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Worldwide box office December 20-22 RankFilm (distributor)3-day (world)Cume (world)3-day (int’l)Cume (int’l)Territories 1. Mufasa: The Lion King (Disney) $122.2m $122.2m $87.2m $87.2m 53 2. Sonic The Hedgehog 3 (Paramount) $62m $62m 12 3. Moana 2 (Disney) $45.9m $790.1m $32.8m $431.1m 53 4. Wicked (Universal) $26.1m $571.3m $12.6m $187.3m 82 5. Gladiator II (Paramount) $9.8m $416.2m $5.4m $262.3m 66 6. Kraven The Hunter (Sony) $8.9m $42.8m $5.8m $25.4m 63 7. The Prosecutor (various) $7.1m $17.8m $7.1m $17.8m 5 8. Homestead (Angel) $6m $6m 1 9. Jason Zhang Brilliance Tour (various) $5.5m $5.5m $5.5m $5.5m 1 10. The Last Dance (various) $5.2m $40m $5.2m $5.2m 8

Credit: Comscore. All figures are estimates.

International numbers save day...

Worldwide box office December 20-22 RankFilm (distributor)3-day (world)Cume (world)3-day (int’l)Cume (int’l)Territories 1. Mufasa: The Lion King (Disney) $122.2m $122.2m $87.2m $87.2m 53 2. Sonic The Hedgehog 3 (Paramount) $62m $62m 12 3. Moana 2 (Disney) $45.9m $790.1m $32.8m $431.1m 53 4. Wicked (Universal) $26.1m $571.3m $12.6m $187.3m 82 5. Gladiator II (Paramount) $9.8m $416.2m $5.4m $262.3m 66 6. Kraven The Hunter (Sony) $8.9m $42.8m $5.8m $25.4m 63 7. The Prosecutor (various) $7.1m $17.8m $7.1m $17.8m 5 8. Homestead (Angel) $6m $6m 1 9. Jason Zhang Brilliance Tour (various) $5.5m $5.5m $5.5m $5.5m 1 10. The Last Dance (various) $5.2m $40m $5.2m $5.2m 8

Credit: Comscore. All figures are estimates.

International numbers save day...

Disney’s newest movie, Mufasa: The Lion King, has been shown for the first time in several Asian markets. It dominated the box office in China, but it was hard to beat in South Korea.

“Mufasa” made Rmb 56.1 million during its first weekend in China, about $8 million. Thanks to this performance, it passed the local favorite “Her Story,” which had been number one for four weeks. Despite this success, the Chinese box office is experiencing a slowdown overall, with year-to-date numbers down 21.5% compared to 2023.

With $1.6 million in weekend sales, “Mufasa” debuted in second place in South Korea. It made a total of $2.1 million in the first five days. The movie couldn’t beat the local hit “The Firefighters,” which stayed at the top for a third weekend, making $3.3 million for a total of $16.8 million.

How “Mufasa” was received in these important areas shows Hollywood and local films’ competitiveness. Along with Donnie Yen,...

Disney’s “Mufasa: The Lion King” debuted in pole position at the mainland China box office ending the four-week reign of “Her Story” at the top.

Data from consultancy firm Artisan Gateway showed “Mufasa: The Lion King” bowing with RMB56.1 million ($8 million).

In second place, superstar Donnie Yen‘s Hong Kong action-drama “The Prosecutor” from Maoyan Pictures earned $7.1 million for a $18 million cumulative total in the Middle Kingdom. In “The Prosecutor,” action icon Yen steps into the role of Fok Chi Ho, a former elite police special forces officer who trades his badge for a courtroom. Yen’s Fok becomes a prosecutor tasked with handling the case of Ma Ka Kit (rising star Mason Fung), a struggling young man entangled in a drug trafficking charge. Despite questionable circumstances, Ma is pressured into a plea deal that results in a harsh sentence. Driven by his instincts, Fok begins to dig deeper into the case,...

Maxtime Pictures’ “Her Story,” a comedy-drama film told from a largely female perspective, topped the mainland China box office for the fourth consecutive weekend.

The box office remained sluggish despite a few new releases, with Hollywood holdover “Moana 2” dropping out of the top five and Sony’s “Kraven the Hunter” making a modest debut.

Data from consultancy firm Artisan Gateway showed “Her Story” sliding from its previous weekend’s showing by earning RMB52.1 million ($7.3 million) between Friday and Sunday. The film now has a cumulative total of $89 million in the Middle Kingdom. The film was the seventh highest grossing film internationally, according to numbers from Comscore.

“Her Story” is directed by Shao Yihui (2021’s “B For Busy”). Its fast-paced story focuses on two women – one a recently unemployed single mom, the other a new neighbor who is more troubled than she appears – who become friends. Together they face up to various relationship challenges,...

Jackie Chan once attempted to break out of his signature comedy style in the early part of the millennium when he made New Police Story, which had him playing a more dramatic role as an alcoholic ex-cop. He would follow it up with 2005’s The Myth, which would be half of an Armor of God-type movie where he played an archeologist and half of a period film where Chan also played a General of a historical Chinese army. Chan returns with a new sequel to The Myth, titled A Legend. This film reunites him with director Stanley Tong, who directed Chan in movies like Rumble in the Bronx and Police Story 3: Supercop.

Well Go USA has just released the trailer for A Legend. Not long after the company unveiled the trailers for the upcoming action films of other martial arts icons, Tony Jaa’s Striking Rescue and Donnie Yen’s The Prosecutor.

Get more of your action fix with another trailer from Well Go USA. This week, the distributor released the hard-hitting first look at the Tony Jaa action film Striking Rescue. In that trailer, Jaa looks to return to form after capitalizing on his exploding career by starring in international films like Furious 7, xXx: The Return of Xander Cage, Skin Trade, Triple Threat and KillZone 2. While his new movie isn’t a Thai production, it brings back the hardcore fighting that broke him out in Ong Bak.

Now, take a look at Donnie Yen as he stars in the new legal action film The Prosecutor. Yen steps in to direct and stars in the film alongside Julian Cheung, Francis Ng, Kent Cheng, Adam Pak, Kang Yu and Locker Lam. The official plot synopsis reads, “Inspired by an actual legal case in Hong Kong, The Prosecutor follows the story of...

Sony is reportedly in discussions to acquire Kadokawa Corporation, the Japanese media giant behind recent features by Takeshi Kitano and Kiyoshi Kurosawa.

Sources say that if ongoing talks are successful, a deal could be signed within weeks, according to Reuters.

Sony has held a 1.93% stake in Kadokawa since 2021, when the two firms formed a capital alliance alongside digital advertising firm CyberAgent. Sony also owns a stake in FromSoftware, the Kadokawa subsidiary outfit behind hit video games such as Elden Ring.

Kadokawa was founded in 1945 as a publisher and is known in the film business for Kadokawa Daiei Studio, which was...

Hong Kong action-thriller The Prosecutor, directed by and starring Donnie Yen, has been acquired for North America by Well Go USA from Mandarin Motion Pictures.

The upcoming feature will be released in theatres across North America on January 10, just two weeks after its scheduled debut in China and Hong Kong on December 27.

Inspired by a true case in Hong Kong, the story follows a man who falsely pleads guilty after being framed for drug trafficking, under pressure from both his defense attorney and a notorious crime syndicate. Yen plays the hard-nosed policeman-turned-prosecutor who risks both his career and his life to uncover the truth,...

"One wrongful judgment can destroy and entire family!" Mandarin Motion Pictures has revealed an official trailer for a Chinese legal thriller film called The Prosecutor, starring Donnie Yen in the lead role. This intense action thriller is set for a release in China and Hong Kong at the end of December this year. Though there's still no US release set yet - sometime early in 2025. A poor young man is wrongly charged with drug trafficking after being deceived. An ex-prosecutor investigates this case, uncovers a corrupt lawyer team's scheme, and restores justice despite obstruction from evil forces. Donnie Yen stars as the prosecutor Fok - who risks his life and career to uncover the truth and bring the real culprit to justice. The film also stars Francis Ng, Kent Cheng, Julian Cheung, and Adam Pak. Featuring action sequences by co-star Kang Yu, Donnie Yen, and action extraordinare Kenji Tanigaki. It's...