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Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Korean film producer Baek Jaeho has been named as the inaugural recipient of the Choon-yun Award, a prize set up in honor of Lee Choon-yun, the late chairman of the Korean Association of Film Art & Industry. The award, worth KRW10 million ($7,100), will be presented on the sidelines of the Busan International Film Festival on Oct. 6 in conjunction with IOK Company. Baek participated in the production of 2021 title “Snowball” and was previously involved in indie films “Jane” in 2016 and last year’s “Role.” He also acts and directs. Veteran director Kang Je-kyu praised Baek as ”a filmmaker who maintains his values and outspreads his potential in the insufficient independent film environment.”

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Japan’s biggest film group Toho announced that it has taken a controlling stake in TIA (previously Toho Interactive Animation), a production company behind the “100 Nichikan Ikita Wani,” film and anime series “iii icecrin,” “iii icecrin2” “Ninja Collection” and “That Is the Bottleneck.” Originally known as I&A, the company was established in 2017 by ILCA and Anima. The name changed to TIA after Toho bought a nearly 35% from the two founders in 2020. Toho has now bought out Anima’s stake, giving it a 67.4% majority holding and cause to rename the company again, this time to Toho Animation Studio. Deal terms were not disclosed.

K.J. Yossman “Peaky Blinders” is getting a theatrical adaptation with “Peaky Blinders: The Redemption of Thomas Shelby.” “Peaky Blinders” creator Steven Knight has written the theatrical dance show, which is set to be directed and choreographed by Benoit Swan Pouffer, artistic director of Rambert. It is set to premiere on Sept. 27 at the Birmingham Hippodrome, which is co-producing the show, before transferring to Troubadour Wembley Park in London and then a U.K. tour in 2023. Thomas Shelby will be played by Guillaume Quéau and Prince Lyons, who will alternate, while the role of Grace will be rotated between Naya Lovell and Seren Williams.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief For the second weekend running, comedy action film “Confidential Assignment 2: International” held top spot at the South Korean box office. And it did so with a massive 75% share of the market. But as the Chuseok (Korean Thanksgiving) holiday retreated into the rear-view mirror numbers, both for the sequel film and the nationwide box office, came crashing down. “Confidential Assignment 2” earned $6.89 million over the latest Friday to Sunday period, according to data from Kobis, the tracking service operated by the Korean Film Council (KOFIC). That figure was down 57% compared with its opening salvo of $21.0 million a week earlier.

The Queen Consort has been nursing a broken toe for over a week and battling through the pain to continue to support her husband on his duties, according to reports. The injury is thought to have occurred before the death of Queen Elizabeth II last Thursday September 8. With Charles now King of England, the former Duchess of Cornwall, 75, has found herself thrown into even more royal duties than before since Elizabeth II's death.

Naman Ramachandran HBO Max in Hungary will stream a local version of hit survival reality format “The Bridge.” The competition sees participants tasked with building a 250-metre-long bridge to an island for the chance to win a large cash prize. Presented by Csaba Magyarósi, “The Bridge Hungary” is produced locally by Free Monkeys Production. This is the sixth adaptation of the format, which was created in Spain by Zeppelin, part of Banijay Iberia and has U.K., Brazil and Australia versions.. Banijay Rights struck multiple deals for the U.K. version with broadcasters in the Netherlands and across Africa and Latin America. The U.K. series also aired on HBO Max in the US, Latin America, and Asia.

K.J. Yossman Jáde Osiberu, creator of upcoming Amazon Original movie “Gangs of Lagos,” has inked an overall deal with the streamer. The three-year deal will include original scripted dramas and features from Osiberu’s production company Greoh Studios. Osiberu, who is the creator of hit projects including “Sugar Rush,” “Isoken” and “Gidi Up,” follows others creators including Steve McQueen, Phoebe Waller-Bridge and Jenny Han in signing similar international agreements. “I am overjoyed with this collaboration and already feel like I’m part of the Prime Video and Amazon Studios family,” said Osiberu. “It will be an absolute pleasure to introduce Prime Video audiences to the most exciting talent and storylines Nigeria has to offer, and I’m looking forward to continuing to help elevate Nigerian stories on a global scale.”

Naman Ramachandran Collective Media Group and Entourage Sports and Entertainment‘s soccer documentary feature “Brazil 2002: The Real Story,” recounting the story of the 2002 World Cup on its 20th anniversary, has sold a raft of territories worldwide. The film uses six hours of unseen archive material shot by Brazilian soccer player Juliano Belletti during the tournament, and also features interviews with Ronaldo, Ronaldinho, Cafu and Gilberto Silva from the World Cup winning Brazil team; and, from the opposing teams across the tournament, David Beckham, Michael Owen, Oliver Kahn, Hasan Şaş and Marc Wilmots as well as referee Pierluigi Collina. FIFA has taken the film for its own streamer FIFA+, for territories including Asia (excluding Japan), Turkey and New Zealand. This is complemented by deals confirmed by distribution partner Abacus Media Rights including: Canal+ Group for Canal+ Foot and myCanal (France); Sky Deutschland (Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg); Sky Italia (Italy, Republic of San Marino, Vatican City, Malta, Capodistria, Montecarlo and Italian speaking Switzerland); DBS Satellite Services (Israel and West Bank); Supersport Africa (for Africa); NOS Portugal (Portugal and PALOPs); Movistar Plus+ (Spain); and Stan Entertainment Pty (Australia).

Naman Ramachandran Sri Lanka’s Vimukthi Jayasundara and Guatemala’s César Díaz, winners of the Cannes Golden Camera for “The Forsaken Land” (2005) and “Nuestras madres” (2019) respectively, are among the recipients of the Hubert Bals Fund (HBF) of the International Film Festival Rotterdam‘s (IFFR) HBF+Europe: Minority Co-production Support scheme for 2022. Out of 25 applications, six projects by filmmakers from Argentina, Egypt, Guatemala, Singapore, Sri Lanka and Yemen have been awarded a contribution of €60,000 ($60,854) each through their European co-producers in Austria, Belgium, France, and the Netherlands. Jayasundara is supported for “Turtle’s Gaze on Spying Stars” (France/Sri Lanka, House on Fire), set on a mysterious resort where the protagonist must quarantine and reckon with his past on his return to Sri Lanka, while Díaz gets it for “Fidelidad” (Guatemala/Belgium, Lemming Film Belgium), a love triangle set on Lake Atitlán in Guatemala.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Wang Xiaoshuai, director of “So Long, My Son” and “Red Amnesia,” will be the most senior mainland Chinese director to present a new film at a major Western festival this year. That may be a reflection of the growing political and economic separation between China and the West over the past couple of years — with COVID an additional irritant. But tough times can also breed innovation. Wang’s latest, “The Hotel,” a chamber piece about a small group of Chinese tourists trapped in a hotel in Thailand during the early days of the pandemic, was inspired by events that Wang personally endured in 2020. It was made in almost improvised fashion, with a hastily written screenplay and shot with available crew.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Jack Neo, who is by far Singapore’s most commercially successful filmmaker, has begun production on “King of Musang King,” a comedy that he envisages being ready for release at Chinese New Year in January. The narrative gives prominent position to durians, the smelly Southeast Asian fruit that most people either love or hate. Neo (“Money No Enough,” the “Ah Boys to Men” franchise) will co-star, direct and produce through his J Team Productions. The film will be presented by J Team, mm2 Entertainment and Cathay Cineplexes. The story revolves around a man (played by Mark Lee), his abandoned Malaysian wife (played by Yeo Yann Yann), and childhood friend Mao Shan (played by Jack Neo).

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Family comedy “Table For Six” has set an opening day local record for a comedy film in Hong Kong, to the relief of producers who were forced to digest a releasing delay of six months. The Sunny Chan-directed film opened Wednesday in Hong Kong and Macau at 61 theatres, playing a total of 608 sessions. That gave it an accumulated box office of HK$1,986,701 ($255,000). “Table for Six,” which chronicles a family’s holiday gathering where food, love, friendship, jealousy and relationships are on the menu, had originally been planned as a dish to be served at Chinese New Year, in February. And producers had assembled a cast of major Hong Kong and regional talents, including Dayo Wong, Stephy Tang, Louise Cheung, Ivana Wong, Lin Min-Chen and Chan Charm Man.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Make no mistake: CJ ENM is on the move. The South Korean conglomerate that has done as much as any company to build out the nation’s entertainment ecosystem is actively looking to expand its “production capability and competency.” That’s the word from Kang Ho-sung, CEO of the cluster of film, TV and music companies that now share the CJ ENM banner. Kang gave a rare, extensive interview to Variety on Aug. 21 in downtown Los Angeles on the sidelines of CJ ENM’s KCON LA pop culture convention, which brought in close to 100,000 fans from across the U.S.

K.J. Yossman The U.K.’s cross-party DCMS Committee, which scrutinizes the spending, policies and administration of the government Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, is set to interrogate BBC bosses on impartiality, the license fee and earnings. The committee, which is chaired by Julian Knight, is set to convene on Tuesday, Sept. 6 to question BBC director general Tim Davie, BBC chair Richard Sharp and BBC COO Leigh Tavaziva. They will ask questions on topics including how the corporation “plans to remain relevant and effective in the modern media landscape,” “how the BBC’s offering is impacted by a more polarised political atmosphere” and the future of the license fee in light of soaring inflation rates.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Art-house title “Return to Dust” was a surprise weekend winner, topping the mainland China box office in its ninth weekend of release. The astonishing feat occurred on an otherwise depressed weekend in which China’s cinema box office dipped to a three-month low. This reflected the summer season winding to an end and anti-COVID measures once again forcing major Chinese cities into retreat. Data from consultancy Artisan Gateway showed “Return” grossing $5.3 million (RMB36.2 million) between Friday and Sunday. Those three days accounted for nearly half of the $12.7 million (RMB87.4 million) cumulative total it has earned since release on July 8, 2022.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Two Korean and two Indian movies make the cut in the Busan International Film Festival’s New Currents main competition section. Thet are joined by one each from Thailand, Singapore, Vietnam, Malaysia and Germany. The section has a track record of making significant discoveries among new Asian films and directors.The selected titles are eligible for multiple awards, including the New Currents Award, the FIPRESCI Award, the NETPAC Award, and the KB New Currents Audience Award. The selection comprises: “Ajooma,” directed by Hu Shuming (Singapore-Korea); “Blue Again” from Thailand’s Thapanee Loosuwan; “Hail to Hell,” by Korea’s Lim Oh-jeong; “Memento Mori: Earth,” by Vietnam’s Marcus Vu Manh Cuong; “No End,” directed by Nader Saeivar and flying the flags of Germany, Iran and Turkey; “A Place Called Silence,” by Malaysia’s Sam Quah; “Shivamma,” fromIndia’s Jaishankar Aryar; Japanese director Kubota Nao’s “One Thousand and One Nights”; “A Wild Roomer,” from Korea’s Lee Jeong-hong; and The Winter Within,” directed by Aamir Bashir, and structured as a co-production between India, France and Qatar.

K.J. Yossman Ann-Helén Laestadius’ novel “Stolen” is getting a Netflix adaptation. Elle Márjá Eira (“The Sámi Have Rights”) is set to direct the feature based on a screenplay by Peter Birro (“Monica Z”). Laestadius will exec produce. “Stolen” will be Eira’s feature film debut. The film, about a young indigenous woman’s struggle in the face of xenophobia, climate change and the patriarchy, will go into production in Sápmi next year and is set to premiere in 2024. “I am over the moon!” said Laestadius. “For me as an author it is of course a dream to see my book adapted into a film and reach a whole new audience across the world. And I’m incredibly happy that Netflix – with their reach – chooses to highlight a Sami story in a big way.”

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief The Busan International Film Festival will further honor its co-founder and former programmer Kim Jiseok, who died suddenly in 2017, by expanding the existing prize in his name into a fully-fledged competitive section. Previously, the Kim Jiseok Award was given to one of ten films selected from the ‘A Window on Asian Cinema’ sidebar which introduces new films from significant Asian directors, defined as those who have each made more than three films.  “Starting this year, the Kim Jiseok Award nominees have been sorted into a section of their own, namely the ‘Jiseok’ section. Also, Korean films will be included in the ‘Jiseok’ section,” Busan organizers said. “This program section aims to both reinforce the spirit and determination of [Kim], who devoted himself to the growth and support of Asian films, and direct attention to the nominated works.”

K.J. Yossman Keira Knightley, Kit Harington, Emeli Sandé and Toby Jones are among the celebrities who’ve signed up to explore their family histories in Wonderhood Studios show “My Grandparents’ War.” The second season of the show, which airs in the U.K. on Channel 4, will explore how the stars’ grandparents navigated global conflicts from the killing fields of Kenya to the mountains of Monte Cassino in Italy. The first season starred Helena Bonham Carter, Mark Rylance, Kristin Scott Thomas and Carey Mulligan. All3Media International distributes the show, which will air on PBS in the U.S., SBS in Australia and CBC in Canada.