China Clears Golden Globe Winner ‘La La Land’ for Release

This post comes courtesy of our content partners at China Film Insider.

Fresh off its Golden Globes success, Damien Chazelle’s modern musical La La Land got some more good news with the announcement the film will get a release in China.

The Lionsgate film has been approved for distribution in China and will screen in the China Giant Screen format and possibly IMAX 2D, although a specific date is yet to be announced, according to local reports.

China Film Group, the state-backed film company, will be distributing the film, while Shanghai-based Baian Film (佰安影业) and Joy Pictures (伊犁卓然影业) will handle marketing.

Chinese-language posters and trailers were released on Tuesday featuring the film’s Chinese name, 爱乐之城 or Aiyue Zhicheng, which roughly translates as ‘Music-Loving City.'

Local reports indicate that Chazelle and actor Ryan Gosling will travel to China to promote the local release of the film at the end of January. Emma Stone may be absent due to scheduling conflicts.

The feel-good film won a record-breaking seven Golden Globes on Sunday night for Best Picture (Comedy or Musical), Best Actor (Comedy or Musical) for Ryan Gosling, Best Actress (Musical or Comedy) for Emma Stone, Best Screenplay and Best Director for Damien Chazelle, Best Score for Justin Hurwitz, and Best Original Song for 'City of Stars.'

Taiwan pop star Jay Chou’s movie The Rooftop (天台爱情) holds the box office record for a musical in China, earning RMB 120 million (USD 17.3 million) in 2013. Universal’s 2012 big screen musical Les Misérables (悲惨世界) pulled in RMB 64.3 million (USD 9.3 million).

No doubt the film’s local distributors will be hoping to ape the success of last year’s The Revenant (荒野猎人), which was able to piggy-back buzz from the Oscars to pull in RMB 377 million (USD 54.4 million) in China.

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La La Land will mark the first time Ryan Gosling has featured on the big screen in China, while co-star Emma Stone has appeared four times previously, including Birdman (鸟人) in 2015, The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (超凡蜘蛛侠2) in 2014, the animated feature The Croods (疯狂原始人) in 2013, and The Amazing Spider-Man (超凡蜘蛛侠) in 2012.

Images: wennermedia.comsinaimg.cn