Donnie Yen’s ‘Sakra’ Heads for North American Release

BLACKPINK member Jisoo has finally announced a date for her long-awaited solo debut.At midnight KST today (March 6), the K-pop idol teased her upcoming solo debut on Instagram with an intriguing “Coming Soon” poster. The image confirms a release date of March 31, and features a bright red dress in the middle of a field.Jisoo’s post was accompanied by the caption “See you soon” in Korean.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief “Cyber Heist,” a crime thriller directed by Hong Kong’s Wong Hing-fan (“I’m Livin’ It”) and scripted by Soi Cheang (aka Cheang Pou Soi), took the top spot at the mainland Chinese box office over the weekend. It earned a very modest $6.2 million, according to data from consultancy Artisan Gateway. But that was enough to win on the quietest weekend since January’s Lunar New Year holiday season. “Cyber Heist” stars Aaron Kwok as a cyber security engineer who develops a state-of-the-art firewall that is capable of fending off online attacks against the global financial system. But he does not realize that in doing so he has stepped into a minefield that is even more dangerous. The picture also stars Lam Ka-tun and Simon Yam.

BTS’ J-Hope is about to release his dream collaboration with his childhood idol.

Donnie Yen isn’t going to let his characters be stereotypes.

EXCLUSIVE: Altered Innocence has picked up all North American rights to the Locarno competition title Astrakan, the debut feature from filmmaker David Depesseville.

EXCLUSIVE: Screen Media has taken all North American rights to crime pic Bad Hombres, directed by John Stalberg Jr. ahead of its world premiere at the Mammoth Film Festival.

John Wick: Chapter 4 changed after he called out its script for feeding into Asian stereotypes.Speaking to GQ in a recent interview, Yen shared that despite being a big name with a wide acting range, his roles in Hollywood have been limited to the occasional action spot and that he has been typecast much like other Asian actors.Speaking on his most recent incident with typecasting, Yen revealed that he had his role in John Wick: Chapter 4 altered after he noticed several Asian stereotypes attached to his character. In the upcoming film, Yen plays an assassin named Caine who was reportedly first named “Shang or Chang”.Yen would go on to say: “Why does he always have to be called Shang or Chang? Why can’t he have a normal name? Why do you have to be so generic? Then the wardrobe again – oh, mandarin collars.

Zack Sharf Digital News Director Donnie Yen is making his “John Wick” debut in the upcoming fourth installment as Caine, a blind assassin caught between his ties to the villainous High Table and his friendship with Keanu Reeves’ eponymous killer. It turns out Yen’s character was not originally named Caine. The actor told GQ magazine that he called out the “John Wick: Chapter 4” script for including Asian stereotypes, leading to changes regarding his character’s name and appearance in the film. “The name was Shang or Chang,” Yen said of his “John Wick” character. “Why does he always have to be called Shang or Chang? Why can’t he have a normal name? Why do you have to be so generic? Then the wardrobe again — oh, mandarin collars. Why is everything so generic? This is a ‘John Wick’ movie. Everybody’s supposed to be cool and fashionable. Why can’t he look cool and fashionable?”

Sideshow and Janus Films have acquired North American rights for German director Christian Petzold’s new film Afire, following its award-winning world premiere in competition at the Berlin Film Festival.

Sideshow & Janus Films have snapped up North American rights for Mexican director Lila Avilés’s family drama Tótem following its world premiere in competition at the Berlinale last week.

EXCLUSIVE: Kino Lorber has struck a deal with Paris-based sales firm Wide for North American distribution rights to Carlos Conceição’s Locarno Film Festival war drama Tommy Guns.

Streaming pay-TV bundle provider FuboTV closed 2022 with 1.445 million subscribers in North America and posted healthy numbers in many financial categories in the fourth quarter.

J-Hope, a member of K-pop supergroup BTS, has cancelled his request to delay enlistment in Korea’s mandatory military service, according to the group’s agency Big Hit Music. 

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania” held on to top spot at the South Korean box office. But the overall market continued to soften despite a slew of new release titles. Nationwide theatrical grosses totaled just $7.26 million. That made it the slowest box office weekend in over three months. “Quantumania” collected $2.0 million between Friday and Sunday, according to data from Kobis, the tracking service operated by the Korean Film Council (Kofic), and enjoyed a 27% market share. The second weekend increment lifted its 12-day total to $10.6 million. Long-running Japanese animation title, “The First Slam Dunk” earned $1.36 million in its eighth weekend on release. Since Jan. 4 it has accumulated $28.0 million.

BTS‘ J-hope is set to release a new solo single, with ‘on the street’ coming later this week.The news was confirmed by Big Hit in a note published to fans on Weverse. The post also revealed that the single is set to drop on Friday (March 3) at 2pm Korean time.“J-hope wrote the track wrote the track to share his candid feelings towards his fans,” the post read.

Pentatonix is being honored!

Twice fans, this is your year.In fact, you may even be able to see the K-Pop girl group live more than, um, twice this year when they tour the world as part of their fifth World Tour “Ready To Be.”After international dates in South Korea, Australia and Japan, the nine-member outfit lands in the U.S. for nine shows at stadiums, arenas and ballparks from June 10 through July 9.And listen up, New Yorkers and New Jerseyans — the hitmakers are stopping into East Rutherford’s MetLife Stadium for a huge concert on July 6.That will be a historic show too.

Bebe Rexha is hitting the road!

Blue Bloods star Donnie Wahlberg has paid a touching tribute to one of his fans who sadly passed away. Taking to his Instagram account, the New Kids on the Block singer shared several photos showing him and his bandmates posing alongside Jenny, who was a dedicated fan of the group and had met them on several occasions when attending their concerts. The actor - who recently revealed his new documentary - penned an emotional message in the caption that read: "I'm not sure if she knew. I'm not sure if any of you ever truly know. How much you mean.

The final trailer for the upcoming movie John Wick: Chapter 4 has arrived!