun Oguri who had gained widespread popularity in east Asia, known for his roles in TV dramas based on hit manga. Third, the film adaptation managed to accurately reflect the original version of the story while add humorous elements that can entertain general audiences. Read more on TMT Post

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The World’s 400th 4DX Cinema Launched as a Part of Wanda Cinemas

China’s Wanda Cinemas and South Korea’s CJ 4DPLEX announce that the world’s 400th 4DX movie theater is launched as a part of Wanda Cinemas. At the launch event on September 8, attendees watched ‘Spider-Man: Homecoming’ in 4DX to experience the film with environmental effects, such as seat motion, wind, rain, fog, lights, and scents. “Launching our 400th 4DX cinema with Wanda is very meaningful for our company, as we hope to become the leading brand in motion picture technology, and our partnership with Wanda plays an important role in our growth.” Says Cui Binhuan, CEO of CJ 4DPLEX. Read more on Mtime

Singapore’s MM2 Entertainment to Co-produce 5 Films with Chinese Media Companies

On September 6, Shanghai New Culture Media Group announced that the company’s wholly-owned subsidiary New Culture Media Hong Kong along with 9i Film and Television Media Co. had formed a partnership with Singaporean firm MM2 Entertainment to co-produce 5 feature-length films over the next three years. The three companies will invest $25 million in the 5 films. Once the films have been produced, New Culture Media Hong Kong will distribute them in China while MM2 will distribute them in Singapore. Read more on Ent Group

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Chinese Director Guan Hu to Shoot War Movie ‘Ba Bai’ Using Alexa IMAX 65-mm Cameras

Chinese director Guan Hu recently held press conference in Shanghai to announce his new film ‘Ba Bai’, which he would start shooting on September 9. The film will be entirely shot with Alexa IMAX 65-mm cameras, which marks the first Chinese language film shot by this state-of-the-art equipment. The shooting of ‘Ba Bai’ will last for 6 months and the film is scheduled to open theatrically in the summer of 2019. Read more on 1905.com

What Chinese Provinces Are Winners in Box Office?

According to data released by China’s leading online ticketing platform Maoyao, Guangdong, Jiangsu, and Zhejiang are the top three provinces by box office revenue. All three provinces made more than 2 billion yuan in the first half of 2017. Shanghai ranks No.4 and Beijing ranks No. 5, as these two cities have less number of movie theaters compared to the top 3 provinces. However, Beijing and Shanghai are top 2 regions by average box office revenue per theater. Read more on 36kr