Tokyo Showbiz Latest News and Updates

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor Most contests in the 2024 Summer Olympics set for Paris, France, won’t start until next summer. NBC has been running one race for months.

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. 

Chinese director Ning Hao has flown directly from Busan film festival in South Korea to China’s Pingyao International Film Festival (PYIFF) with his latest film, The Movie Emperor, starring Andy Lau. 

Addie Morfoot Contributor John Legend is lending his voice to “We Dare to Dream,” a documentary about the refugee Olympic team at the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo. Legend will write, compose and record “Don’t Need to Sleep,” an original song for the docu, which will open theatrically Oct. 20 at New York’s IFC Center.

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.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief A dearth of new release films allowed Zhang Yimou’s “Under the Light” to retain a comfortable lead at the China box office over the weekend, in its third week of release. The contemporary crime drama film earned $13.5 million (RMB97.2 million) between Friday and Sunday, according to data from consultancy Artisan Gateway. Since releasing on Sept. 28, it has accumulated gross revenues of $163 million (RMB1.17 billion).

Japanese filmmaker Ryusuke Hamaguchi has clinched the best film award in the main official competition of the 67th London Film Festival with his latest feature, Evil Does Not Exist. 

Jesse Jo Stark has shared her heartfelt new single ‘Fallout’ ahead of her final debut headlining North American tour date.The melancholic track features confessional lyrics that are both deeply personal and universally relatable. “Don’t buy me a ring / the scariest thing about being all alone / clouds grow / I don’t know how not to have you around / the beautiful thing about the things that come out your mouth fallout / I don’t know how not to have you around,” Stark sings in the song.Directed by Christina Bryson, the accompanying video for ‘Fallout’ features footage of Stark on tour performing the track to her loving fans.

Taylor Swift has the highest-grossing concert tour of the year, and she’s about to conquer movie theaters, as well. Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour, opening Friday, October 13, has already sold more than $100 million in advance ticket sales in 8,500 theaters across 100 countries around the world.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Some twenty aspiring film projects have been selected to participate in the inaugural edition of the Qcinema Project Market (Nov. 18-19) that this year represents and expansion of the QCinema Film Festival in The Philippines’ Quezon City. The selected titles include development projects by several of East Asia’s better known independent and art-house directors and projects.

Naman Ramachandran Distributor, Day for Night has acquired a trio of Asian titles for U.K. and Ireland at the Busan International Film Festival’s Asian Contents and Film Market. Day for Night is acquiring the late Pema Tseden‘s “Snow Leopard” from Rediance.

Chinese filmmaker Zhang Yimou has been set as the recipient of this year’s Lifetime Achievement award at the forthcoming Tokyo Film Festival (TIFF), running October 21 – November 1.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Leading Chinese film director Zhang Yimou is to receive a lifetime achievement award at the Tokyo International Film Festival later this month. The award will be presented to him during the festival’s opening ceremony on Oct. 23. Later, Zhang will take part in a special talk session at the TIFF Loungeco-hosted by the Japan Foundation. Additionally, his “Full River Red,” which was a box office sensation in China at the beginning of the year, will play as a gala selection during the Tokyo festival. Zhang, consider to be among China’s “fifth generation” of filmmakers, has had an extraordinary career that he has sustained for over three decades.

U.S. producer E. Bennett Walsh, who has made films including Mortal Kombat, Meg 2: The Trench and The Kite Runner across the APAC region, says he’s got his eye on Japan and Korea as the next hot destinations for footloose Hollywood productions.

EXCLUSIVE: Paris-based genre specialist Reel Suspects has boarded sales on Japanese horror director Takeshi Kushida’s My Mother’s Eyes and will launch the title at the upcoming MIA Market in Rome.

Jessica Kiang The belief that the dead live on in our memories is often the only comfort anyone can think to offer the bereaved, or those in the process of losing a loved one. But for Takashi (Mirai Moriyama), the introspective adult son at the heart of Kei Chika-ura‘s quietly tectonic heartbreaker, that comfort is unavailable on multiple levels.

Manchester has been named one of the World’s Best Cities in a prestigious report - beating out the likes of Mexico City, Valencia and Bucharest, but missing out on the top spot, which was claimed by London.

Japanese filmmaker Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s latest feature, Evil Does Not Exist, leads this year’s Asia Pacific Screen Awards (APSA) with four nods, including the gong for Best Film. 

Powerhouse Japanese boyband agency Johnny & Associates, which is embroiled in a sexual abuse scandal relating to its late founder, Johnny Kitagawa, has announced it will change its name and split into two companies. In September, the pop giant acknowledged that Kitagawa, who died in 2019 at age 87, had sexually abused boys signed by the agency over a span of several decades.

Krystal Jung has opened up about her K-pop girl group f(x) and the possibility of a reunion.Krystal Jung started out her career as a member of K-pop girl group, which were active from 2009 to 2016. Since then, the act have been on hiatus, save for a brief reunion in 2019 at the SM Town Live concert in Tokyo.The singer has since opened up about the girl group and the possibility of a reunion, in an interview with Money Today.

Naman Ramachandran Charades has sold key territories on Chiara Malta and Sébastien Laudenbach’s hand-painted animation “Chicken for Linda!” (“Linda veut du poulet!”) that won dual honors at the Annecy Animation Festival. The film follows loving mom, Paulette, who feels guilty after unfairly punishing her daughter Linda and would do anything to make it up to her.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Italy’s Coccinelle Film Sales has acquired world rights to German director Veit Helmer’s poetic love story “Gondola,” which will world premiere at the upcoming Tokyo International Film Festival. Helmer is well known on the international festival circuit for funny, fable-like films with little or no dialogue such as “Tuvalu”; the Azerbaijan-set “Absurdistan,” which went to Sundance in 2008; and “The Bra,” that launched from Tokyo in 2018.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Italy’s Coccinelle Film Sales has acquired world rights to German director Veit Helmer’s poetic love story “Gondola,” which will world premiere at the upcoming Tokyo International Film Festival. Helmer is well known on the international festival circuit for funny, fable-like films with little or no dialogue such as “Tuvalu”; the Azerbaijan-set “Absurdistan,” which went to Sundance in 2008; and “The Bra,” that launched from Tokyo in 2018.

The Tokyo Film Festival has set the lineup for its bumper 2023 edition, running October 23 to November 1. Scroll down for the full list. 

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Equal numbers of Chinese and Japanese titles adorn the main competition section of the Toyo International Film Festival, which was announced on Wednesday – three each. Among the Chinese films is “Snow Leopard,” the last feature by the late Pema Tseden, and “Dwelling by the West Lake,” directed by Gu Xiaogang, the surprisingly inexperienced joint recipient of this year’s Kurosawa Award. The full competition with 15 titles, set to play between Oct. 23 and Nov.

The Tokyo Film Festival has set Gu Xiaogang and Mouly Surya as the recipients of the Kurosawa Akira Award at its upcoming 2023 edition, running October 23 — November 1. 

Quantic Dream‘s Star Wars Eclipse will share a lot of similarities with the developer’s previous titles, such as making no promises for the safety of its characters.Eclipse is an action-adventure but it will still feature a determinant and winding narrative that the French developer has become famous for. In 2021, a new studio was opened in Montréal, Canada, to support the development of Eclipse but details have been light on its progress.“Can I say it still exists? Because it exists,” replied vice president of marketing Lisa Pendse in an interview with IGN at Tokyo Game Show last week.

Big Brother,” which first launched 23 years ago, is set to return to ITV screens on Oct. 8.

The ongoing talks between the WGA and the AMPTP continued to look promising through the weekend, but the writers couldn’t help but have fun with the studios’ claim that they made their “best and final offer.”

Scientists have just discovered that a common kitchen ingredient often used in sandwiches could help lower the risks of dementia.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Director Clara Law (“The Goddess of 1967”) has been set as president of the jury which will discern this year’s Asia Pacific Screen Awards. She will be joined by Malaysia’s Yeo Yann Yann (“Ilo Ilo,” “Wet Season,” American Born Chinese”), German producer Anna Katchko (“Stepne,” “Happiness”), and Faisal Baltyuor, producer and CEO of Muvi Studios in Saudi Arabia. A separate jury for documentaries and animation will be headed by Taiwan-based Myanmar director Midi Z, India’s Rima Das and Japanese documentary maker Toda Hikaru. The APSAs will be presented at a ceremony in Gold Coast, Queensland on Nov.

Ahead of the game’s Feb 29, 2024 launch, Square Enix invited Deadline to play through two early sections of the upcoming title– that also debuted at this year’s Tokyo Game Show—which serves as the second part of the Final Fantasy VII Remake trilogy. The new game starts right where Final Fantasy VII Remake left off with Team Avalanche’s Cloud (Cody Christian), Aerith (Briana White), Tifa (Britt Baron), Barret (John Eric Bentley) and Red XIII (Max Mittelman) leaving Midgar to confront the boundless, terrifying freedom that awaits them on their journey to The Forgotten Capital.

EXCLUSIVE: EST N8, the international finance, production and sales company launched by EST Studios and Bangkok-based N8 Studios at Cannes this year, has hired Sophie Changhui Shi as acquisition and production executive, based in Los Angeles. 

Last year, it was confirmed that a popular Leeds ramen and dumpling spot, House of Fu, would be heading to Manchester. Now, the team behind the hit restaurant have confirmed the exact date it will open.

Taylor Swift will be releasing her upcoming album 1989 (Taylor’s Version) at the end of October and fans are eagerly awaiting news about the songs being released from her vault.

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.