DreamWorks Animation is expanding its distribution to Chinese online video site Youku.com. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the two companies released information Monday that they have reached what is being labeled as a “first-of-its-kind” online distribution agreement for the rights to the “Kung Fu Panda” films in China. This will be the first time that DreamWorks Animation titles will be available through an online site inChina. Both “Kung Fu Panda” films are currently available on-demand on Youku Premium; the two companies stated the films will later show on Youku’s Hollywood Movie Channel after the paid viewing window closes. “As technology matures and Chinese Internet useres increasingly turn to the web…

Today, Warner Brothers became the first studio to offer films On Demand in the People’s Republic of China. YOU On Demand, China’s first national pay-per-view and Video On Demand platform, will distribute Warner Bros.’ films to an estimated 200 million cable households. The first Warner Bros. titles will be released this summer via YOU On Demand and Internet Protocol (IPTV) service. The venture came about through a distribution agreement with CAV Warner Home Entertainment Co., Ltd., Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Group’s joint venture in China, and YOU On Demand Holdings, Inc.’s PRC joint venture, YOU On Demand Media: YOU On Demand will operate under an exclusive 20-year joint venture with…

Bob Dylan, the popular counterculture hero and protest singer of the 1960s, has been banned from performing in China. The country’s ministry of culture feels that the singer still poses a threat to the Chinese people, Popeater.com reported on April 5, and deemed him unfit to perform his scheduled concerts in Shanghai and Beijing this spring. Dylan has since canceled the remainder of his eastern Asian tour. The 68-year-old singer still performs about 100 concerts per year, but has never sung in China before. Jeffrey Wu, who works for the Taiwan-based promoters Brokers Brothers Herald, told The Guardian that “The chance to play in China was the main attraction for…

Jet Li, a publicist said today, is returning to the Chinese film industry in a non-martial arts role, according to a recent report by the Los Angeles based magazine The Hollywood Reporter. Mr. Li is due to start shooting what is tentatively titled “Ocean Paradise” in China, soon, and is scheduled for release some time in 2010. It will be directed by a newcomer, and Hong Kong-based Edko Film is the Chinese distributor for the project. Stay tuned to Shockya.com for the latest movie news and more for Jet Li. By Costa Koutsoutis (Source: The Hollywood Reporter)

Variety is reporting that Warner Bros. will not attempt at distributing “The Dark Knight” in China, despite a strong foreign box office payoff for the film at over $450 million. Warner released this statement about the situation, saying that “Based on a number of pre-release conditions that are being attached to ‘The Dark Knight’ as well as cultural sensitivities to some elements of the film, we have opted to forego a theatrical release of the film in China”. Though studio executives declined to comment on the story, “The Dark Knight” included scenes shot in Hong Kong, that depict the hero Batman in the city itself, which could have created difficulties…

Watch a promo trailer for the hit CBS series “Survivor: China” narrated by Jeff Probst.