Tag: Kong

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‘Godzilla vs. Kong’ Roars on the Field Workplace With $48.5 Million

‘Godzilla vs. Kong’ Roars at the Box Office With $48.5 Million

Moviegoers sent a message to Hollywood over the weekend: We are ready to return to theaters – and will be buying tickets even if the same movie is instantly available in our living rooms – but we want to leave our gloomy world for a goofy fantasy world.

“Godzilla vs. Kong,” a monster film in which a lizard with atomic breath battles a computer-generated monkey on an aircraft carrier (before everyone ventures into the hollow center of the earth), grossed an estimated $ 48.5 million between 3,064 North American theaters Wednesday and Sunday. It was (by far) the largest turnout for a film since the pandemic began.

The PG-13 film wasn’t even a theater exclusive. “Godzilla vs. Kong,” produced by Legendary Entertainment, was also available on HBO Max, a streaming service that sells monthly subscriptions for $ 15, less than the cost of an adult ticket at major city theaters.

“People seem ready to free themselves emotionally, to experience this human connectivity – to laugh together, to get scared together – and to complete the transport that only cinemas can offer,” said Mary Parent, vice chairwoman and director of the worldwide production of Legendary, in a telephone interview.

Overseas, Godzilla vs. Kong raised an additional $ 236.9 million, including a whopping $ 136 million in China, a market that has recently favored local over imported films. The film has not yet opened in other major markets such as Japan and Brazil.

Some box office analysts were reluctant to declare a recovery for Hollywood, noting that coronavirus cases in the US have risen again and parts of Europe are back on lockdown. David A. Gross, director of film consultancy Franchise Entertainment Research, said that while the Friday-Sunday voter turnout was “a clear and positive indication that going to the cinema has inherent strengths that don’t go away”, “half of it” is still below normal circumstances. “

About 93 percent of theaters in the United States have opened, but government guidelines limit capacity to 50 percent and in some large cities to 25 percent. Most theaters in Canada will remain closed.

But Warner Bros., which was handing out Godzilla vs. Kong, was too busy popping champagne on Sunday to deal with the reservations that are killing the buzz. “BIG FILMS ARE BACK WITH OUR KAIJU-SIZE OPENING!” The studio said in a press release about weekend earnings, using the Japanese term for overgrown movie monsters.

The Adam Wingard-led mash-up of computer-generated titans, which cost approximately $ 155 million to manufacture, benefited from strong reviews. AO Scott, who rated it for the New York Times, described it as an escape route made with “lavish grandiosity” and “zero pretension”. Ticket buyers gave the film an A grade in CinemaScore polls, which was higher than “Godzilla: King of the Monsters” in 2019 or “Kong: Skull Island” in 2017.

As Hollywood adapts to the streaming age by making new movies available for viewing at home faster – to the dismay of theater owners – quality matters more than ever, along with size and scope: what’s worth a trip to the theater (with face coverings for the foreseeable future) and what is not?

Non-franchise films without spectacular visual effects could have a tough time, box office analysts say, pointing to the disappointing arrival of “Raya and the Last Dragon” last month. Godzilla and King Kong, on the other hand, are cinematic comfort dishes: proven, larger-than-life, nonsensical fun. A large percentage of weekend ticket sales for Godzilla vs. Kong came from large-format theaters that charge a ticket premium. For example, Imax said that about 1,000 of its screenings in North America were sold out.

“Audiences are demonstrating the pent-up demand for blockbuster films on a grand scale,” said David King, an Imax sales director, in an email.

That was certainly true of Iveth Vacao, who took her 8-year-old son Jayden to an Imax matinee of “Godzilla vs. Kong” at the TCL Chinese Theater in Los Angeles.

“We don’t usually go to the theater, but we wanted to experience something,” said Vacao before the lights go out. “Covid made us appreciate things like that more. Sure, you can get the same movie at home, but not the same experience. “

Jayden didn’t want to guess which creature would emerge victorious. (“Can they both?”) But he was sure of one thing.

“When the next ‘Venom’ comes out, we’ll definitely be back,” he said, referring to “Venom: Let There Be Carnage,” which was planned by Sony this fall. “I want to see it on the biggest screen.”

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Entertainment

‘Godzilla vs. Kong’ Assessment: Let’s You and Him Struggle

‘Godzilla vs. Kong’ Review: Let’s You and Him Fight

A couple of nights ago I saw “Godzilla vs. Kong” alone in my darkened living room. That was far from ideal, but it made me acutely nostalgic for a certain pleasure that I have been giving up for 13 months. There are many reasons I miss going to the movies, but one of them that I didn’t really take into account is the extra joy of seeing a bad movie on a big screen.

I don’t mean bad “bad”. It is more of a description than a judgment. “Godzilla vs. Kong,” directed by Adam Wingard, is the fourth episode in a franchise called “MonsterVerse,” which was made from fossilized B-movie DNA. As such, it gathers an impressive human cast to walk around explaining false science and drawing attention to what is happening in all clarity. “Did the monkey just talk?” someone asks. He kind of did it, but that’s not what anyone can see here. We paid money to see him fight the lizard.

Well I didn’t, but if things were different I might have done it. Mind you, not necessarily as part of a monthly HBO Max subscription fee. (The film grossed $ 123 million in overseas cinemas this past weekend.) The spectacle of the Titans playing Mano for Mano should be watched in the presence of troubled members of your own species whose behavior leads you to think about the ridiculous parts of moaning. laugh too hard at the used jokes and cheer when the monkey fist connects with the dinosaur jaw.

Without such a society it is at least possible to admire “Godzilla vs. Kong” for what it is – an action film that was shot with lavish grandiosity, without pretension and not too much originality. An opening sequence points in the direction of earlier MonsterVerse episodes (“Godzilla”, “Kong: Skull Island” and “Godzilla King of the Monsters”) and at the same time picks up on the energy drink rhythm of the playoff sports broadcast. Myths and legends are cited along with genetics and geophysics, but bracketology is the relevant intellectual discipline.

And the main aesthetic achievements are the kaiju and the monkey. They fight at sea and on the streets of Hong Kong, and their bodies are depicted in loving, absurd detail. Kong’s height seems to fluctuate a bit, like he’s a boxer floating between weight classes. His fingernails are beautiful, his teeth are straight and his coat is impressively well-groomed.

The film, written by Eric Pearson and Max Borenstein, might lean a little in Kong’s favor. He has a sweet friendship with a young girl named Jia (Kaylee Hottle), whose guardian is Ilene Andrews, a sensitive scientist played by Rebecca Hall. Nathan Lind (Alexander Skarsgard) is less sensitive and is ethically compromised by his involvement with Walter Simmons (Demián Bichir), a bigwig from companies who embraces technological ambitions in a brocade tuxedo jacket and a mug of scotch.

You know the guy. You may also know the underdogs who take up Godzilla’s side of the story: the paranoid podcaster (Brian Tyree Henry); the nervous nerd (Julian Dennison); the independent teenage girl (Millie Bobby Brown). Brown was in Godzilla: King of the Monsters, as was Kyle Chandler, who plays her father again, the fearful bureaucrat. This film and the other earlier MonsterVerse pictures cared a little more about people than this one, which reduces motifs and relationships to visual shorthand and indifferent jokes.

The poetry, as I suggested, lies with the animals. Kong, a warm-blooded being, is the more passionate and moody of the two. He also learns to communicate with people and to use tools or at least a glowing ax that he finds in a cave deep below the surface of the earth. (The earth is hollow, in case you didn’t know.) Godzilla is simpler, but also more enigmatic – a killer with a small brain whose scaly face still registers an almost philosophical fatigue and an instinctive willingness to fight.

What would you bet on I will not spoil anything. Despite the bright blue death rays shooting out of Godzilla’s mouth, it’s an old-fashioned Donnybrook, a brawl that feels more physical than digital. Kong has broad shoulders and the ability to make a fist, but Godzilla has claws, a low center of gravity, and a sledgehammer tail.

It’s not pretty and it doesn’t mean much, but “Godzilla vs. Kong” turns its limits into virtues and makes stupidity its own kind of ingenuity. The original “Gojira” was an allegory of human ruthlessness, just as the old “King Kong” was a tragedy catalyzed by human cruelty. It was pop fables, something that this chic spectacle is not remotely aiming at. But it at least honors the nobility of the blanks on the screen as it satisfies the appetite of the blanks on the couch.

Godzilla versus Kong
Rated PG-13. Big animal chaos. Running time: 1 hour 53 minutes. In theaters and on HBO Max Please consult the Policies of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention before viewing films in theaters.

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Business

Godzilla vs. Kong China field workplace headed for sturdy opening weekend

Godzilla vs. Kong China box office headed for strong opening weekend

A still image from Warner Bros. “Godzilla vs. Kong.”

Source: Warner Bros.

“Godzilla vs. Kong” is on its way to a monster opening weekend at the Chinese box office. This is welcome news for an industry ravaged by the coronavirus pandemic.

According to initial estimates, the film, in which two of the cinema’s most famous monsters compete against each other, secured around US $ 21.5 million on the country’s opening day.

The sequel is currently running just before its predecessor “Godzilla: King of the Monsters”, which brought in around 18 million US dollars on its first day of cinema in China in 2019. Ultimately, $ 66.7 million was raised for the entire weekend.

The film will be released internationally this weekend, but will be available in North American theaters and on HBO Max on March 31st. “Godzilla vs. Kong” will be on the streaming service for 31 days after its release and then switch to premium video by demand.

“The release of this film is very welcome news for the film industry, even if the domestic streaming element is involved,” said Shawn Robbins, chief analyst at Boxoffice.com. “Overall, the Asian markets were strong drivers of the franchise’s box office expertise, with China alone contributing around a third of global revenues to ‘Kong: Skull Island’ and ‘Godzilla: King of the Monsters’.”

At the beginning of the weekend, analysts were optimistic that Godzilla vs. Kong could deliver strong results in China. After all, the country is currently the leading box office manager for ticket sales in 2021, and has been instrumental in driving ticket sales for the latest Godzilla and King Kong films.

Strong ticket sales in China

According to Comscore, China’s box office made $ 2.64 billion in ticket sales between January 1 and March 21, most of all territories.

By comparison, Japan, the second largest cash collector, made just $ 292.6 million in ticket sales in the first three months of the year. The domestic box office, which ranks third, has just under $ 200 million in ticket sales.

Domestically, the film industry has been hard hit by the pandemic, leading to long-term closings of major theaters and the postponement of blockbuster films. Only recently, theaters in key cities like Los Angeles and New York City received local permits to reopen.

With movie theaters now open and a steady surge in vaccinations, the industry is hoping box offices in the US and Canada will rebound.

“With much of the world waiting for theaters to reopen more stably and for vaccine implementation to further boost consumer sentiment, the film’s current presence in Chinese cinemas is one of the most important steps to take in the long-term industry global upswing, “said Robbin.

The Chinese box office has accelerated over the past decade, threatening to overtake North America as the highest-earning area in the world. In 2012, China had ticket sales of just $ 2.7 billion. By 2019, that number was $ 9.2 billion, just two billion behind North America.

Because of the pandemic, China overtook North America last year, raising $ 3.1 billion, compared to $ 2.25 billion domestically.

China’s strong ticket sales in 2021 are particularly due to the fact that more theaters are open, the audience capacity is higher, and more new films are being released.

While theaters in the US and Canada are 25% to 50% full, many theaters in China are allowed to open at 75%. This enables them to generate a significantly higher amount every weekend at the box office.

“What the Chinese market is telling me is not necessarily that it is outperforming, but it shows the performance that an open film market should be,” said Josh Grode, CEO of Legendary. “It’s a strong sign around the world that people really enjoy going to the movies and enjoying a social experience.”

Legendary co-produced “Godzilla vs. Kong” alongside Warner Bros. and has distribution rights in China.

“There is something to be said about the shared experience.” Said Grode. “Go inside, let the lights go out, scream and shout and be entertained and fed on the energy of the person next to you.”

A monster showdown

Audiences in China are also leaning towards premium ticketing for upgraded seating and screens that cost more. IMAX, for example, has a massive presence in China and continues to increase the number of screens operated in the region.

In 2014, when Godzilla was released, IMAX had fewer than 150 screens in China. Now that Godzilla vs. Kong is out there are around 700 screens.

“There’s a big appetite for the right film and a special appetite for premium,” said Richard Gelfond, CEO of IMAX. “You want to see something very special.”

Godzilla and King Kong fight in Warner Bros.’s “Godzilla vs. Kong.”

Source: Warner Bros.

Hollywood action films tend to draw large crowds to Chinese theaters and often make up a significant portion of ticket sales, especially in recent years.

Looking at “Godzilla” from 2014, domestic ticket sales reached $ 200.6 million, or about 39% of the movie’s total worldwide sales. Ticket sales in China were under $ 80 million, or 15%.

Fast forward to 2019 when Godzilla: King of the Monsters was released, China accounted for 36% of the movie’s global box officer at $ 137.6 million, and North America accounted for $ 110.5 million in ticket sales 29% off.

“The legendary monster film genre has had a special resonance in the international market for decades,” said Paul Dergarabedian, Senior Media Analyst at Comscore. “China, in particular, has been an incredibly important source of revenue and fan-based enthusiasm for the franchise and has been appropriately at the center of the marketing and sales effort for the film.”

“There’s no denying that the sheer size and scale of these two larger-than-life characters makes it necessary to see the film best on the largest screen possible,” he said.

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Business

Hong Kong Suspends Pfizer-BioNTech Vaccine Use Over Packaging Defects

Hong Kong Suspends Pfizer-BioNTech Vaccine Use Over Packaging Defects

Hong Kong on Wednesday suspended use of the Pfizer BioNTech vaccine after packaging defects ranging from cracked containers to loose caps were discovered in a batch of cans. This was a major blow to a city that was already struggling to vaccinate its seven million residents against Covid-19.

Health officials called the stop a precaution, saying that none of the broken vials had been administered to patients and that they had not identified any health risks. However, if the suspension continues, Chinese territory may not have had enough shots to protect its population as the coronavirus continues to spread. Hong Kong officials counted 7.5 million doses of the vaccine, which was developed by Pfizer in the US and BioNTech in Germany to meet their needs.

The discovery has also sparked a hunt for the source of the flaws, as well as questions whether there might be more out there. The cans were made in BioNTech’s factories in Germany, while a Chinese company called Fosun Pharma was responsible for the transport, storage and distribution of the recordings in Hong Kong.

“I’m confused about why this is being reported for the first time in Hong Kong and we haven’t heard about it anywhere else,” said Benjamin Cowling, head of epidemiology and biostatistics at the University of Hong Kong.

“Was there anything special about that particular batch? Presumably they were made in the same way as the other batches in Germany. “

In a statement on Wednesday, BioNTech said the batch in question had only been sent to Hong Kong and Macau, another nearby Chinese area. The company said it is investigating the root cause of the problem.

“At this point in time, we have no reason to believe that there is a safety risk to the population,” said BioNTech.

Fosun Pharma said BioNTech had identified problems with the lids within a batch of vaccines shipped to Hong Kong and Macau, where authorities have also suspended vaccine administration. Fosun Pharma shares fell 4.8 percent in Hong Kong trading on Wednesday.

Hong Kong’s vaccination campaign has already been plagued by public doubts. Vaccine bookings were down after reports were made that several people died after receiving the other vaccine Hong Kong uses, made by Sinovac, a Beijing-based company. Residents tried hard to book appointments for the BioNTech vaccine, which, according to official figures, had booked about twice as many as Sinovac in the past six days.

The Hong Kong government has not found a direct link between the shooting and the deaths. However, some people do not trust the government after mainland China officials tightened their control over the former British colony following anti-government protests in 2019.

In January, a poll of 2,733 residents found that only 39 percent of Hong Kong residents were willing to take a Covid-19 vaccine.

“There are some key risks here that further undermine confidence in the vaccines available,” said Karen Grépin, associate professor at the University of Hong Kong’s School of Public Health, who received the BioNTech shot on March 12.

Professor Grépin said many Hong Kong residents waited to see what the early stages of the rollout would be before deciding on a vaccine.

The suspension created uncertainty in the city’s clinics and doctor’s offices as vaccinations stalled.

Lindsay Eng, 36, was vaccinated at 9:11 a.m. on Wednesday. When she was sitting in the waiting area afterwards, she noticed that no more people were coming in. When she left the center, the staff put up a sign saying that the vaccination service had stopped. A lot of people who came to have their vaccinations were asked questions.

Ms. Eng said she was not particularly concerned for her own health but was more concerned that the incident would result in fewer people being vaccinated in Hong Kong.

“Just talking to the locals here is pretty clear that there are a lot of people who say, ‘Let’s wait and see,'” said Ms. Eng, who is from Toronto but has elderly family members in Hong Kong who hesitate Received vaccine.

Hong Kong officials had reached out to Fosun for answers after receiving reports from frontline workers and pharmacists about defective vials and packaging, Hong Kong health director Constance Chan said in a news conference on Wednesday. The defects were found before the doses were administered, she said, adding that workers carefully inspected containers and vials.

In total, the government received eight reports of cracked containers, 22 reports of leaks, 16 reports of loose closures, and 11 reports of stains or marks on the outside of bottles, said Dr. Chan.

The defective cans were part of a batch of 585,000 cans with the order number 210102, the Hong Kong government said on Wednesday, citing data from a subsidiary of Fosun in Hong Kong. So far, 150,200 people had received shots from this batch, according to the government.

Authorities said they would hold another batch of 758,000 doses of the BioNTech vaccine with catalog number 210104.

“This is a precautionary measure to ensure the safety of the vaccine continuously,” the Hong Kong government said in a statement.

According to Dr. Chan would work with Fosun to work with BioNTech to conduct factory site inspections in Germany.

Compared to the USA and Great Britain, Hong Kong has started its vaccination campaign only slowly. Just over 5 percent of Hong Kong’s 7.5 million residents have been vaccinated. The city has reported more than 11,000 cases and 204 deaths since the pandemic began, but it has just beaten back a new outbreak that resulted in hundreds of people being rounded up for quarantine.

It is unclear when concerns about the Pfizer BioNTech vaccine will be addressed or how quickly Hong Kong can make up the deficit. The city has also ordered 7.5 million doses of vaccine from Anglo-Swedish company AstraZeneca, which are expected to arrive in the second quarter. The company has not yet filed for approval of its vaccine in Hong Kong.

As quickly as the problem was resolved, confusion was created.

Ruby Callaghan Brown, 32, and her husband arrived at a vaccination center on the east side of Hong Kong Island at 7:45 a.m. on Wednesday. 15 minutes before opening. A staff member shooed her away, saying that all vaccinations had been stopped and that an announcement would come.

Then they read online that the center had reopened and returned. they were about to submit their records when they were told again that the vaccinations had been suspended.

They waited 45 minutes before leaving. “I thought I was just going to sit here until you change your mind,” she said.

Elsie Chen contributed to the research.

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Health

Fosun Pharma falls as Hong Kong suspends BioNTech Covid vaccinations

Fosun Pharma falls as Hong Kong suspends BioNTech Covid vaccinations

Vaccination program branding on the clothing of a staff member outside a community vaccination center administering the BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine imported by Fosun Pharma on Wednesday March 17, 2021 in Hong Kong, China.

Chan Long Hei | Bloomberg via Getty Images

Shares in China’s Shanghai Fosun Pharmaceutical Group fell after Hong Kong and Macau announced on Wednesday that they would suspend vaccinations for BioNTech Covid.

Fosun Pharma, BioNTech’s partner in the development and distribution of the Comirnaty Covid-19 vaccine in Greater China, has informed the cities of a packaging error in batch 210102 of the vaccine.

Hong Kong and Macau said they would suspend vaccinations made in Germany as a precaution.

The cities said BioNTech and Fosun Pharma are investigating the cause of the vial cap failure, adding that there is currently no reason to doubt the vaccine’s safety.

Macau says all of its messenger RNA or mRNA vaccines belong to the affected batch. Hong Kong said it would also temporarily suspend vaccinations from batch 210104 until the investigation is completed.

Hong Kong-listed Fosun Pharma shares fell 4.83% in the city on Wednesday afternoon.

Hong Kong approved the BioNTech emergency vaccine in January, while Macau gave the vaccine a special import permit in late February. Both areas received their first shots in late February.

BioNTech’s mRNA-based vaccine has a proven efficacy of 95% in adults, according to data from its global Phase 3 clinical trial. Real-world data has shown that Pfizer-BioNTech’s two-dose Covid vaccine delivers “very strong” results after just one shot.

The news comes as countries around the world struggle to vaccinate their populations amid rising Covid cases in most regions.

More than 124 million infections have been reported worldwide and the death toll from Covid has exceeded 2.7 million, according to Johns Hopkins University.

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World News

Baidu Hong Kong itemizing to boost not less than $Three billion

Baidu Hong Kong listing to raise at least $3 billion

Robin Li, General Manager of Baidu.

Nelson Ching | Bloomberg | Getty Images

GUANGZHOU, China – Baidu will raise $ 3.6 billion in an upcoming Hong Kong secondary listing if stocks are valued at the high end of their range.

On Thursday, the Nasdaq-listed Chinese technology giant published its prospectus for the Hong Kong listing. Baidu will issue 95,000,000 Class A common shares at a price not exceeding 295 Hong Kong dollars or US $ 38.05.

At that high end, Baidu’s net proceeds from the offering will be Hong Kong $ 27.6 billion, or $ 3.6 billion.

The banks that subscribe to the listing also have the option to purchase up to 14,250,000 additional shares. That would bring the net proceeds from the deal to Hong Kong $ 31.8 billion, or $ 4.1 billion.

The final price for the shares will be determined in part by the price of the US-listed Baidu shares on the last trading day prior to the price of the global offering, which is expected to occur on or about March 17, the company said.

Earlier in the day, CNBC reported that Baidu will raise at least $ 3 billion, citing two people familiar with the matter.

The listing will be completed before the end of the month, they said.

The book-making process could begin as early as Friday with final stock pricing, which will be announced late next week. This was announced by the person on CNBC, who spoke on condition of anonymity as the details of the deal are not yet public.

Baidu declined to comment when contacted by CNBC.

Diversification plans

Baidu could also benefit from a huge 128% surge in its shares over the past 12 months to raise capital.

While Baidu is traditionally known for its search and advertising business, more recently it has looked to diversify.

The company has focused on its autonomous auto business and is creating independent companies. CNBC reported in February that Baidu plans to raise money for an artificial intelligence semiconductor company.

Baidu has also built a standalone electric vehicle business with automaker Geely and is raising money for a biotechnology company.

The company said it will use the proceeds from the Hong Kong listing to invest in technology and commercialize its artificial intelligence products, improve monetization and diversify, and for general corporate purposes.

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Health

Hong Kong residents to be provided vaccines by finish 2021: Well being secretary

Hong Kong residents to be offered vaccines by end 2021: Health secretary

The Hong Kong Minister of Health is confident that Covid vaccines will be offered to all residents by the end of 2021.

The city has signed agreements to get more than enough doses for its population, Hong Kong Minister for Food and Health Sophia Chan told CNBC’s Capital Connection on Tuesday.

When asked when Hong Kong could achieve herd immunity, Chan replied that authorities are still assessing the vaccination response and are sticking to the supply-procurement plan. She did not provide a schedule for when the city could achieve herd immunity, a situation where enough people in the population have become immune to a disease that it is effectively no longer spreading.

“We’re pretty confident that by the end of the year … everyone in Hong Kong will have the opportunity to get vaccinated,” she said.

Chan added that more than 22 million doses of Covid vaccines have been ordered.

Hong Kong has a population of around 7.5 million and started its vaccination campaign at the end of February. The company has signed contracts to purchase vaccines from Sinovac Biotech in China, Oxford-AstraZeneca in Europe, and Fosun Pharma from Shanghai and its partner, German drug manufacturer BioNTech.

Customers buy fresh vegetables from a street market store in Hong Kong on March 8, 2021.

Anthony Wallace | AFP | Getty Images

Chan said people seem “pretty excited” about the vaccine, but admitted that they are still phasing it out and that it is not yet available to the general population.

She also said experts are reviewing the causes of adverse events, including at least two deaths after vaccination.

“Our scientific committee initially provided the information that it had nothing to do with the vaccination. That is, they found no direct causation with the vaccination,” she said.

Separately, Chan considered when Hong Kong would relax its coronavirus restrictions, saying the city authorities would be “very careful” on this.

She said the situation remains “a bit unstable” because unlinked cases are still being reported even though new cases are low.

“We really want to contain … and cut the chains of transmission in a community because we don’t want clusters to come out,” she said.

According to the local health authority, Hong Kong reported 21 new cases on Tuesday, bringing the total number of infections to at least 11,121.

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World News

Japan’s preliminary GDP knowledge forward; China, Hong Kong closed

Japan's preliminary GDP data ahead; China, Hong Kong closed

SINGAPORE – Stocks in Japan should rise on Monday as several markets in North Asia closed for the New Year holidays.

Futures indicated a higher open for Japanese stocks. The Nikkei futures contract in Chicago was at 29,725 while its Osaka counterpart was at 29,590. This is compared to the Nikkei 225’s last closing price at 29,520.07.

Japan’s preliminary pressure on fourth quarter gross domestic product is expected around 7:50 a.m. HK / SIN.

Australian stocks rose in morning trade, with the S & P / ASX 200 up around 0.8%.

The markets in China, Hong Kong, Taiwan and the USA are closed on Mondays for public holidays.

Currencies

The US dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of its peers, stood at 90.422 after weakening against the 91.2 handle earlier this month.

The Japanese yen was trading at 104.98 per dollar, weaker than below 104.8 against the greenback last week. The Australian dollar was trading at $ 0.7766 after rising below $ 0.772 last week.

Here’s a look at what’s on tap:

  • Japan: Preliminary gross domestic product data for the fourth quarter at 7:50 a.m. HK / SIN
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Entertainment

Hong Kong Elvis Impersonator Dies at 68

Hong Kong Elvis Impersonator Dies at 68

“I cried for a long time,” he told The Times, remembering the first time he saw the film. “Elvis: That’s it.”

Mr. Kwok won two Elvis impersonation competitions in the early 1980s, the South China Morning Post reported, but local Chinese fans often mistook him for an imitator of other famous musicians – such as a Beatle or Michael Jackson.

By 1992, Mr. Kwok had quit his job and branded himself the “Cat King,” the Chinese nickname for Elvis. He also had his sights set on an easier quarry: Western expatriates and tourists.

His guitar was sometimes out of tune, his self-taught English a bit rough. (Presley’s first name was misspelled on his business card.)

Still, he made a living saying Elvis was the factory job. Some night owls got to know him as Melvis – no relationship with Relvis, an impersonator in the USA – or as “Lan Kwai Fong Elvis”, a reference to a nightlife in which he often appeared.

Mr Kwok died at the end of a year when coronavirus infections in live music venues caused the government to shut them down for months and empty the sidewalks of its potential customers. Ms. Ma said he spent much of his pandemic downtime watching Elvis videos and playing guitar in his apartment.

Mr. Kwok is survived by his wife Anna and their son and daughter.

His wife, who was also his manager, told the Times in 2010 that she initially did not support his campaign as Elvis. “But then I was moved by his persistence and dedication to the job,” she said.

It’s hard to find a job that you love, she added. “Now that he’s found it, I’m happy to support him.”

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Business

Hong Kong Web site Doxxing Police Will get Blocked, Elevating Censorship Fears

Hong Kong Website Doxxing Police Gets Blocked, Raising Censorship Fears

With an Internet provider, China Mobile Hong Kong, the separation – a kind of drop action – indicates a direct involvement of the telecommunications company. “A drop action is a specially configured element of a DNS firewall environment,” April said. “This is not something that the owner could have intentionally or accidentally configured.”

China Mobile Hong Kong, a branch of China Mobile, the state-owned Chinese company, declined to comment. Two other companies tested by The Times, SmarTone and Hutchison Telecommunications, which are controlled by local conglomerates, did not respond to requests for comment sent via email.

Users from PCCW, another local operator, told The Times that their access to the site was also blocked. A spokesman declined to comment.

While site blocking may at first glance be similar to mainland China censorship, the methods are very different from China’s sophisticated system.

At China Mobile, SmarTone and Hutchison, the process of associating a website address with the series of numbers a computer uses to look up has been interrupted. The practice would be like listing an incorrect number under someone’s name in a phone book. If you know the correct number for that person, you can still call them.

On the Chinese mainland, on the other hand, the hardware of the Great Firewall – as Beijing’s system of filters and blocks is known – actively separates connections. In the phonebook comparison, the call would not be forwarded even if you had the correct phone number.

The blockades in Hong Kong are “very easy to bypass and clumsy,” said Professor Tsui. Still, he said, authorities may not want to control the internet as tightly as Beijing for fear of deterring the global banks and international corporations that have made the city their Asian headquarters.