The Western genre waned in popularity in the 1980s, but 21st-century cinema still has the occasional film that harks to its heyday. Most of these are genre hybrids, like Tarantino’s “Django Unchained” or S.
01.08.2022 - 03:23 / variety.com
Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefAmazon is to launch localized versions of its Prime Video streaming platform in three countries in Southeast Asia. It will accompany the business initiative with fresh investments in local content.The service will launch in Indonesia, Thailand and The Philippines from Monday.
Viewers will be offered a seven-day free trial, followed by discounted introductory offers of IDR59,000 ($3.98), THB149 ($4.10) and PHP149 PHP ($2.69) per month valid till the end of the year.While consumers in these countries have previously been able to use Amazon for cross-border online shopping, the Amazon Prime shopping membership scheme, to which Prime Video is attached in developed markets, has not been available. Nor has the Prime Video streaming service provided localized content slates or user experience, such as subtitles or a local-language user interface, in Southeast Asia.
Local marketing campaigns will be headed by celebrities Iqbaal Ramadhan, Chicco Kurniawan and Kiky Saputri in Indonesia, Mario Maurer in Thailand, and Anne Curtis in the Philippines.The company has greenlighted three versions of situational improvisation comedy challenge series – “Comedy Island: Indonesia,” “Comedy Island: Thailand,” and “Comedy Island: Philippines,” which will be available from 2023.It has started the development of several original productions in Indonesia and Thailand. These include feature-length “Seige At Thorn High,” to be directed by Joko Anwar, which is in development at Come & See Pictures.
The Western genre waned in popularity in the 1980s, but 21st-century cinema still has the occasional film that harks to its heyday. Most of these are genre hybrids, like Tarantino’s “Django Unchained” or S.
Nielsen and Amazon have signed a three-year agreement to measure Prime Video’s exclusive NFL “Thursday Night Football” beginning this fall.The deal marks the first time a streaming service will have one of its live programs measured as part of Nielsen’s National TV measurement service.“Thursday Night Football” will be “processed” like other NFL agains, per Nielsen, using the company’s panel, allowing for the same metrics to be reported across all other national networks, continued trending, and comparability, Nielsen said in a release.“Nielsen is the long-time leader in the measurement space, providing gold-standard currency to the media industry and we’re thrilled that Amazon recognizes that and is working with us to bring a streaming service into our National TV measurement for the first time ever,” Deirdre Thomas, managing director, U.S. Audience Measurement Product Sales, Nielsen, said in a statement.
When it was announced that Amazon was spending nearly $250 million to land the rights to “The Lord of the Rings,” the average person was taken aback by the sheer cost to gain the rights to tell the story. Then it was announced that the first season of the series, only eight episodes, would cost almost $500 million to produce.
K.J. Yossman Amazon Prime Video have given fans a first look at their upcoming U.K.
Bangkok-based Night Edge Pictures, a new distributor and production outfit focused on horror and thriller titles, is launching this week with its first release, Kate Dolan’s You Are Not My Mother, which is opening in Thailand on August 11.
Showing everything from light-hearted comedy to nail-biting drama, a plentiful supply of brand new action will be arriving to Prime Video, Disney+ and Apple+ subscribers this August. Among the releases are some highly-anticipated series and all-action blockbusters.
“Licorice Pizza” starring the Haim sisters as well as “The Lost City,” which is loaded with stars like Sandra Bullock, Channing Tatum, Daniel Radcliffe and Brad Pitt.Those looking for older classic films won’t be disappointed either as Meryl Streep-studded “The Devil Wears Prada,” and “Mamma Mia! ”will also head to the streamer (with the musical gracing Freevee’s catalog). Nicholas Cage’s “Face/Off” and the late James Caan’s “Thief” arrive August 1 along with “Romy and Michele’s High School Reunion,” which stars the late Paul Sorvino’s daughter Mira.
Manori Ravindran International EditorAmazon Prime Video has ordered the Nigerian originals “Gangs of Lagos” and “LOL: Last One Laughing Naija,” and opened up local currency services for the platform in the country.Crime thriller “Gangs of Lagos,” which will launch on the platform later this year, is a high-stakes action-crime thriller that follows a group of friends who each have to navigate their own destiny, growing up on the bustling streets and neighbourhood of Isale Eko, Lagos.The show stars Tobi Bakre, Adesua Etomi-Wellington and Chiké. “Gangs of Lagos” is directed and produced by Jade Osiberu, produced by Kemi Lala Akindoju and co-produced by Akin Omotoso.Meanwhile, “LOL: Last One Laughing Naija” is a local adaptation of the wide-traveling Amazon original.
Michael Schneider Variety Editor at LargeAmazon Prime Video is activating its Emmy Phase 2 plans, throwing an “FYC Fest” the weekend of Friday, Aug. 12 through Sunday, Aug. 14 to tout its 30 Emmy nominations.The weekend event will take place in three different locations in the Los Angeles area, including Sherman Oaks, Santa Monica and West Hollywood.
for the most heroic of reasons.In Ron Howard’s new movie “Thirteen Lives,” streaming on Prime Video Friday, Viggo Mortensen plays Stanton, who co-engineered the rescue of 12 Thai boys and their soccer coach from a monsoon-flooded cave. Along with his diving partner, John Volanthen (Colin Farrell in the film), he was able to navigate the forbidding terrain and locate the boys, who were stranded more than 2 miles into the cave.With Stanton working as an adviser on the film, he said Howard’s depiction is true to life.
Manori Ravindran International Editor“Poldark’s” Aidan Turner will star as a maverick coach guiding an up-and-coming tennis player (Ella Lily Hyland) to stardom in Amazon Prime Video’s new U.K. drama “Fifteen-Love.”Created by Hania Elkington, “Fifteen-Love” explores the fictional story of Justine Pearce (Hyland), a young sports prodigy, who enjoyed a meteoric rise in the world of Grand Slam Tennis, aided by her coach Glenn Lapthorn (Turner), with whom she shared an intense rapport.Together they reached the semi-final of the French Open but Justine’s dream was cut brutally short by a devastating injury and the end of her professional career.
Korea, India and Southeast Asia climbed 21% in 2021 to reach $10.4 billion. They are forecast to grow a further 15% to $12 billion in 2022, according to the 2022 edition of the Asia Video Content Dynamics report.The report, published by consultancy and research firm Media Partners Asia (MPA), attributed the 2021 surge to key operators replenishing content pipelines after the initial waves of COVID-19 depleted programming inventories in 2020. All content verticals except theatrical generated strong gains.
Video content budgets across India, Korea and Southeast Asia climbed 21% to reach $10.4bn in 2021, and are forecast to grow 15% to $12bn in 2022, according to a report from Media Partners Asia (MPA).
EXCLUSIVE: In what would mark his first acting job in a major studio movie, two-time UFC champion Conor McGregor is set to join Jake Gyllenhaal in Prime Video’s new reimagining of the classic ’80s action pic Road House. He joins a cast that already includes Billy Magnussen, Daniela Melchior, Gbemisola Ikumelo, Lukas Gage, Hannah Love Lanier, Travis Van Winkle, B.K. Cannon, Arturo Castro, Dominique Columbus, Beau Knapp and Bob Menery.
Angelique Jackson Oscar and Tony-nominated actor Jake Gyllenhaal is officially set to star in “Road House,” a reimagined take on the classic movie starring Patrick Swayze, for Amazon’s Prime Video.Doug Liman will direct the new movie, from a script written by Anthony Bagarozzi & Charles Mondry. After producing the original film for MGM in 1989, Joel Silver is back on board to produce the reimagining for his company Silver Pictures.
Prime Video’s new reimagining of the 1989 classic Road House starring Jake Gyllenhaal is gearing up as it has set Billy Magnussen, Daniela Melchior, Gbemisola Ikumelo, Lukas Gage, Hannah Love Lanier, Travis Van Winkle, B.K. Cannon, Arturo Castro, Dominique Columbus, Beau Knapp and Bob Menery to join the cast. Doug Liman is directing from a script written by Anthony Bagarozzi & Charles Mondry. Joel Silver is producing for his company, Silver Pictures. JJ Hook, Alison Winter, and Aaron Auch will serve as executive producers.