Adam Driver’s Sony Sci-Fi ’65’ joins Hollywood’s return to the Chinese movie screens

Adam Driver sci-fi adventure film 65 has joined a wave of upcoming Hollywood movies to secure release dates in China. The film, which premieres in North America on Friday, will hit the huge Chinese theater market three weeks later on March 31.

The release of American films in China slowed to a trickle last year amid the country’s tough COVID Zero pandemic control policies and an uptick in nationalist sentiment surrounding high-profile Chinese Communist Party political events. But the regulatory tide began to turn in late 2022, starting with the release of James Cameron’s Avatar: the way of the water in December (it made $250 million locally). While diplomatic relations between Washington and Beijing are at an all-time low, the flow of US film products to China has since returned to pre-pandemic normality. Following recent releases of Black Panther 2, Ant Man 3 and that of Florian Zeller The soninclude other upcoming entries on the Chinese calendar M3gan (17th of March); Shazam! 2 (17th of March); A man named Otto (March 24); Dungeons and Dragons (March 31st); SuperMario (Apr 5) and The Queen of Women (Apr 14).

So far, apart from avatar2Hollywood imports have earned a fraction of their former Chinese box office glory. Ant Man 3starting to wind down had only made $38 million by Wednesday, compared to $105.4 million for the original Ant-Man in 2015 and $121.2 million for the sequel, Ant-Man and the Waspin 2018.

from Sony 65which was co-funded by TSG and Bron, cost an estimated $45 million to make and will face fierce competition Friday when it opens domestically against Paramount/Spyglass Media’s Scream VI. The film is co-written and directed by Scott Beck and Bryan Woods. It follows Mills (Driver) as an astronaut who crash lands on a mysterious planet, only to realize he was stranded on Earth 65 million years ago. With only one chance at rescue, Mills and the only other survivor, Koa, must traverse an uncharted landscape infested with dinosaurs and other dangerous prehistoric beasts in a struggle for survival.