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Chinese Film ‘The Sand Murmurs’ Set for Xinjiang Shoot (EXCLUSIVE)

09.06.2023 - 09:07

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Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Big-budget period action film “The Sand Murmurs” is set to start production in China’s remote region of Xinjiang later this month.

The film is the tale of a soldier and an enemy nobleman brought together after a once-in-a-century sandstorm. After braving a near-death experience together, the pair find common purpose despite their differences.

They also need to work together to find their way out across 800km of desert. The picture is directed by Wu Youyin as an adaptation of his novel of the same title.

Wu previously wrote and directed “Till The End of the World,” which released in 2018. Deploying a budget of some $40 million, the new picture is produced by Eastern Grace Film.

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29.06.2023 / 18:53

Lifetime Greenlights ‘How She Caught A Killer’: Sarah Drew To Star And EP

EXCLUSIVE: Lifetime has given a thumbs-up to another ripped from the headlines movie — this time starring network mainstay Sarah Drew.

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29.06.2023 / 18:53

Kayla Tausche Says She’s Leaving CNBC

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29.06.2023 / 18:49

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variety.com

20.06.2023 / 06:47

Joe Tsai to Become Alibaba Group Chairman, Eddie Wu Appointed CEO

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Alibaba, the Chinese e-commerce, technology and entertainment giant, said Tuesday that Joseph C. Tsai will succeed Daniel Zhang as chairman of the group. Eddie Wu (aka Wu Yongming) will take over Zhang’s role as group CEO. Both men are veterans of the group. Tsai, owner of the Brooklyn Nets basketball franchise, is currently Alibaba’s executive vice chairman. Wu is one of Alibaba’s founders and was its original chief technology officer in 1999. He has since held the CTO role at key businesses units including Taobao and Alipay and is currently chairman of Taobao and Tmall Group. Zhang, who took over as group chairman from the iconic Jack Ma, is in the process of orchestrating the biggest restructuring in Alibaba’s 24-year history. Alibaba, which has share listings in New York and Hong Kong, is to transform itself into a holding company with stakes in six separate business units that are free to raise their own capital or even go down the IPO route.

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20.06.2023 / 03:15

AsiaSat Acquires Lightning International, Content and Channels Distributor (EXCLUSIVE)

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Asia Satellite Telecommunications (AsiaSat), a leading operator of satellites, has moved into content distribution with the acquisition of Hong Kong- and U.K.-based TV distributor Lightning International. The diversification was described by AsiaSat as “a strategic move to expand the company’s services and extend its clients’ reach to global audiences through traditional and new distribution platforms including OTT and FAST.” AsiaSat is known to be acquiring 100% of Lightning International, but other deal terms were not disclosed.

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variety.com

19.06.2023 / 08:37

Three Thai Series Added to HBO Go Production Slate

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Warner Bros. Discovery has announced three new Thai HBO Asia Originals: action-fantasy blockbuster “Khun Pan 3”; fun-filled cooking series “MarkKim + Chef” and reality series “Deane’s Dynasty.” The shows will be available exclusively to HBO and HBO GO in Southeast Asia, Hong Kong and Taiwan. Thai TV content is currently growing in popularity among Asian TV audiences and has recently been seen pioneering soft homo-erotic series known as the ‘Boys Love’ genre, that has appeal to mature female audiences. BL is conspicuously absent from the new additions to the HBO Go slate. “Khun Pan 3” is the final instalment of the “Khun Pan” franchise and represents a journey from 1950 after World War ll, as sorcerer cop Khun Pan is persuaded to take on another dangerous mission. This time he is hunting down two bandits and uncovering a conspiracy that challenges everything, he believes in.

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19.06.2023 / 07:49

Australia’s Stan Renews Lionsgate Content Supply Deal

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Stan, the Australian streaming service owned by Nine Entertainment, has renewed its content supply partnership with Lionsgate. The multi-year output agreement secures a slate of first-run premium scripted dramas from STARZ and Lionsgate and a new slate of theatrical films exclusive to Australian audiences. The agreement follows Stan’s renewal last year of a deal with Sony Pictures Television. Headlining the new shows expected to flow from the Lionsgate deal is espionage drama “Gray,” starring Patricia Clarkson (“Six Feet Under”), Nathalie Emmanuel (“Game of Thrones”) and Rupert Everett (“My Best Friend’s Wedding”) which is based on an original concept by bestselling novelist David Baldacci.

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19.06.2023 / 05:59

‘The Mother of all Lies’ Wins Sydney Film Festival top Prize

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief The Mother of all Lies, a docu-drama film that probes the secrets of Morocco’s 1981 Bread Riots, was Sunday named the best picture at the Sydney Film Festival. The jury, headed by Anurag Kashyap, called the Asmae El Moudir-directed film “audacious, cutting-edge and courageous.” It presented the A$60,000 ($41,100) cash prize film ahead at the State Theatre ahead of the Australian premiere screening of “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny.” The film, which uses doll-like figurines, recently premiered in Un Certain Regard at Cannes, where it earned the section’s best director prize. “Juxtaposing evidence from barely existent public materials with private family memory, this film reconstructs the history of the state, the family and the individual, in three distinct levels,” said the jury of Kashyap, actor Mia Wasikowska (Australia), film curator and journalist Dorothee Wenner (Germany), writer and director Larissa Behrendt (Australia) and filmmaker Visakesa Chandrasekaram (Australia – Sri Lanka).

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19.06.2023 / 05:29

Korea Box Office: ‘The Roundup’ Reaches $69 Million After Three Weeks

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Korean blockbuster “The Roundup: No Way Out” suffered a 50% week-on-week decline, but it was still strong enough to see a pair of Hollywood newcomers. The third part of the Don Lee-starring Roundup franchise, “No Way Out” earned $5.16 million between Friday and Sunday, according to data from Kobis, the tracking service operated by the Korean Film Council. It accounted for a 42% share of the market and attracted 650,000 additional spectators.

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variety.com

19.06.2023 / 03:41

China Box Office: ‘The Flash’ and ‘Elemental’ Make Soft Starts on Debut Weekend

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Warner Bros.’s “The Flash” and Disney/Pixar’s “Elemental” made theatrical debuts in China that were in line with their soft starts in North America and other international territories. “The Flash” captured the top spot in China with a $13.4 million (RMB94.8 million) opening weekend ($13.8 million including previews), according to data from consultancy Artisan Gateway. It deposed “Transformers: Rise of the Beasts” which opened a week earlier and which slipped to second place in its sophomore frame. “Transformers” took a 69% fall and recorded $12.4 million between Friday and Sunday in China. That produces a $61.7 million cumulative after ten days in Chinese theaters.

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variety.com

19.06.2023 / 01:57

Tan Chui Mui’s ‘All About Yuyu’ Scores at Shanghai Project Market

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief “Barbarian Invasion” director Tan Chi Mui from Malaysia scored a top result from the SIFF Project Market. The market is a component event of the Shanghai International Film Festival, which wrapped up over the weekend. Tan’s “All About Yuyu” was named as the “recommended project for creativity” at the project market’s closing event. The project, which is already being structured as a Malaysia-China coproduction, is a story that combines contemporary wuxia (heroic martial arts) with youth elements. “I want to make a modern wuxia film to recapture the magical feeling I had when watching films during my childhood,” she told local media.

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variety.com

19.06.2023 / 00:45

Shanghai Film Festival Embraces Sci-fi Genre, With Retrospectives, Panel Debates

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief After a golden age in the 1980s, Chinese filmmakers were quietly discouraged from dabbling in the sci-fi genre – it isn’t real science and authorities did not want youngsters to get confused. That stance changed during the last decade and the Shanghai International Film Festival has just hosted its first sci-fi week, comprising nearly a dozen film screenings and a trio of panel discussions featuring the new luminaries in the sector. Reasons for the revised position of China’s authorities are not hard to understand. Not only was Hollywood getting away with dominating a genre that was popular with Chinese audiences, China in the 21st century has become a global technology powerhouse. Its space program, in particular, is now among the most advanced, capable of a normalized rocket launch schedule, international co-operation and lunar and interplanetary missions.

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18.06.2023 / 07:41

Japan’s ‘Yoko’ Wins Golden Goblet Prize at Shanghai Film Festival

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Japanese drama feature “Yoko” won the Golden Goblet best picture award at the Shanghai International Film Festival. The jury Grand Prix was awarded to Spain’s “Muyeres” with China’s Liu Jin winning the best director prize.The trio also collected additional prizes making them the only multiple winners in a ceremony that sprinkled its awards widely. “Yoko,” directed by Kumakiri Kazuyoshi, who earlier this year saw melodramatic “#Manhole” play in Berlin, takes the structure of a road-movie and is a journey of self-discovery of a woman who had been socially isolated in her apartment for many years. Portrayed by global star Rinko Kikuchi (”Babel,” “47 Ronin”), the woman is forced to confront the real world, and herself, when she takes a 658 kilometre cross-country journey to her father’s funeral. Without a cell phone or the money for public transport, she finds herself having to hitch hike. Kikuchi also earned the best actress award.

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17.06.2023 / 04:27

Eastern Grace Launches Nine-Title Debut Slate at Shanghai Film Festival

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Eastern Grace Film, a new production company that teased its debut production “The Sand Murmurs” earlier this month, has gone one step further. It used the Shanghai International Film Festival to unveil a slate of nine new film productions. The company is an indirect subsidiary of Baination Pictures, a Beijing-based film and TV group that is listed on the Shenzhen stock exchange. Eastern Grace is headed by president Wilson Jiang, a veteran film distributor in China.

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variety.com

16.06.2023 / 10:25

Uzbekistan Title ‘Sunday’ Claims Asian New Talent Prize at Shanghai Film Festival

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief “Sunday,” by Uzbekistan-based director Shokir Kholikov, was Thursday named best film in the Asian New Talent section of the 25th Shanghai International Film Festival. The Asian New Talent Awards are called Golden Goblet Awards, but are separate from the festival’s official competition section, and favor new and emerging talent. The main competition jury will hand out its Golden Goblets on Sunday. The best director prize in the Asian New Talent section was shared by two helmers: China’s Luo Dong won for “May.” So too did Kazakhstan’s Aisultan Seit for “Qash.” Luo previously attended the Shanghai festival’s project market ten years ago and has since completed one other film.

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16.06.2023 / 04:53

‘Killing Romance,’ Offbeat Korean Comedy, to Open New York Asian Film Festival (EXCLUSIVE)

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief “Killing Romance,” one of the most creative Korean films of the past year, has been set as the opening night title for the upcoming New York Asian Film Festival. The deliberately multi-genre picture tells the tale of a beautiful movie star with dubious acting skills (portrayed by Le Ha-nee) who suddenly quits the industry and retires to newly-married life that turns out to be anything but bliss. When she decides to return to acting she teams up with a fan and an absurd plot to kill her absurdly rich husband. The film is directed by Lee Won-suk who previously attended the NYAFF with his first film, “How to Use Guys With Secret Tips,” in 2013 and returned with his second feature, the big-budget period drama The Royal Tailor, which earned the audience award at NYAFF in 2015.

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16.06.2023 / 03:25

Disney to Close Remaining Linear TV Channels in Southeast Asia and Korea

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Disney is to close its six remaining linear TV channels in Southeast Asia, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Korea as the conglomerate puts a greater emphasis on direct-to-consumer streaming. The channels concerned are National Geographic, National Geographic Wild, Star Chinese Movies, Star Chinese Channel, Star Movies and Star World. Linear services will end from September in Southeast Asia, Hong Kong and Korea, and by December in Taiwan. The group expects to retain a streamlined television portfolio with channels in Japan, China, Australia and New Zealand for the time being.

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16.06.2023 / 02:52

Ateez, Cravity, (G)-Idle to Headline KCON LA Convention and Concert Series

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Leading K-pop acts including Ateez, Cravity and (G)-Idle are set to perform at this year’s K-CON convention and concert series in Los Angeles. The convention returned as a live event in 2022 and attracted some 90,000 attendees to the Los Angeles Convention Center with two nights of concerts held at the adjacent Crypto.com Arena. The convention will again run for three days (Aug. 18-20), but the concert series will be expanded to run multi-act performances on all three nights. The performer full line-up will include: Ateez, Cravity, Everglow, (G) Idle, INI, Itzy, Ive, J01, Kep1er, Lapillus, Nmixx, Shownu x Hyungwon (Monsta X), Stray Kids, Taemin, Taemin, Taeyong, The Boyz, WayV, xikers, and Zerobaseone.

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16.06.2023 / 02:23

Ildikó Enyedi Talks Process and Precision in Shanghai Festival Masterclass

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Hungarian director and screenwriter Ildikó Enyedi brought some art-house royalty to the Shanghai International Film Festival this week with a masterclass that focused on her process and the struggle to maintain a unique voice. At one point in her on-stage discussion with Chinese director Zheng Dasheng, she called filmmaking “essentially a sole desperate cry, hoping to be heard by others.” Enyedi’s voice has certainly registered and been heard at Europe’s major film festivals. She won the Camera d’Or in Cannes in 1989 for best debut feature “My 20th Century,” saw her 1994 film “Magic Hunter” play in competition in Venice and she won the top prize Golden Bear in Berlin in 2017 with “On Body and Soul.”

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variety.com

16.06.2023 / 02:02

Japan’s Skip City Film Festival Retains Hybrid Format in Post-COVID Era

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief The Skip City International D-Cinema Festival, in Saitama, on the outskirts of Tokyo, will hold its 2023 edition with both in-person and online components, long after COVID, which necessitated such hybrid formats, has retreated. The festival, which sees itself as a gateway for emerging talent, and has operated since 2004, will hold its physical edition July 15-23 and its online from July 22- 26, organizers said on Wednesday. This year, the festival will begin with the world premiere of “Confetti,” which was produced to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the festival as well as the 90th anniversary of its Kawaguchi City base.

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15.06.2023 / 15:20

Johnnie To Set as Jury Head at Malaysia’s MIFFest – Global Bulletin

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Hong Kong icon Johnnie To will head the jury of the sixth edition of the Malaysia International Film Festival (MIFFest) next month. Other jurors include: Truong Ngoc Anh from Vietnam, Ryuichi Hiroki from Japan, Zizan Razak from Malaysia, and Eric Khoo from Singapore. The event will open with the world premiere of “Eraser,” directed by Mark Lee See Teck. The Malaysian film features the final on-screen appearance of the late Adibah Noor, a beloved Malaysian gem known for her timeless charisma. MIFFest will play “See You at the Rally,” directed by Taiwanese filmmaker Kanny Chang as its closing title. The festival is set to take place at LaLaport BBCC from July 23-29 and will play a total of 42 films from 15 countries.

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variety.com

14.06.2023 / 06:10

‘Physical 100,’ Global Hit Korean Competition Show, Heads for Second Season at Netflix

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief “Physical 100,” the first unscripted Korean show to top Netflix’s non-English global charts, is being given a second season. The show falls between a talent contest and a survival competition with 100 contestants, including Olympians, professional fighters, bodybuilders and former soldiers, through a series of quests to challenge their strength, endurance, agility, balance and willpower, and to develop the perfect physique. Controversially it mixed men and women and amateurs and professionals. The show incorporated a plaster cast of each contestant’s torso. This was destroyed with a sledgehammer when they were eliminated.

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variety.com

13.06.2023 / 11:47

Korean Police Raid Multiplex Operators, Film Distributors

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Seoul Metropolitan Police on Tuesday raided the offices of Korea’s three leading multiplex cinema operators and three film distributors. “The six entities are accused of obstructing the business of the Korean Film Council (KOFIC) by falsely counting the audience numbers for Korean films,” a spokesman for the police is reported to have told Korean media, according to the semi-official Yonhap news agency. The raids were conducted by the force’s anti-corruption and public crime investigation team. Local media named the companies visited by the police on Tuesday as cinema chains CJ CGV, Megabox and Lotte Cinema, and distributors Showbox, Lotte Entertainment and Kidari.

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13.06.2023 / 07:59

Wim Wenders Set as Tokyo Jury Head as Festival Prepares to Honor Ozu Yasujiro – Global Bulletin

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief German filmmaker Wim Wenders is to be the president of the jury that decides the main competition prizes later this year at the Tokyo International Film Festival. Wenders has frequent connections with the Japanese capital and last year shot his “Perfect Days” film in the city. The film recently appeared in competition in Cannes and earned Yakusho Koji the best actor prize. The Tokyo festival confirmed plans to host a celebration of Japanese director Ozu Yasujiro, who was born 120 years ago and died exactly 60 years later. Wenders previously shot 1985 documentary “Tokyo-ga” as a tribute to Ozu.

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13.06.2023 / 02:33

China Box Office: ‘Transformers: Rise of the Beasts’ Scores $40 Million Opening Weekend

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief “Transformers: Rise of the Beasts” enjoyed a $38.9 million (RMB276 million) opening weekend in mainland China. The score was comfortably the biggest by any film between Friday and Sunday and the second biggest opening by a Hollywood film this year in the territory. Data from consultancy firm Artisan Gateway suggests that the film accounted for some 63% of China’s nationwide gross box office over the weekend. Giant screen systems provider, Imax reported that the film earned $5.9 million of the total from its screen network in China, or some 15% of the China total.

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variety.com

11.06.2023 / 23:09

Korea Box Office: ‘The Roundup: No Way Out’ Hits $60 Million on Second Weekend, Thumps ‘Transformers’

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Korean-produced crime action film “The Roundup: No Way Out” dominated proceedings at the South Korean cinema box office for the second successive weekend. Its massive haul now totals $60 million. “Transformers: Rise of the Beasts” opened with a puny second place. The Friday to Sunday period saw the film bring in $10.4 million from 1.32 million ticket sales and account for a 72% market share, according to data from Kobis, the data tracking service operated by the Korean Film Council (Kofic). Including pre-release previews and strong midweek sales, the film has now rushed on to an aggregate of $59.6 million that has been earned from 7.78 million spectators.

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11.06.2023 / 15:23

Jane Campion Talks Leading by Inspiration at Sydney Film Festival Showcase: ‘I Don’t Know Where My Comfort Zone Is’

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief These days Jane Campion – Palme d’Or and Oscar-winning film director – is celebrated for a vein of heartfelt cinema that is aching and quirky, rather than gushing. She’s also an intelligent and determined female pioneer who has had to struggle for her present standing in a male-dominated industry. The Sydney Film Festival this week is showcasing and contextualizing her body of work. Its screening program includes all nine of her feature works, from “Two Friends” to “The Power of the Dog,” and a selection of her short films. “For our 70th edition, we wanted to present a retrospective commensurate with the milestone, reflecting the audacious and boundary pushing filmmaking synonymous with our festival and region. There was no one more appropriate than Jane Campion,” said SFF director Nashen Moodley in notes ahead of the event.

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09.06.2023 / 09:07

Disney+ Hotstar to Give Free Access to Cricket Tournaments

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Disney in India has announced that the Asia Cup and ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup tournaments being held later this year, will be made available free-to-view to all mobile phone users accessing its Disney+ Hotstar streaming platform. “The move to lift the paywall for mobile-only viewers […] is aimed at further democratizing the game of cricket and making it accessible to as many mobile users in India as possible for the duration of the season,” the company said in a statement on Friday.

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08.06.2023 / 09:15

U.S. Content Second Most Streamed in East Asia, Tops in Australia – Report

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief U.S. film and television content captures 30% of viewing time in key Asia-Pacific territories, according to a new research report by consultancy Media Partners Asia. Korean product takes 40%. The study “U.S. Content in the Asia Pacific” tracked the video consumption behavior between January and March this year of some 40,000 consumers in ten Asia-Pacific markets: Australia, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam. Australia, a $2.2 billion SVOD market, exhibits the highest reliance on US entertainment with 72% of measured SVOD viewership, followed by Singapore, Malaysia, and the Philippines where U.S. content accounts for 40-50% of viewership on average, with Indonesia close behind at 35%.

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07.06.2023 / 13:39

International Box Office Ready to Reap the Rewards of Hollywood’s Summer of Sequels

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief After a few pandemic-addled years, the global box office is finally ready to feel the warmth of the studios’ tentpole releases. Though the swing-back to pre-pandemic release schedules is happening at different speeds in each market, the quartet of “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3,” “Fast X,” “The Little Mermaid” and “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” — not to mention “The Super Mario Bros Movie” before them — have announced the arrival of Hollywood’s version of summer across much of the planet. France saw admissions climb by 33% in the first five months of 2023, compared with the equivalent period last year, according to data from the CNC (National Film Board). Compared with an average figure for 2017 to 2019, the performance of the 2023 box office is (only) 12% behind. France’s recovery has been powered by a string of successful local films including “Asterix and Obelix: The Middle Kingdom,” “Alibi.com 2,” “The Three Musketeers: D’Artagnan,” “The Crime Is Mine” and Cannes opener “Jeanne du Barry.”

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variety.com

07.06.2023 / 00:01

Park Chan-wook-Produced ‘War and Revolt’ Set at Netflix

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Park Chan-wook, the Korean filmmaker behind “Oldboy” and last year’s “Decision to Leave,” has joined as producer and co-writer of historical drama film “War and Revolt.” The film is Park’s first collaboration with Netflix, the global streaming platform that is market leader in Korea and which has been instrumental in the global success of Korean contemporary culture. “War and Revolt” tells the story of two childhood friends, portrayed by Gang Dong-won and Park Jeong-min, who become adversaries. It is directed by Kim Sang-man (“Midnight F.M.”) from a script by Shin Chul and Park Chan-wook.

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06.06.2023 / 19:07

Cinema XXI, Indonesia’s Largest Exhibition Chain, May Be Seeking IPO, Says Report

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Indonesia’s largest cinema chain Cinema XXI could be heading to the stock market through an IPO by early next year. Early details were reported by the Nikkei newspaper citing its finance industry partner publication Dealstreet Asia. They said that the company may seek to raise $300 million of fresh capital. Last year, financial news service Bloomberg said that Cinema XXI ‘s owners were seeking to raise $500 million-$1 billion through an IPO. The reasons for the large discrepancy are unclear. The company holds a 60% market share of Indonesia’s cinema exhibition industry and, as of December 2022, operated 225 cinema venues with a total of 1,217 screens.

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06.06.2023 / 18:45

Sarah Polley’s ‘Women Talking’ Wins at Bali Film Festival – Global Bulletin

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief “Women Talking,” which won Sarah Polley an Oscar for best adapted screenplay, was this weekend named best narrative feature at the Bali International Film Festival (aka the Balinale).Ashen Nadeem’s “Crows Are White” won the feature documentary prize and “The Tone Wheels,” by Yuda Kurniawan, was named winner of the Gary L Hayes Award for Indonesian Filmmaker. The festival jury called “The Tone Wheels” “an outstanding endeavor that transported us into the backstreets of Jakarta on a captivating musical journey.” The film depicts a busking village where dreams flourish, despite the scarcity of resources and equipment.

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06.06.2023 / 17:36

Korea Box Office: ‘The Roundup: No Way Out’ Dominates With $22 Million Opening Weekend

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Crime action film “The Roundup: No Way Out” dominated the South Korean box office on its official opening weekend with a thumping $21.9 million performance. The film, the third in a franchise that pits a heavy-fisted cop, portrayed by Ma Dong-seok (aka Don Lee), against colorfully devious rogues, crushed all competing titles by taking an 88% market share. In terms of admissions, it attracted 2.82 million into cinemas between Friday and Sunday. The film’s official opening was on Wednesday (May 31). But it also enjoyed wide previews through much of the preceding week. Adding in the weekday takings and the preview activity, “The Roundup: No Way Out” has a current aggregate of $34.1 million and has sold a total of 4.51 million tickets, according to data from Kobis, the tracking service operated by the Korean Film Council.