China: Celebs Rumors

The 40th anniversary 4K-cut of Stop Making Sense continues to make a lot of cents.

Anna Tingley If you purchase an independently reviewed product or service through a link on our website, Variety may receive an affiliate commission. Less than two months after its release in theaters, “The Meg 2: The Trench” is diving into the streaming world. The big-budget sequel arrives on Max on Sept.

K-pop girl group Kep1er may extend their contracts and promote together for a longer time.On September 22, SpoTV News reported that WAKEONE, the company managing Kep1er, recently held meetings with executives from the members’ respective agencies to discuss a potential extension of their contract.The girl group was formed in late 2021 through the project girl group series Girls Planet 999, which saw trainees from music agencies in Korea, Japan and China competing to win a spot in Kep1er. At the time, the girl group singed a contract to promote as a group for two-and-a-half years.In response to reports, WAKEONE confirmed that it had started discussions.

Ed Sheeran has performed a snippet of a new song, ‘American Town’, serenading Friends star Courtney Cox in the process – watch the clip below.Yesterday (September 21), the singer-songwriter shared a video of himself performing a new song ‘American Town’ for Courtney Cox, telling her that the song was inspired by her hit TV sitcom Friends.“We ate Chinese food in small white boxes/Live the life we saw in Friends,” Sheeran sings during the song’s pre-chorus.Watch a snippet of Ed Sheeran singing ‘American Town’ below.American Town with @CourteneyCox

Continuing his oddball promotional tour for his new album, singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran performed his new song American Town for Courtney Cox in an unlikely setting – her kitchen.

Animation Is Film revealed Thursday that its 2023 edition next month will open with Gkids and Studio Ghibli’s The Boy and the Heron, the latest film from Hayao Miyazaki that just opened the Toronto Film Festival. It is getting its U.S. Imax premiere at TCL’s Chinese 6.

McKinley Franklin editor Hayao Miyazaki’s “The Boy and the Heron” will open Animation Is Film on Oct. 18 at the TCL Chinese Theatre in the festival’s first IMAX premiere, the organization announced Thursday. The Animation Is Film Festival, sponsored by Variety, will run from Oct.

Sex Education officially comes to an end with its fourth season.Created by Laurie Nunn, the Netflix show’s final season picks up as Otis (Asa Butterfield) and Eric (Ncuti Gatwa) face setting up a new sex clinic at Cavendish Sixth Form College.Otis, meanwhile, is also struggling with the distance between him and Maeve (Emma Mackey), who is studying at the prestigious Wallace University in the US.New cast additions for the final season include Schitt’s Creek star Dan Levy, Thaddea Graham, Lisa McGrillis, Marie Reuther, Jodie Turner Smith and Eshaan Akbar.Like with past seasons, Ezra Furman is a key contributor to the soundtrack, including three new tracks titled ‘You Like Me’, ‘Tether’ and ‘Honeycomb’.The rest of the soundtrack includes various other artists, ranging from The Cure, Nina Simone, Confidence Man and Pearl Jam.You can check out an episode-by-episode breakdown below.Episode one‘Take Care Of Business’ – Nina Simone‘Close To Me’ – The Cure‘Vicious’ – Fat Girls‘Boyfriend (Repeat)’ – Confidence Man‘Lilac and Black’ – Ezra Furman‘Any Way The Wind Blows’ – The Cold Stares‘Rain Or Shine’ – Five Star‘Forever In Sunset’ – Ezra FurmanEpisode two‘What So Never The Dance’ – Bootsy Collins‘China In Your Hand’ – T’Pau‘Work That Body’ – Diana Ross‘I’m Coming Home’ – The Staple Singers‘Do The Evolution’ – Pearl Jam‘Hold On I’m Comin’ – The Voltage‘I Believe In Miracles’ – Jackson Sisters‘I Wanna Be Your Dog’ – The StoogesEpisode three‘She Used To Wanna Be A Ballerina’ – Buffy Sainte-Marie‘Way I Walk’ – The Cramps‘Dance Across The Floor’ – Jimmy ‘Bo’ Horne‘Feels Like I’m In Love’ – Kelly Marie‘Respectable’ – Mel & Kim‘New Radio’ – Bikini Kill‘Love Vibration’ – ESSEL‘Cleo’ – Shygirl‘Strut’ – Elohim & Big Freedia‘BANG’ – COBRAH‘O

Angela Scanlon has dusted off her dancing shoes and hit the dance floor for Strictly Come Dancing 2023.

EXCLUSIVE: One of the leading actresses in the Hindi film industry, Kareena Kapoor Khan is making her streaming debut in Netflix original film Suspect X, an adaptation of Japanese author Keigo Higashino’s The Devotion Of Suspect X which launches worldwide on the streaming service today (September 21). 

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Director Clara Law (“The Goddess of 1967”) has been set as president of the jury which will discern this year’s Asia Pacific Screen Awards. She will be joined by Malaysia’s Yeo Yann Yann (“Ilo Ilo,” “Wet Season,” American Born Chinese”), German producer Anna Katchko (“Stepne,” “Happiness”), and Faisal Baltyuor, producer and CEO of Muvi Studios in Saudi Arabia. A separate jury for documentaries and animation will be headed by Taiwan-based Myanmar director Midi Z, India’s Rima Das and Japanese documentary maker Toda Hikaru. The APSAs will be presented at a ceremony in Gold Coast, Queensland on Nov.

HBO has set an October premiere for Aka Mr. Chow, the original documentary film directed by Nick Hooker (HBO’s AgnelIi). The film debuts Sunday, October 22 at 9 PM on HBO and will be streaming on Max.

On another sleepy autumn weekend at the box office when actors can’t promote their movies due to the strikes, Millennium Media and Lionsgate are rolling out the latest in their long-in-the-tooth Sylvester Stallone-Jason Statham franchise, Expendables 4, to a weekend take between $15 million-$17 million.

On another sleepy autumn weekend at the box office when actors can’t promote due to the strikes, Millenium Media and Lionsgate are rolling out their long-in-the-tooth Sylvester Stallone-Jason Statham franchise, Expend4bles to a weekend take between $15M-$17M.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media Reporter “Expend4bles,” the fourth action-thriller starring Jason Statham and Sylvester Stallone as elite mercenaries on a mission, is expected to top the box office in its debut. It’s aiming for $15 million in its opening weekend, which would be the lowest of the franchise. There’s a chance, though, it could slightly exceed expectations with $17 million.

EXCLUSIVE: Trinity CineAsia has acquired Chinese fantasy epic Creation Of The Gods I: Kingdom Of Storms for multiple territories, including the UK, Ireland, France and Spain. 

Tatiana Siegel Range Media Partners has signed Chinese actor, singer-songwriter, dancer and fashion icon Lay Zhang and will represent him globally across all areas. The 31-year-old star, who rose to fame as a former member of K-Pop boyband EXO before launching a solo career, already is a household name in Asia, boasting more than 80 million followers across social media. As an actor, he stars in the Chinese box office smash “No More Bets,” which has earned more than $547 million in China to date, becoming the country’s biggest hit of the summer.

Motorists are being warned they are 'in for a hard time' as fuel prices look set to rise again.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Alibaba Pictures, the separately-listed film investment and distribution unit of China’s tech giant Alibaba behind recent box office hit “Lost in the Stars,” is to buy Damai. The target company is a major provider of live entertainment in the country that is currently controlled by the Alibaba parent company. The transaction is valued at $167 million, according to a regulatory filing on Tuesday, and will be paid for by the issue of new Alibaba Pictures shares. Damai is involved in concerts, musical festivals, live house performances, plays, sports events and exhibitions in China.

A once-promising footballer whose career "fell by the wayside" was arrested at Manchester Airport after embarking on a different path. Sean Calvert had been on the books at Tranmere Rovers as a young midfielder.

Emily Longeretta Julie Chen Moonves is sharing her side of the story. In her new audiobook, “But First, God,” the television personality opens up for the first time about how she found her faith in 2018 following the ouster of husband, Les Moonves, who was forced to step down as the chairman of CBS after he was accused of sexual assault and sexual misconduct. At the time, Chen Moonves also exited “The Talk,” a decision she claims that she was pressured into.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Documentary festival IDFA, which runs Nov. 8 to 19 in Amsterdam, has revealed Guest of Honor Wang Bing‘s top 10 Chinese films of recent decades.

Acclaimed director Wang Bing, this year’s guest of honor at the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam, will be using his IDFA platform to highlight nonfiction cinema of his native China.

Throughout an entire junket day as well as a special screening tonight at the TCL Grauman Chinese Theatre, The Creator filmmaker Gareth Edwards showed his solidarity for the pic’s cast as the SAG-AFTRA strike continued into its 67th day.

EXCLUSIVE: Daniel Wu (American Born Chinese, Badlands) is co-writing and developing a comic book series with veteran Marvel, DC and Valiant artist Sean Chen, with plans to adapt the property for film and TV starring Wu.

Tyler Perry’s life and career, will make its world premiere at this year’s AFI Fest. The Amazon Studios and Bekele Films documentary, directed by Gelila Bekele and Armani Ortiz, will debut on Friday, Oct. 27 at the TCL Chinese Theatre in Hollywood as one of the festival’s centerpiece screenings.

A new documentary about the prolific multihyphenate Tyler Perry will be AFI Fest’s centerpiece film next month. The American Film Institute said today that Maxine’s Baby: The Tyler Perry Story will make its world premiere October 27 at the TCL Chinese Theatre in Hollywood.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief ‘Expendables 4’ narrowly took top place at the mainland China box office on a quiet weekend preceding the National Day holiday season at the end of the month. “A Haunting in Venice” opened outside the top five. Data from consultancy firm Artisan Gateway shows “Expendables 4” earning $10.9 million (RMB78.6 million) over its debut weekend.

Refresh for latest…: Warner Bros/New Line’s The Nun II continued to conjure strong business around the globe this weekend, taking the top spot again worldwide and overseas. The sophomore session of $30.1M in 72 offshore markets brings the international box office cume to $102.3M and worldwide to $158.8M so far.

Line of Duty star Martin Compston enjoyed a double date with his wife and pals in a swanky Glasgow restaurant.

The 2023 series of Strictly Come Dancing is just around the corner, with the new season scheduled to launch of BBC One on Saturday 16 September. A new set of celebrities are set to take to the iconic dance floor on the hit BBC One show, including Bobby Brazier, Les Dennis, Ellie Leach and Angela Scanlon. This year's pairings are yet to be revealed, with Strictly bosses being careful to keep them under wraps until the launch show.

In its latest milestone, Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer has passed the $900M mark worldwide. The estimated total through Friday is $903M, including $586M from the international box office. With Saturday and Sunday numbers, that global cume is projected to reach $912M. This will make it the highest grossing biopic ever at the global box office, ahead of Bohemian Rhapsody. 

Fight Club author Chuck Palahnuik has revealed what he didn’t like about David Fincher’s 1999 film adaptation, starring Edward Norton and Brad Pitt.In an interview with Variety about his new novel Not Forever, But For Now, Palahnuik explained how the inclusion of the ticking bomb in Fight Club‘s closing scenes was not to his liking.“I wasn’t a big fan of the ticking bomb, that counting down clock near the end. And [screenwriter] Jim Uhls stuck it in because there’s obviously such a trope, and I’ve grown to accept that it is a trope.”In the closing moments of Fight Club, The Narrator (Norton) attempts to disarm the explosives planted below a series of credit company buildings by his imaginary alter ego Tyler Durden (Pitt).

Amazon is giving all customers a free £5 voucher to spend to mark its 25th anniversary. The voucher can be claimed from 9am on Friday, September 15, but savvy shoppers will have to act quickly to take advantage, as it only lasts until midnight.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent The political backlash surrounding Agnieszka Holland’s Venice Special Jury Prize-winning refugee drama “Green Border” hasn’t kept the movie from being a hot seller. The film explores the injustice and terror perpetrated at the Polish-Belarusian border from the perspective of refugees, Polish activists and border guards.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief That the Toronto world premiere of “The Movie Emperor” is sponsored by high-end home appliance manufacturer Dyson is deliciously and understatedly ironic. In the movie, innocuous-seeming domestic equipment — from the humble suitcase to floor sweeping robots — run quietly amok.