APOS: HBO Asia Orders Two Chinese-Language Originals

Refresh for latest…: Yet another international box office frame was led by Chinese movies in their home market as local May Day holdovers continued play coming off a record holiday session. While a handful of studio titles are doing business in other pockets of the world, we are in something of a holding pattern until majors like the UK and France begin opening in the coming weeks, and as Universal’s F9 is expected to rev up overseas turnstiles for Hollywood starting on May 19.

EXCLUSIVE: Rosemarie DeWitt is set to star alongside Toni Collette and Colin Firth in The Staircase, HBO Max’s drama limited series adaptation based on the true-crime docuseries.

HBO Max series about DC character Green Lantern has found its lead actor in Finn Wittrock.The American Horror Story star will be playing Guy Gardner/Green Lantern in the new show based on the DC characters.Wittrock’s character has been described as “a hulking mass of masculinity” and “an embodiment of 1980s hyper-patriotism” according to Deadline.Greg Berlanti, Marc Guggenheim and Seth Grahame-Smith will be writing Green Lantern, which is set to rework the DC characters and stories into a

Rebecca Davis editorChina is preparing to hit Tencent Holding Ltd. with a fine of at least $1.54 billion (RMB10 billion) as part of a larger antitrust crackdown on its major internet firms, according to a report in Reuters.

Finn Wittrock (American Horror Story) has been tapped to star as Guy Gardner/Green Lantern in HBO Max’s upcoming series based on the DC characters, from Berlanti Productions in association with Warner Bros. Television.

Finn Wittrock is joining the cast!

Oscar-nominated Toni Collette is set to star opposite Colin Firth in The Staircase, HBO Max’s drama limited series adaptation based on the true crime docuseries.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefAward-winning Chinese sci-fi novel “Folding Beijing” will move into production as a movie later this year, following a green light from mainland China studio Wanda Film.The film, titled “Folding City” is to be helmed by Josh Kim, the Korean-American director who previously made a splash with adolescent drama “How to Win at Checkers (Every Time)”. The film was selected as Thailand’s Oscar contender in 2015.

Rebecca Davis editorThe organization Chinese in Entertainment, the non-profit behind the Los Angeles Chinese Film Festival (LACFF), is changing its name to remove the word “Chinese” after internal discussions about the political implications of the term.After some soul-searching, the team decided that the new name Sino Entertainment Association (SEA) would be better aligned with its goal of championing inclusivity and diversity.

Disney is to close 18 of its television channels in Southeast Asia and Hong Kong on October 1, according to local reports.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefDisney is to close 18 TV channels in Southeast Asia and Hong Kong as the conglomerate puts a greater emphasis on direct-to-consumer streaming. The move will take effect from Oct.

Pixar’s critically acclaimed 23rd film, “Soul,” surprised no one by winning two Oscars at the 93rd Academy Awards on Sunday night. The critical and audience favorite not only won the Animated Feature Oscar but took the Original Score category as well.