Latest news with #TheBattleatLakeChangjin
The Guardian
04-04-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Chinese celebrities ‘voluntarily' provided character references in 2019 WeChat videos, Liberal candidate says
A Liberal candidate for an ultra-marginal seat in Sydney says famous Chinese actors based in Beijing voluntarily provided glowing character references describing him as a 'young talent' and were not paid to do so. Guardian Australia has confirmed the actors approached by Scott Yung's campaign separately charge several thousands of dollars for similar short video endorsements and personalised messages. The videos were filmed before Yung unsuccessfuly contested the New South Wales seat of Kogarah in a bid to unseat the premier, Chris Minns. But the videos remain on his official WeChat page. Yung is now the candidate in the federal seat of Bennelong, where almost one-third of residents have Chinese ancestry. The Labor member, Jerome Laxale, has a margin of just 0.1%. NSW rules require all electoral expenditure, including money spent on marketing and advertising during campaigns, to be publicly disclosed. Yung's 2019 disclosures do not reference payments to celebrities for endorsements. Yung told Guardian Australia 'there was no payment for any of these celebrity endorsements. They were provided voluntarily, so there was nothing to declare.' Shortly after the 2019 state election, in a YouTube video with a marketing expert, Yung confirmed his campaign team had 'got celebrities in China to give us endorsements'. One 14-second video recorded by the Chinese-British actor and film director Zhang Tielin said: 'Wishing the talented young Chinese Mr Rong Sicheng [Scott Yung] has great success ahead and a boundless future! All the best! I'm Zhang Tielin from Beijing, China.' Beijing-based media company Star Wind Culture Media collaborates with Zhang to provide personalised videos including endorsements. Its website states this fee can be up to $15,000. A Star Wind Culture Media spokesperson said it did not produce Zhang's endorsement for Yung, but said the actor and director had previously recorded 'a few' tailored videos without the company's involvement. In 2022, Chinese state media mentioned Zhang as one of many celebrities that provided paid endorsements for a fee worth between $7,600 and $18,000. Tang Hao, an agent who represents Zhang, told Guardian Australia he could not recall whether the actor was paid for the endorsement or not. The actor Hu Jun, who has starred in patriotic Chinese movies including The Battle at Lake Changjin, recorded a similar endorsement video that said: 'I'm here to wish the talented young Chinese Mr Rong Sicheng – may you rise steadily and achieve swift success!' Sign up to Afternoon Update: Election 2025 Our Australian afternoon update breaks down the key election campaign stories of the day, telling you what's happening and why it matters after newsletter promotion Guangzhou-based media company Xingdian Entertainment partners with Hu to produce personalised endorsement videos. A company spokesperson told Guardian Australia they did not produce the endorsement for Yung, but confirmed Hu did charge people for filming tailored videos. In recent weeks, Yung has filmed interviews with Chinese language influencers who have promoted his story to their followers on the social media app Rednote. The influencer Lankey Liu, who runs the Sydney Mama Lankey account that usually posts about luxury real estate, introduced her 11,000 followers to 'this legendary young Chinese-Australian, Scott Yung'. Yung noted his personal connection to the former Liberal prime minister John Howard, who held Bennelong for more than 30 years. He referred to this during a separate interview with the 'Sydney shop exploration' video blogger, who has more than 10,000 followers and usually posts cooking videos or shop reviews. Liu, who also shared a separate interview with the independent candidate for Bradfield, Andy Yin, and the Liberal candidate for Reid, Grange Chung, said she had not been paid for the content. She said she approached the candidates because they were both members of the Chinese community. Candidates from all political parties – especially those with large Chinese-Australian populations – have increased their use of Rednote and WeChat to engage directly with their community. A 2022 review of the Liberal party's election defeat found that in the top 15 seats by Chinese ancestry, the two-party-preferred swing against them was 6.6% compared with 3.7% in other seats. This is one reason why politicians such as Laxale and the Menzies Liberal MP, Keith Wolahan, have been eager to regularly communicate with followers on Chinese social media.
The Independent
10-02-2025
- Entertainment
- The Independent
Chinese animated film Ne Zha 2 breaks box office records
Animated film Ne Zha 2 broke several records, including one held previously by Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens, as it continued its domination in the Chinese box office over the lunar new year holidays. Ne Zha 2 is a sequel to the 2019 fantasy adventure Ne Zha, which follows a young boy born with unique powers who teams up with dragon prince Ao Bing to fight demons and save the very community that fears him. The film series, written and directed by Jiaozi, is loosely based on a 16th-century novel, Investiture of the Gods, attributed to Xu Zhonglin. Ne Zha 2 was released in cinemas for the Chinese lunar new year on 29 January. Most businesses and government offices close for an eight-day public holiday for the new year to enable people to travel home. The extended break likely contributed to the success of the film, which not only features a beloved Chinese mythological character but appeals to audiences of all ages. Ne Zha 2 has now outstripped major Hollywood films to become not only the highest-grossing film ever in a single market worldwide, but also the first film ever to cross $1bn (£805.5m) in a single market. In the first week of its release alone, Ne Zha 2 made ¥4.84bn (£534m) in China, setting the record for the most money made by a single film in the new year period, which runs from 28 January to 12 February. Holding strong at the box office for the second consecutive week, Ne Zha 2 has managed to bring in a cumulative total of $1.11bn (£886m), according to Artisan Gateway. Earlier projections, which had put Ne Zha 2 firmly in place to beat 2015's Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens as the highest-grossing film in a single market, were proved true this past weekend. The space opera film made $936.7m (£754m) in North America. Ne Zha 2 has already surpassed Ne Zha in total earnings and has also become the highest-grossing film ever not in the English language, beating 2021's The Battle at Lake Changjin, which had earned $913m. It overtook The Battle at Lake Changjin as China's biggest film ever within the first week of its release. The numbers bode well for the Chinese film industry, even taking into account the fact that the lunar new year is generally one of its most lucrative periods. In 2024, total box office collections dropped 22.6 per cent from the previous year as a sluggish economy reportedly prompted moviegoers to stay home.
South China Morning Post
07-02-2025
- Business
- South China Morning Post
From Labubu to Ne Zha: toy craze fans Pop Mart's market-beating stock rally
Fresh from its success with Labubu, Pop Mart International is on another hot streak in intellectual property (IP) merchandising as consumers snap up its toys based on China's highest-grossing Ne Zha 2 , leading US investment bank Morgan Stanley to name the stock among its top picks. Pop Mart's Ne Zha toys sold out days after their release on January 30 as the animation broke local box-office records, according state-run China Movie Database on Thursday. The sequel also overtook The Battle at Lake Changjin in all-time ticket sales following its stellar Lunar New Year holiday run. The frenzy is a repeat of Pop Mart's success in capitalising on its Labubu toys, a toothy but adorable elfin beloved by millions of Asian fans, including a member of K-pop group Blackpink. The formula helped propel its sales outside mainland China and fan a 350 per cent rally in its stock in Hong Kong last year. 'We expect Pop Mart to become one of the go-to partners for global major IP owners that intend to monetise and extend IP popularity through IP toys,' Morgan Stanley analysts including Dustin Wei and Carol Xia said in a report. Its success underlines its influence in the IP strategy, they added. A Ne Zha movie poster outside a cinema in Hangzhou. Third-party IPs like Ne Zha only counted for 15 to 20 per cent of Pop Mart's revenue, but they helped the brand gain new customers effectively, the analysts said.
The Independent
06-02-2025
- Entertainment
- The Independent
Chinese animated film Ne Zha 2 breaks box office records over lunar new year
Chinese animated film Ne Zha 2 became the country's highest-grossing film on Thursday, giving its box office a massive boost over the lunar new year holidays. Ne Zha 2 is a sequel to the 2019 fantasy adventure Ne Zha, which follows a young boy born with unique powers who teams up with dragon prince Ao Bing to fight demons and save the very community that fears him. The film series, written and directed by Jiaozi, is loosely based on a 16th-century novel, Investiture of the Gods, attributed to Xu Zhonglin. Ne Zha 2 was released in cinemas for the Chinese lunar new year on 29 January. Most businesses and government offices close for an eight-day public holiday for the new year to enable people to travel home. The extended break likely contributed to the success of the film, which not only features a beloved Chinese mythological character but appeals to audiences of all ages. Ne Zha 2 has collected ¥5.8bn (£640m) at the box office so far. In the first week alone, the film made ¥4.84bn (£534m), setting the record for the most money made by a single film in the new year period, which runs from 28 January to 12 February. Driven by the success of Ne Zha 2, the Chinese box office saw the highest single-day collection of ¥1.8bn (£199m) across all releases on 29 January. Other major releases in theatres that contributed to the earnings were Detective Chinatown 1900 and Creation of the Gods II: Demon Force. Ne Zha 2 has already surpassed Ne Zha in total earnings and is well on its way to becoming the highest-grossing film ever not in the English language, beating 2021's The Battle at Lake Changjin. It has already overtaken The Battle at Lake Changjin as China's biggest film ever. According to ticketing app Maoyan, the film is projected to make ¥8.7bn (£960m) in China alone. If those projections are met, Ne Zha 2 would beat Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens as the highest-grossing film in a single market. The space opera film made $936.7m (£754m) in North America. The numbers bode well for the Chinese film industry, even taking into account the fact that the lunar new year is generally one of its most lucrative periods. In 2024, total box office collections dropped 22.6 per cent from the previous year as a sluggish economy reportedly prompted moviegoers to stay home.
