Hulu Buys ‘The Contestant,’ Documentary About Unwitting Japanese Reality TV Star

Timothée Chalamet‘s Wonka has topped the global box office.The musical prequel directed by Paul King pulled in a whopping $92.6million (£73.1million) over the weekend, topping the box office in 60 of its 77 international markets, according to Screen Daily. Its worldwide total currently stands at $150million (£118.4million).In the US, it made its debut pulling in $39million (£30.8million) over the weekend to top the box office and enjoyed strong openings in France at $5.1million (£4million) and Australia $4million (£3.2million).The UK/Ireland leads the international pack with $23.2million (£18.3million) after 10 days, ahead of Mexico with $11.2million (£8.3million).

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Fact-based action drama “12.12: The Day” won a fourth weekend at the South Korea box office and became the second highest grossing film of the year. The political thriller incurred a steep week-on-week drop in takings, managing only $5.89 million in its fourth weekend, compared with $11.4 million in its third. But it still hogged a 72% market share, according to data from Kobis, the tracking service operated by the Korean Film Council (Kofic). After releasing on Nov.

according to IMDB’s Box Office Mojo.The musical fantasy, which tells the story of the fictional proprietor in the 1964 Roald Dahl novel “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” stars Timothée Chalamet in the titular role. The Post said the actor exudes “impish charm and oddball quirks” and the film “delivers not so much a world of pure imagination as a land of constant cuteness.”The flick reportedly cost $125 million to make, so will have to earn double its budget, $250 million, to be deemed a box office success, according to Screen Rant.

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.

Beyoncé’s ‘Renaissance‘ concert film has suffered a sharp drop at the US box office over a week after its release.Renaissance: A Film By Beyoncé – which documents the singer’s recent tour of the same name – initially topped the US domestic box office following its release on December 1.However, the film has now fallen to fifth place after earning $5million (£3.98million) in its second weekend, a 77 per cent drop, taking its total US haul to $28million (£22million), and $33million (£26million) globally.It comes after Renaissance initially stormed the US box office, taking in $21million (£16million) in North America in its opening weekend. However, it fell short of Taylor Swift‘s recent Eras Tour film, which made $92.8million (£73.9million) in its opening weekend and took $250million (£199million) globally across its run.Beyoncé partnered with AMC Theatres to distribute the film, much like Swift, meaning each will reportedly earn 50 per cent of ticket sales.

according to IMDB’s Box Office Mojo.The Japanese animated fantasy, which The Washington Post called a “magical, otherworldly tale,” is expected to enjoy a $10.7 to 12 million opening weekend, Deadline reported.It is the only entirely foreign film to lead the weekend box office this year, the first since August 2022’s “Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero.”In second place was “Godzilla Minus One,” with a $2.25 million take. The film, which is the 37th in the Godzilla franchise, now holds the title ofBiggest Single-Day Domestic Box Office For A Foreign Live-Action Film, according to Screen Rant.Queen Bey was dethroned this week as Beyoncé’s film, which was in first place last week, fell down to third.Her documentary concert movie “Renaissance: A Film by Beyoncé” took injust $1.6 million, a drop of 75% since last Friday.“Trolls Band Together,” which debuted on Nov.

Deadline’s Contenders Film: International award-season event launches Saturday beginning at 9 a.m. PT, the latest in our series of showcases that this time turns the focus toward global cinema via discussions with the casts and creatives of 12 movies submitted by their countries for the 2024 Academy Awards’ International Feature race.

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.

The Tale of the Princess Kaguya coming out on top.The list on the review aggregator site compiles the top films based on their critics scores on the site, with the criteria simply being “movies that were drawn and animated in Japan”.The list was unveiled to celebrate the 35th anniversary of the release of the 1988 classic Akira, directed by Katsuhiro Ohtomo, which comes in at number 26 on the list.The Tale of the Princess Kaguya was co-written and directed by Isao Takahata, adapted from a 10th century Japanese literary tale. Takahata, who co-founded Studio Ghibli in 1985 and passed away in 2018, also takes the second and third spots in the list, with 1991’s Only Yesterday and 1988’s Grave of the Fireflies, respectively.Fourth place goes to 2022’s The First Slam Dunk, directed by Takehito Inoue and based on his own manga series, whilst 2016’s Your Name is in fifth place.Check out the top 10 below:Hayao Miyazaki’s The Boy and the Heron lands at number 12 on the list, and is due to be released in UK cinemas on December 26.

After one Japanese title delivered at the sleepy December box office last weekend, that being Godzilla Minus One, here’s another that’s set to dominate: Studio Ghibli and GKIDS’ Hayao Miyazaki‘s The Boy and the Heron which is looking at a No. 1 lead with $10M+ after $2.39M Thursday and early access previews.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Johnny & Associates, the Japanese talent agency that has been embroiled in a huge sexual abuse scandal, is rebranding itself as Starto Entertainment. The name is derived from the words ‘star’ and ‘to’ implying “to head toward the future,” the group said on Friday. “It is an expression of our commitment to all our artists current and yet to come, with whom we inaugurate a new era in accordance with their individual talents and personal goals,” the group explained. Johnny & Associates was for many years the most powerful talent shop in Japan, creating idol groups such as Snow Man, and leveraging its male performers into film and TV roles. It was brought low by a scandal relating to its founder Johnny Kitagawa who abused young male performers over a period of decades before his death in 2019.

The Formula 1 season for 2023 may be over, but race fans will only have to wait a few more months until the 2024 season!

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.

A+E‘s survivalist format Alone is headed into Germany.

Godzilla Minus One, now at $14.36 million at the box office, has stomped into a record — it’s now the highest grossing live-action Japanese film in North America. This follows an opening weekend that marked the biggest Stateside debut of a foreign film this year.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Webtoons, the vertical-scrolling iteration of digital comics that emerged some twenty years ago in Korea, along with the smartphone, are now a global medium. But they are only at the beginning of their global journey, says Charlie Park, CEO of Kakao Entertainment-owned Tapas. Park was speaking Tuesday at the Asia Television Forum in Singapore in a session moderated by industry consultant Jimmy Kim. Park explained that the webtoon segment was for several years a niche fan-driven activity with few opportunities for monetization.

Sophia Scorziello editor The MonsterVerse returns for its fifth installment with the new trailer of “Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire.” The film comes after Legendary Pictures’ 2021 feature “Godzilla vs. Kong” helmed by Adam Wingard, who returns to direct this upcoming monster movie. Rebecca Hall, Brian Tyree Henry and Kaylee Hottle reprise their 2021 roles as Dr.

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.

according to IMDB’s Box Office Mojo.The documentary concert film written, directed and produced by Beyoncé Knowles-Carter, is expected to enjoy as much as a $24-million-dollar opening, according to Deadline.Variety said the movie, which chronicles her 2023 tour, “highlights the pursuit of perfection with dazzling results.”Japanese adventure “Godzilla Minus One,” which also debuted Friday, landed in second, with earnings of $4.72 million. The Hollywood Reporter called the flick, the 37th in the Godzilla franchise “one of the best Godzilla films ever.“The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes,” which was in the No.

Elden Ring, Shadows of the Erdtree, likely won’t be previewed next week at the The Game Awards 2023.Speaking to Japanese publication Game Watch (with a translation provided by PCGamesN) at the PlayStation Partners Awards, producer Yasuhiro Kitao was asked whether the long-anticipated Elden Ring DLC will be unveiled at next week’s annual industry bash.Kitao replied, stating “It’ll be a little while yet, but progress is going well.” He then went on to specify that the DLC is “like Bloodborne” and that it has “new battles and new characters.”Kitao also spoke a little on FromSoftware’s development process, stating that its “long-standing stance has been to work diligently to create something interesting and valuable.”Elden Ring: Shadows of the Erdtree was officially announced in February of this year, with no real details available other than that the DLC is in development. Fans were hoping to see details from the expansion at The Game Awards 2023, as it was also a Geoff Keighley-hosted show, Summer Game Fest 2021, in which we saw a lengthy look at the base game, but that’s looking increasingly less likely as the event approaches.NME‘s review of Elden Ring stated that the game “exceeds every expectation”, with writer Andy Brown noting that:“A refined open-world format adds unimagined wonder to the game, whilst legacy dungeons will likely go down as some of FromSoftware’s best level design.