SpaceX Starship Makes Successful Test Hop; China Begins Reopening Movie Theaters.
BRUNHUBER (voice-over): Well, that is a new prototype from SpaceX which is taking an impressive first hop. Starship rose 500 feet, about 150 meters, during this test flight in Texas last month. The fully reusable spacecraft will be the most powerful launch vehicle ever developed. Starship is supposed to take up to 100 tons of cargo and crew into orbit. Then, the moon, Mars and beyond. If the prototype looks boxy, that's because it's missing its nose cone and fins. They'll be added for future tests at higher altitudes.</s>BRUNHUBER: In another sign of recovery from the coronavirus pandemic, some theaters in China are reopening. And the big box office attraction is a film that Hollywood hoped would be a blockbuster before COVID struck. David Culver has details from Beijing.</s>DAVID CULVER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Tickets in hand, moviegoers in Beijing prepare for their brief departure from reality.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): I really miss it. Before the pandemic, almost every time there was a good movie, I would go to the theater to watch it.</s>CULVER (voice-over): She's among the fans here to see Christopher Nolan's anticipated sci-fi thriller, produced by Warner Brothers, which, like CNN, is owned by WarnerMedia. This is the first major Hollywood theater release in China since COVID-19 outbreak that is expected to attract large audiences.</s>CULVER: China is allowing theaters, like this one here in Beijing, to reopen at 50 percent capacity. They also have several seats, as you can see, blocked off, allowing for some social distancing.</s>CULVER: Once you are here for an actual film, you have to wear masks the whole time. If you say can I at least take it off for some popcorn, it's not an option. Concessions are not being sold.</s>CULVER (voice-over): "I think it is OK, it's worth it," he says. China shuttered theaters country wide in late January as the virus spread, only to begin to reopen them with limited capacity and many film reruns in July.</s>CULVER: So we're talking about roughly six months of closure. How devastating is that for the industry here?</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: it is definitely very devastating. That means lower investment for future projects, so, that's a pretty worrying trend, not just for this year.</s>CULVER (voice-over): It comes off what was a $9.2 billion year for China's box office in 2019, up more than 5 percent from the year before that, still less than North America's $11.4 billion according to the Motion Picture Association, but of rapidly narrowing the gap. Experts expected China to overtake the U.S. and Canada box office sales by this year. That was before the outbreak, of course. Now with the vast majority of theaters back open and customers feeling more comfortable to venture out, China could become the most profitable. Though there have been controversial cuts from Western films here in the past, including censoring LGBTQ from the Oscar-winning movie, "Bohemian Rhapsody," a Chinese film producer does not believe U.S. filmmakers will self censure only to reach Chinese moviegoers. She thinks producers and studios aim to appeal to a global audience.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think they understand what can or cannot be shown in Chinese theaters.</s>CUMANI (voice-over): "Tenet" made the cut. So, too, Disney's live action adaptation of "Mulan," releasing in Chinese theaters on September 11th. Moviegoers adjusting to this very differently movie watching experience, post outbreak. Perhaps making the escape into another plot all the more alluring -- David Culver, CNN, Beijing.</s>BRUNHUBER: That wraps this hour of CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Kim Brunhuber. I'll be back with more news. Stay with us.