Philippines Showbiz Latest News and Updates

RIIZE have announced their upcoming 2024 ‘RIIZING Day’ fan-con world tour, with concerts in the US, Asia and more.Today (March 5), RIIZE revealed that they would be going on a fan-con world tour in 2024, titled ‘RIIZING Day’, featuring concerts and stops in nine different cities and territories in the coming months.The boyband’s tour will kick off with a two-day concert at the Jamsil Indoor Stadium in Seoul, South Korea on May 4 and 5. In the same month, the group will play hold shows in Tokyo, Japan and Los Angeles, California.The following month, RIIZE will bring their ‘RIIZING Day’ fan-con tour to Hong Kong and Taipei, before heading to the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand in July 2024.

We’re days away from the season three premiere of The Cleaning Lady and there are some new faces that will be introduced.

Taylor Swift over their exclusive deal that makes the island country her only ‘Eras‘ tour stop in Southeast Asia.Last month, Thailand’s prime minister claimed that Singapore reportedly agreed on a deal with the pop star that means she “can’t perform in any other countries in Southeast Asia”.Srettha Thavisin has said that promoter AEG informed him of an agreement that means Swift will not perform any other dates of her ‘Eras‘ tour in the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN), which comprises 10 countries, according to Sky News.Swift is set to perform six shows at Singapore’s National Stadium from March 2-9, the only Southeast Asian location on the Asia leg of her tour.Now, Philippines representative Joey Salceda asked the Philippines’ Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) to formally protest against the grant (per The Straits Times). “[This] isn’t what good neighbours do.

Room to Read, a global education nonprofit tackling illiteracy and gender inequality, announced a partnership with Warner Bros. Discovery for the premiere of , the first nonprofit-led animation and live-action film project to promote gender equality through the stories of young women around the world.

Scientists have warned a major climate event which occurs every few years could cause record-breaking temperatures in parts of the world this summer - bringing wildfires, cyclones and heatwaves with it.

Saint Laurent had a star-studded crowd at its Paris Fashion Week show!

EXCLUSIVE: Emmy nominee Rain Valdez (Razor Tongue) on Monday announced the launch of Rainbow Entertainment, an equity-centered and trans-led production company focused on elevating BIPOC and queer storytellers, both in front of and behind the camera.

EXCLUSIVE: The news when Deadline speaks to Lisa Kramer is the launch of a Paramount+ branded hub with African pay-TV giant MultiChoice. But a conversation with the President, International TV Licensing at Paramount Global Content Distribution (PGCD), offers a much wider insight into the world of TV in 2024.

Jessica Kiang The shortest distance between two points is popularly believed to be a straight line. But if one of those points is the chin, cheekbone or torso of some sneering and/or psychotic Korean gangster, the shortest route is actually the arc described by either one of Korean megastar Don Lee‘s fists, here playing the fists of Detective Ma, protagonist of the ludicrously watchable “Roundup” series.

Seo In-guk has announced his first-ever fanmeeting tour of the US, with two stops announced so far.The US tour was announced by his agency Story J Company earlier today (February 23), and will mark the singer-actor’s first time touring the US since he debuted as a singer and an actor in the early-2010s.According to Story J, Seo In-guk will “communicate closely with fans through various game segments with a colourful stage to speak with his fans, who will be able to learn more about Seo In-guk as a human being”. The star will also be performing “several hit songs” during his shows.Seo’s fanmeeting tour will take place in late April, with the first show to be held in Los Angeles’ Saban Theater on April 22 and the second to be held in Washington D.C.’s Lisner Auditorium the next day.

Micheline Presle, the French actress whose controversial Devil in the Flesh role was the start of a career that included starring opposite John Garfield, Tyrone Power, Errol Flynn and Paul Newman, has died at 101.

EXCLUSIVE: LA’s J Creative Entertainment is expanding into content production, launching a production arm that will develop Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) and Filipino stories for global audiences.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief North American digital distributor Echelon Studios has come on board “12.12: The Day,” the highest grossing film from Korea last year. The film has been on theatrical release in North America, through 815 Pictures since last year and grossed over $1 million.

MAY 202402: Seoul, South Korea03: Seoul, South Korea04: Seoul, South Korea11: Osaka, Japan12: Osaka, Japan18: Jakarta, Indonesia25: Tokyo, Japan26: Tokyo, JapanJUNE 202402: Nagoya, Japan15: Hong Kong, China16: Hong Kong, China22: Bangkok, Thailand23: Bangkok, Thailand29: Singapore, Singapore30: Singapore, SingaporeAUGUST 202410: Manila, the Philippines11: Manila, the PhilippinesTBALatin America: August to September 2024US: September 2024Europe: October to November 20242024 NCT DREAM WORLD TOUR <THE DREAM SHOW 3>SEOUL ➫ 2024.05.02-04OSAKA ➫ 2024.05.11-12JAKARTA ➫ 2024.05.18TOKYO ➫ 2024.05.25-26NAGOYA ➫ 2024.06.02HONG KONG ➫ 2024.06.15-16BANGKOK ➫ 2024.06.22-23SINGAPORE ➫ 2024.06.29-30MANILA ➫ 2024.08.10-11LATAM ➫… pic.twitter.com/L6FeXT8dVS— NCT DREAM (@NCTsmtown_DREAM) February 20, 2024In other touring news, K-pop girl group aespa have announced their upcoming 2024 ‘SYNK: Parallel Line’ world tour, featuring concerts in Asia, Australia and more.

Naman Ramachandran Streamer Lionsgate Play has teamed with Grameenphone, a leading telecom services provider in Bangladesh, to expand its presence in the country. Grameenphone, part of Norway’s Telenor Group, has some 82 million subscribers, to whom it offers a bouquet of streaming services.

A woman lived on a remote island with just 80 people for FREE - and washed her clothes in a well and climbed trees for coconuts.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor International sales company Iuvit Media Sales has closed multiple deals at the European Film Market in Berlin for the suspense horror slasher “Goldilocks and the Three Bears: Death and Porridge.” Buyers include Gussi Films for Latin America, Pioneer for the Philippines and Front Row for the Middle East. Directed by Craig Rees (“Annabellum,” “Whispers”) and starring Olga Solo, Abigail Huxley, Rees and Julian Amos, “Goldilocks and the Three Bears: Death and Porridge” is an “intelligent” horror slasher, in the vein of Wes Craven horrors, and with comparables such as “The Strangers” and “The Purge.” In this adaptation of the fairy tale, Goldilocks and the three bears live together in an isolated house in the woods.

The Avenue release Land of Bad, powered by Variance, grossed $1.8 million on 1,120 screens, landing in the top ten for the weekend as Variance noted strong word of mouth with Saturday grosses jumping 37% from Friday’ (not including Thursday sneaks). The estimate for the four days is $2.07 million.

EXCLUSIVE: Film Mode Entertainment has locked a series of deals on Blue Light, the latest feature from American filmmaker Andy Fickman (Race to Witch Mountain, Parental Guidance, The Game Plan, and She’s The Man). 

Jazz Tangcay Artisans Editor SPOILER ALERT: This interview contains spoilers for “Central,” the fifth episode of “Expats,” now streaming on Prime Video. Lulu Wang’s “Expats” steps into feature-length territory for this week’s episode, which focuses on the working class women by diving into the lives of the help, Essie (Ruby Ruiz) and Puri (Amelyn Pardenilla).

Naman Ramachandran The Philippines’ Quezon City Film Commission (QCFC) is teaming with European Audiovisual Entrepreneurs (EAVE) to launch the first EAVE marketing masterclasses, which aims to bolster the region’s burgeoning film industry and its active participation in the global market. The initiative will select 30 Filipino and Asian producers and film industry professionals who wish to advance their careers and enhance their professional experiences.

Naman Ramachandran Streaming subscription growth in the Southeast Asia region slowed dramatically in 2023, but revenue from those subscriptions grew at a robust rate, a new study has found. The report from data analytics company AMPD, that is part of consultancy and research firm Media Partners Asia, shows that the region – that includes Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore and Thailand – added only 1.3 million net new SVOD subscribers in 2023, compared with 11 million in 2022. But subscription revenues grew at 12.5% to $1.4 billion.

BTS‘ Jungkook during a solo concert.Over the weekend, Ahn Hyo-seop held a show in Tokyo, Japan as part of his ‘The Present Show – here and now’ Asia tour. The trek had also featured shows in Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines from 2023 to 2024.During the show, he showcased his singing skills with a cover of ‘Standing Next to You’ by BTS’ Jungkook.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief U.S-Asian sales company EST N8 has picked up the international rights for “30 Minutes,” a Korean sci-fi thriller film that is currently in production. The story revolves around a middle-aged man trapped in a time loop, repeatedly reliving the Christmas Eve of his murder.

Naman Ramachandran Singapore’s Momo Film Co has unveiled a six-film slate that includes projects from recent prize-winners at Cannes and Locarno. Momo is one of five outfits selected at the 2024 Berlinale Co-Production Market‘s company matching program. Fresh off two wins at Locarno 2023 for Nelson Yeo’s debut feature “Dreaming & Dying,” Momo is continuing its relationship with the Singaporean filmmaker for his sophomore feature “The Drought,” a dark comedy-horror film set in the time of a drought.

The Lunar New Year is celebrated across the globe and largely underpinned by themes of hope and reunion. Known to many as Chinese New Year, Lunar New Year is also celebrated by many different countries throughout Asia, including Japan, South Korea, Thailand, Mongolia, Malaysia and the Philippines. It is also celebrated in other countries where there is an established Chinese community, as the holiday brings together family and friends to celebrate the start of another year.

After nine years in business, CNN Philippines will discontinue its news and production operations on all media platforms effective January 31. The news organization, which is a franchise holder of the CNN International brand and operated by Nine Media Corp, began airing under a brand and content licensing deal with Turner Broadcasting System Asia Pacific in 2015. It cited years of financial issues as the reason for the closure.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief CNN Philippines is to close down on Wednesday, the company announced on Monday local time. The move means up to 300 jobs will be lost. CNN Philippines was launched in 2015 under a brand licensing agreement between Turner and Nine Media Network, a Philippines company that is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the ALC Group of Companies previously launched by the late Ambassador Antonio Cabangon-Chua. “CNN Philippines will discontinue operations on all media platforms effective Wednesday, Jan 31, 2044,” the company said in a posting on social media.

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.

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.

Fox has renewed the series The Cleaning Lady for a third season and you’ll be seeing some new faces in the upcoming episodes.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief The CinemAsia Film Festival in Amsterdam has unveiled titles from seven different Asian countries for its competition section. The festival will play at the Studio/K, Rialto De Pijp and Rialto VU venues March 5-10, 2024. The event will close with the out-of-competition screening of “Gaga,” a drama about indigenous communities in Taiwan, directed by Laha Mebow. “Gaga” documents the challenges faced by a commune after the death of a respected tribal elder who, while alive, had held things together.

A holidaymaker returning from a cruise says his wife's hand luggage was stolen from an overhead locker on board a TUI flight to Manchester Airport.

Siddhant Adlakha A companion piece to her documentary “A Thousand Cuts,” Ramona S. Diaz’s “And So It Begins” follows the 2022 Philippine election, and Vice President Leni Robredo’s run for office.

Philippines president Fernando “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. faced criticism from his constituents over the weekend for using the state-funded presidential helicopter to fly over the traffic jam caused by a Coldplay concert Friday night (January 19) in order to attend the show himself.

Coldplay gig in a helicopter.The band’s ongoing world stadium tour behind latest album ‘Music Of The Spheres‘ comes with an emphasis on environmental sustainability, and began in March 2022 in South America before coming to the United States and UK and hitting Asia and Australia late last year.Coldplay were playing the Philippine Arena on Friday (January 19), with attendees including President Ferdinand Marcos Jr and his wife.Ahead of the gig, the couple were spotted arriving in a helicopter, which many online have criticised as directly opposing the eco-friendly initiatives around the band’s tour.WATCH: President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.