City Hong Kong Showbiz Latest News and Updates

The inaugural Hong Kong International Film Festival Industry – CAA China Genre Initiative (HCG) has set its first projects which will be showcased during the 28th Hong Kong International Film & TV Market alongside the 22nd Hong Kong Asia Film Financing Forum running from March 11-13.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Six projects have been announced as participating in the inaugural edition of the HKIFF Industry – CAA China Genre Initiative, a project incubator in Hong Kong for Chinese-language genre films. The HCG platform will run March 11-13, 2024, alongside the 22nd Hong Kong – Asia Film Financing Forum (HAF) and the Hong Kong International Film & TV Market (FilMart), Asia’s largest film and TV rights market. From the six, two winning projects will each receive a cash prize of $20,000 for development funding.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Three Japanese films enjoying their world premieres, along with festival favorites “City of Wind” and “Solids by the Seashore,” are set to appear in the 13-title competition section of the Osaka Asian Film Festival in March. The event will be held March 1-10 at venues including ABC Hall, Cine Libre Umeda, T-Joy Umeda and the Nakanoshima Museum of Art. The opening and closing films will be announced in early February. The 19th edition of the festival, which will eventually contain 55 feature and short films, is set to also include three special programs – a “Thai Cinema Kaleidoscope,” “Taiwan: Movies on the Move,” and “Special Focus on Hong Kong” – as well as its regular Spotlight Section on underrated Asian films and the Indie Forum of more challenging and innovative works. The competition titles are: “City of Wind,” by Mongolia’s Lkhagvadulam Purev-Ochir; “Fire on Water,” by Malaysia’s Sun-J Perumal; “Hyphen,” by The Philippines Joy Arnaldo; “The Lyricist Wannabe,” by Hong Kong’s Norris Wong; “The Missing,” by The Philippines’ Carl Joseph E.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Fish out of water comedy film “Jonny Keep Walking” kept its place at the top of the mainland China box office in its fourth weekend of release. Hong Kong-made action comedy “Rob N Roll” opened in second position. “Jonny,” in which a man from the countryside struggles to hold down a corporate job in a big city, earned $15 million (RMB106 million), according to data from consultancy Artisan Gateway.

Nicole Kidman has revealed that she felt unable to film one particular scene in her forthcoming Amazon Video drama set in the expatriate world of Hong Kong.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Leading Asian film directors including Josh Kim, Fukada Koji and Patiparn Boontarig line up to pitch their in-development projects at the March edition of the Hong Kong – Asia Film Financing Forum (HAF). Leading directors Wang Xiaoshuai and Zhang Lu will also be on the ground at HAF, operating as producers. So too will established producers Yamamoto Teruhisa (“Drive My Car”) and Michael J.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Hamaguchi Ryusuke’s “Evil Does Not Exist” and Korean blockbuster “12.12: The Day” dominated the nominations for the 17th edition of the Asian Film Awards. Both picked up six nominations, including those in the best film category. The nominations were announced on Friday afternoon in Hong Kong, ahead of a ceremony on March 10, that will return to the city’s West Kowloon Cultural District and the Qiyu Centre.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief KCON, the Korean pop music and culture convention operated by CJ ENM, will hold five editions in 2024, organizers said on Thursday. The first of the year will be Hong Kong, a new destination for the convention series, before moving on to KCON Japan in May 10-12 and KCON LA July 26-28. Other editions will be held in Saudi Arabia and Europe at unspecified dates in the second half of the year. The Hong Kong edition will be held at March 30-31 at the AsiaWorld Expo, a 10,000 seater venue adjacent to the airport.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Fish out of water comedy film “Jonny Keep Walking” climbed to the top of the mainland China box office in its second weekend on release. Previous winner, “Shining for One Thing” dimmed quickly and tumbled to fifth place. The first weekend of the new year and following a welter of Christmas-New Year releases, the latest weekend represented a reordering of holdover titles, rather than a session with an injection of significant fresh movies. “Jonny,” in which a man from the countryside struggles to hold down a corporate job in a big city, earned $22.4 million (RMB159 million) from Friday to Sunday, according to data from consultancy Artisan Gateway.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Hong Kong saw “A Guilty Conscience” become the highest-grossing film of all time at its local box office. But the wider cinema market in Hong Kong remained stuck far below pre-pandemic levels. Data from Hong Kong Box Office Limited, a joint venture between Motion Picture Industry Association (MPIA) and the Hong Kong Theatres Association, showed annual cinema revenue of HK$1.43 billion ($184 million) in 2023. That was a 25% improvement on 2022, when the industry was battered by on-off closures due to government COVID-control measures, and managed only HK$1.14 billion ($146 million).

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief “If you really missed not seeing us on screen together, then ‘The Goldfinger’ is your opportunity to do so,” says Hong Kong superstar Andy Lau of his new crime movie where he is again paired with Tony Leung Chiu-wai (“In the Mood for Love”). The film releases at the end of the month in different parts of Asia and North America (from Dec. 30).

As BBC police procedural drama Vigil comes to its nail biting conclusion, fans will no doubt be sitting on the edge of their seats as they wait to discover exactly who was behind the hacked drones and what exactly they hoped to achieve by doing so. Since arriving on our screens two weeks ago, the exciting drama has captivated viewers at home for a second time, with the current season having followed hot on the heels of the show’s debut back in 2021, which was set on board a submarine.

Caroline Brew editor Amazon Prime Video has released the trailer for “Expats,” directed by Lulu Wang and starring Nicole Kidman, Sarayu Blue and Ji-young Yoo. The series will debut on Prime Video on Jan. 26, 2024, with new episodes launching weekly until the Feb.

The Federation Of Motion Film Producers of Hong Kong has issued a statement to confirm that Hong Kong’s official Oscars submission, A Light Never Goes Out, has been disqualified from the race. 

Demon Slayer won’t have to wait long for the release of its upcoming fourth season.Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba season four will follow the Hashira Training Arc, the anime’s X (formerly Twitter) account confirmed last night (December 10), and is set to premiere in Japan in Spring next year with an hour-long episode. A concrete release date for the series has yet to be announced.Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Hashira Training Arc TV series will be premiering in Spring 2024 with an Hour-Long Episode!#DemonSlayer pic.twitter.com/euEX9lv5ZI— Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba (English) (@DemonSlayerUSA) December 10, 2023However, a number of Demon Slayer fans won’t have to wait until Spring to catch the first episode of the Hashira Training Arc as the upcoming Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – To the Hashira Training world tour kicks off in February across select countries.The world tour will screen the final episode of season three (the Swordsmith Village arc) and the first episode of the Hashira Training arc in cinemas this February in 4K and IMAX.

Pharrell Williams has unveiled his new single ‘Airplane Tickets’, featuring contributions from Swae Lee and Rauw Alejandro. Watch the song’s video below. The song received its public debut at Pharrell’s Louis Vuitton Men’s Pre-Fall 2024 Runway Show in Hong Kong on November 30.A new video for the song has now been released, directed by Maxime Quoilin and filmed on location in Hong Kong, including around the area’s Avenue of Stars.

Naman Ramachandran A documentary on revered filmmaker James Ivory is part of an eclectic slate from Min(d) Studio, New York, it was revealed on the sidelines of Singapore’s Asia TV Forum and Market. The boutique studio, the brainchild of Dev Benegal (New York City), Maya Patel (London and Hong Kong), Neeraj Jain (Los Angeles), came together during the pandemic with a shared vision to tell stories about people and cultures that are often unheard and unseen.

Naman Ramachandran Canadian conglomerate, Blue Ant Media has scored sales of some 550 hours of programming to Asia Pacific broadcasters, it was revealed at Singapore’s Asia TV Forum & Market (ATF). Content was sourced from across Blue Ant’s portfolio companies.

Naman Ramachandran Shows featuring Stephen Fry are popular in Asia as sales from Abacus Media Rights and Passion Distribution demonstrate. Abacus has sold more than 70 hours of scripted and unscripted programming broadcasters across Asia, it was revealed at Singapore’s Asia TV Forum and Market.

Endeavor has added SVPs for financial communications and its Events, Experiences and Rights division, a well as promoting two comms execs, WME veteran Marie Sheehy and Tiffany Fang at corporate events.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief I.E. Entertainment, the global distribution outfit founded and run by industry veterans Indra and Erlina Suharjono, has come on board to handle worldwide sales for Cathay Film Company’s “Coolie.” The TV miniseries is inspired by the little-known history of enslaved Chinese ‘coolies’ in Cuba in the 1860s.

Jarvis Cocker played a Hong Kong show having broken his ribs shortly before taking to the stage – watch the footage below.The singer was performing with Pulp at the second 2023 edition of Clockenflap Festival, where they headlined alongside YOASOBI and Swae Lee (who replaced Joji last-minute).“This is a very unique concert,” he told the crowd, “because I fell down some stairs when I first arrived in Hong Kong. I had to go to the doctors so I do have two fractured ribs… so I’m not really sure what’s going to happen in the next hour.”In a social media post, he expanded upon the accident: “I broke 2 ribs when I fell down a staircase in Kowloon (swipe for evidence) but the hospital got me so I could still do the show,” he wrote.

Tyler, The Creator‘s fashion label Golf Wang have announced worldwide holiday pop ups.The musician will launch 12 holiday pop up stores on December 2, along with their current permanent locations in Los Angeles, New York and London.Golf Wang will travel across the world to Amsterdam, Berlin, Hong Kong, Toyko, Melbourne, and London. A store will also arrive in Seoul, South Korean, however its location will be announced in the future.In the US, further pop ups will be found in Austin, Atlanta, Bay Area, Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, Phoenix and Washington, D.C.The stores will contain portions of the FW23 collection, along with a graffiti airbrush-inspired art piece that will be featured on different items like tees, fleece, jackets and accessories.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief CJ ENM (Hong Kong), a channels and content distributor that is part of the Korean CJ ENM conglomerate, has picked up pay-TV rights in parts of Asia to a handful of Korean series that were co-financed by streaming platform Tving and Paramount+. The deal was struck with Paramount Global Content Distribution. The productions are part of a global strategic partnership between CJ ENM and Paramount Global that was announced in December 2021. The deal was announced on the eve of the Asian TV Forum (ATF), which kicks off next week in Singapore. The series debut first on Tving in Korea and on Paramount+ in the U.S., Canada, U.K., Australia, Latin America, Brazil, Italy, France, Germany, Switzerland and Austria.

EXCLUSIVE: Cuban star Mario Cimarro and Hong Kong actress Nina Paw Hee-Ching are joining the cast of historical scripted drama series Coolie, produced by Meileen Choo’s Singapore-based Cathay Film Company.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Lightning International, the Hong Kong- and U.K.-based content distribution and solutions company, is expanding its staff ahead of the upcoming Asia TV Forum & Market (ATF) in Singapore. It has hired Eric Tan to be director of content sales Asia. He will be responsible for all aspects of channel and content distribution.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Television Broadcasts (TVB), long the dominant free-to-air TV operator in Hong Kong is to dismiss 300 staff, or 8% of its already reduced workforce, in a further cost cutting move. The company said in a regulatory filing on Monday that it will shed 200 staff from its program production operations, merge two of its five channels and reduce its Zstore e-commerce business, with the loss of an additional 100 jobs. The moves, some of which require regulatory approval, are the second staff reduction to be announced this year. In March, TVB cut 255 employees, taking its headcount to 3,600 as of June.TVB is proposing to merge its J2 channel (offering content and programs aimed at a young audience) with its TVB Finance, Sports & Information channel and to create TVB+.

China-set drama Stonewalling, co-directed by husband-and-wife team Ryuji Otsuka and Huang Ji, won best narrative feature at Taiwan’s Golden Horse Awards, which is celebrating its 60th edition this year.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief The Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival drifted to a conclusion in midweek, with project awards presented on Wednesday, followed by Thursday’s festival closing events. These involved a screening of portmanteau film “Tales of Taipei” followed by a sit-down dinner-cum-ceremony with a breezy pair of speeches and no prizes. The film fortnight then sprang to life again on Saturday evening when the 60th edition of the Golden Horse Film Awards represented a new climax.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Mirror, the Hong Kong boy band that shot to fame in 2018 but had its live career cut short by a tragic on-stage incident, will return to in-person live performances in January. The 12-piece band will play 16 shows at the Asia World Expo auditorium, one of Hong Kong’s largest venues, as part of their ‘Mirror Feel the Passion Concert Tour 2024.’ They will perform Jan. 15-17, 19-22, 24-27, 29-31, and Feb.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Marco Mueller, the veteran film festival curator and director, is set to launch a new festival and market in Macau. It will have its first edition in January. The Asia-Europe Young Cinema Festival, running Jan.

Veteran film festival director Marco Mueller is working with the Macau government to launch a new film festival, Asia-Europe Young Cinema Festival, which is scheduled to take place in Macau from January 5-11. 

Taiwan’s Golden Horse Film Project Promotion (FPP) has wrapped with Lee Yi-shan’s debut feature Chewing Gum winning the Grand Prize, which comes with a cash award of $32,000 (TWD1M). 

Zack Sharf Digital News Director Action movie icon John Woo is not watching superhero movies, he recently told The New York Times in an interview ahead of the release of “Silent Night.” Woo, the Hong Kong director acclaimed for films such as “The Killer” (1989), “Hard Boiled” (1992) and “Face/Off” (1997), said he much prefers “real cinema” like Martin Scorsese movies. “I’ve never liked watching movies with big special effects, or anything based on comic books,” Woo told the publication. “I prefer Martin Scorsese’s movies, that kind of cinema.

Disney CEO Bob Iger confirmed that Frozen 4 is in the works, with the new installment joining the previously confirmed Frozen 3.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Two independent management companies in the Asian music scene, MoFo Music and IAMAD, have merged to create a new music production and artist management group, MAD MoFo. The new entity will be led by Hong Kong-based Kelvin Avon and Sydney, Australia-based Philippe-Marc Anquetil. Both are both multi-award winning and multi-platinum selling international producers, songwriters and managers. At the same time, MAD MoFo has announced the launch of a Series A fundraising.