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By Casey Hall and Nicoco Chan SHANGHAI, Dec 1 (Reuters) – Disney's Zootopia 2 became the highest-grossing animated foreign film ever in China, despite generally muted interest in overseas movies in the country. As of Monday morning Beijing time, box office tracker Maoyan showed Zootopia 2's local box office tally reaching 1.95 billion yuan ($275.6 million) in its first six days of release. "It is Disney's most important movie in China this year, for sure," said Ashley Dudarenok, founder of China digital consultancy Chozan, with its themes of personal resilience and societal harmony resonating with local audiences. Its runaway success in China – where Zootopia 2 sales accounted for around 95% of all movie ticket sales over its opening weekend – is particularly notable given the changing environment for foreign films in China over the nine years since the first Zootopia film was released. The original Zootopia also became China's most popular foreign animated film when it was released in 2016. Hollywood films were caught up earlier this year in the China-U.S. trade war. Beijing curbed the number of U.S. films that were allowed to be shown in China in retaliation for higher tariffs on Chinese goods – a move analysts said would only have a limited impact, given the waning influence of foreign films in China. AN EXCEPTION, NOT THE RULE Hollywood studios once looked to China, the world's second-largest film market, to help boost their box office performances. But domestic movies increasingly have outperformed Hollywood fare in China. Earlier this year, local animation "Ne Zha 2" eclipsed Pixar's "Inside Out 2" to become the world's highest-grossing animated film of all time after raking in nearly $2 billion at the Chinese box office. Even so, Disney seemed confident that Zootopia 2 would find a significant audience in China, with Chief Executive Bob Iger travelling to Shanghai for a local premiere a fortnight ago. In addition, Disney partnered with China Eastern Airlines on a Zootopia 2-themed plane.  And the Shanghai Disneyland resort is home to the world's only Zootopia-themed land, which opened in 2023 to capitalise on local affection for the original film. "Disney is heavily reliant on huge blockbuster releases, which in turn become IP and monetise through experiences, merchandise and other areas," said PP Foresight analyst Paolo Pescatore, adding that in spite of geopolitical tensions and an uncertain macroeconomic environment, China remains a "massive and expanding market for its theme parks, movies and merchandise." According to Chris Fenton, author of "Feeding the Dragon: Inside the Trillion Dollar Dilemma Facing Hollywood, the NBA, and American Business," a potential downside of Zootopia 2's success could be the false hope it might give Hollywood studios that China could be rekindling a love affair with foreign films.  "Beijing doesn't view Hollywood as a solution to restrained consumer spending [in China], so I wouldn't read into this being a pivot on Beijing's part," he said. "Beijing knows if Hollywood sees some continued promise in their market, filmmakers will continue to kowtow to Beijing's storytelling requirements." ($1 = 7.0750 Chinese yuan) (Reporting by Casey Hall and Nicoco Chan in Shanghai)

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PARIS, Dec 1 (Reuters) – Former French movie star and animal rights activist Brigitte Bardot is currently recovering and wants to reassure those concerned about her health not to worry, Bardot's foundation said in a statement. This followed recent media reports that Bardot, 91, was again hospitalised in Toulon, southern France, last month, following an earlier spell in hospital in October for surgery that her office described at the time as minor. "In response to the spread of false information in recent days, Ms Brigitte Bardot would like to remind everyone that she is currently recovering, that she would appreciate it if people would respect her privacy, and invites everyone to calm down," the statement said. "Ms Bardot wishes to reassure those who are genuinely concerned about her. She sends them this message: 'I send my love to you all.'" Bardot became world famous in the fifties and sixties for her free-spirited performances in movies such as "And God Created Woman". As a singer, she also released several records during that time. She stopped acting in the seventies, permanently moved to the French Riviera town of Saint-Tropez, and dedicated herself to the animal welfare cause through a foundation in her name. (Reporting by Dominique Vidalon; Editing by Toby Chopra)

(The article has been published through a syndicated feed. Except for the headline, the content has been published verbatim. Liability lies with original publisher.)

By Casey Hall and Nicoco Chan SHANGHAI, Dec 1 (Reuters) – Disney's Zootopia 2 became the highest-grossing animated foreign film ever in China, despite generally muted interest in overseas movies in the country. As of Monday morning Beijing time, box office tracker Maoyan showed Zootopia 2's local box office tally reaching 1.95 billion yuan ($275.6 million) in its first six days of release. "It is Disney's most important movie in China this year, for sure," said Ashley Dudarenok, founder of China digital consultancy Chozan, with its themes of personal resilience and societal harmony resonating with local audiences. Its runaway success in China – where Zootopia 2 sales accounted for around 95% of all movie ticket sales over its opening weekend – is particularly notable given the changing environment for foreign films in China over the nine years since the first Zootopia film was released. The original Zootopia also became China's most popular foreign animated film when it was released in 2016. Hollywood films were caught up earlier this year in the China-U.S. trade war. Beijing curbed the number of U.S. films that were allowed to be shown in China in retaliation for higher tariffs on Chinese goods – a move analysts said would only have a limited impact, given the waning influence of foreign films in China. AN EXCEPTION, NOT THE RULE Hollywood studios once looked to China, the world's second-largest film market, to help boost their box office performances. But domestic movies increasingly have outperformed Hollywood fare in China. Earlier this year, local animation "Ne Zha 2" eclipsed Pixar's "Inside Out 2" to become the world's highest-grossing animated film of all time after raking in nearly $2 billion at the Chinese box office. Even so, Disney seemed confident that Zootopia 2 would find a significant audience in China, with Chief Executive Bob Iger travelling to Shanghai for a local premiere a fortnight ago. In addition, Disney partnered with China Eastern Airlines on a Zootopia 2-themed plane.  And the Shanghai Disneyland resort is home to the world's only Zootopia-themed land, which opened in 2023 to capitalise on local affection for the original film. "Disney is heavily reliant on huge blockbuster releases, which in turn become IP and monetise through experiences, merchandise and other areas," said PP Foresight analyst Paolo Pescatore, adding that in spite of geopolitical tensions and an uncertain macroeconomic environment, China remains a "massive and expanding market for its theme parks, movies and merchandise." According to Chris Fenton, author of "Feeding the Dragon: Inside the Trillion Dollar Dilemma Facing Hollywood, the NBA, and American Business," a potential downside of Zootopia 2's success could be the false hope it might give Hollywood studios that China could be rekindling a love affair with foreign films.  "Beijing doesn't view Hollywood as a solution to restrained consumer spending [in China], so I wouldn't read into this being a pivot on Beijing's part," he said. "Beijing knows if Hollywood sees some continued promise in their market, filmmakers will continue to kowtow to Beijing's storytelling requirements." ($1 = 7.0750 Chinese yuan) (Reporting by Casey Hall and Nicoco Chan in Shanghai)

(The article has been published through a syndicated feed. Except for the headline, the content has been published verbatim. Liability lies with original publisher.)

By Casey Hall and Nicoco Chan SHANGHAI, Dec 1 (Reuters) – Disney's Zootopia 2 became the highest-grossing animated foreign film ever in China, despite generally muted interest in overseas movies in the country. As of Monday morning Beijing time, box office tracker Maoyan showed Zootopia 2's local box office tally reaching 1.95 billion yuan ($275.6 million) in its first six days of release. "It is Disney's most important movie in China this year, for sure," said Ashley Dudarenok, founder of China digital consultancy Chozan, with its themes of personal resilience and societal harmony resonating with local audiences. Its runaway success in China – where Zootopia 2 sales accounted for around 95% of all movie ticket sales over its opening weekend – is particularly notable given the changing environment for foreign films in China over the nine years since the first Zootopia film was released. The original Zootopia also became China's most popular foreign animated film when it was released in 2016. Hollywood films were caught up earlier this year in the China-U.S. trade war. Beijing curbed the number of U.S. films that were allowed to be shown in China in retaliation for higher tariffs on Chinese goods – a move analysts said would only have a limited impact, given the waning influence of foreign films in China. AN EXCEPTION, NOT THE RULE Hollywood studios once looked to China, the world's second-largest film market, to help boost their box office performances. But domestic movies increasingly have outperformed Hollywood fare in China. Earlier this year, local animation "Ne Zha 2" eclipsed Pixar's "Inside Out 2" to become the world's highest-grossing animated film of all time after raking in nearly $2 billion at the Chinese box office. Even so, Disney seemed confident that Zootopia 2 would find a significant audience in China, with Chief Executive Bob Iger travelling to Shanghai for a local premiere a fortnight ago. In addition, Disney partnered with China Eastern Airlines on a Zootopia 2-themed plane.  And the Shanghai Disneyland resort is home to the world's only Zootopia-themed land, which opened in 2023 to capitalise on local affection for the original film. "Disney is heavily reliant on huge blockbuster releases, which in turn become IP and monetise through experiences, merchandise and other areas," said PP Foresight analyst Paolo Pescatore, adding that in spite of geopolitical tensions and an uncertain macroeconomic environment, China remains a "massive and expanding market for its theme parks, movies and merchandise." According to Chris Fenton, author of "Feeding the Dragon: Inside the Trillion Dollar Dilemma Facing Hollywood, the NBA, and American Business," a potential downside of Zootopia 2's success could be the false hope it might give Hollywood studios that China could be rekindling a love affair with foreign films.  "Beijing doesn't view Hollywood as a solution to restrained consumer spending [in China], so I wouldn't read into this being a pivot on Beijing's part," he said. "Beijing knows if Hollywood sees some continued promise in their market, filmmakers will continue to kowtow to Beijing's storytelling requirements." ($1 = 7.0750 Chinese yuan) (Reporting by Casey Hall and Nicoco Chan in Shanghai)

(The article has been published through a syndicated feed. Except for the headline, the content has been published verbatim. Liability lies with original publisher.)

By Lisa Richwine LOS ANGELES, Nov 30 (Reuters) – Walt Disney's animated "Zootopia 2" racked up an estimated $556 million in global ticket sales over the U.S. Thanksgiving weekend, providing a strong kickoff to Hollywood's crucial holiday moviegoing season. Nearly half of the film's box office receipts from Wednesday through Sunday came from China, bucking a trend of Hollywood movies finishing behind locally made films. The $272 million tally made "Zootopia 2" Hollywood's highest-grossing animated movie in China, surpassing a record set by the first "Zootopia" in 2016. Also in theaters, Universal Pictures' movie musical "Wicked: For Good" claimed $92.2 million worldwide in its second weekend, bringing its total to $393.3 million after 10 days. The fervor for the two films provided welcome news for movie theater owners who hope audiences will pack cinemas through Christmas, the second-busiest time of the year for moviegoing. Annual box office sales have yet to recover to the pre-pandemic levels seen in 2019. "Zootopia 2" collected $156 million of its worldwide total in the United States and Canada, making it the leader on domestic box office charts. The movie, set in a city of animals, tells the story of a bunny police officer, voiced by Ginnifer Goodwin, and her fox partner, voiced by Jason Bateman. "It’s a proud moment for Disney Animation and all of us at Disney, not to mention a great way to start the holiday season," Disney Entertainment Co-Chairman Alan Bergman said in a statement. Year-to-date domestic ticket sales reached $7.8 billion, up 1.2% from a year ago but 23% shy of 2019, according to data from Comscore. Thanksgiving weekend sales are expected to rank among the top five of all time in the United States and Canada when final numbers come in on Monday, said Paul Dergarabedian, Comscore's head of marketplace trends. Coming releases include James Cameron's third "Avatar" film just before Christmas. "Think about how many people were in theaters over the past week being exposed to theater marketing and trailers," Dergarabedian said. "Hopefully that creates the momentum that can give us a really solid home stretch of the year." (Reporting by Lisa Richwine; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and Chris Reese)

(The article has been published through a syndicated feed. Except for the headline, the content has been published verbatim. Liability lies with original publisher.)

By Lisa Richwine LOS ANGELES, Nov 30 (Reuters) – Walt Disney's animated "Zootopia 2" racked up an estimated $556 million in global ticket sales over the U.S. Thanksgiving weekend, providing a strong kickoff to Hollywood's crucial holiday moviegoing season. Nearly half of the film's box office receipts from Wednesday through Sunday came from China. The $272 million tally made it Hollywood's highest-grossing animated movie in the country, surpassing a record set by the first "Zootopia" in 2016. Also in theaters, Universal Pictures' movie musical "Wicked: For Good" claimed $92.2 million worldwide in its second weekend, bringing its total to $393.3 million after 10 days. The fervor for the two films provided welcome news for movie theater owners who hope audiences will pack cinemas in the coming weeks through Christmas, the second-busiest time of the year for moviegoing. Annual box office sales have yet to recover to the pre-pandemic levels seen in 2019. "Zootopia 2" collected $156 million of its worldwide total in the United States and Canada, making it the leader on domestic box office charts. The movie set in a city of animals tells the story of a bunny police officer, voiced by Ginnifer Goodwin, and her fox partner, voiced by Jason Bateman. "It’s a proud moment for Disney Animation and all of us at Disney, not to mention a great way to start the holiday season," Disney Entertainment Co-Chairman Alan Bergman said in a statement. "Wicked: For Good," last weekend's domestic box office champion, dropped to second place this week with $93 million. The movie stars Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo in a prequel to the classic film "The Wizard of Oz." (Reporting by Lisa Richwine; Editing by Chris Reese and Chizu Nomiyama )

(The article has been published through a syndicated feed. Except for the headline, the content has been published verbatim. Liability lies with original publisher.)

LOS ANGELES, Nov 30 (Reuters) – "Zootopia 2," Disney's animated adventure about a city of animals, racked up an estimated $556 million in global movie ticket sales over the U.S. Thanksgiving weekend, according to studio estimates on Sunday. The figure captures box office receipts from Wednesday through Sunday and represents the fourth-highest global opening of all time, Disney said. Also in theaters, Universal Pictures' movie musical "Wicked: For Good" claimed $92.2 million worldwide, bringing its total to $393.3 million in its first 10 days. The fervor for the two films provided welcome news for movie theater owners who hope audiences will pack theaters throughout the holiday season. Annual movie ticket sales have yet to recover to the pre-pandemic levels seen in 2019. (Reporting by Lisa Richwine; Editing by Chris Reese)

(The article has been published through a syndicated feed. Except for the headline, the content has been published verbatim. Liability lies with original publisher.)

LOS ANGELES, Nov 30 (Reuters) – "Zootopia 2," Disney's animated adventure about a city of animals, racked up an estimated $556 million in global movie ticket sales over the U.S. Thanksgiving weekend, according to studio estimates on Sunday. The figure represents sales from Wednesday through Sunday. (Reporting by Lisa Richwine; Editing by Chris Reese)

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LONDON, Nov 29 (Reuters) – Tom Stoppard, one of Britain's best-known playwrights, has died at the age of 88. Below are some tributes and reactions. KING CHARLES AND QUEEN CAMILLA "A dear friend who wore his genius lightly, he could, and did, turn his pen to any subject, challenging, moving and inspiring his audiences, borne from his own personal history… Let us all take comfort in his immortal line: 'Look on every exit as being an entrance somewhere else'." MICK JAGGER "Tom Stoppard was my favourite playwright. He leaves us with a majestic body of intellectual and amusing work. I will always miss him." UNITED AGENTS Stoppard's agent said it was an honour to work with him. "We are deeply saddened to announce that our beloved client and friend, Tom Stoppard, has died peacefully at home in Dorset, surrounded by his family. He will be remembered for his works, for their brilliance and humanity, and for his wit, his irreverence, his generosity of spirit and his profound love of the English language." THEATRE CRITIC MARK SHENTON "For over 50, 60 years he's dominated the theatre," Shenton told Sky News. "And the cinema as well. He had a phenomenal impact. He was probably Britain's leading playwright." UK WRITERS' TRADE UNION "We are so sad to learn of the death of Tom Stoppard," The Writers' Guild of Great Britain said. "A recipient of our Outstanding Contribution to Writing in 2017, he was presented by fellow playwright and former WGGB President (David Edgar) who said of him: 'Like no one else, he has challenged, dazzled and amazed.'" BRITAIN'S NATIONAL THEATRE "We are devastated to hear of the death of Tom Stoppard. As a corner stone of the National Theatre for 50 years, Tom's influence on British theatre has been simply immense." JOHN LENNON'S SON, SEAN ONO LENNON "An absolute genius." BILL KRISTOL, FORMER CHIEF OF STAFF TO U.S. VICE PRESIDENT DURING GEORGE H.W. BUSH PRESIDENCY "What an interesting and talented playwright! On hearing of his death, I was struck that one should be grateful that he was given the time to write his last and perhaps most personal play, Leopoldstadt." ROYAL COURT THEATRE "Today we join with writers and theatre artists across the world to mark the passing of Tom Stoppard, a playwright whose work probed the deepest human mysteries of truth, time, mortality and frailty while dazzling with wit, laughter and the buoyancy of the human spirit." (Reporting by Sam Tabahriti; Editing by Andrew Heavens and Nia Williams)

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