‘Godzilla Minus One’ Is Now Top Grossing Live-Action Japanese Film In North America After Stomping-Good Opening

It’s been an eventful 2023 for international TV and film. As the strikes shut down Hollywood and streamers retrenched from the mega-spends of the Covid era, shows and movies from far and wide came were already in demand like never before, as viewers look to new countries for inspiration. Call it the Squid Game effect, or whatever you want, but neither subtitles nor geographical boundaries are an impediment to content getting seen any more. Here, we run down each Deadline International journalist’s top pick from the year, for the most part avoiding spoilers (there are some though, so this is a fair warning). You’ll find big-ticket U.S. fare, Japanese anime, restaurant TV dramas and Australian newsroom stories among our eclectic selections.

John Bleasdale Guest Contributor South Korean director Hong Sang-soo was awarded the El Gouna Gold Star for best narrative film for his meditation on art and relationships, “In Our Day,” as the delayed edition of the El Gouna Film Festival held its closing ceremony on Thursday. The Italian animated film “A Greyhound of a Girl,” directed by Enzo D’Alò, and the Brazilian director Guto Parente’s “A Strange Path” picked up the Silver and Bronze Stars respectively.

Clayton Davis Senior Awards Editor The Oscars shortlist voting period has closed as of 5:00 p.m. PT. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences will announce the finalists in 10 categories — documentary feature (15), documentary short subject (15), international feature (15), makeup and hairstyling (10), sound (10), original score (15), original song (15), animated short film (15), live action short film (15), and visual effects (10) — on Thursday, Dec.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Chinese-made crime drama, “Endless Journey” opened on top of the mainland China box office on a weekend with three new releases in the top five. The Wanda Pictures and Alibaba title earned $20.5 million (RMB146 million) between Friday and Sunday, its official opening weekend, according to data from consultancy Artisan Gateway. Together with previews from the week earlier, it ended the weekend with a cumulative total of $34.5 million (RMB245 million).

Can you believe it’s been 16 years since “Ocean’s 13?” Hell, it’s already been five years since the not-so-great “Ocean’s 8” spinoff. Needless to say, it’s been a while since we’ve had a good dose of Danny Ocean goodness.

blockbuster first release, “Barbie,” Mattel Films is prepping some 14 live-action films, including movies based on Hot Wheels, Magic 8 Ball, Polly Pocket, Rock ‘Em Sock ’Em Robots and UNO.“Saturday Night Live” has already spoofed the idea of an American Girl doll movie. In April, the NBC sketch comedy show aired a parody trailer with Ana de Armas in which a handful of American Girl dolls from disparate eras of history are brought into modern day but keep dying of cholera.“Come for the fun,” the trailer announces.

wrote Monday alongside several photos of his and Beyonce’s visuals. In one of the photos, the “Break My Soul” singer, 42, can be seen wearing a chrome — which later became the tour’s unofficial dress code — headpiece with what looks to be wires sticking out from the side.It is currently unclear if Sorayama is pursuing any legal action against the “Halo” songstress.

In the words of the poet Buck Dharma “Oh no, they say he’s got to go. Go go Godzilla, yeah.” However, despite this protestation, Godzilla seems to be going nowhere. Gearing up for their 70th anniversary next year, Godzilla has been a constant presence for the last 10 years since his Hollywood revival in the Monsterverse. That cinematic universe alone has had 4 cinematic entries, and a series currently streaming on Apple TV+. There’s also been 3 animated movies for Netflix and an animated series. But as any true Godzilla fan will tell you, nothing quite beats a feature from the team at Toho. 2016 saw Shin Godzilla impress audiences with its satire and political commentary, detailing how the appearance of a giant monster might go down. 7 years later Toho have decided to hit reset once again for this stand-alone entry.

Biggest Single-Day Domestic Box Office For A Foreign Live-Action Film, according to Screen Rant.It is also the Largest Domestic Debut For A Live-Action Japanese Film and the Second-Highest Debut For A Live-Action Foreign-Language Film Ever.Moviegoers are raving about the film, which slithered its way to the No. 2 spot in the box office on Friday, according to IMDB’s Box Office Mojo.“I believe the hype, the hype is well worth it.” said Miguel Santos, 46, a technician from Jersey City who caught the flick at the Times Square AMC.

Like the Japanese with their Godzilla movies, the Koreans are partial to a bit of post-apocalyptic social satire, and Um Tae-Hwa’s box office hit Concrete Utopia follows a path trailblazed in 2013 by Bong Joon-ho’s cult sci-fi Snowpiercer. Adapted from the popular webtoon Pleasant Outcast by Kim Soong Nyung and partly inspired by British writer J.G. Ballard’s 1975 novel High-Rise, it centers on a Korean apartment block whose residents become lawless after a terrifying earthquake rips through the country.

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.

It only hit US theaters last weekend, but “Godzilla Minus One” is the talk of the industry right now, with some critics considering it a landmark blockbuster and one of the best “Godzilla” movies ever made. That’s high praise for director Takashi Yamazaki, who now has significant crossover appeal after a long tenure in the Japanese film industry.

Christopher Nolan‘s Oppenheimer is set to be released in Japanese cinemas, despite public criticism surrounding the senstive subject matter of the film.The Cillian Murphy-led biopic is controversial in Japan, where two atomic bombs were detonated in 1945, killing hundreds of thousands of Japanese citizens.The film was released in most territories in July by Universal and went on to gross $950 at the global box office. But Toho-Towa, which handles most Universal titles in Japan, did not release the film.However, Variety reports that indie film distributor Bitters End will now give the movie a theatrical release in the country.“Bitters End will release Christopher Nolan’s ‘Oppenheimer’ in Japan in 2024.

Naman Ramachandran Ena Sendijarević’s “Sweet Dreams,” Netherlands’ submission in the Academy Awards international feature category, has secured North American distribution via Dekanalog. The film had its world premiere at Locarno, where it won the Pardo for best performance for Renée Soutendijk (“Suspiria”) and the second prize of the junior jury. The film debuted in North America in Toronto’s Centrepiece section and won the Silver Hugo new directors award at Chicago.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Leading Japanese publishing house Kodansha has struck a deal with new production company Majestic Limited for a feature film adaptation of its “Origin” comic. Created by Boichi (“Dr. Stone,” “Sun-Ken Rock”), a renown Korean manga artist (real name Park Mu-jik) who is based in Japan, “Origin” is set in a near-future where humanity has achieved incredible advancements in technology and robotics. It tells a story of self-discovery, morality, and what it means to be human. Winning the grand prize for manga at the 22nd Japan Media Arts Festival and currently only printed abroad, the English translation of “Origin” hit U.S.

Slowdive have announced a US tour scheduled for Spring 2024 – see the full list of dates below.The shoegaze veterans made the announcement over X today (December 6). The US spring leg of their 2024 tour engagements will commence in Ventura, California on April 25, continuing through the remainder of April and May in cities including Phoenix, Arizona, Kansas City, Missouri, and Dallas, Texas, before concluding in Asheville, North Carolina on May 18.We're incredibly excited to return to the USA next April and May!Our special guests once again will be the amazing Drab Majesty.Tickets on sale Friday December 8th at 10am local time -> https://t.co/uyId7jLefP#slowdive #everythingisalive pic.twitter.com/g7sqSYzOwT— Slowdive (@slowdiveband) December 5, 2023Live Nation presale tickets for Slowdive’s US dates are currently available, and can be purchased using the access code “CREW”, while general ticket sales will go live on Friday, December 8 at 10AM local time via Ticketmaster.Slowdive’s spring tour dates follow their announcement of tour dates across the UK and Europe over the winter, which begins in Amsterdam, the Netherlands on January 16, and concludes in Manchester’s Manchester Academy on February 27.In September, the band released ‘Everything Is Alive’, their first album in six years, following their 2017 self-titled album.

While Marvel, DC, and “Star Wars” take up most of the headlines in franchise filmmaking, one of the more consistently successful franchises in modern blockbuster filmmaking is Legendary’s Monsterverse, which comprises all things Godzilla and King Kong in North America (Toho still releases “Godzilla” moves in Japan). Coming straight off the heels of Apple TV+’s successful “Monarch: Legacy Of Monsters,” TV limited series (which is more of a prequel anyhow), next up in the film universe via Warner Bros.

Renaissance: A Film by Beyoncé” is taking over the box office after grossing $11.5 million on its opening day from 2,539 locations, a figure that includes a strong $5.1 million in Thursday previews. Putting that next to the massive October debut of “Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour,” it’s shaping up to be the first year on record that two concert documentaries have opened at the top of domestic charts.

In a poignant and emotionally charged performance on Saturday night's episode of Strictly Come Dancing, Bobby Brazier, son of TV presenter Jeff Brazier and the late reality star Jade Goody, paid tribute to his mother in a dance dedicated to her memory. Bobby and his dance partner Dianne Buswell performed their couples choice routine to the song This Woman’s Work by Maxwell. Bobby's performance moved both the judges and the audience, telling a story of grief and loss through dance.

EXCLUSIVE: Vertical has acquired North American rights from Sobini to the drama, Lola, written, directed by, and starring Nicola Peltz Beckham (Transformers: Age of Extinction). Marking Peltz Beckham’s directorial debut, the film also stars Virginia Madsen (Sideways), Trevor Long (Ozark), Luke David Blumm (Where the Crawdads Sing), Raven Goodwin (The Station Agent), Richie Merritt (Euphoria), and Will Peltz (The List).