Adam Garcia, Tsu Shan Chambers Focus on Vision Impairment in ‘My Eyes,’ Now Shooting in Australia (EXCLUSIVE)

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief “The Boy and the Heron” supposedly the final feature film by Japanese animation maestro Miyazaki Hayao, placed on top of the south Korean box office for a second weekend. It held off challenges from a clutch of new releases, including “Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour” and “Talk to Me.” “The Boy and the Heron” collected $2.49 million between Friday and Sunday, according to data from Kobis, the tracking service operated by the Korean Film Council (Kofic).

Naman Ramachandran The super spies of producer Aditya Chopra’s spy universe are set to converge in Yash Raj Films’ “Tiger 3.” Hrithik Roshan‘s Kabir from “War” and Shah Rukh Khan‘s Pathaan from “Pathaan” are set to join Salman Khan‘s Avinash Singh Rathore and Katrina Kaif’s Zoya Humaini Rathore in the film, Variety has learned. The spy universe kicked off with the Tiger franchise, starring Salman Khan and Katrina Kaif, beginning with “Ek Tha Tiger” (2012) and “Tiger Zinda Hai” (2017) and continued with “War” (2019), starring Hrithik Roshan and Tiger Shroff and “Pathaan” (2023), starring Shah Rukh Khan and Deepika Padukone.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Two films from Japan, Wim Wenders’ “Perfect Days” and Hamaguchi Ryusuke’s “Evil Does Not Exist,” won the top prizes at the Asia Pacific Screen Awards on Friday. Multiple other honors went to films from Korea and Kazakhstan. The 16th edition of the APSA Awards was held on the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia and recognized films from eight countries. “Perfect Days,” a gentle comedy drama about a toilet cleaner in Tokyo finding happiness in the everyday, premiered in Cannes and more recently was selected as Japan’s Oscar contender and as the opening title of the Tokyo International Film Festival.

Naman Ramachandran Australia and New Zealand company Via Vision Entertainment is expanding its media distribution business with the launch of the Imprint Asia label. The brand will be launching with a host of new films including Cui Rui and Liu Xiang’s box office smash “Lost In The Stars,” Larry Yang’s action comedy “Ride On,” starring Jackie Chan and sci-fi epic “The Wandering Earth 2” starring Andy Lau. In addition to the new release slate there will be ongoing classic releases with new restorations and extras produced for physical media collectors including Chen Kaige’s “The Emperor and The Assassin” (1998) and “Farewell My Concubine” (1992), Tsui Hark’s “The Legend of Zu” (2001) and Kei Kumai’s “The Sea is Watching” (2002), which is co-written by Akira Kurosawa.

K.J. Yossman Umbrella Entertainment has snapped up Luke Sparke’s one-shot horror feature “Scurry” for Australia and New Zealand. Starring Jamie Costa (“Kenobi: A Star Wars Story”) and Emalia (“Paper Dolls”), the film tells the story of two strangers who find themselves trapped underground when their city is attacked by a monstrous threat.

EXCLUSIVE: Writer-director Courtney J. Camerota has wrapped production on her first feature, Dead Guy, a dark comedy shot under an Interim Agreement that will be introduced to buyers at AFM by CAA Media Finance. Among those in the starry cast are two-time Oscar nominee Michael Shannon (The Bikeriders), Golden Globe nominee Eva Longoria (Sylvie’s Love), Judy Greer (White House Plumbers), Luis Guzman (Story Ave), Amaury Nolasco (The Valet), Rory Culkin (Black Mirror), and Curtis Armstrong (New Girl).

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Australia’s Rialto and the U.K’s Vertigo Releasing have joined forces to launch Galaxy Pictures, a new film distribution company in Australia and New Zealand. The company will focus on “broad-appeal, star-driven commercial pictures that cater to consumers attuned to an increasingly digital landscape.” The two companies have already been cooperating for the past three years and handle 120 titles.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Vietnam-based sales agent Skyline Media has closed multi-territory deals for two of its current titles “The Soul Reaper” and “Vietnamese Horror Story.” The deals follow Skyline’s recent trip to Busan’s ACFM and come ahead of its participation as exhibitor at a string of further final quarter sales events – Tokyo’s TIFFCOM, Santa Monica’s American Film Market and Taipei’s Taiwan Creative Content Fest. Folk horror film “The Soul Reaper,” currently in the final stages of post-production, was licensed to GaragePlay for Taiwan and to Westec Media Limited (WML) for Laos, Cambodia and nine other Southeast Asian territories. The film, adapted from Thao Trang’s best-selling horror novel “Lunar New Year in Hell Village” (aka “Tet O Lang Dia Nguc”), is set to be released in Vietnam cinemas on 08 December. GaragePlay is one of Taiwan’s leading distributors, and recently handles releases of “Suzume,” “John Wick: Chapter 4” and “Someday or One Day.” WML is the biggest content distributor in Cambodia and has distributed more than 1,000 titles theatrically since its establishment.

Zack Sharf Digital News Director Shannon Lee, daughter of the legendary actor and martial artist Bruce Lee, recently told The Telegraph that she remains unaware why Quentin Tarantino decided to portray her father as “the a-hole” in his 2019 movie “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.” Shannon Lee spoke out against the film’s portrayal of Bruce Lee at the time, which led to a highly-publicized back and forth between her and Tarantino in many interviews. “It’s interesting. I actually don’t know,” Shannon says now about the reasoning behind Tarantino’s controversial portrayal of Bruce Lee.

If you’ve noticed that Jacob Elordi is looking a little skinnier lately, you’re not seeing things.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Iranian drama film “Empty Nets” was Monday named winner of the AFF Feature Fiction Award at the Adelaide Film Festival. Directed by Behrooz Karamizade, it collected an A$10,000 ($6,320) cash prize.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Best-selling Australian novel, Runt” is to be adapted as a feature movie that will begin shooting from next month. Studiocanal is handling international rights sales and local distribution in Australia and New Zealand. The story is a heartfelt, contemporary Australian tale, set in the country town of Upson Downs, where eleven-year-old Annie Shearer and her best friend, an adopted stray dog called Runt, try to save their family farm by competing in the Agility Course Grand Championships at the prestigious Krumpets Dog Show in London. The book was released in 2022 and won a clean sweep of the major Australian literary awards including the Children’s Book Council of Australia’s book of the year for young readers, book of the year for younger children at the Australian Book Industry Awards, and overall book of the year at the Australian Indie Book Awards. The movie is adapted for the screen by its West Australian author Craig Silvey (“Jasper Jones”), to be directed by John Sheedy (“H is for Happiness”), and produced by Jamie Hilton (“Breath,” “June Again”). See Pictures is producing with major production investment from Screen Australia, Screenwest and Lotterywest and the WA Regional Screen Fund.

Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman‘s Faraway Downs has its first trailer!

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief The inaugural edition of the Cinema at Sea – Okinawa Pan-Pacific International Film Festival will be held next month (Nov. 23-29) on the Japanese island of Okinawa.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief VVS Films, a leading Canada-based film distributor, will expand its operations to Australia and New Zealand. A24’s Nicolas Cage-starring comedy “Dream Scenario” is set as its first title for the new markets and will release on Jan. 1, 2024.

EXCLUSIVE: Vertical has snapped up U.S. rights to He Went That Way, a true-life serial killer tale that stars Jacob Elordi (Saltburn), Zachary Quinto (Star Trek franchise), and Patrick J. Adams (Suits). Marking the first and final feature from Australian director and DP Jeffrey Darling, who passed away in March 2022, the thriller will release exclusively in theaters early next year, having world premiered at the 2023 Tribeca Festival.

‘Marie Antoinette‘ Back On The BBCThe BBC has announced that it has acquired the second season of Canal+ Creation Originale Marie Antoinette. Sue Deeks, head of acquisitions for the BBC, said the first season of Deborah Davis’ drama had been a “great success” for the corporation. Marie Antoinette is produced by Claude Chelli and Margaux Balsan for Capa Drama, Stéphanie Chartreux for Banijay Studios France, as well as Bedside Productions. Season 2 is currently in production.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Dynamic Singaporean producer Jeremy Chua is to receive the FIAPF Award for Outstanding Contribution to Asia Pacific Cinema, at the Asia Pacific Screen Awards (APSA) on Nov. 3 on Australia’s Gold Coast.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Causeway Films, the Australian film production house behind recent breakout “Talk to Me,” has opened a U.K. operation. The company has hired Daniel Negret, formerly of Head Gear Films, as its CEO. Causeway Films was established by producers Kristina Ceyton and Samantha Jennings in 2014, launching with Jennifer Kent’s Sundance hit “The Babadook.” It followed that by producing Kent’s follow up feature “The Nightingale,” which won the special jury prize at the Venice Film Festival in 2019. Innovative horror film, “Talk to Me,” from filmmaking duo Danny and Michael Philippou screened in Sundance, Berlin and SXSW 2023 and was acquired by A24.

Clayton Davis Senior Awards Editor “Air” director, producer and star Ben Affleck will receive the first-ever Gotham Visionary Icon and Creator Tribute at this year’s Gotham Awards ceremony. The tribute award was created for this year’s ceremony to recognize cultural icons and the filmmakers responsible for bringing those icon’s stories to life.