China Box Office: Hong Kong Courtroom Drama ‘A Guilty Conscience’ on Top in Mainland Cinemas

Peter Caranicas Deputy Editor Continuing its global territorial expansion, Netflix picked up and is now streaming Greek TV series “Maestro in Blue,” its first-ever exclusive worldwide distribution deal for a Greek scripted series. Created for Greek broadcaster Mega TV by multihyphenate Christoforos Papakaliatis, “Maestro” was launched on the platform internationally on March 17 and this week hit the global top 10 of the most-watched shows on Netflix. “Maestro” debuted on Greek linear TV last October. Season 1, consisting of nine episodes, premiered on Netflix in Greece and Cyprus in December before expanding to audiences around the world.

Ben Croll For writers of hardboiled fiction, the private eye could act as a conduit, an unmoored guide moving freely across social ranks and situations. For director Nima Javidi – whose new series “The Actor” is the first Iranian production to premiere in competition at Series Mania – the thespian might play a similar role. “Shakespeare said that all the world’s a stage,” Javidi tells Variety. “And that all the men and women are merely players, assuming different roles depending on their situations and what they want to achieve. I thought it was fascinating [to put performers in those private detective roles and have them], overcome obstacles, solve problems, and save themselves and others from difficulties by using their acting abilities.”

SPOILER ALERT: The series includes details about new Netflix series The Night Agent, based on the bestselling novel by Matthew Quirk.

EXCLUSIVE: The most critically acclaimed John Wick of all-time, Lionsgate’s John Wick: Chapter 4, is seeing the franchise’s best Thursday previews of all-time at around $8M per industry estimates tonight.

Ed Sheeran has released a music video for ‘Eyes Closed’, the lead single off his upcoming album, ‘-‘.Today (March 24), the singer unveiled the single and its accompanying music video, in which he struggles with love and loss after the tragic passing of two of his closest friends Jamal Edwards and Australian cricketer Shane Warne.While ‘Eyes Closed’ is a pop-leaning cut, it’s really a harrowing track about “losing someone, feeling like every time you go out and you expect to just bump into them, and everything just reminds you of them and the things you did together,” Sheeran explained via a press statement.“You sorta have to take yourself out of reality sometimes to numb the pain of loss, but certain things just bring you right back into it.”Watch the music video for Ed Sheeran’s ‘Eyes Closed’ below.In the video, Sheeran is followed around by a big, fluffy blue creature that only he can see. Speaking on the themes of the video, the singer said: “When I was thinking of concepts for the ‘Eyes Closed’ music video, I wanted to make a video inspired by movies like Harvey, where the main character has an imaginary friend who’s a giant rabbit that no one can see.

Linkin Park have released ‘Fighting Myself’, a previously unheard outtake that was recorded for the band’s ‘Meteora’ album in 2003.Out today (March 24), the track marks the second ‘Meteora’ outtake to be released following ‘Lost’ in February. Both tracks – and more to come – will feature on the upcoming 20th anniversary edition of the band’s ‘Meteora’ package, available from April 7 onwards.‘Fighting Myself’ is composed of vocal stems from the band’s late vocalist Chester Bennington and rap verses from Mike Shinoda.

Cube of Fortune.A graduate student and barista had an interesting flex to show off at a bizarre request from “Wheel of Fortune” host Pat Sajak.“Take something out of your pocket,” Nathan Benson from Plano, Texas, was told by Sajak.The accounting student nonchalantly pulled a jumbled Rubik’s Cube out of his jacket pocket and started solving the colorful square while continuing his conversation with Sajak.An eager Sajak asked Benson what the record was for the fast-solving of the cube, to which the barista says, “Like three and a half seconds,” revealing that he’s much slower at solving the Rubik’s cube with his eyes opened.“I’m really good at solving it blindfolded, and I actually have a Texas state record for solving it blindfolded,” Benson humbly bragged to the host.Before Sajak could ask another question, the contestant solved the puzzle.Benson solved the brain game live on air in about 15 seconds and proudly held up the speed feat for the audience to notice.After solving his pocket puzzle, Benson went to unscramble the remaining puzzles in the game and was crowned victor of the episode — winning nearly $30K.Benson was then sent to the bonus round, where he could not solve the puzzle after selecting the four letters “DBCO.”The puzzle ended up being “Qualified Judge” — and to Benson’s credit, he did guess the word “judge.”Sajak, 76, who’s been hosting “Wheel of Fortune” since 1981, gave fans of the game show pause on two different occasions earlier this week.On Tuesday, the host put contestant Fred Jackson in a playful chokehold after he completed a perfect game.Before Jackson took home $75,800 in total from the game and bonus round and was grappled by Sajak, he did mention to the host that he’s a professional wrestler

Rob Lowe and John Owen Lowe got a ton of support from their famous friends at the premiere of their new Netflix series, Unstable!

Charna Flam “God of War” dominated at the Game Audio Network Guild Awards, scoring more than half of the awards. The hit game collected a total of 14 prizes, including audio of the year, music of the year, best original song and best original soundtrack album. On Wednesday night, the Game Audio Network Guild announced the 26 winners of their 21st annual ceremony celebrating the music, dialogue and sound design of this year’s greatest games. The event returned in person after the pandemic, at Moscone Center in San Francisco during the Game Developers Conference. “We are excited to be back in person at GDC for the first time since 2019; community is one of the founding principles of the organization, and there’s nothing quite like gathering together, in person to celebrate and recognize achievements by fellow members of the game audio community,” expressed Brian Schmidt, G.A.N.G president.

Vivienne Kelly “Neighbours” will start filming again at Nunawading Studios in Melbourne on April 17. The new season will then launch in the second half of 2023 on Network 10 in Australia. Seven days after each episode airs on free-to-air television, they will be available on subscription streaming service Prime Video. The announcement was made on stage during the final show of “Neighbours – The Celebration Tour” by returning cast Alan Fletcher, Jackie Woodburne, Stefan Denis, Ryan Moloney, Annie Jones and April Rose Pengilly. “It’s a hive of activity at the studio. We’re busy writing the next chapter of “Neighbours”, bringing to life again the show’s much-loved characters as well as new residents,” said the show’s executive producer, Jason Herbison.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Multi-territory Asian streaming platform Viu is to deliver a Thai version of hit drama series “Reborn Rich.” The 16-episode Korean drama was produced by Korea’s JTBC Studios and Viu, aired on JTBC in Korea between November and December 2022 and was branded as a Viu Original in the 16-territoires in which it operates. Its story sees a long-term employee of a large family-run conglomerate falsely accused of embezzlement. After he is shot on an overseas business trip, he finds himself in the body of the family’s grandson and decides to use his new identity as a means by which to take revenge on the family and the corporation.

East Kilbride Thistle boss Aaron Connolly says a testing friendly with Petershill over the weekend provided plenty of positives for his side ahead of Saturday’s visit from Kello Rovers.

Ryan Fulton is three appearances short of 100 for Hamilton Accies, and hopes one of those comes in Sunday’s SPFL Trust Trophy final against Raith Rovers.

Scotland coach John Carver reckons Celtic hero Callum McGregor is a classy controller.

Mats Enquist knows football would be a poor sport without fans.

Wishaw signed defender Cammy Lawson from Lanark last week – and he helped the club earn their first clean sheet since October on his debut.

Glee actress Lea Michele has asked fans to send “love and strength” to her after her son was hospitalised. The 36-year-old announced she would be taking a break from her Broadway show, Funny Girl, to be with two-year-old Ever as he battles a “scary health issue”. Michele welcomed her son with husband Zandy Reich and occasionally shares snaps of him with fans on social media.

From Vanity Fair:Benny, who is alternately lounging with friends and studying for a math test, prefers drawing on his iPad and non-ball sports like surfing and skiing (the athletic pressure of being Brady’s son led to bullying in Boston after one particular baseball game). It's really unfortunate to hear that Benjamin is getting bullied.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Adam Driver-starring sci-fi adventure film “65” has been approved for theatrical release in mainland China. It will hit cinemas on March 31, some three weeks after the film began to release in other international territories. The film is branded as a Columbia Pictures title and will be released by the Sony label in most territories. In China, however, all revenue-sharing import titles are officially handled by a state-owned enterprise. The Hollywood studio’s Chinese office theoretically operates in an advisory capacity, though in practice it is likely to be involved in marketing strategy and p&a decisions. The film has a survival-quest narrative. After a catastrophic crash on an unknown planet, pilot Mills (Driver) quickly discovers he’s actually stranded on Earth some 65 million years ago. Now, with only one chance at rescue, Mills and the only other survivor, Koa (Ariana Greenblatt), must make their way across an unknown terrain riddled with dangerous prehistoric creatures in an epic fight to survive.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief TriStar Pictures film “The Woman King” has been given official permission to release in cinemas in mainland China. It is expected to debut on April 14. The Viola Davis-starring fantasy action film had its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival in September last year and went into U.S. and international commercial release shortly after. The film has grossed $97.2 million worldwide, with $29.9 million coming from international markets and $67.3 million in North America. While the China release is significantly later than the rest of the world, potentially opening the film to online piracy, the launch date was communicated by Chinese authorities with some five weeks of advanced notice. That is more than many Hollywood films have received in China and gives the local marketing teams a reasonable chance to promote the film’s theatrical launch.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Global streaming operation Netflix is forecast to spend $1.9 billion on local content in the Asia-Pacific region this year as group revenue from the region accelerates to 12%, according to a new report. The content investment spending figure represents a 15% hike. Netflix will grow revenues this year by 12% year-on-year to exceed $4 billion compared with 9% growth in 2022, says a new report published on Monday by Media Partners Asia.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief “Cyber Heist,” a crime thriller directed by Hong Kong’s Wong Hing-fan (“I’m Livin’ It”) and scripted by Soi Cheang (aka Cheang Pou Soi), took the top spot at the mainland Chinese box office over the weekend. It earned a very modest $6.2 million, according to data from consultancy Artisan Gateway. But that was enough to win on the quietest weekend since January’s Lunar New Year holiday season. “Cyber Heist” stars Aaron Kwok as a cyber security engineer who develops a state-of-the-art firewall that is capable of fending off online attacks against the global financial system. But he does not realize that in doing so he has stepped into a minefield that is even more dangerous. The picture also stars Lam Ka-tun and Simon Yam.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Weekend honors at the South Korean box office went to the Japanese animation film “Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba – To The Swordsmith Village,” the latest installment in the “Demon Slayer” film and TV franchise. It earned $2.31 million between Friday and Sunday, for nearly a quarter of the total weekend cinema business, according to data from Kobis, the tracking service operated by the Korean Film Council (KOFIC).

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Already the highest grossing local film in its home market, courtroom drama, “A Guilty Conscience” has broken into Hong Kong’s all-time top ten box office ranking with a cumulative of HK$107 million ($13.7 million). Data from Hong Kong Box Office Ltd. shows the film achieving the feat after just 41 days in cinemas and coming within HK$1 million ($150,000) of overtaking “Top Gun: Maverick.” The data firm noted that the last time a Hong Kong film got this far was with fantasy-action-comedy “Kung Fu Hustle” in 2004. Since then, it has been overtaken by a fleet of Hollywood titles. Hong Hong’s current top ten is headed by “Avengers: Endgame” and includes six Marvel movies, the two “Avatar” titles and “Titanic.”

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Sculptor turned director Wu Lang made a splash at the Berlin Film Festival with his debut feature “Absence” playing in the festival’s showcase Encounters section. With a high-profile cast headed by Lee Kang-sheng (“What Time Is It There?” “The Wayward Cloud”) and Li Meng (“The Bad Kids,” “The Guillotines”) “Absence” is an art-house romance that uses skyscapes and urban landscapes as metaphors for inner feelings. The seduction starts with a man’s return to Hainan Island after ten years in jail and ends with a flock of sheep in an abandoned construction site. Wu: Shooting the first short film for me had two purposes. First, making a film is not easy in terms of financing and finding coproducers. So, first I wanted to make a short in order to get myself started.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Martial arts veteran Sammo Hung is to be presented with a lifetime achievement honor at the upcoming Asian Film Awards. The ceremony is back as an in-person event after a two-year absence and shifts back to Hong Kong after previously being held in Hong Kong, Macau and Busan. Hung is expected to accept the award on Sunday March 12 at the Hong Kong Palace Museum. “I’m so happy and surprised that I can still win awards these days, especially an award that affirms my entire performing career,” said Hung in a forwarded statement. He has a career as actor, action choreographer, director and producer that stretches some 60 years.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Maoyan, the Chinese film ticketing agency and film distribution company, has issued a warning that profits for 2022 are set to take a steep dive. Revenue for last year is expected to come in at RMB2.27 billion and RMB2.37 billion, representing a decrease of up to 31% compared with 2021. Profit attributable to the owners of the company will range between approximately RMB70 million and RMB120 million, representing a decrease of approximately 67% to 81% compared with attributable profit in 2021, which had been RMB369 million. The company’s fortunes are closely allied to the trend of the mainland Chinese box office. Nationwide theatrical grosses took a huge tumble in the second half of the year as the government stepped up its battle against the COVID outbreak, causing the full year box office to fall by 36%.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Multi-territory Asian streaming service Viu has publicly disclosed key performance metrics for the first time and said that it was cash flow positive on an annual basis in 2022. The company, which operates in 16 Asian and Middle East markets and is seen as a rare success story in regional streaming, counts Hong Kong conglomerate PCCW as its principal shareholder, which also unveiled its own profits and loss figures for the 2022 calendar year. Viu which operates both ad-supported and paying tiers, said that it had 66.4 monthly active users in 2022, an increase of 13% year-on-year. Paying subscribers increased by 45% to 12.2 million over the same period.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania” held on to top spot at the South Korean box office. But the overall market continued to soften despite a slew of new release titles. Nationwide theatrical grosses totaled just $7.26 million. That made it the slowest box office weekend in over three months. “Quantumania” collected $2.0 million between Friday and Sunday, according to data from Kobis, the tracking service operated by the Korean Film Council (Kofic), and enjoyed a 27% market share. The second weekend increment lifted its 12-day total to $10.6 million. Long-running Japanese animation title, “The First Slam Dunk” earned $1.36 million in its eighth weekend on release. Since Jan. 4 it has accumulated $28.0 million.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief China-based video streamer iQiyi achieved a surge in paying subscriptions and achieved net profits in the fourth quarter of 2022. While still loss-making over the full year, the company hailed its turnaround as “miraculous.” In the October-December period, gross revenues were RMB7.6 billion ($1.1 billion), representing a 3% increase year over year, the company said in a regulatory filing. Net income attributable to iQiyi was RMB304 million ($44.1 million), compared to a net loss of RMB1.8 billion in the same period in 2021. Over the course of the full 2022, total revenues were RMB29.0 billion ($4.2 billion), representing a 5% decrease from 2021. Net losses decreased from RMB6.2 billion to RMB136 million ($19.7 million).

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief “Avatar: The Way of Water” was the surprise winner of the best film award at the AACTA International Awards, the overseas awards backed by the Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts. The pre-event nominations had seen six acknowledgements each for “The Banshees of Inisherin” and “Everything Everywhere All At Once. And while “Banshees” collected three awards, making it the biggest winner at the virtual event, “Everything” collected nothing. The wins for “Banshees” came for Brendan Gleeson as best supporting actor, Kerry Condon as best supporting actress and for Martin McDonagh’s best screenplay.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Profits at Alibaba, the Chinese e-commerce and media conglomerate, more than doubled in the three months to December 2022 to reach $6.63 billion (RMB45.7 billion), on revenues that increased by 2% to $35.9 billion (RMB248 billion). The figures, which constitute the third quarter of Alibaba’s current financial year to end March 2023, represent a significant rebound after two difficult quarters. Alibaba’s aggregate net profits between April and December are still down by 32% at just $6.32 billion, compared with the equivalent nine-month period in 2021. The group portrayed the results as “solid [..] despite softer demand, supply chain and logistics disruptions due to impact of changes in COVID-19 measures,” and said that China’s improving macro-economic outlook will help it recover further.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief The Vesoul International Film Festival of Asian Cinema has unveiled its 85-title lineup for the edition that starts later this month (February 28 to March 7, 2023). Elements include a 10-film competition section, a 10-film documentary film section, a tribute to the Turkish director Semih Kaplanoglu; a thematic section “Asian Diaspora Cinema” offering a panorama of works by directors from Asian countries living in exile; and a Philippines cinema sidebar. Fiction films in competition include: Azerbaijan’s “Cold as Marble,” by Asif Rustamov; China’s “In Our Prime,” by Liu Yulin; Korea’s “A Letter from Kyoto,” by Kim Min-ju; India’s: “Behind Veils,” by Praveen Morshhale; Iran’s “No End,” by Nader Saievar; Mongolia’s “The Sales Girl,” by Sengedorj Janchivdorj; The Philippines’s “Feast,” by Brillante Mendoza; Singapore’s “#LookAtMe,” by Ken Kwek; and Vietnam’s “Memento Mori: Earth,” by Marcus Vu Manh Cuong. The president of the jury is Lee Yong-kwan, president of the Busan film festival.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania” topped the box office chart in mainland China on its opening weekend, with a $19.4 million start. But the much-discussed arrival of the Marvel movie was weak compared its franchise predecessor. And its debut was not enough to reignite the China box office market. The film arrived in a fashion that was adequately signalled for marketing purposes. And it opened on a date that was coordinated with the North American and other international debuts. In the context of the Chinese market, the film also had the advantage of landing at a time when the big, Chinese-made, Lunar New Year titles were losing their power.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania” dominated the Korean box office charts over the latest weekend with a $4.91 million opening weekend. Nationwide box office rose to $9.78 million, up from $7.85 million a week earlier. The film played on over 2,000 screens and enjoyed a 50.1% market share between Friday and Sunday, according to data from Kobis, the tracking service operated by the Korean Film Council. The film earned $7.1 million in its full five day run since opening on Wednesday. “Quantumania” landed ahead of “The First Slam Dunk,” the Japanese animation that opened at the beginning of the year and had taken the top spot for the previous two weeks. “Slam Dunk” earned $2.17 million, another strong hold, and down from $2.67 million the previous weekend. Its cumulative total since Jan. 4 stands at $26 million.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief The Berlin Film Festival is once again finding house room for Hong Kong’s most commercially successful enfant terrible, Soi Cheang, aka Cheang Pou Soi, who previously brought film noir “Limbo” to the Berlinale. This time he attends with “Mad Fate,” a film about destiny that may be Cheang’s most bloodthirsty, but which the director says is intended to be inspirational. It plays in the Berlinale Special section. Born in Macau, Cheang developed his career at the feet of Ringo Lam, Andrew Lau, Joe Ma, Wilson Yip and Johnnie To, the great stylists of the crime and action film genre across the Pearl River estuary in Hong Kong. To, who is on the Berlin jury this year, is also a producer on “Mad Fate” through his Makerville label.