Marvel Studio’s Avengers: Endgame on Wednesday shattered Taiwanese box office records by grossing NT$80 million (US$2.59 million) on its first day.
The highly anticipated movie is the highest-grossing film ever on an opening day, the highest-grossing and most-viewed film on a single day, and the highest-selling Disney movie, with the highest number of screening theaters and showtimes, among other records.
The film also grossed HK$18.6 million (US$2.37 million) in Hong Kong, surpassing last year’s, Avengers: Infinity War, in single-day and opening-day box office figures.
Screen grab from the IMDB Web site
The film is anticipated to unseat Avatar — which grossed HK$178 million in 2009 — as the highest-grossing movie ever screened in Hong Kong.
Avengers: Endgame shattered records in China, grossing 535 million yuan (US$79.28 million) on opening day, becoming the fastest movie to reach US$100 million worldwide.
Former premier William Lai (賴清德), who last month registered to run in the Democratic Progressive Party’s presidential primary, was seen watching the movie at a theater in Taipei.
Lai posted a “spoiler-free” review on Facebook, saying that fighting against the odds resonated with him and calling Captain America his favorite character.
“Marvel superheroes are people with very different personalities and difficult pasts who oftentimes found themselves at odds, but were able to unite to stand against a great crisis and fight to the best of their abilities for a common cause, not personal gain,” he said.
ANOTHER EMERGES: The CWA yesterday said this year’s fourth storm of the typhoon season had formed in the South China Sea, but was not expected to affect Taiwan Tropical Storm Gaemi has intensified slightly as it heads toward Taiwan, where it is expected to affect the country in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. As of 8am yesterday, the 120km-radius storm was 800km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost tip, moving at 9kph northwest, the agency said. A sea warning for Gaemi could be issued tonight at the earliest, it said, adding that the storm is projected to be closest to Taiwan on Wednesday or Thursday. Gaemi’s potential effect on Taiwan remains unclear, as that would depend on its direction, radius and intensity, forecasters said. Former Weather Forecast
As COVID-19 cases in Japan have been increasing for 10 consecutive weeks, people should get vaccinated before visiting the nation, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said. The centers reported 773 hospitalizations and 124 deaths related to COVID-19 in Taiwan last week. CDC Epidemic Intelligence Center Director Guo Hung-wei (郭宏偉) on Tuesday said the number of weekly COVID-19 cases reported in Japan has been increasing since mid-May and surpassed 55,000 cases from July 8 to July 14. The average number of COVID-19 patients at Japan’s healthcare facilities that week was also 1.39 times that of the week before and KP.3 is the dominant
US-CHINA TRADE DISPUTE: Despite Beijing’s offer of preferential treatment, the lure of China has dimmed as Taiwanese and international investors move out Japan and the US have become the favored destinations for Taiwanese graduates as China’s attraction has waned over the years, the Ministry of Labor said. According to the ministry’s latest income and employment advisory published this month, 3,215 Taiwanese university graduates from the class of 2020 went to Japan, surpassing for the first time the 2,881 graduates who went to China. A total of 2,300 graduates from the class of 2021 went to the US, compared with the 2,262 who went to China, the document showed. The trend continued for the class of 2023, of whom 1,460 went to Japan, 1,334 went to
Unlike most countries, Taiwan cannot use its country’s own name to compete in the Olympic Games or other major international sports events. Instead, it participates under the name “Chinese Taipei,” a name that causes confusion and sparks curiosity among many people, including an American director who explored the topic in his new documentary. Garret Clarke, the director of the 20-minute documentary What’s in a Name? A Chinese Taipei Story, said in an recent media interview said that he was motivated to make the documentary because he finds the name “Chinese Taipei” to be “weird.” The dispute that eventually created the name dates back