HYBE Set for Early Completion of SM Entertainment Investment, Despite Raging Controversies

Emily Longeretta Warning: This story contains major spoilers for “Scream VI,” in theaters now. Anytime a “Scream” movie drops, it’s safe to assume fans want to see it multiple times, especially to catch all the Easter eggs. The sixth movie, written by James Vanderbilt and Guy Busick and directed by Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett, picks up plenty of threads from the last film. This time, Tara (Jenna Ortega) enrolls in college in New York City, attempting to leave the past in the past. Making it hard is her overprotective sister, Sam (Melissa Barrera), who struggles to move forward since the internet is convinced she actually orchestrated the last killings. Along with Gale Weathers (Courteney Cox), “Scream VI” also marks the return of Chad and Mindy Meeks-Martin (Mason Gooding and Jasmin Savoy Brown, respectively) and “Scream 4” survivor Kirby Reed (Hayden Panettiere), who now works as an FBI agent and comes to New York after hearing about Ghostface’s return.

EXCLUSIVE: Drift director Anthony Chen is gearing up to direct his first US-set project, Heartbeat: A New York Story, about the rarely-told experiences of the Asian gay community during the AIDS epidemic in 1980s New York.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Korean tech giant Kakao has gained the upper hand in the battle for control of K-pop agency SM Entertainment, after HYBE Corp., the firm behind music idols BTS, said Sunday that it had called off its takeover bid. SM is the second largest talent Korean music talent firm and is behind music acts including Super M, Aespa, BoA and Red Velvet, Girls’ Generation, H.O.T., EXO, Super Junior, SHINee and NCT Dream. HYBE said on Sunday that it will “discontinue the acquisition process […] after observing that the market has been showing signs of overheating due to competition with both Kakao and Kakao Entertainment,” something that it said could “damage shareholder value.”

The Twilight Sad have shared a live cover of Frightened Rabbit‘s ‘Keep Yourself Warm’.The song was recorded on the band’s recent European tour supporting The Cure and will be released exclusively on Bandcamp on a pay-what-you-want basis. All proceeds will go to Tiny Changes, the charity set up by the family of late Frightened Rabbit frontman Scott Hutchison.Hutchison died by suicide in May 2018, and Tiny Changes was set up in his memory.

The gun that killed Rust cinematographer Halyna Hutchins in October 2021 has been “destroyed,” a lawyer for Alec Baldwin revealed today.

films have seen many characters come and go, there's one — Stu Macher — that still has managed to linger over subsequent sequels despite being killed off in the very first installment. And ahead of 's debut in theaters on March 10, the cast and creative team addressed those rumors that he might still be alive — and if he might possibly return to the franchise.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund Public Investment Fund (PIF) has increased its stake in Japanese film and TV studio Toei Company, from 5% to 6.03%, according to a report by the Reuters financial news agency. The move comes shortly after Toei published a ten-year plan for international expansion. Toei includes film and TV production operations, the T-Joy cinema chain and Toei Animation. Last month, it said that it had beaten its film revenue record, thanks to the success of titles including “The First Slam Dunk,” “The Legend of Butterfly” and “One Piece Film Red.” The stake increase also follows PIF’s February announcement that it had increased its stake in Japanese games and console maker Nintendo to 8.26% and that (along with the Singapore state fund GIC) was a buyer of a $966 million bond issue from Korean entertainment-tech firm Kakao Corp.

Cameron Diaz has shaken off the nerves she initially felt heading into her first acting job in roughly 10 years.

Isaiah Washington has announced that he is retiring from acting and he says the “haters” have won.

The end is in sight for Star Trek: Discovery. Paramount+ announced today that its longest-running original drama series will end with its upcoming fifth season in early 2024.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief HYBE Corp., the talent firm behind K-pop sensation BTS, has launched a campaign to woo the shareholders of SM Entertainment, the rival Korean talent empire in which it is poised become the largest single shareholder. In a letter and video package, issued Thursday, HYBE said that it was launching a campaign website detailing its business strategy and the ways in which it plans to prioritize SM shareholders. The documents directly criticized SM’s current management and also struck out at Korean entertainment-tech giant Kakao, with which SM has recently struck an alliance.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer Fox has named John Hesling its new head of Alternative Entertainment, the broadcast network’s in-house unscripted studio. Responsible for overseeing the development and production of all unscripted series owned by Fox Entertainment (FAE), as well as programs FAE produces for third-party buyers in the U.S. and abroad, Hesling will be based in Los Angeles and report to Allison Wallach, president of unscripted programming at Fox Entertainment. “I am so excited for John to join FAE and lead the incredible team we have assembled,” Wallach said. “His creative vision and vast experience as both a producer and an executive working on a global scale will be key to our strategy of building FAE as a leading provider of innovative series and formats for Fox and third-party platforms throughout the world.”

Chris Pine is giving a tell-all interview with his thoughts on all the drama that went down leading up to the release of Don’t Worry Darling, which he co-starred in with Harry Styles and Florence Pugh.

Savannah Guthrie abruptly left her spot on this morning’s Today show after testing positive for Covid around 7:30 a.m. ET.

B&M has announced it will be shutting four of its shops over the next coming weeks - with one in Scotland set to close its doors.

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.

Adam Lambert is opening up about his sexuality and homophobia.

Ben Stiller has said he’s still “proud” of Tropic Thunder despite the film’s past controversies.In the 2008 satirical action comedy, Robert Downey Jr. plays Australian method actor Kirk Lazarus who undergoes “pigmentation alteration” surgery to darken his skin to play a black character in a war movie.

Adam Lambert has been proudly gay since bursting on the scene as a contestant on the eighth season of “Amercian Idol”.

Film Independent has announced the presenters for the Film Independent Spirit Awards.