This Week's Headlines (23/1 – 27/1) | Matlock Silkscreen

• Seediq Shortlisted for Oscars, Flowers Fails to Qualify for Second Round
• IMAX screens Flying Swords
• Youku signs Content Deal with 20th Century Fox
• Youku and Tudou in Legal Spat

SEEDIQ SHORTLISTED FOR OSCARS, FLOWERS FAILs to qualify for second round

(Related industries: Film & TV)

• Wei Te-sheng’s Seediq Bale has been shortlisted for best foreign langauge film at this year’s Academy Awards
• Of the nine films selected, Seediq is the only East Asian film to get shortlisted
• Zhang Yimou’s Flowers of War failed to get shortlisted, dashing Zhang’s hope for an Oscar this year
• The remaining eight films shortlisted come from Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Germany, Iran, Israel, Morocco, Poland and Taiwan

IMAX SCREENS Flying swords

(Related industries: Film & TV)

• The IMAX version of Tsui Hark’s Flying Swords of Dragon Gate has reaped a box office gross of over USD10 million
• The film was screened in 61 IMAX theatres in China from 15 December 2011 through Bona Film Group
• Flying Swords broke the previous record for the highest-grossing Chinese-produced movie in IMAX format set by Feng Xiaogang’s Aftershock
• Flying Swords is now the third-highest grossing IMAX movie in China behind Avatar and Transformers: Dark of the Moon
• The film’s total box office to date is over RMB550 million (USD87.2 million)

YOUKU SIGNS CONTENT DEAL WITH 20TH CENTURY FOX

(Related industries: Film & TV)

• Online video website Youku has partnered with 20th Century Fox, where Youku will licence 250 titles from Fox’s new release and library films
• The titles will be available for view on Youku Premium, Youku’s on-demand platform which has processed more than a million orders since its beta launch last year
• Fox’s titles on Youku Premium have included film franchises Plant of the Apes, Ice Age, X-Men and Alien
• Each Fox title on Youku Premium will charge a fee of RMB5 (USD0.79) per view online
• The number of pay-per-view transactions on Youku Premium more than tripled between Q2 and Q3 of 2011
• As of November 2011, 13.5% of Youku Premium users paid more than once per month to view premium content
• Following high ticket prices, limited access to Hollywood film, increased regulation on TV and the clampdown on pirated DVDs,  Chinese consumers are increasingly turning to online video websites for satisfy their demand for foreign films
• Chinese consumers are also warming up to the idea of paying for online films

YOUKU AND TUDOU IN LEGAL SPAT

(Related industries: Film & TV)

• Youku and Tudou have sued each other over copyright
• Youku says that Tudou has breached its right to domestic TV dramas including The Emperor’s Harem, Hip-Hop Office Quartet and Miss Puff
• Tudou has filed a lawsuit against Youku over Japanese and Taiwanese TV series including Kangxi Has Come