Almost three months on since King Charles bravely revealed he was battling cancer, Buckingham Palace has released a “positive” statement about his treatment progress, as it revealed the monarch is now able to return to some public facing duties amid his ongoing care.The statement, which was released on Friday April 26 read: “His Majesty The King will shortly return to public-facing duties after a period of treatment and recuperation following his recent cancer diagnosis. “To help mark this milestone, The King and Queen will make a joint visit to a cancer treatment centre next Tuesday, where they will meet medical specialists and patients.This visit will be the first in a number of external engagements His Majesty will undertake in the weeks ahead.
Canneseries: China’s ‘To the Wonder’ Is a Politically Correct Tale of Multicultural Romance and Self-Discovery
08.04.2024 - 11:39 / variety.com
Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief China’s video streamers, much like their counterparts in the west, have passed their peak growth phase and have been forced to refocus their efforts on achieving profitability. In the case of IQiyi, which is a subsidiary of tech giant Baidu but has its own stock market listing on the NASDAQ, that transition has meant reduced content spending and a more rigorous approach to quality and investment in winning shows. “To the Wonder,” which debuted on Sunday in competition at Canneseries, is a product of that less-is-more approach.
It follows the appearance of IQiyi’s crime drama “Why Try to Change Me Now” in the 2023 Berlin Series lineup. The eight-part “To the Wonder,” which shares a title with the 2012 fantasy film by Terrence Malick but has no connection to it, is a big-budget heart-warmer that stars Ma Yili (“The First Half of My Life”), Zhou Yiran (“Across the Furious Sea”) and Yu Shi. Co-written by Teng Congcong (“Send Me to the Clouds”) and Peng Yining as an adaptation of a novel by Li Juan, with Teng also in the directing chair, the show is a slow-burn romantic tale set in Xinjiang.
“To the Wonder” sees a young woman from China’s dominant Han ethnic group, whose literary ambitions have been frustrated during her time in the big city, return to the small town in Xinjiang where she grew up. There she slowly falls for a nomadic herdsman. The streamer identifies him as ‘Kazakh,’ though the native population of Xinjiang is more usually referred to as ‘Uyghur,’ a Turkic ethnic group native to Central Asia and Eastern Europe.
Chinese Online Movies Repackaged as PopC Linear Channel – Global Bulletin
Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Asian TV channels operator Celestial Tiger Entertainment and myTV SUPER, the OTT platform of Hong Kong’s Television Broadcasts Limited (TVB) are to launch PopC, a movie channel dedicated to Chinese online films, with content supplied by mainland China streamer iQiyi. It launches in Hong Kong from May 1. “The idea of PopC first came about when we saw the amount of great, high quality movies that were being produced for the online space in China.
Korea Box Office: Don Lee’s ‘The Roundup: Punishment’ Takes Punchy $5 Million on Opening Day
Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Korean comedy action film “The Roundup: Punishment” destroyed all competition in local theaters on its Wednesday opening day. The film earned $4.92 million from 821,000 ticket sales, according to data from Kobis, the tracking service operated by the Korean Film Council (Kofic). That represented a crushing 97% share of the day’s theatrical market. Including a smattering of previews over the latest weekend, the film finished Wednesday with a cumulative of $5.26 million earned from 862,000 spectators. Earlier, it was reported that the film had broken the Korean record for advanced ticket sales.
China Box Office: ‘Godzilla x Kong’ Retakes Lead, as ‘The Boy and the Heron’ Passes $100 Million
Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Fantasy action movie “Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire” retook the top spot at the mainland China box office from Studio Ghibli animation title “The Boy and the Heron” during the latest weekend. “Godzilla x Kong” recorded earnings of $7.3 million (RMB51.5 million) between Friday and Sunday, a 32% week-on-week drop, according to data from consultancy firm Artisan Gateway. But it returned to the top spot on the box office charts in its fourth weekend of release and overtook “The Boy and the Heron” in the process.
John Sloss And Apple Non-Fiction Chief Molly Thompson Discuss Documentary Business & The Time HBO Killed Todd Phillips’ ‘Frat House’ — Sands
In the late 1990s Joker writer-director Todd Phillips, then applying his trade as an underground documentary filmmaker shot a non-fiction project titled Frat House, which nabbed the Grand Jury Prize for Documentary at Sundance before being promptly acquired by HBO Films.
Northern Lights could be visible in north of England tonight as Met Office forecasts clear skies
The Northern Lights could be visible across parts of northern England tonight (April 17), according to forecasters.
The Bury man taking on Ukraine's deadly landmines
Jon Cunliffe's line of work has taken him worlds away from his birthplace of Bury.
Disney Expands 2025 Korean Drama Slate With ‘Low Life’ Webtoon Adaptation
Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Disney has confirmed that Korean webtoon-to-screen adaptation “Low Life” is poised to begin production. When valuable treasure is discovered off the coast of Korea, the country’s biggest degenerates come crawling out of the woodwork in the hope of striking it big. Word spreads after a fisherman got lucky and kept a piece of the booty for himself.
‘The Goldfinger’ Snags Six Prizes at Hong Kong Film Awards
Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Crime drama “The Goldfinger” was the numerical winner at the Hong Kong Film Awards, where it won six prizes on Sunday. But it missed out on the best film prize, which went to box office record breaker “A Guilty Conscience.” “The Goldfinger,” a retro financial thriller starring Tony Leung Chiu-wai and Andy Lau Tak-wah, earned a slew of technical award (cinematography, art direction, costume and make up, sound design and visual effects) as well as the lead actor prize for Leung. Two films took three prizes each: “In Broad Daylight,” an investigation into abuse at a care home, and “Mad Fate,” Soi Cheang’s grungy examination of superstition in the city.
China Box Office: ‘The Boy and the Heron’ Reaches $93 Million After Second Weekend
Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Oscar-winning Japanese animated fantasy “The Boy and the Heron” held on to top spot at the mainland China box office to record a second weekend win. The film, which opened triumphantly on April 3, in time for a family-oriented long weekend, fell steeply in its second, non-holiday, frame. It earned $12.8 million (RMB90.6 million), according to data from consultancy firm Artisan Gateway.
Jackson Yee’s TFBoys to Get Global Boost From Universal Music Deal
Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief TF Entertainment, the company behind Chinese pop sensations TFBoys and Teens in Times (aka TNT), has struck a strategic alliance with Universal Music Greater China. The deal includes global digital distribution for TF Entertainment’s roster of talent and the targeting of markets outside Mainland China. The objective is to leverage parent group Universal Music Group’s global distribution capabilities and marketing network to elevate Chinese pop’s global prominence. TF Entertainment was founded in 2009 and developed a trainee system to cultivate idol groups within Chinese pop.
‘Snow in Midsummer’ and ‘Sons’ Take Firebird Awards at Hong Kong Film Festival – Global Bulletin
Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief “Snow in Midsummer,” which quietly probes the 1969 massacre of Malaysian Chinese during post-election turmoil, was named the winner of the best film for young cinema competition (Chinese-language) at the Hong Kong International Film Festival. Liang Ming was named best director for “Carefree Days,” while the film’s female lead Lyu Xingchen collected the best actress award.
China Box Office: ‘The Boy and the Heron’ Earns $73 Million in Five-Day Opening
Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Oscar-winning Japanese animation film “The Boy and the Heron” earned a chart-topping $34.9 million between Friday and Sunday at the mainland China box office. Over its full five-day opening run, it took an even more spectacular $73 million. China was the last major territory to play the Studio Ghibli-produced fantasy in cinemas – it released in its native Japan in July and is imminently headed to streaming in many other territories – but that did not stop Chinese audiences from lapping it up. While most films release in China on a Friday, “The Boy and the Heron” was given a Wednesday outing in order to capture momentum from the Thursday-to-Saturday Qingming public holiday. Consultancy firm Artisan reports that it earned RMB248 million ($34.9 million) over the conventional Friday-to-Sunday weekend.
CinemaCon: Worldwide Box Office Headed for Marginal Decline in 2024, Says Report
Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Worldwide box office is headed for a marginal decline of 3% in 2024, a setback that follows three years of recovery from a pandemic era low in 2020. Gower Street Analytics, a distribution and exhibition industry consultancy, forecasts that worldwide box office this year will aggregate at $32.3 billion, down by more than $1 billion from the $33.9 billion earned in 2023. “A $32.3 billion global box office in 2024 would represent an approximate 5% decrease year-on-year (a 3% decrease at current exchange rates) from 2023. The 2024 revised estimate is 18% lower than an average of the last three pre-pandemic years (2017-2019),” Gower Street said. The forecast comes on the eve of CinemaCon, the annual National Association of Theater Owners convention, being held in Las Vegas April 8-11. While Gower Street’s forecast is for a marginal decline, it actually represents a more than $1 billion improvement on its previous $31.5 million forecast for 2024.
The 'wonderful' Scottish coastal hotel you can book for 63 per cent off this spring
A "wonderful" Scottish hotel is currently available to book for more than 60 per cent off.
‘Mother Of The Bride’ Trailer: Rom-Com Starring Brooke Shields, Miranda Cosgrove & Benjamin Bratt Hits Netflix On May 9
Are rom-coms on the resurgence? If they are, Netflix is ahead of the pack with several new ones out on the streamer this year already. “Players,” “Irish Wish, and “The Heartbreak Agency” didn’t fare too well with critics, but “One Day” did, so maybe that means “Mother Of The Bride” could a sleeper hit for the streamer this Spring.
China Box Office: ‘The Boy and the Heron’ Flies Past ‘Godzilla x Kong’ in $35 Million Midweek Holiday Debut
Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Oscar-winning Japanese animation “The Boy and the Heron” opened its wings in mainland Chinese theaters in midweek and soared to the top of the box office. Data from multiple local tracking sources show the Miyazaki Hayao-directed fantasy-adventure accounting for more than half of all cinema revenues on both Wednesday and Thursday. On Wednesday it garnered $13.8 million, according to estimates from Ent Group. By 6.30pm on Thursday, ticket sales firm Maoyan was showing the title as having grown its two-day running total to RMB254 million or $35.2 million. While films mostly open on Fridays in China, “The Boy and the Heron” was given a Wednesday outing in order to play into the three-day Qingming public holiday.
China Box Office: ‘Godzilla X Kong: The New Empire’ Has Hollywood’s Best Opening This Year
Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Legendary Entertainment’s “Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire” had the best opening in China of any Hollywood film this year. It scored $44.6 million (RMB317 million) in mainland Chinese cinemas between Friday and Sunday, according to data from consultancy firm Artisan Gateway. That was a nearly 70% share of the country’s weekend box office. Nationwide, cinemas enjoyed $64.1 million of business, a significant leap from the $39.5 million they earned in the previous weekend.
Zhang Yimou to Receive Lifetime Award at Udine Festival – Global Bulletin
Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Veteran Chinese director Zhang Yimou will be presented with a lifetime achievement award at the upcoming edition of the Festival of Far East Film in Italy’s Udine (April 24 – May 2). The lineup will include three films by Zhang: his 2023 political thriller “Under the Light” in its competition section; as well as “To Live” and “Raise the Red Lantern” in its restored classics section. The festival’s total lineup includes 74 films in total – 47 in competition and 28 out of competition) from 11 countries.
‘Sweet Planet’ Chinese-Dutch Documentary Culinary Series to Air on CGTN (EXCLUSIVE)
Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief “Sweet Planet,” a one of the highest-profile China-Europe co-productions of recent years, will air on China Global Television Network from Friday. The six-part culinary documentary is a co-production between millennial-focused global channel operator Insight TV, Netherlands-based production company JOIIN, and CGTN. It explore the culinary and cultural impact of sugar in cooking and food rituals around the world.