Showbiz Sandbox 466: How Hollywood Kowtows to China
October 28, 2019
Entertainment companies are finding themselves in compromising positions when it comes to avoiding political pitfalls in China. Movie studios and media conglomerates don’t want to disrupt their bottom line by appeasing Chinese authorities while surrendering their creative freedom. The result is that companies distributing content in China find themselves censoring themselves.
“South Park,” on the other hand, chose an alternative path; directly offending the Chinese government and immediately being banned throughout the country. Even when companies do kowtow to the Chinese government, they find themselves getting into trouble at home and abroad. Just ask the producers of the animated film “Abominable,” an animated film which was banned in the country for showing a map that favored China’s disputed territorial claims.
Meanwhile, the new television season started. Not that you’d know it based on the ratings, which are down almost any way you slice them. And the clear message is this: people’s viewing habits have changed, probably forever, and it’s not going to help TV channels trying to sell eyeballs to advertisers.
Of course we also cover the week’s top entertainment headlines including a tie for this year’s Booker Prize, Netflix somehow adds even more subscribers and a big Hollywood talent agency scraps its long awaited IPO.
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‘Maleficent: Mistress of Evil’ Maintains Box Office Reign Over ‘Joker’ After All
https://variety.com/2019/film/box-office/box-office-maleficent-mistress-of-evil-joker-1203386330/
International Box Office: ‘Maleficent’ Fends Off ‘Joker,’ ‘Terminator: Dark Fate’ Debuts
https://variety.com/2019/film/box-office/international-box-office-maleficent-beats-joker-1203384814/
Ben Young Set To Write, Direct StudioCanal/Blumhouse Remake Of Curtis Hanson’s 1987 Thriller ‘The Bedroom Window’
https://deadline.com/2019/10/the-bedroom-window-remake-ben-young-write-direct-curtis-hanson-studiocanal-blumhouse-1202766403/
China Cancels Release of Tarantino’s ‘Once Upon a Time in Hollywood’
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/china-cancels-release-tarantinos-once-a-time-hollywood-1248652
Vietnam Pulls DreamWorks’ ‘Abominable’ Film Over South China Sea Map
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-vietnam-southchinasea-film/vietnam-pulls-dreamworks-abominable-film-over-south-china-sea-map-idUSKBN1WT0J2
In China’s Shifting Winds, Viacom Escapes Harm After ‘South Park’ Poke, But Others Are Not So Lucky
https://deadline.com/2019/10/china-hollywood-backlash-south-park-quentin-tarantino-nba-viacom-1202762427/
NBA China Woes Refuse To Die, As Tibet Protesters Demonstrate At Brooklyn Nets Game
https://deadline.com/2019/10/brooklyn-nets-tibet-proests-1202764269/
‘South Park’ Streaming Rights May Fetch Up to $500M in Bidding War
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/south-park-streaming-rights-may-fetch-up-500m-bidding-war-1248757
Endeavor Officially Withdraws Intent to Go Public
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/endeavor-officially-withdraws-intent-go-public-1248341
WGA Makes Its Case For Requiring Agencies To Turn Over Writers’ Contracts and Invoices
https://deadline.com/2019/10/wga-makes-its-case-for-requiring-agencies-to-turn-over-writers-contracts-and-invoices-1202757376/
Top Shows On Netflix, per Netflix
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/17/business/media/netflix-top-ten-movies-tv-shows.html
Disney+ Subscriber Forecasts Raised After Verizon Giveaway Deal
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/disney-subscriber-forecasts-raised-verizon-giveaway-deal-1249545
Margaret Atwood and Bernardine Evaristo Share Booker Prize
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/14/books/booker-prize-winner-atwood-evaristo.html
Peter Handke: Entering the Curious Canon
https://www.the-tls.co.uk/articles/public/entering-curious-canon-handke/
Peter Handke’s Genocide denialism
https://theintercept.com/2019/10/26/nobel-prize-literature-peter-handke-genocide/
Self Published Titles Grow by 40%
https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/publisher-news/article/81473-number-of-self-published-titles-jumped-40-in-2018.html
Netflix Adds 6.8m Subscribers Worldwide
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/netflix-recovers-rocky-second-quarter-adds-68-million-subscribers-1248268
AMC Theater Chain Gets Into Streaming With On-Demand Movies
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/14/business/media/amc-theaters-streaming.html
Ted Mundorff Resigning As Head Of Landmark Theater Chain
https://deadline.com/2019/10/ted-mundorff-resigning-landmark-theater-chain-president-1202768736/
Cuba Gooding Jr. Accused of Groping 14 Women at Bars and Clubs
https://variety.com/2019/film/news/cuba-gooding-jr-groping-kissing-biting-1203371483/
What’s Behind the NFL’s TV Ratings Comeback?
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/whats-behind-nfls-tv-ratings-comeback-1247913
BBC Faces ‘Lost Generation’ as Young Viewers Tune Out
https://www.rapidtvnews.com/2019102557588/bbc-faces-lost-generation-as-young-viewers-tune-out.html
Sulli Was an Outspoken K-Pop Star in an Industry That Would’ve Preferred She Stayed Quiet
https://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/k-town/8532906/sulli-legacy-memorial-outspoken-kpop-star
Bob Kingsley, Beloved National Radio Hall of Fame Member, Has Died
https://www.billboard.com/articles/business/radio/8533309/bob-kingsley-dead-radio-host-dies
Overlooked No More: Lotte Reiniger, Animator Who Created Magic With Scissors and Paper
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/16/obituaries/lotte-reiniger-overlooked.html
Robert Evans, a Maverick Producer of Hollywood Classics, Dies at 89
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/28/arts/robert-evans-dead.html
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