City Shanghai Showbiz Latest News and Updates

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Bytedance, the unlisted Chinese tech giant that owns TikTok, is poised to slash part of its games operations, including Nuverse, which publishes ‘Marvel Snap,’ according to financial news sources. News was reported by Bloomberg, Reuters and other tech news providers The Information and The Verge on Monday that Bytedance will retreat from its mainstream video games operation with the loss of some 1,000 jobs. “We regularly review our businesses and make adjustments to centre on long-term strategic growth areas,” a ByteDance representative said in a statement sent to some media. “Following a recent review, we’ve made the difficult decision to restructure our gaming business.” Variety has also reached out to Bytedance for comment. Nuverse, the unit for most of Bytedance’s games, is understood to have told employees that it will halt nearly all games that have not yet launched.

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.

EXCLUSIVE: Bombay Berlin Film Productions (BBFP) has revealed that August Diehl has been cast to play the role of German Olympic athlete Otto Peltzer in upcoming biopic The Distant Near. 

Marta Balaga It’s a family affair for filmmaker Jialai Wang, taking a closer look at her mother and grandmother in feature debut “Paragate,” now showing at documentary festival IDFA. But she is not done just yet, currently developing a new hybrid doc under the working title “La Revenante” (“The Revenant”). “It talks about both of my parents and about their religion: My mother is a Buddhist and my father is a Christian.

Unhealthy levels of cholesterol in the body can lead to a number of health issues, including more serious problems like a heart attack or a stroke.

The Boys spin-off Gen V.Led by showrunners Michele Fazekas and Tara Butters, the spin-off series follows the lives of superhero students at the Vought International-owned Godolkin University.Gen V stars a fresh cast of relative newcomers, including Jaz Sinclair, Chance Perdomo, Lizze Broadway, Maddie Phillips and Asa Germann.In October, Amazon announced the series had been renewed for a second season.The show’s score is composed by Matt Bowen and Christopher Lennertz, who also provided the soundtrack to The Boys. You can stream their soundtrack below.A bunch of songs by renowned artists also feature in the series, including the likes of Missy Elliott, Remi Wolf, Yeah Yeah Yeahs and Annie Lennox.You can check out an episode-by-episode breakdown of the songs below.Episode one – God U‘Anxiety’ – Megan Thee Stallion‘Dancing With Myself’ – The Donnas‘Show You Love’ – Jalen Owusu, Niall Lavelle & Tobias Silvester‘WTF (Where They From)’ – Missy Elliott feat. Pharrell Williams‘Remember Me’ – Benny The Butcher‘Vulgar’ – Madonna, Sam Smith‘BRB’ – JTM feat. Shanghai & Tia Thompson‘Edamame’ – bbno$‘Body Talk’ – D’Auria feat. Fran‘Celebrity Skin’ – HoleEpisode two – First Day‘Nothing Else Matters’ – Phoebe Bridgers‘Move!’ – Batuk‘Photo I.D.’ – Remi Wolf‘Venus’ – BananaramaEpisode three – #ThinkBrink‘Whatta Man’ – Salt-N-Pepa’Take The Night’ – La Felix‘Just Wanna Dance’ – Dave James‘’Dance In Place (Treasure Fingers Dub Remix)’ – CLAVVS‘Discoteka’ – Minelli‘Intoxicated’ – Rozee‘Make It So Good’ – Noah Neiman‘Growing Up Is’ – Ruel‘I Wanna Be Sedated’ – Rockaway BitchEpisode four – The Whole Truth‘True’ – Spandau Ballet‘Want Want’ – Maggie Rogers‘Work It’ – Missy ElliottEpisode five – Welcome To The Monster Club‘FREAK’ – Shygirl‘Control

Rapture, the second film from Indian filmmaker Dominic Sangma, is being presented with  the Cultural Diversity Award at this year’s Asia Pacific Screen Awards. 

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief The Zootopia-themed land at Shanghai Disneyland is now confirmed to open in December. It will be the eighth land within the seven-year-old theme park. Based on the Walt Disney Animation Studios animated film “Zootopia,” which released in 2016, the new land will include a new attraction, Zootopia: Hot Pursuit, where guests can hop on an all-terrain cruiser powered by a trackless ride system in an action-filled chase through Zootopia’s different districts. Other themed entertainment experiences and character moments include the Zootopia Park Apartments, where a lineup of animal residents will interact with each other and guests throughout the day, appearing from time to time, in a show. Guests will also get the chance to spend at Fashions by Fru Fru, a merchandise store owned by Fru Fru, a Zootopia fashionista.

Receiving its world premiere in Pingyao International Film Festival’s Crouching Tigers section, Zhang Yu’s feature debut Killing The Violet is the story of a woman dealing with the aftermath of being raped after a man breaks into her apartment. 

K.J. Yossman I am, undeniably, a Disney Adult.
Whenever I have time (and funds), I head to one of Disney’s six resorts across the world, where I can feel my problems melt away quicker than a Mickey Bar in the midday sun. The air brims with excitement, strangers wave at me from rides and suddenly my biggest dilemma is whether to hit up Haunted Mansion or It’s a Small World first.

Fix up and look sharp, NYC filmgoers: Wang Bing‘s latest, “Youth (Spring),” begins its US theatrical rollout at Metograph next month. And the new documentary is just the first in a trilogy of new films Wang Bing has worked on since 2014.

Disney/Marvel’sThe Marvels has secured a China release on November 10, day-and-date with North America. The sequel to the $1B+ worldwide grossing Captain Marvel is the latest major studio tentpole to be granted access to the market since Oppenheimer went out on August 30. It’s also wasting no time in spreading the word locally, leveraging the Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day/Golden Week celebrations across the next week.

Naman Ramachandran Rezo Gigineishvili’s “Patient #1” is the 2023 winner of the annual Werner Herzog Film Award. Set at the end of the Soviet era, the film focuses on the decline in power of Konstantin Chernenko, a Russian leader with failing health who is surrounded by a large medical team. He is old and frail, but has a tight grip on power.

HBO has set an October premiere for Aka Mr. Chow, the original documentary film directed by Nick Hooker (HBO’s AgnelIi). The film debuts Sunday, October 22 at 9 PM on HBO and will be streaming on Max.

Tatiana Siegel Range Media Partners has signed Chinese actor, singer-songwriter, dancer and fashion icon Lay Zhang and will represent him globally across all areas. The 31-year-old star, who rose to fame as a former member of K-Pop boyband EXO before launching a solo career, already is a household name in Asia, boasting more than 80 million followers across social media. As an actor, he stars in the Chinese box office smash “No More Bets,” which has earned more than $547 million in China to date, becoming the country’s biggest hit of the summer.

William Earl Visual effects firm Digital Domain and Production Resource Group have teamed to expand the menu of vfx and post-production services offered by both firms. Digital Domain and PRG together aim to offer clients one-stop-shopping for high-end visual effects, holograms, virtual production and other content creation-related services. The new partners bill the deal as a “co-branded” arrangement that extends the reach of both firms.

EXCLUSIVE: Brightburn producer The H Collective is launching H3 Entertainment, a company it says will look to integrate the Metaverse, Web3 and AI into a slate of films.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief “Dust to Dust,” a low-key crime thriller, topped the mainland Chinese box office over the weekend, despite only being released on Saturday. The film, directed by Jonathan Li, recounts how 21 years after a major armed robbery, a video of the crime resurfaces and causes the police to reopen their investigation. It had its world premiere in June, in competition at the Shanghai International Film Festival. With Da Peng, a former talk show host, required to age significantly for the lead role, the film earned $22.2 million (RMB160 million) in just two days, according to consultancy Artisan Gateway.

Hungary has selected Annecy-winning title Four Souls of Coyote as its official entry for the International Oscar race this year. 

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Entertainment, sports and brand licensing firms WildBrain CPLG and WildBrain Ltd. have brokered location-based entertainment (LBE) deals on behalf of Peanuts Worldwide for “Peanuts,” “Teletubbies” and “In the Night Garden” with China’s Max-Matching Entertainments. These are expected to lead to the opening of family entertainment centers and IP-themed hotel rooms for each brand in Beijing, in Zhongshan City, Guangdong and a third city yet to be announced.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Chinese director Bi Gan, whose 2018 film “Long Day’s Journey into Night” played at Cannes, will next direct “Resurrection.” The ambitious sci-fi detective movie is to be headlined by Chinese superstar Jackson Yee (“Better Days”) and Taiwanese actor Shu Qi (“The Assassin”) who sits on this year’s Venice jury. Boasting Bi’s edgy aesthetic and narrative style, the film tells the story of a woman whose consciousness falls into the “eternal time zone” during a surgical procedure.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief CAA China has teamed up with the Hong Kong International Film Festival Society to unveil a joint initiative that will foster Chinese-language genre film projects. The HGC initiative will operate an open call for projects from Monday until the end of October.

Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer officially launched in China today, grossing an estimated $5.4M. Word of mouth is strong with the Universal title carrying a 9.5 on Maoyan, the platform’s best-ever audience score for a Nolan film. The Douban critics score at 8.7 is on par with 2012’s The Dark Knight Rises. The weekend is shaping up to land in the $20M+ range, based on early estimates.

This year’s Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival will open with a double bill of Snow In Midsummer, directed by Malaysia’s Chong Keat-aun, and Be With Me, from Taiwanese filmmaker Hwarng Wern-ying.

Time was, Hollywood filmmakers would regularly travel to China in support of their movies, attending premieres and holding Q&As to drum up buzz in the massive box office market. The pandemic halted that ritual — until this week when Christopher Nolan became the first major Hollywood filmmaker since Covid to stroll a red carpet in China as his Oppenheimer was premiered at Universal Studios’ CityWalk IMAX theater in Beijing, followed by a stop in Shanghai for more screenings and fan interaction.

EXCLUSIVE: Hong Kong-based producer Tsui Hark has boarded the ship as partner and co-producer of the Chinese pirate epic Shih, Queen of the Sea. Hark will partner with Anthony McCarten, Dakota Group and Facing East.

Icarus Films has taken North American rights to Youth (Spring), the newest feature from Venice prizer winner Wang Bing, which earlier this year became one of the first documentaries admitted to Cannes’ main competition in decades. A release date has not yet been disclosed.

Disney’s giant theme park division was first out of the gate in a post-pandemic recovery, showing giant jumps in revenue and profit due to pent-up demand. But the engine is sputtering.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief “Meg 2: The Trench” serves up a school of prehistoric fish that chew up the seas, a snapping pack of imaginary hybrid dinosaurs that wreak havoc on land and a surprising cinema business model — the Chinese-controlled franchise intended for a global audience. And while early reviews are predictably mixed, the film’s box office debut looks promising. In China, on Friday, it bit off a $19.5 million first day and enjoyed a 50% market share.

Sophia Scorziello editor Janet Yang has been re-elected as president of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences. Her second-term re-election was made by the Academy’s board of governors who additionally elected a number of officer positions for 2023-2024. Yang is an Emmy-winning producer with credits on projects including “The Joy Luck Club,” “The People vs.

Michelle Yeoh and her longtime love, Jean Todt, have finally tied the knot after 19 years together.

Michelle Yeoh and ex-Ferrari CEO Jean Todt have tied the knot after a 19-year engagement.

Michelle Yeoh married her longtime fiancé, former Ferrari CEO, Jean Todt on Wednesday after nearly two decades together. Friend and racecar driver Felipe Massa shared the news on Instagram as a guest at the event, posting photos from the celebration.

Oscar-winner Michelle Yeoh is married! The Everything Everywhere All at Once actress 60, has married her longtime partner, ex-Ferrari CEO Jean Todt, 77, after being engaged for 19 years.They wed in Geneva, Switzerland on Thursday.Their nuptials were revealed in pictures shared by Brazilian racing driver Felipe Massa on social media, who wrote: "Happy marriage #JeanTodt & #michelleyeoh love you so much." He posted a snap of a card which shared the newlyweds' love story.The card read: "We met in Shanghai on 4th June 2004. On 26th July 2004, J.T proposed to marry M.Y and she said YES!' "Today after 6992 days on 27th July 2023 in Geneva, surrounded by loving family and friends, We are so happy to celebrate this special moment together!" Michelle is seen in two different wedding outfits in the pictures, as she poses with her new husband.

Michelle Yeoh and Jean Todt are finally married!

EXCLUSIVE: The BBC has acquired broadcast rights to the British indie drama Kindling from debut feature filmmaker Connor O’Hara, which played in Competition at the 2023 Shanghai International Film Festival.