Mirror’s Anson Lo Expands Starry Asian Cast of ‘Chungking Mansions’

alopecia is the worst she’s dealing with. “If you are so lucky in life as to have that be your medical problem, just say thank God,” Maher cracked to his guests, attorney Laura Coates and former presidential and New York City mayoral candidate Andrew Yang.“It’s not life threatening.

Anna Marie de la Fuente Capping off a string of major sales deals worldwide, L.A.-based Cinema Management Group (CMG) has sold the U.S. rights of animated feature “Ainbo: Spirit of the Amazon” to Shout! Studios.The multi-platform entertainment distribution and production arm of Shout! Factory has secured all U.S.

Naman Ramachandran Amazon Prime Video has doubled down on its investment in Japan with six local originals greenlit and an additional foray into live boxing. At an event in Tokyo on Wednesday, Amazon revealed a reboot of “Takeshi’s Castle,” the iconic game show starring Kitano Takeshi that aired on terrestrial network TBS from 1986-1989. The reboot, with the working title “Takeshi’s Castle Project' will bow in 2023.

The cutest she’s ever looked! Mira Sorvino has been an onscreen staple since the ’90s, but there are many things about the star that her longtime followers might not even know.

Ed Meza @edmezavarWith its focus on Costa Rica, the Málaga Festival Industry Zone (MAFIZ) is showcasing the central American country’s bourgeoning film sector and talent with presentations of feature films, works in progress, projects in development and the country’s scenic locations and support opportunties.Costa Rican filmmakers and their projects are participating in MAFIZ’s various sections, including the Malaga Festival Fund & Co-Production Event (MAFF); Málaga Work in Progress; Málaga Talent and Hack Málaga.Nicole Chi’s documentary “Guián” and Daniel Ross Mix’s “El Zoológico de la Milla 70” (“70 Mile Zoo”) are the two Costa Rican projects taking part in the Work in Progress section. In “Guián,” Chi chronicles her own personal journey of discovery as she travels to China following the death of her grandmother Guián.

EXCLUSIVE: Reid Miller (Joe Bell), Jonathan Silverman (Good Girls), Marguerite Moreau (Wet Hot American Summer) and Chris Mulkey (Twin Peaks) have signed on to star in the indie Feeling Randy, marking the solo directorial debut of veteran cinematographer Dean Lent.

EXCLUSIVE: Tom Blyth (Billy the Kid), Chris Diamantopolous (Red Notice), Jordyn Denning (Pam & Tommy), Zach Villa (Good Mourning with a U) and Jay Mohr (The Cleaning Lady) have signed on to star in the comedy Discussion Materials, marking the feature directorial debut of TV writer, director and producer Alfredo Barrios Jr.

EXCLUSIVE: Primetime Emmy nominee Kate Mara and The Green Knight filmmaker David Lowery have boarded Shawn Bannon’s feature documentary, The Smell of Money, which centers around Elsie Herring and her North Carolina community as they square off with the multibillion-dollar pork industry, which has been spraying animal waste on their homes and land for decades.

The Walt Disney Co. and CEO Bob Chapek are under fire for their perceived slow reaction to the “Don’t Say Gay” bill that recently passed the Florida Senate. It now heads to Gov. Ron DeSantis, who is likely to sign it into law.

Mirror singer and actor Anson Lo has joined the cast of Bizhan Tong’s upcoming action thriller Chungking Mansions. Billed as Hong Kong’s biggest zombie film ever, the Phoenix Waters Productions pic, in co-production with AMM Global and Salon Films Japan, has also added Hong Kong-Canadian actresses Selena Lee and Jeannie Chan, Korea’s Choi Si-Hun and Hong Kong actor Louis Cheung.

Bill Maher was back Friday night from a brief hiatus, but he was also happy to enjoy his first maskless studio audience in two years. “It’s great to see you, and I can finally see you,” Maher said at the top of his HBO show, Real Time. “I don’t want to see another mask unless it’s on a surgeon or a Michael Jackson impersonator.”

EXCLUSIVE: La La Anthony (The Chi), who recurred in the first season of Starz’s drama series BMF, has been promoted to series regular for Season 2. Kelly Hu (The Scorpion King) also joins as a series regular and Christine Horn (Snowfall) will recur in the series from executive producer Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson (Power franchise) and writer/executive producer and Detroit native Randy Huggins (Star).

Amazon Studios has handed a two-season order to an adult animated comedy series from Emmy-nominated Ramy Youssef and A24. The series is part of a new first-look deal between Amazon Studios and Youssef’s production imprint Cairo Cowboy. The as-yet untitled comedy will exclusively stream on Prime Video in more than 240 countries and territories worldwide.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterAmazon has ordered two seasons of an animated comedy from Ramy Youssef, Variety has learned exclusively. The series is part of new first-look deal Youssef and his Cairo Cowboy production banner have signed with the streamer.Youssef leads Cairo Cowboy with Andy Campagna, the former senior vice president of television for Sam Esmail’s Esmail Corp.“Ramy has only scratched the surface of his incredible creative gifts,” said Vernon Sanders, head of global television for Amazon.

EXCLUSIVE: Audible has snapped up the rights to three podcasts from Audio Up – two series created by James Ellroy, the Demon Dog of American literature, and The Playboy Interviews.

Joe Biden was the biggest star.An estimated 38.2 million people watched him deliver his first State of the Union speech last week, spread across several networks that carried it. Fox News Channel, where 7.2 million people watched, had the biggest single audience, the Nielsen company said.Otherwise, no prime-time program exceeded 8 million live viewers. On a typical night, ABC's “World News Tonight” with David Muir had a bigger audience than anything else on TV last week.Among individual prime-time shows, “60 Minutes” finished on top for the second week in a row, Nielsen said.CBS won the week in prime time with an average of 4.6 million viewers.

PlayStation Productions has been putting together a string of high-profile, live-action projects based on its video game IP, which includes the latest Sony Pictures box office hit “Uncharted” starring Tom Holland (“Spider-Man: No Way Home“), the post-apocalypse HBO series “The Last of Us” led by Pedro Pascal (“The Mandalorian“), Anthony Mackie‘s “Twisted Metal” series at Peacock, a film at Sony based on the samurai game “Ghost of Tsushima” set in feudal Japan during the first Mongol invasion with director Chad Stahelski (“John Wick” franchise) attached, and it looks like a live-action “God of War” project is also on the horizon.

Elsa Keslassy International CorrespondentMemento International has sold Ursula Meier’s drama “The Line” to major markets, including the U.S. with Strand Releasing, on the heels of its world premiere in competition at the Berlin Film Festival.A poignant study of acceptance and delicate family bonds, “The Line” stars Valeria Bruni Tedeschi (“La Fracture”) and Stephanie Blanchoud (“Ennemi Public”) as a mother and daughter whose turbulent relationship and explosive fight lead to a retraining order.

Prince Royce and Maria Becerra just dropped a passionate song that will have you thinking about your ex. “Te Espero” starts with the iconic 80’s hit “(I Just) Died in Your Arms” by the renowned British band Cutting Crew, (which is one of Royce’s favorite songs) and takes you on a journey of love. The music video was filmed over two days in Becerra’s native Buenos Aires, Argentina, and is an action-packed story with spectacular scenes.