China’s Maoyan Warns of Profit Slump, Touts Diversification Moves – Global Bulletin

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.

It won't be long before we're in the midst of the transfer window once again and it looks set to be another expensive one for Manchester United.

Showtime has canceled “The L-Word: Generation Q,” TheWrap has confirmed.The series, a sequel to Showtime’s 2004-2009 series “The L-Word,” premiered in 2019 and wrapped up its third season in January. The network hasn’t commented publicly on the cancelation, but an individual with knowledge of the matter tells TheWrap that Showtime is in early development on a possible reboot of the original series, which has a working title of “The L-Word: New York.”“Generation Q” followed the intermingled lives of Bette Porter (Jennifer Beals), Alice Pieszecki, Shane McCutcheon (Katherine Moennig), Dani Núñez (Arienne Mandi), Micah Lee (Leo Sheng), Finley (Jacqueline Toboni), Sophie Suarez (Rosanny Zayas), Gigi Ghorbani (Sepideh Moafi), Angie Porter-Kennard (Jordan Hull) and Tess (Clayton) as they experience love, heartbreak, sex, setbacks and success in Los Angeles.

Idris Elba is hitting the beach!

HYBE, home to K-pop superstars BTS, is set to sell off its entire stake in SM Entertainment.Today (March 24), HYBE announced that it would accept a tender offer by South Korean internet giant Kakao and sell its 15.8 per cent stake in K-pop agency SM Entertainment, as reported by Reuters.HYBE’s share of SM Entertainment is worth about ₩564billion (roughly US$437million), based on Kakao’s March 7 tender offer to buy up to 35 per cent of SM Entertainment for ₩150,000 per share.According to Reuters, the planned sale of SM Entertainment shares by HYBE would net the K-pop giant a profit of around US$87 million, which is roughly 25 per cent higher than the price the company originally paid for the shares.Following the announcement, shares of both Kakao and SM Entertainment companies went up about half a per cent, as of 1:30pm KST.

A Place in the Sun host Danni Menzies hit back at an online troll who criticised her appearance on Instagram.

Rob Lowe and his son, John Owen Lowe, are co-starring in the new Netflix comedy, and the celebrated TV star couldn't be more excited by the opportunity.Rob walked the red carpet at the premiere of his new comedy series in Los Angeles on Thursday, where he was joined by both his sons — John and Matthew Lowe — as well as his wife, Sheryl, making the event a fun family affair.ET's Matt Cohen spoke with Rob on the red carpet, and he admitted the whole thing was wonderfully «surreal.»«I mean, this is a dream come true, to be able to work with my son. To have him create something with Victor and I like this,» Rob said, referring to fellow executive producer Victor Fresco. «And the way it's being received? That's the thing! It was fun to do, we love it, but you never know [how it's going to go over], and the reaction has been more than I ever could of hoped.»In the show, Rob plays an eccentric genius and leader of a bio-tech research company, while John plays his socially awkward son who comes to work for his father at the facility.«It's a really fun part,» Rob said of playing a odd-ball tech exec. «I mean, it better be, I came up with it myself.

Almost Famous director Cameron Crowe is reportedly working on his next film, which will focus on Joni Mitchell.Per a report from Above The Line, Crowe has spent the last two years developing the film with Mitchell herself. Sources close to the director claim the film will not be a standard biopic or a documentary, and will instead be more akin to an autobiography, given Crowe’s longstanding relationship with Mitchell.The film – which has yet to receive a title, release date or cast – will be Crowe’s first project since the 2016 comedy series Roadies.Joni Mitchell has since seemingly confirmed Above The Line‘s report by sharing an article from Empire about the film onto her website.

Eiza González loved getting to know her castmates in ‘Extrapolation,’ which is now streaming on Apple TV+. Per IMDb, the Mexican actress stars in 5 episodes, including episode 7, titled “The Going Away Party.” In a recent interview, she shared what she loved most about shooting the episode with Tobey Maguire, Forest Whitaker, and Marion Cottilard. The star-studded limited series revolves around climate change and shares “unanticipated stories” of how it “will affect love, faith, work, and family on a personal and human scale.”Gonazalez’s episode is set in San Francisco in 2068.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief American musical comedy film “Lyle Lyle Crocodile,” is set to release in mainland China cinemas, having received approvals for import and distribution from Chinese authorities. It will play in China from April 15, 2023. The film was released in North America in early October last year and many other territories at the end of 2022. Parts of Asia have been later to receive the title with Korea and Taiwan play it from January and Japan set to open it from March 24. The film has grossed $108 million worldwide, with $60.9 million of that coming from international markets and $46.8 million from the North American domestic market, studio backer Sony Pictures reported.

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 Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund Public Investment Fund (PIF) has increased its stake in Japanese film and TV studio Toei Company, from 5% to 6.03%, according to a report by the Reuters financial news agency. The move comes shortly after Toei published a ten-year plan for international expansion. Toei includes film and TV production operations, the T-Joy cinema chain and Toei Animation. Last month, it said that it had beaten its film revenue record, thanks to the success of titles including “The First Slam Dunk,” “The Legend of Butterfly” and “One Piece Film Red.” The stake increase also follows PIF’s February announcement that it had increased its stake in Japanese games and console maker Nintendo to 8.26% and that (along with the Singapore state fund GIC) was a buyer of a $966 million bond issue from Korean entertainment-tech firm Kakao Corp.

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 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 Hong Kong courtroom drama film “A Guilty Conscience” edged aside Chinese and Hollywood tentpole films to top the mainland China box office in its opening weekend. According to data from consultancy service Artisan Gateway, the film earned $8.5 million (RMB58.4 million) in its opening three days between Friday and Sunday. “The Wandering Earth 2,” which has been in cinemas for over a month, earned $7.4 million to elevate its cumulative total to $568 million. “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania,” which opened on top a week earlier, collected $7.0 million, giving it a 10-day cumulative of $31.4 million.