Blackpink Contract Renewal Talks With YG Entertainment Continue, but May Be Approaching a Conclusion

J. Kim Murphy Hayao Miyazaki’s “The Boy and the Heron” looks to soar atop domestic charts this weekend after earning about $5.4 million across Friday and various preview screenings. Playing in 2,205 theaters, the GKids release has the benefit of Imax and other premium large format auditoriums to boost those numbers.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Thailand’s broadcast and streaming group Mono Next and Korea’s Studio Genie have struck a deal to collaborate on content creation and distribution. Production of a Thai remake of a Korean series is on the cards, but has not been finalized. The memorandum was announced on stage at the Asia Television Forum in Singapore on Wednesday, with streaming unit Mono Streaming signing on behalf of the Thai group.

Valerie Wu Intern “Schitt’s Creek” co-creator, producer and star Dan Levy has released the trailer for his upcoming Netflix comedy-drama film, “Good Grief.” “Good Grief” is the first project spearheaded by Levy since the end of “Schitt’s Creek” in 2020, although the actor has made recent film and television appearances in Disney’s “Haunted Mansion,” HBO’s “The Idol” and Netflix’s comedy drama series “Sex Education.” Notably, “Good Grief” will be Levy’s feature film debut as a director. It is also Levy’s first project under his Not A Real Production Company and Netflix. The film follows Marc Dreyfus (Levy), who struggles to cope with the sudden death of his husband, Oliver (Luke Evans).

YG Entertainment has shot up after it announced that K-pop girl group BLACKPINK have renewed their contracts with the agency.The share price of YG Entertainment soared as much as 29 per cent today (December 6 KST), following the agency’s announcement that BLACKPINK have re-signed their contracts after a prolonged negotiation process.According to CNBC, the share price of YG Entertainment had closed at ₩48,000 (US$36.50) the day prior, but surged to as high as ₩61,900 (US$47.15) today. The price of the company’s stocks have since cooled slightly, hovering at around ₩60,000 (US$65.70) at time of writing.Meanwhile, Bloomberg also notes that the stock price of YG Plus, which is partially owned by YG Entertainment, jumped up by the daily limit of 30 per cent.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield and his wife Emily are expecting their first child together: a baby girl!

King Charles has jetted back to the UK to conduct emergency discussions with Prince William and Kate Middleton over royal racism claims which emerged in Omid Scobie's 'Endgame'.

Timothée Chalamet is stepping out for lunch amid his busy schedule!

Zack Sharf Digital News Director Any movie fan who thought “Dune” was lacking on the action front will be happy with the upcoming sequel, at least according to director Denis Villeneuve. In a new interview with Total Film magazine, Villeneuve touted the 2024 sequel as “more muscular” than the first installment that hit theaters and Max in 2021. “The first movie was more meditative and contemplative.

Florence Pugh is the latest celeb victim of an unidentified flying object! No, we don’t mean an alien encounter — we’re talking about some d-hole in the audience flinging something at her face!

Ellise Shafer Amazon Prime Video’s automotive series “The Grand Tour” is not moving forward at the streamer — at least with its current hosts, former “Top Gear” trio Jeremy Clarkson, James May and Richard Hammond. Sources tell Variety that Clarkson, May and Hammond have just returned from filming the show’s final special in Zimbabwe, which will launch at a later date next year and conclude the fifth season. A special set in Mauritania will launch before that, in February.

Ben Croll The Marrakech Film Festival’s industry-focused Atlas Workshops will complement its existing support for development and production with the Atlas Distribution Award – a brand-new initiative meant to fuel wider domestic and international distribution for the Moroccan, Arab and Pan-African films presented at the festival. Taking inspiration from similar European schemes, the Marrakech Foundation will offer financial incentives to regional distributors releasing festival-selected titles.

Strictly Come Dancing’s Bobby Brazier has revealed the sweet moment he shared with his dad, Jeff Brazier, after his performance last weekend. Bobby and his dance partner Dianne Buswell performed their couples choice routine to the song This Woman’s Work by Maxwell in a tribute to Bobby’s late mum, Jade Goody.The dance moved the judges to tears, and they were given a score of 37 out of 40, their highest of the series so far.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media Reporter Queen Bey is about to take on the box office. “Renaissance,” a concert film written, directed and produced by Beyoncé, is expected to bring in $17 million to $20 million in its opening weekend. The film will play in approximately 2,539 domestic locations, as well as 94 international territories, including Mexico, the U.K., South Africa, Kenya, Australia and Germany.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief South Korea’s two largest streaming services, Tving and Wave, are in advanced merger talks, according to Korean financial news media. The move appears intended to strengthen the home-grown platforms, which currently trail streaming market leader Netflix. The Korean Economic Daily reported Wednesday that CJ ENM, the largest shareholder in TVing, and SK Square, the biggest backer of Wavve, could strike an agreement as early as next week.

Naman Ramachandran Netflix has acquired Indonesian filmmaker Yosep Anggi Noen’s festival favorite film “24 Hours with Gaspar.” Adapted from a detective novel of the same title that was published in 2017 by Sabda Armandio, “24 Hours with Gaspar” follows the life of private detective Gaspar, who has only 24 hours to live. He discovers clues leading to the mysterious disappearance of Kirana, a childhood friend, and later to Wan Ali, who’s involved in a human trafficking syndicate.

Sir Rod Stewart has taken to social media to pay tribute to his son Alastair's milestone birthday as he turns 18. The singing legend and dad-of-eight posted a sweet picture of the pair enjoying a celebratory meal.

J. Kim Murphy Focus Features has acquired worldwide rights to Jeff Nichols‘ “The Bikeriders,” ending a short period of producer New Regency shopping the finished film to studios.

BLACKPINK‘s status continues to be unknown.

Indy100 newspaper reports that 0.88% or 2.2m users make daily visits to the streaming platform’s gaming section. At its peak, in January 2023, the same segment almost made it to 3m.Netflix seems to be getting desperate to attract gamers, despite assurances to the contrary.

Married At First Sight star Peggy Rose has given fans a behind-the-scenes glimpse into her wedding vow renewal with husband Georges, as she shared a carousel of sweet images on Instagram. The pair have had their fair share of ups and downs, with Peggy dramatically announcing that she was leaving the experiment just a few weeks ago.