After a disappointing summer of misfires, the Chinese box office looks to capture some of the glory of last year’s record breaking season with a sizzling fall line-up of Hollywood blockbusters.
Although Chinese theaters won’t be screening the Ghostbusters re-make or the motley anti-heroes of Suicide Squad, film fans in China will be treated to seven big Hollywood movies over the next few weeks; that’s more Hollywood movies than was offered this past summer between July and September.
Just 34 foreign films are allowed into Chinese theaters each year, but this fall’s bountiful crop of Hollywood popcorn flicks may just be the beginning. A WTO agreement is up for renewal next February, so we could be looking at even more Hollywood movies as China opens up its film market to foreign competition.
Here’s what you can find at the theaters in China over the next few weeks:
Jack Reacher: Never Go Back – October 21
Tom Cruise proves he is up to the task of portraying Lee Child’s infallible ex-military police officer for a second outing on the silver screen. This time, our hero Jack Reacher confronts accusations of a 16 year-old murder when he goes back to his old army unit headquarters.
Like Cruise’s blockbuster hit Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation, this film is backed by Chinese investors. Jack Reacher: Never Go Back is a joint venture between Paramount Pictures, Shanghai Film Group and Huahua Media, who were also responsible for Star Trek: Beyond.
Mechanic: Resurrection – October 21
Jason Statham plays the same character in this sequel about a deadly assassin with a penchant for faking his own death. Statham is joined by Jessica Alba and Tommy Lee Jones as he attempts to perform “one last job” while receiving assistance and expository dialog from Michelle Yeoh.
Mechanic: Resurrection was released in the West this past summer where it has received middling reviews.
Dragon Ball Z: Resurrection ‘F’ – October 21
The only non-Hollywood movie on our list, this long-running Japanese anime series finally makes its way to Chinese theaters after its worldwide release 18-months ago.
The Super Saiyans must do battle against an invading force of aliens in this well-received animated feature.
Inferno – October 28
After a long gestation, Tom Hanks is back in the third part of Dan Brown’s wildly successful series kicked off by The Da Vinci Code. This time, Harvard professor of symbology Robert Langdon must race against time as a deadly virus threatens the globe.
Doctor Strange – November 4
The latest installment in the lucrative Marvel Cinematic Universe features the titular character travelling around the world to the exotic far east where he learns a lost art from a person who looks just like himself.
Starring Benedict Cumberbatch and Tilda Swinton, Doctor Strange has been criticized for deviating from its source material, but that’s not entirely true: Doctor Strange’s Chinese title, 奇怪博士, translates back into English as “Doctor Strange”.
Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk – November 11
Celebrated Taiwanese-American director Ang Lee continues to push the boundaries of film-making with this latest movie about a 19 year-old American soldier’s recollections of the Iraq war. Extraordinary lengths were made to make the film, which was shot in 3D with 4K resolution.
Unfortunately, Chinese audiences wanting to see the film as the director intended will have limited options; only two theaters in China, one in Beijing and the other in Shanghai, have projectors capable of showing the film at its optimal resolution.
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them – November 18
JK Rowling’s Harry Potter franchise gets a spin-off that takes the audience to 1920s New York in what is to be the first in a five-part series.