Earlier this month, China imposed a three-month ban on American films. It was said that this decision was influenced by "disagreements with U.S. trade policy and the recent success of American pics at the expense of local films." Foreign influence has been a foremost concern for the country's film industry, and previously, foreign fare had to slip into one of the country's 20-film limit for revenue-sharing. Another 20 could break in at a flat fee, but that's it. With this new ban, foreign fare has been completely blocked -- for the next few months -- which for the most part, means Hollywood fare like the recent Bee Movie and Beowulf. The decision had also blocked The Pursuit of Happyness, which had already cleared Chinese censors and was set for a December release. But now, just a few weeks later, the blackout is being broken.

The Hollywood Reporter has posted that Happyness will get its shot with a January release. Titled "Happiness Knocks at the Door" there, since that "y" spelling doesn't really translate internationally, the film will hit 350-380 Chinese screens on January 17, 2008. There was no further comment on why this film got an exception, but maybe it was due to the fact that it had already gone through the censor process. Now the Chinese theater owners are anxious to see the blackout broken again, and hope that other imports will soon become allowed. Whether more films will follow remains to be seen. But Merry Christmas Will Smith, your Legend can continue into China with a little Happyness!

I guess it's more than 20 years old -- so, The Karate Kid can be remade fair and square. All of us who have fond memories of Mr. Miyagi and fond hatred of William Zabka can just forget it. Honestly, I don't know why anybody is even writing about that old movie anymore. It's dated, it's cheesy, it's done. Move on. To the redo, that is. According to IGN, Sony is set to revamp it's "classic" with help from Will Smith, who will produce through his company, Overbook Entertainment. Jerry Weintraub, who produced the original, is also reportedly on board for this one. As for the star? That will be little Jaden Smith, Will's 9-year-old son and co-star in The Pursuit of Happyness. I guess this time Daniel will really be needing his mom to drive him on that date.

Okay, so I am somewhat joking above with all the fairness talk and implications that The Karate Kid is overrated. But I still anticipate a lot of protest, so I figured I'd kick off with a bit of the Devil's Advocate. Seriously, though, I do think there's no problem with this idea. Keep in mind they already pretty much did this once. It was called The Next Karate Kid. Oh, but it had Mr. Miyagi in it, you may whine, and he can't return for another installment, because he's no longer with us. Well, there are some who think the real Miyagi wasn't even in The Next Karate Kid, so there's that. So, here's how it goes in my mind: Jaden is not Daniel, there's nobody named Johnny (well, maybe Zabka could have a kid and he could be Johnny, Jr.) and Miyagi is replaced by a relative -- did he have a nephew in KKII? I don't remember. Who cares, let's make one up. Since this thing is currently out to writers, I hope they read this and take my idea. It's an obvious enough one that I won't sue. I swear.

Say what you want about The Pursuit of Happyness, but it wasn't a bad movie. Gabriele Muccino's direction was pedestrian at best, yet the movie worked because of Will Smith's Oscar-nominated performance. And little Jaden Smith (real-life son of Will) is possibly the most adorable child actor in years. The movie wasn't quite as good as its promise of being Frank Capra's Kramer vs. Kramer, but it was entertaining -- and for a serious drama it really killed at the box office. Smith may be hoping for his third Academy Award nomination in 2009, as well as his billionth hit, because he's re-teaming with Muccino for a new pic titled Seven Pounds. It will star Smith as a man who finds love while attempting suicide, so it will probably be another BYOK (bring your own Kleenex) film. Aside from Muccino, Happyness' producers, Todd Black, Jason Blumenthal, James Lassiter and Steve Tisch, are also on board (Smith is also a producer). However, the script is from somebody not associated with the previous film; it was written by sitcom writer Grant Nieporte (8 Simple Rules ... for Dating My Daughter).

Hopefully they can find a role for Jaden, but if not this should be about as good as Happyness. And like I said, it may be Smith's next chance for Oscar. It seems that lately he's becoming the Spielberg of actors, doing an action blockbuster here and a serious, well-acted drama there. Of course, he does the occasional comedy, too, even though his action pics are funny enough on their own. The pattern is working out well for the guy. His follow-up to last winter's Happyness is the apocalyptic action-horror pic I Am Legend, which arrives this December, and then he's got a super-hero movie called Hancock, which bows next year in Smith's typical 4th of July weekend slot. Hancock, which was originally going to be helmed by Muccino, also deals with a guy who is down on his luck, but for a summertime pic, it couldn't possibly be as heart-wrenching as Seven Pounds will likely be. Right? Seven Pounds is set to begin filming in February and is expected for a late 2008 release.

Disney will be trying hard this summer to get Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End into Chinese cinemas despite the fact that the last installment of the franchise was banned by the country's censors. Obviously the studio is aware that many of China's movie fans at least got to see Dead Man's Chest via bootleg, and it understandably wants to profit from those fans' desire to see part three. But this isn't just about exploiting the expectant audiences, and it isn't exactly about fighting piracy. All of Hollywood wants to succeed in the Chinese market because it is a growing source of income for the studios.

What this means for the rest of the world may be nothing. Hollywood studios and distribs will likely start censoring for easy approval by China the same way they censor for the rest of the international markets. As I mentioned recently when The Departed failed with Chinese censors, the best way for a film to meet approval is for it to have no mention of China. However, the Chinese aren't only concerned with references to themselves; Dead Man's Chest was banned because it featured cannibals.

The Chinese version of our holiday season is coming up soon, and the titles looking for big box office are Night at the Museum, which has been performing brilliantly all over the world, 16 Blocks and South Korea's Joong Cheon (The Restless). These will be taking up three of the 20 quota slots that China allows to be filled by imported titles, and the last of these fills one slot that Hollywood missed out on. Following this month's big movie-going time, Hollywood will continue trying to fill in the rest of these slots, and so Chinese audiences may or may not get proper releases of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, The Pursuit of Happyness, Transformers and At World's End.

Did Chris Gardner beat homelessness because of his talent or because of luck? The man whose story inspired the movie The Pursuit of Happyness is now being used as an example for other homeless people, who have been invited to see the movie for free in Washington, D.C., Chattanooga, TN, and possibly other cities throughout the country. Gardner, who is played in the film by Oscar nominee Will Smith, was even quoted as saying that the homeless should know that he didn't do anything that they can't do.

There are a lot of people, however, who disagree with the homeless being assured such false hope. Regardless of whether or not Gardner got lucky, he is also presumably more intelligent, talented and sane than a lot of others out on the streets. In some way, the idea of politicians showing a feel-good movie to the homeless as a sort of how-to guide seems like an easy way out of dealing with an important issue. Will the mayor of Washington now attempt to claim the people no longer have a reason to be homeless? And how many of those inspired by Gardner's story would have the opportunity to go and work at Gardner's firm?

I guess I should give the next panhandler I see on the subway a movie ticket, huh?

It was a slow weekend at the box office, but the competition for B.O. champ was exciting nonetheless. A mere $300,000 separated the No. 1 and No. 2 films, while just half a mil stood between the No. 3 and No. 4 movies. Here is what I predicted the top five flicks would be this weekend ...

1. The Hitcher
2. Stomp the Yard
3. Night at the Museum
4. Dreamgirls
5. The Pursuit of Happyness

And the actual top five were ...

1. Stomp the Yard - $13.3 million
2. A Night at the Museum - $13.0 million
3. Dreamgirls - $8.7 million
4. The Hitcher - $8.2 million
5. The Pursuit of Happyness - $6.7 million

Get the full box office report here.

Although all of my picks were in the top five, my faith in scantily clad, shotgun-weilding heroines in horror flicks proved more lethal than picking up a deranged hitchhiker. 'The Hitcher,' the week's only new wide release and my pick for No. 1, earned just $8.2 million, good enough for a fourth place finish ahead of Will Smith's 'Pursuit of Happyness' ($6.7 million). Meanwhile, last week's box office victor, 'Stomp the Yard,' narrowly defeated Ben Stiller's blockbuster with very long legs, 'Night at the Museum,' which has now grossed a whopping $206 million. Rounding out the top five was 'Dreamgirls,' which saw its box-office take jump from $8.1 million last week to $8.7 million this week, most likely the result of its Best Picture win at last Monday's Golden Globes. Also of note this week was the strong performance of 'Pan's Labyrinth,' the mesmerizing adult fairy tale from Spanish director Guillermo del Toro. The film improved its box office 118% this week, grossing $4.7 million and catapulting it from 18th place last weekend to seventh place this weekend. The reason: It's just that good.

Of those of you who posted box-office picks, two predicted 'Stomp the Yard' would repeat as box-office champ, but no one guessed all five slots correctly. The high score this week goes to Liesse00 with 12 points. Congrats!

Name - This Week/Overall

1. Patricia - 7 points/135 points
2. zsxxx03 - 8/133
3. chrisnbn - 7/129
4. Mario/crzydcguy84 - 7/111
5. Bubba8193 - 7/ 95
6. Liesse00 - 12/85
7. Tangoeco - 7/80
8. Isaac/laraeruiz - 0/66
9. bostons leppard - 7/61
10. Evilone1414 - 7/26
11. MrPKI - 0/6
12. Lazy Bum - 0/9

    POST: What do you think of the box office results?

What's that joke about the talking farm animal who gets caught in a web and can't seem to move anywhere? Turns out I was way off on my predictions this week, as The Pursuit of Happyness held on to its early lead and finished with a very respectable $27 million. Sure, it's not the biggest opening for a Will Smith film, but you have to hand it to the guy (and his son) for beating two highly anticipated kids films. (Was Charlotte's Web highly anticipated? I don't even remember.) Oh, but Smith and Smith Jr. weren't the only ones who had a marvelous weekend ... and, for those of you who have friends at Sony, you might want to act really nice towards them this holiday season seeing as their bonuses will be ginormous.

With its 13th number one opening this year (the most ever for a studio in a single year), Sony has grossed $1.573 billion at the domestic box office -- yes, the most ever for a studio in a single year. What's that joke about the guy at Sony with a drug habit who was just awarded a ginormous holiday bonus? With that said, Eragon managed to pull off a decent $23 million landing it in sole possession of second place (But is it enough to continue the trilogy?). And what the hell happened to Charlotte's Web? $12 million? A lousy $12 million? Dakota? Are you there? Do you see this girl? Did you not smile enough during the film? Heck, your smile alone should guarantee at least $17 million. Those Happy Feet ($8.5 million) penguins and The Holiday ($8.2 million) rounded out the top five. And, although curiosity and Braveheart fans helped it walk away with last week's number one spot, Apocalypto dropped down to sixth place this week, finishing with $7.7 million.

Full numbers after the jump.

Here's some interesting news for young Cinematical readers looking to jump-start a career. Columbia Pictures, the studio producing the upcoming Will Smith vehicle The Pursuit of Happyness, is sponsoring a competition where the winners will attain internship positions at Gap Inc., The Hollywood Reporter, Morgan Stanley, NBC, the National Football League (NFL), PEOPLE Magazine, PlayStation or Yahoo! Each of the winners will also be flown to Hollywood for the film's premiere and be given a chance to meet Smith and the rest of the film's cast. You'll need to act quickly, though, as the contest closes on October 30. As part of the entry process you'll need to create a video of yourself describing your personal philosophy or motto, and how it makes you the ideal candidate for the position. A "leading human resource specialist" will sift through the entries and the top candidates will be posted to the contest website, where the public will be able to vote for their favorites. Officials of the participating companies will interview the top two candidates for each position to determine the winners. Sounds like pretty cool opportunity. You can check out the full details right here.

Directed by Gabriele Muccino and written by Steven Conrad, The Pursuit of Happyness (a title that plays hell with my spellchecker) tells the story of Chris Gardner (Smith), a divorced and down on his luck salesman who is struggling to support his son (played by Smith's real life progeny Jaden). Gardner gets his big break when he lands an internship at a prestigious brokerage firm, but there are many hardships along the way. As Cinematical's Martha Fischer pointed out, the film seems to have its share of schmaltz, but even I enjoy some schmaltz now and again. No, wait, I'm thinking of Schlitz; I often confuse the two. The PG-13-rated film releases nationwide on December 15.

[Via Movie Hole]