Hong Kong Showbiz Latest News and Updates

aespa have announced their upcoming 2024 ‘SYNK: Parallel Line’ world tour, featuring concerts in Asia, Australia and more.Today (February 19), the K-pop girl group announced their new tour, titled ‘SYNK: Parallel Line’, on their official Weverse artist page. aespa’s 2024 tour currently features 19 concerts across 13 different cities in Asia and Australia from June to September 2024.The tour will kick off at the end of June with a two-night concert in Seoul, South Korea.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Production firm Movierock and rights sales outfit Hive Filmworks are in advanced production on “Hear Me: Our Summer,” a Korean remake of hit 2009 romance film “Hear Me” from Taiwan. The story involves a motorbike delivery man who falls in love with a hearing-impaired younger woman. Comparing themselves with water birds and trees the pair slowly try to break through the barriers in their relationship, pursue their dreams and take things to the next level. The retread stars Hong Kyung, who has a recent string of appearances including Netflix’s “D.P,” “TV’s Revenant” and “Hero,” and the upcoming “Troll Factory.” Co-star Roh Yoon-seo has credits in “Crash Course in Romance” and “Our Blues” and is currently one of the most ubiquitous faces in Korea thanks to her position as the face of the Paris Baguette bakery and café chain. Stylistically, the adaptation aims for the feel of Iwai Shunji’s pan-Asian hit “Love Letter,” and is directed by Jo Seon-ho, who previously made “A Day.” Movierock previously produced a 2018 Korean remake of 2004 Japanese hit “Be With You.” The film is already being pre-sold to multiple territories in Asia.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief The Hong Kong-Europe-Asian Film Collaboration Funding Scheme being launched this week in Berlin is intended as a major component of an exercise in rehabilitating and internationalizing the Hong Kong film industry. In unprecedented fashion, the territory’s Film Development Council is getting ready to start giving cash grants to movie projects that don’t necessarily have to shoot in the city or even use one of its three official languages.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief In January, when Netflix unveiled its slate of Chinese-language original productions for 2024, all of them turned out to be Taiwanese. Not Chinese. And not from Hong Kong, a territory that once produced over 300 movies a year in multiple Chinese dialects.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Asia Argento (“xXx,” “Land of the Dead”) and Melvil Poupaud (“Speed Racer,” “Laurence Anyways”) will star in French crime thriller “Stronger Than the Devil.” The project will be pitched for the first time at the European Film Market, attached to the Berlin Film Festival, by All Rights Entertainment, the Hong Kong, Paris and Los Angeles-based film sales agency which has picked up the rights. The picture, which heads into production later this month, is written and directed by Graham Guit (“Les Kidnappeurs,” “Hello, Goodbye”). The finished film is expected to be completed by the autumn.

The build-up to the 74th Berlin Film Festival (Feb 15 – Feb 25) has been highly politicised and the international jury press conference this morning was no different.

Ellise Shafer During a press conference on Thursday, Berlinale jury president Lupita Nyong’o responded to the festival inviting and then disinviting politicians from far-right group AfD to its opening ceremony. “I’m a foreigner here. I don’t know the ins and outs of the political situation here,” Nyong’o said in response to a question asking if she would have attended the ceremony had the politicians still been invited.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Acemaker Movieworks, the young Korean studio behind 2023 hit “Noryang: The Sea” and “A Man of Reason,” is using the Berlin Film Festival‘s European Film Market to launch crime drama “Troll Factory,” its next big budget movie. Film’s plot revolves around an investigative journalist who, while probing a story about the manipulation of public sentiment, uncovers the existence of a so-called “troll factory” and is confronted with an unbelievable truth. The movie is in post-production and recently set March 27 for its theatrical release in Korea.

Alex Ritman “Superpower,” the Sean Penn fronted and co-directed documentary following the Oscar-winner as he embeds himself with Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelensky in the wake of Russia’s invasion, has scored new sales. Ahead of the Berlinale, where “Superpower” first premiered in 2023 while still in production, Fifth Season — which financed the film alongside Vice Studios — has unveiled broadcast deals with streamer Stan and Nine Network (Australia), Movistar Plus (Spain), HBO (CEE and Baltics), PCCW for Now TV (Hong Kong and Macau), DPG Media (Belgium), A+E Networks/History Channel (Germany) and Kyivstar TV (Ukraine).

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Cinema box office in Hong Kong failed to live up to expectations over the Lunar New Year holidays, even as local films led the chart. Movie theatre takings between Feb. 9-13 in Hong Kong weighed in at just HK$48.6 million ($6.23 million), according to data provided by Hong Kong Box Office Limited, a joint venture between Motion Picture Industry Association (MPIA) and the Hong Kong Theatres Association.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Hong Kong will offer more than $1 million per project to film coproductions with Europe under a new grant scheme to be launched this week at the European Film Market in Berlin. The territory’s government is also sponsoring a visit to Berlin by a select group of producers and directors. The Hong Kong-Europe-Asian Film Collaboration Funding Scheme is an extension of the Hong Kong-Asian program that was launched in January last year.

Alison Herman TV Critic In the spring of 2023, Hong Kong had just opened up to tourism after three years of pandemic-related restrictions. So for the third season of his PBS travel show “Field Trip,” Australian-born chef Curtis Stone assembled a supersized episode highlighting the coastal, cosmopolitan city’s culture and cuisine, from martial arts to seaside seafood stalls. Stone had visited Hong Kong previously, but the “Field Trip” spotlight is a more in-depth look at a unique location that most travelers haven’t been able to experience since late 2019.

Cillian Murphy’s son is set to make his film acting debut this year.16-year old Aran has been acting from a young age. At 11, he starred as the titular character in Hamnet in a production that toured Dublin, London, New York, Boston, Brisbane and Hong Kong.In 2022, he also starred in the 2022 film Lola alongside Emma Appleton from The Witcher.

If Scott Mann’s 2022 ball-tingler Fall gave you a sense of vertigo then we advise you to stay clear of this new documentary feature from director Jeff Zimbalist and co-director Maria Bukhonina, a Sundance debuting white knuckle love story about a couple of Russian climbers who fall for one another atop some of the world’s tallest buildings.Skywalkers: A Love Story starts with a trigger warning. Actually, two.

The Goldfinger ( or maybe just ‘Goldfinger’) where Tony Leung is re-teaming with Andy Lau and director and screenwriter Felix Chong for the first time since the Infernal Affairs movies. The film is described as a crime movie and will reportedly be set in the 1980s.Simon Yam, Philip Keung, Alex Fong Chung-sun, Charlene Choi, Chin Ka-lok, and Carlos Chan are also among the cast.The synopsis is as follows: Set in the 1980s, the film depicts cut-throat machinations between Hong Kong’s jostling business elites amidst the backdrop of the tail end of British colonial rule. It tells the story of the rise and bust of a fictional Hong Kong company called Jiali Group, following the travails of its chairman Cheng Yiyan through 15 years of investigations by the Independent Commission Against Corruption as murders are committed, billions in market value evaporate and millions are spent on litigation fees.No release date as yet for this one but we’ll keep you posted.

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 fifth weekend of release. The top five titles remained unchanged from the previous week. “Jonny,” in which a man from the countryside struggles to hold down a corporate job in a big city, earned $12.1 million (RMB86.2 million), according to data from consultancy Artisan Gateway.

Hunter Ingram SPOILER ALERT: This post contains spoilers from the two-episode premiere of “Expats,” now streaming on Prime Video. Lulu Wang can’t escape Blondie’s “Heart of Glass.” At first, the acclaimed writer-director of “The Farewell” thought she was just hyper aware of the 1978 classic after she’d handpicked it to score the single moment of genuine happiness in the premiere episode of “Expats,” her new Prime Video limited series. The scene in question finds series stars Nicole Kidman and Sarayu Blue letting loose and dancing to the song during a late-night meal in a Hong Kong restaurant.

What To Watch. Today we recommend a mix of new releases and newly available titles, from movies and shows, all available to stream on the most popular platforms.What to Watch: 7 movies and shows to stream this week - Jan 12What to Watch: 7 movies and shows to stream this week - January 19Sofia Vergara is back on TV, with “Griselda” premiering on Netflix over the past week. The series follows the rise and fall of Griselda Blanco, one of the most successful drug lords in history.“Queer Eye” is back for its eighth season, set in New Orleans.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Sony Pictures‘ “Madame Web,” a standalone origin story in the studio’s array of “Spider-Man”-based Marvel characters, has been granted a theatrical release in mainland China. The film will open in the country on March 1 — two weeks after the title’s Valentine’s Day bow in North America and multiple international territories, including the Chinese-language markets of Taiwan and Hong Kong. The release marks a welcome opportunity for Sony, which, along with the other traditional studios faced difficulty in securing theatrical runs in China over recent years.

ITZY have announced the dates and venues for their upcoming 2024 ‘Born to Be’ world tour, featuring concerts in North America, Europe, Asia and more.Today (January 25), ITZY revealed the dates and venues for their upcoming 29-date world tour, titled ‘Born to Be’ after their new studio album of the same name.ITZY’s new tour will kick-off with a two-night concert at the Jamsil Indoor Stadium in Seoul, South Korea. The following month, the K-pop girl group play three shows in Oceania, as well as one in Bangkok Thailand.April and May 2024, ITZY play a one-night-only concert in Singapore, before starting the Latin America, Europe and Japan legs of their tour.

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.

Wave to Earth have announced the Asia and Europe legs of their upcoming 2024 ‘flaws and all’ world tour.Today (January 24), Wave to Earth revealed the the first 13 dates of their brand-new 2024 ‘flaws and all’ world tour. It will kick off in Asia on March 18 with a concert in Hong Kong, before the band head to Taipei and Tokyo in the same week.Thereafter, the trio will bring their 2024 ‘flaws and all’ world tour to Europe, starting with a show in Milan, Italy on March 28.

Naman Ramachandran British actor Michelle Collins (“Coronation Street,” “Doctor Who”) headlines the cast of horror-thriller “The Haunting of Helen’s Bridge.” The film, directed by Stephen Presley (“Pandemic: the people, the conspiracy, the journey”) and written by Presley and Gemma Esau, recently completed principal photography. It explores the urban legend surrounding Helen’s Mountain and its infamous bridge, located at Asheville, North Carolina.

“The Farewell”), and is based on the novel, “The Expatriates” by Janice Y.K. Lee. The series follows wealthy Margaret (Kidman, 56) and her husband Clarke (Tee), who are Americans living in Hong Kong in 2014, trying to raise their kids and get on with life after tragically losing a child.

Qatar‘s Doha Film Institute (DFI) has announced the recipient projects for its fall 2023 grants cycle, featuring 44 films by first and second-time directors hailing from 32 countries. (scroll down for full list)

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.

Elizabeth Taylor “Big Little Lies” Season 3 is coming along nicely. “We’re at work on it,” Nicole Kidman told Variety Sunday night at the New York premiere of her new series “Expats.” Kidman says she and Reese Witherspoon are “texting every day” about the third season. “And there’s a timeline and we’re doing it.” She laughed when asked for more details.

Nicole Kidman is stunning at the premiere of Prime Video’s Expats!

So, here we are in mid-January, and though we’re staring down the barrel of a tough year ahead, it’s not all wintry doom and gloom on an international box office (and combined global) level. 

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.

Pat Saperstein Deputy Editor On New Year’s Eve, 1980, the legendary Hong Kong Café in L.A.’s Chinatown hosted its last beer-soaked, raucous punk show. This past New Year’s Eve was also a milestone event for the historic neon-lit space: It was the opening preview night for Stay, the first alcohol-free cocktail bar in Los Angeles.

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.

famously sang Ricky Martin’s 2000 song during his audition in January 2004, recently opened up about his secret gambling problem.His downfall began when he quit his job three years ago to become a professional poker player.“I’d been doing it on the side for a while, and I decided maybe I was good enough to go for it,” he told People. “I was earning way more doing that than I was at my regular job. It was going well for a while.”However, he ultimately developed an addiction and fell into the world of sports betting.“I know better [now].

IU has announced her 2024 ‘H.E.R.’ world tour, featuring dates in Asia, Europe and the US.IU’s newly announced 2024 ‘H.E.R.’ world tour will kick off on March 2 at the KSPO Dome in Seoul, South Korea, where she will play four shows over two weekends. During the same month, the singer will also perform two shows at the Yokohama Arena in Japan.The K-pop idol’s upcoming world tour will then head to other countries and regions across Asia, including two shows in Taipei, Singapore and Jakarta in April, followed by two Hong Kong shows in May.In June, IU will host one concert in the Filipino capital of Manila, alongside two concerts in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.