SM Entertainment Offices Raided by Korean Regulators as K-Pop Agency Duel Continues

King Charles’ Coronation will see a host of famous faces pile into Westminster Abbey - but one recognisable royal will not be among them. Sarah Ferguson, known as Fergie, has confirmed that she will not be attending the historic ceremony on Saturday (6 May). The Duchess of York, 63, has previously revealed how she was not invited to the Coronation - and was not offended by that.

Taylor Swift‘s next re-recorded album is Speak Now!

Yellowstone” fans are still reeling from the news that the hit Paramount Plus series has been canceled. The network announced on May 5 that the series would conclude the second half of Season 5 in the fall, which will serve as the show’s swan song.

Pep Guardiola wants every bit of help Manchester City can get as he refuses to drop any focus on the Premier League.

The pyrotechnics were loaded, the t-shirts were printed, and the champagne was on ice. For Manchester City fans it was looking like the ultimate coronation day.

King Charles will be officially crowned on Saturday (6 May) - finally taking up the role he has been preparing for since he was three years old. The 75-year-old royal became first in the line of succession when he was a toddler after his grandfather King George VI died on 6 February, 1952, and his mother, Elizabeth II, became Queen.

Glasgow has a packed schedule for the Coronation of King Charles III, with street parties, parades, concerts and plenty more for royal revellers.

The mum of a disabled teenager has slammed cruel bullies after her son was "stabbed with a pencil" and "spat on" at school.

The mum of an autistic teen who was beaten unconscious in a brutal attack in Glasgow has been invited to a sit-in with the Scottish Parliament to discuss youth violence.

An Ayrshire care home service for young people has been panned by the Care Inspectorate for its handling of a misconduct allegation against a staff member.

Hordes of hardy Scots camped out in the rain overnight to secure the best viewing spots to watch today’s historic Coronation procession.

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music Critic Taylor Swift let fans in her hometown of Nashville to be the first to get the official news: “Speak Now” will be the next album in her “Taylor’s Version” series of re-recorded albums. Swift is giving fans plenty of time to pre-order the album: She revealed that it’s coming out July 9. “I think rather than me speaking about it,” she said, to screams, as fans realized from the language that the long-awaited announcement was at hand, “I thought I would show you, so if you would direct your attention” to the big screens…” There, the album cover and release date were shown on the big screen. Upon the announcement at Nashville’s Nissan Stadium, the city turned on purple lights on the nearby bridge over the Cumberland River.

It’s been nearly 70 years since a coronation ceremony has taken place. Queen Elizabeth II‘s ceremony occurred on June 2, 1953, while her son, King Charles III, will have the crown bestowed upon him on Saturday, May 6, in a ceremony that also formalizes his role as the head of the Church of England and marks the transfer of his title and powers.

UPDATE: Texas medical examiners said Friday that 30-year-old Sara Lee’s death was a suicide. The 30-year-old ingested a fatal combination of alcohol and drugs.

Shawn Mendes makes a casual exit from the Erewhon Market in Los Angeles on Friday afternoon (May 5).

K.J. Yossman The coronation of King Charles III and his wife Queen Camilla, set to take place in the U.K. on Saturday morning local time, is likely to be the last major royal event for at least a decade, with thousands of guests attending Westminster Abbey in person and hundreds of millions more watching on screens across the world. But what does a coronation actually involve? And where can you watch? Variety is here to answer all your burning royal questions. Technically the crown passed to King Charles the moment that his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, died last September (which is why he’s been known as King Charles since that day). But the coronation will see him officially invested with regal powers, which are mostly ceremonial these days.

Lewis Hamilton is standing with his LGBTQ+ fans.

Taylor Swift‘s first Nashville concert came with a special guest – The 1975′s Matty Healy!

To be a success at Manchester United you need several ingredients: talent, hunger, belief and luck.

"Grey's Anatomy" alum Isaiah Washington has alleged that there was "rampant" drug use and "swingers parties" during his time on the hit ABC show. The 59-year-old actor made the accusations against his former castmates and the show's producers in a tweet he posted on Friday. "Hmmm…I wonder if I should tweet about the rampant alcohol and drugs used amongst my fellow cast mates and Producers of Grey’s Anatomy and all of the swingers parties that took place?" Washington wrote along with a photo of himself on the show.

King Charles and Queen Consort Camilla have spent the night before their historic Coronation with an intimate dinner at their much-loved Clarence House. The royal couple chose to stay at their favoured London base - rather than monarchy HQ Buckingham Palace - as they prepared for the momentous occasion on Saturday.

Chris Pratt has said he is open to keep playing Star-Lord following James Gunn‘s departure from the Marvel Cinematic Universe.Following the release of Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 3, Pratt’s co-stars Zoe Saldana and Dave Bautista confirmed that they would not return for future Marvel projects.Pratt, however, has said that he will continue to play Star-Lord as long as Marvel honour what Gunn started.“It would be strange to continue [Star-Lord’s] story without James,” Pratt told Total Film.

Doja Cat has unveiled a massive back tattoo of a bat skeleton.

King Charles III’s coronation ceremony. The British family’s official Twitter account shared a 40-second glimpse of the decorated London royal church Friday evening, simply writing: “Westminster Abbey is ready for the #Coronation of King Charles III and Queen Camilla.”The impressive clip shows off gorgeous flower displays in the empty building with the Great West Window in the distance.

Prince Harry has arrived in London just hours before his father, King Charles III, is crowned the new king.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Global streaming giant Netflix has publicly committed to spending $2.5 billion (approx. KRW3.34 trillion) on South Korean film and TV production over the next four years. The total is double the amount it has spent in Korea since 2016, the company said. The promise was made by Ted Sarandos, co-CEO of Netflix, at a meeting in Washington DC with South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol. “We were able to make this decision because we have great confidence that the Korean creative industry will continue to tell great stories. We were also inspired by the President’s love and strong support for the Korean entertainment industry and fueling the Korean wave. I’d like to personally thank the President for his kind response letter,” Sarandos said in a statement.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Director Stanley Tong (“Rumble in the Bronx”) is to team up with Jackie Chan for the tenth time on “The Legend.” State media in China report that Chan, who recently reached the top spot in the mainland Chinese box office with aged stuntman comedy “Ride On,” will play an archaeologist on a quest through time and space. With production by Bona Film Group, “The Legend” is pitched as being in the same vein as Tong and Chan’s 2005 effort “The Myth,” which was a fantasy love story. Tong and Chan have worked together on other titles including “Police Story 3,” “Supercop” and “Vanguard.” India’s Jio Studios is backing “Khashaba,” a Marathi-language film on the life of India’s first Olympic medalist Khasaba Dadasaheb. After delivering the sleeper hit Sairat and Fandry, the new film will be directed by Nagraj Manjule. The title is considered as part of Jio Studio’s ambition to deliver more than 100 stories this year. With production to begin shortly, the film will be mounted on a large scale. “Along with entertaining the audience, this film will also introduce the audience to a brave and exceptional athlete who made India proud all over the world,” said Manjule. “Khashaba” will be presented by JioStudios and produced by Aatpat Production, Jyoti Deshpande and Manjule.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Malaysia-based content group Vision New Media has promoted Min Lim to the newly created role of group CEO. She reports to founder and chairman Beng Teck Lim. Poh Lin Ho, who had been with Vision Plus Entertainment for nearly 40 years, latterly as its CEO, is stepping down from the business. Lim, who is currently head of production at group production business Double Vision, will now take responsibility for all content creation and distribution activities, plus the group’s extensive post-production, dubbing and subtitling services. She will also oversee Square Box Pictures, the group’s theatrical distribution arm, as well as long-standing television distributor Vision Plus Entertainment.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief The highly-anticipated Japanese animated feature film “The First Slam Dunk” dominated the mainland China cinema box office in its opening weekend. It broke multiple records as it did so. The film scored $38.5 million (RMB266 million) over the Friday to Sunday weekend, according to data from consultancy Artisan Gateway. However, it opened on Thursday, a day earlier than is the norm in China, and has accumulated $55.2 million over the opening four-day frame. The film is based on IP that is well-known to a generation of comic book fans and TV audiences in China (early middle-aged men were reported to have been particularly interested) and has already proved a hit in other parts of Asia. (Comscore estimates that the film has grossed $211 million worldwide.)

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief The South Korean cinema box office fell to its lowest level of the year over the latest weekend. Nationwide theatrical earnings in a territory which before COVID was the world’s fourth largest were barely over $6 million. “John Wick: Chapter 4” lead the weekend chart from Japanese anime “Suzume” and Korean sports drama “Rebound” in a top three repeat from a week earlier. “John Wick 4” earned $2.51 million in its second weekend of release, according to data from Kobis, the tracking service operated by the Korean Film Council (Kofic). That was a 38% week-on-week decline and represented a 41% share of the total Korean box office market. It also gave the film a cumulative total of $9.73 million since release on April 12.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Global cinema box office recovered strongly in the first three months of the year, driven by the performance of “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” in many territories and a bumper Chinese New Year season in mainland China. The upbeat news was delivered on the eve of CinemaCon Las Vegas by specialist research firm Gower Street Analytics, which has now increased its forecast of the cinema industry’s full year. The firm now projects that 2023 gross revenues will reach $32 billion, a 10% increase on its earlier estimate of $29 billion. “A $32 billion global box office in 2023 would represent an approximate +23% improvement on 2022. It remains 20% behind an average of the last three pre-pandemic years (2017-2019), but it shows how post-pandemic recovery of our business continues to improve,” said Gower Street.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Japanese animated film “The First Slam Dunk” has taken a strong early lead at the mainland China box office, picking up $13.8 million on its Thursday opening day. Films mostly release in China on Fridays, but the Japanese hit was given previews on Wednesday and a full court release on Thursday, starting with widespread midnight screenings. Data from local firm Ent Group reveals that the film earned $3.16 million from some 14,000 preview screenings on Wednesday, followed by $13.8 million on Thursday from 184,000 screening sessions. That gives it a $17 million cumulative and positions it at the top of the box office chart even before the conventional Friday to Sunday weekend begins.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief The Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles is expanding its efforts to engage the industry side of the business and in June will host its inaugural IFFLA Industry Day. The festival was founded in 2002 and, now in its third decade of operation, has pivoted to a strategy of year-round programming and events. The center piece of the IFFLA Industry Day will be a pitch competition that involves selected emerging and established film and TV writers and directors who pitch their upcoming project to a panel of executives from different sectors of the industry. The executives and a live public audience will provide feedback and heighten the sense of discovery. The winner will receive a $10,000 development grant.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Jung Ho-seok, better known as J-Hope, Tuesday became the second member of K-pop sensation BTS to join the Korean military. Approaching his 30th birthday, J-Hope attended an army camp at Wongju, south of Seoul, and is expected to begin five weeks of basic training there. Local news agencies reported a small crowd of fans, seemingly outnumbered by assembled journalists, waited outside the camp to wish him well. Their number was reported to be diminished by bad weather. Earlier, J-Hope had posted on the Weverse fandom platform words of encouragement and a pair of photos revealing his newly-shorn hair. “I love you all. ARMY, I will return safely,” he wrote. ‘Army’ in that sense is a reference to BTS’s legion of fans, rather than the Korean military services.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Jackie Chan-starring nostalgic stuntman comedy film “Ride On” trotted to a second weekend atop the mainland Chinese box office. “The Super Mario” Bros. Movie” remained in fourth place. “Ride On” earned $6.0 million (RMB41.5 million) between Friday and Sunday, a 48% week-on week drop, according to data from consultancy Artisan Gateway. That took it to a $22.6 million total since release on April 7. Below it, Japanese animation “Suzume” and Chinese shaggy dog story “Hachiko” swapped places. “Hachiko,” on its third weekend outing, earned $4.9 million, for a cumulative of $35.1 million. “Suzume” earned $4.5 million in its fourth weekend on release in China, giving it a $109 million cumulative.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief “John Wick: Chapter 4” easily outgunned Japanese animation film Suzume to claim top spot at the South Korean box office over the latest weekend. The American action title earned $4.05 million between Friday and Sunday, according to data from Kobis, the tracking service operated by the Korean Film Council (Kofic). That represented a nearly 50% market share, continuing a polarization or clustering around a single title that has become familiar of late in Korea, a market that formerly had greater diversity and width. Over the five days since its Wednesday opening, “John Wick 4” earned $5.87 million.