Japan Launches Anti-Trust Investigation Into Toho Cinemas

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefGlobal streamer Netflix has expanded its slate of unscripted entertainment programming in Japan. The company says it has 15 shows in the comedy, reality television and documentary genres in different stages of development.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefBruce Tuchmann-backed Rialto International has launched a branded on-demand streaming service in Japan, focused on independent film, and housed on Amazon’s Prime Video Channels platform.Rialto Channel launched in 1999 in New Zealand, where it was initially branded as The Sundance Channel. It established itself as an award-winning and industry-leading indie film destination for over twenty years.In Japan, the Rialto-branded venue will feature current and iconic independent films.

The reporting regarding Bob Saget‘s death is continuing to surface.

Frank Doelger, who was an executive producer on Game Of Thrones between 2011 and 2019, provided an update on his new company in Germany during a Series Mania panel today.

Christopher Vourlias At a time when he was both his country’s most celebrated novelist and a journalist struggling to make ends meet, “Zorba the Greek” author Nikos Kazantzakis set sail for Japan on a formative journey that would shape the latter half of his career – and ultimately lead to his untimely death.Based on the written account of his travels in the Far East, “Last Voyage,” by journalist and documentary filmmaker Aris Chatzistefanou, examines that journey while using it as a framework to explore how the period between the two World Wars shaped what would come to be known as the “Japanese Miracle.” Produced by Kyriakos Chatzistefanou for Moviementa Productions, the film premieres this week at the Thessaloniki Documentary Festival. Greece’s greatest modern writer occupies a singular place in the country’s literary canon.

When the major studios zig, other theatrical distributors zag, and in this instance that means taking advantage of putting a wide release out there when the majors were too scared to do so earlier this year with all the Omicron mixed messages. Crunchyroll (ne Funimation) has the anime movie Jujutsu Kaisen 0 which racked up $2.88M in previews last night from 2,003 locations, juiced by 49 Imax auditoriums.

The Boys and Suicide Squad (2016) actress shared details about the alleged incident on her Instagram yesterday (March 16), saying that she decided to do so to “raise awareness” of the rise in anti-Asian hate crimes in countries including the US.The actor, who was born to Japanese parents in LA, said that she rarely shares things about her private life but felt compelled to speak out.“Something happened today that I thought was important,” she wrote, claiming that she was “walking to a café for some coffee and a man struck me in the back of my head. It came out of nowhere”.She continued: “We made no eye contact before, I wasn’t doing anything out of the ordinary.

A tsunami alert has been triggered in Japan after a huge earthquake rocked the country today.

Ed-0: Zombie Uprising has been revealed with a brand new trailer, showcasing a “rogue-like action survival title” set in a zombie-ridden 19th-century Japan.Edo-0: Zombie Uprising will launch in Early Access for PC on April 4, 2022.The trailer’s description says the game will be a “rogue-like action survival title”, and a press release from D3 Publisher has shared that it will include “over 10 hours of core gameplay content” at launch.This will include two playable characters, three main quests and main bosses, five sub-quests, and randomly generated dungeons in each playthrough. A third playable character will be added later in the game’s Early Access phase.You can watch the trailer for Ed-0: Zombie Uprising below:As to what the game entails, the press release reveals that Ed-0: Zombie Uprising will include “brutal strategic battles in a rogue-like format” set in a world where Japan has been overrun by zombies.The game’s gory combat seems to revolve around melee battles, with the three classes showcased – Ninja, Sumo Wrestler and Samurai – all kitted to get up-close and personal with the undead hordes.On the roguelike nature of the game, D3 Publisher states that “no dungeon run will be the same, so players’ judgement will be of the utmost importance”.Ed-0: Zombie Uprising will also include a hub base where players can upgrade their characters, with different skills and various items available to pick up from the safe location.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefScripted formats are enjoying increasing success in Asia. But what makes them successful varies from case to case.French producer, Harold Valentin of Mother Production (“Call My Agent”), Akehi Yuki (“Mother”), business director at Japan’s Nippon Television, and Hong Kong’s Tommy Lo, executive producer and script supervisor of the Hong Kong version of “Ossan’s Love” joined Content Asia’s Janine Stein on Tuesday at FilMart to discuss.Valentin: “We were very surprised that [‘Call My Agent’] began travelling really after season two, because initially Netflix didn’t know what to do with the strategy. The mixture of drama and comedy had disappeared a bit in U.S.

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.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefTwo feature films from Ukraine will this month be given special screenings in Tokyo, Japan, as part of a fund- and awareness-raising initiative about Russia’s war in Europe.Both films “Atlantis” and “Reflection” were made by director Valentyn Vasyarovych. They played at the Venice film festival but have not been licensed to Japan or released commercially there.However, under the banner of the Ukrainian Filmmaker Support Screening Association, former Tokyo International Film Festival programmer Yatabe Yoshi, has arranged special permission for the benefit screenings to go ahead.

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.

Mark Schilling Japan CorrespondentHamaguchi Ryusuke’s Oscar-nominated “Drive My Car” took eight prizes at the 45th Japan Academy Film Prize ceremony, held on Friday at the Grand Prince Hotel New Takawana in Tokyo.In addition to the best picture award, the film won best director (Hamaguchi), best screenplay (Hamaguchi and co-writer Oe Takamasa) and best actor (Nishijima Hidetoshi). The film also scooped prizes for cinematography, lighting, editing and sound recording.Meanwhile, best actress went to Arimura Kasumi for her work in the hit romantic drama “We Made a Beautiful Bouquet.”Best animation honors were awarded to Watanabe Ayumu’s “Fortune Favors Lady Nikuko,”  a heart-warming coming-of-age film set in Japan’s northern island of Hokkaido.

Marvel’s Deadpool gets help in his battle against evil from All Might, the muscular hero in “My Hero Academia,” a hit Japanese manga that’s sold 65 million copies worldwide.“Deadpool: Samurai,” published in Japanese last year, came out in English translation this month. The Japanese “Deadpool: Samurai” was the best-selling Marvel comic last year, surpassing more than 1 million views online.