Florence And The Machine return with King

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefAfter “Parasite” and “Squid Game” struck planet-wide notes with their critique of elitism, Trevor Choi’s “Smashing Frank” is a timely Hong Kong twist on the revenge-against-the-rich theme. It is being pitched at the Hong Kong-Asia Film Financing Forum (HAF) that this week runs alongside the FilMart rights market.“This is a comedy-drama about four millennials who form a squad to rob the rich. During the course of the crime, they are outraged as they gradually realize that the older generation will never change their ways.

Vivienne Chow After a film career spanning more than three decades, production-costume-art designer Tim Yip has achieved plenty, including winning an Oscar and a BAFTA award. But he is only now launching his most uncompromising production, which he calls a “living film project,” and which he hopes will challenge the tradition of cinema.“I want to make a film that is infinitely long,” Yip told Variety.

DEALSSony Music Entertainment Latin-Iberia has announced a new partnership with WK Records, founded by WK Entertainment CEO Walter Kolm. “This partnership is personally meaningful to me because of the trust and admiration that I have for Sony Music”, says Kolm. “It confirms our shared vision to continue to lead and impact the Latin music industry with an unparalleled worldwide magnitude, as we combine our strengths and build an unprecedented alliance”.————————————————–APPOINTMENTSDowntown Music Services has promoted Dan Miller to Director Of Client Services and David Labovitch to Content Operations Manager.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefFree Stone Productions has added a quartet of new Japanese film titles to its sales slate for this week’s virtual edition of Hong Kong FilMart. The female-led company is selling romance “Leave in Summer” and drama film “Yes, I Can’t Swim” both of which will release later this year.Directed by Igashi Aya, “Leave in Summer” is a tale of a lost soul and his spiritual guide. It depicts a man washing up in a seaside town at the end of the season and seeking to stay so that he can reconnect with his recently deceased wife.

Florence + The Machine have announced three intimate UK shows for next month.The London band, who detailed their fifth album ‘Dance Fever’ last week, will take to the stage at Newcastle’s O2 City Hall (April 15), Blackburn’s King George’s Hall (16) and London’s Theatre Royal (19).Per an official listing, Florence Welch and co. “will play music from the new album for the first time, along with some favourites from previous albums”.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefThe shares of China’s largest entertainment and tech companies plunged for a second day on Tuesday as Russia’s war in Ukraine, regulatory warnings and China’s slowing economy all combined to signal tougher times ahead.Alibaba shares crashed 11.7% to reach an all-time low of HK$71.2 in Hong Kong, where they have a secondary listing. Tencent shares plunged by 10.2% to HK$298, their lowest in several years. Both companies have in the past held the title of China’s largest enterprise and are major components of the Hang Seng Index of leading equities.The Hang Seng Index fell by more than 1,000 points and by nearly 6% on Tuesday to close at 18,415.

Mirror singer and actor Anson Lo has joined the cast of Bizhan Tong’s upcoming action thriller Chungking Mansions. Billed as Hong Kong’s biggest zombie film ever, the Phoenix Waters Productions pic, in co-production with AMM Global and Salon Films Japan, has also added Hong Kong-Canadian actresses Selena Lee and Jeannie Chan, Korea’s Choi Si-Hun and Hong Kong actor Louis Cheung.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefAsian sports streaming platform SPOTV has launched in Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia and The Philippines. The move was announced on the first day of the virtual FilMart rights market.The service is available as a subscription-based app that includes linear channels and on demand event coverage. The sports it covers include MotoGP World Championships and World Superbike Championships; World Badminton Federation Tour; the Korean Baseball League; V.League Japan and Formula E motor racing.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefOrganizers of Hong Kong FilMart, normally Asia’s biggest film and TV rights market, are putting on a brave face despite their prestige event being forced into an online-only format for the third time in a row.The city’s borders are closed to travelers from several key countries and its onerous quarantine on-arrival conditions show no sign of being lifted during the current fifth wave of COVID-19 infections.But, while many Asian industry executives have been unable to attend an in-person festival or market for some two years now, and are keenly awaiting the first opportunity, these days they are also vastly more experienced at dealing with virtual markets, video conferencing and online screenings. The number of companies participating as exhibitors at FilMart 2022 is set to reach 750, compared with 680 last year.

DEALSLittle Mix’s Jade Thirlwall has signed a solo deal with Sony’s RCA. She’s also signed a management deal with Irving Azoff’s Full Stop Management. This all follows her 2019 publishing deal with Sony Music Publishing.Warner Music has signed Indian star Diljit Dosanjh to a global record deal.

Florence + The Machine have shared a new single called ‘My Love’ – you can listen to it below.The synth-heavy, energetic song will appear on the London band’s fifth studio album ‘Dance Fever’, which is due for release on May 13. You can pre-order/pre-save the record here.Following on from recent track ‘Heaven Is Here’ and last month’s ‘King’, Florence Welch are co’s latest offering was first written as an acoustic “sad little poem” in the singer-songwriter’s kitchen before being transformed into a floor-filling anthem reminiscent of “Nick Cave at the club”.Lyrically, Welch was inspired by the tragic heroines of pre-Raphaelite art, the gothic fiction of Carmen Maria Machado and Julia Armfield, as well as the films The Wicker Man and The Witch To Midsommar.‘My Love’ arrives with Great Gatsby-esque official visuals directed by Autumn de Wilde and choreographed by Ryan Heffington, who both worked on the group’s previous two videos.Tune in here:‘Dance Fever’ serves as the follow-up to Florence + The Machine’s 2018 record ‘High As Hope’.

Florence + The Machine have announced details of their new album and revealed the record’s artwork in an Instagram post.The forthcoming LP will be the act’s first since ‘High As Hope’, their fourth album which was released in June 2018.Posting on her personal Instagram account, Florence Welch shared the artwork for the new record, which reveals that it will be called ‘Dance Fever’.The sleeve features the musician stood in front of a golden moon and dark branches, with a butterfly above her and two big pink flowers in her hair. The artwork was created by acclaimed photographer and filmmaker Autumn de Wilde.“A fairytale in 14 songs,” Welch captioned the post, adding that the record would be available to pre-order from 8am GMT, although she did not specify from which date.

APPOINTMENTSTom March has been named President of Geffen Records, which was relaunched within Universal Music’s Interscope division in the US two years ago. The appointment sees March move over from the major’s UK business and its Polydor label.

Marisa Tomei recently gave an interview where she claimed she was not paid for her work in the Judd Apatow and Pete Davidson film King of Staten Island.

Florence + The Machine have shared a new track today (March 7). Listen to the emotive ‘Heaven Is Here’ below.The Florence Welch-led group made their comeback last month with the new single ‘King’, which marked their first piece of new music since last year’s Cruella soundtrack contribution, ‘Call Me Cruella’.Posting on Instagram yesterday (March 6), Welch confirmed that follow-up ‘Heaven Is Here’ would be released today and shared some background information on the track.

Florence + The Machine have announced another new song, ‘Heaven Is Here’, which will arrive imminently.The Florence Welch-led group made their comeback last month with the new single ‘King’, which marked their first piece of new music since last year’s Cruella soundtrack contribution, ‘Call Me Cruella’.Posting on Instagram earlier today (March 6), Welch confirmed that ‘Heaven Is Here’ would be released tomorrow and shared some background on the new track. “‘Heaven Is Here’ was the first song I wrote in lockdown after an extended period of not being able to get to the studio,” she wrote.“I wanted to make something monstrous.

Marisa Tomei says that she still hasn’t been paid for her work in The King of Staten Island, nearly three years after she filmed the movie.

While reflecting on her role in Pete Davidson‘s movie The King of Staten Island, Marisa Tomei claimed that there was one important thing that she missed out on — her paycheck.

New Music Friday! It's every audiophile's favorite day of the week, and some of our favorite artists from all different genres have blessed us with new tunes.Two indie rock queens and a punk rock princess made their triumphant returns this week, as Florence and the Machine and Regina Spektor both dropped new singles and Avril Lavigne released her seventh studio album.

It’s Friday, Friday, gotta get down on Friday — especially when it’s New Music Friday! We’re breaking down this week’s best new tracks to keep on your radar.