Region Asia-Pacific Showbiz Latest News and Updates

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefBy now it is common knowledge that the coronavirus pandemic has been bad for cinema box office. New data for the Asia-Pacific region shows just how bad.Figures from S&P Global Market intelligence and OPUSData depict a 92% collapse between January and June, compared with the first half of last year.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefGiorgio Stock, president of WarnerMedia Entertainment Networks & Sales, in both the Europe Middle East & Africa and the Asia-Pacific regions is leaving the company.

AT&T-owned WarnerMedia's HBO Asia has wrapped production and is readying the release of Antarctic survival thriller series The Head. The show, produced in association with Hulu Japan and Spanish production house The Mediapro Studio, will premiere on HBO and HBO Go in the Asia-Pacific region on June 12, WarnerMedia said Thursday.

Theatrical box office in the Asia-Pacific region fell 85 percent in the first two months of 2020, an unprecedented crash brought on by the emergence and explosive spread of the new coronavirus, says a new report from S&P Global Intelligence. As alarm over the virus radiated outwards from China in late January, many cinemas throughout the region shut down, audiences began avoiding those theaters that were still open, and distributors canceled scores of new releases.

Theatrical box office in the Asia-Pacific region tumbled a massive 85% in the first two months of the year. The coronavirus caused cinema closures, audience hesitation, and a halving of the number of film releases.

Former AT&T WarnerMedia executive Belinda Lui has stepped into her new role as as president and managing director of the Motion Picture Association in the Asia-Pacific region.Liu's hire was made in October by MPA chairman and CEO Charles Rivkin.