MM2, Man Man Er, Million Star Team on ‘Tales of Mystery’ Series — FilMart

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief In cricket-mad India the upcoming Indian Premier League tournament could be a watershed for the country’s jostling media empires, according to Singapore-based consultancy and analysis firm, Media Partners Asia. Video rights for the tournament were split between incumbent pay-TV player Disney Star India, which paid close to $3.1 billion for broadcast rights to the five 2023-2027 editions, and Viacom18, which is backed by Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) and Paramount (as a minority stakeholder), in partnership with financier Bodhi Tree Systems. It paid a similar sum for the separate digital rights. Media Partners Asia estimates that advertising revenues spawned by the two-month 2023 competition will end up around $550 million – representing a clear loss on the annualized cost of $1.2 billion, or roughly $600 million per conglomerate, for the tournament rights. (The analysis firm forecasts that RIL will earn $300-350 million in ad sales, while Star’s best-case scenario is $220 million.)

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Taiwan has become a go-to destination for Chinese language series production over the past few years, as international streamers have taken the initiative and as the local content trend has become entrenched in Asia. While some of Taiwan’s advantage may have been handed to it as a result of regional political factors, the movement has led to greater interest in Taiwan stories, both historical and modern.Five Taiwan TV projects are being pitched at Series Mania, that are deemed to have international appeal according to Taiwan Creative Content Agency (TAICCA), a government-backed agency that has become noticeably proactive over roughly the same period.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief The theatrical release of low-budget slasher movie “Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey” in Hong Kong has been abruptly canceled just two days before its scheduled outing. No explanation has been offered, but suspicions that the film may have crossed one of Hong Kong’s increasingly complicated political red lines are certain to be raised. That is because the Winnie the Pooh character is unflatteringly perceived to have a physical resemblance to China’s president, Xi Jinping. Online search for Winnie the Pooh is heavily censored within mainland China and Winnie the Pooh products are not distributed. China did not permit the import and release of Disney’s 2018 Winnie the Pooh film “Christopher Robin.”

Although Filmart felt quiet on its first morning, with many attendees glued to their phones watching the Oscars, it soon turned into a reasonably vibrant market, with sales companies locked in back-to-back meetings, new project announcements and a few star appearances to liven up proceedings. 

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief The Hong Kong Trade Development Council said Thursday that 7,300 executives from 41 countries had attended its FilMart and Entertainment Pulse events this week (March 13-16). “The revived physical marketplace was as vibrant and active as in the past,” organizers claimed. In 2019, the last year that FilMart was held as an in-person event, the TDC reported “close to 9,000 visitors from 52 countries and regions.” For 2023, it reported “over 700 exhibitors from 30 countries and regions,” including a record Mainland China exhibitor tally exceeding 330. Those numbers compared with 888 exhibitors from 35 countries and regions in 2019, including 264 exhibitors from China.

Naman Ramachandran The future is Web3 was the consensus at a high-powered panel discussing the subject at Hong Kong’s FilMart on Wednesday. Weighing in with their knowledge and experience were Evan Auyang, group president, Animoca Brands; Jenefer Brown, executive VP and head of global products and experiences, Lionsgate; Lucas Cheungmanaging partner, Hong Kong, Gusto Collective and Jaeson Ma co-founder, 88rising, OP3N and EST Media. For the benefit of the lay people in the audience, Ma provided a handy definition of what exactly Web3 is. Ma explained that web1 was a phase where people could search for and read content, web2 is where companies were able to publish content and web3 is all about ownership.

Naman Ramachandran Indian production company Turning Point Productions is launching with a streaming series adaptation of Rob Sinclair’s bestselling thriller novel “Sleeper 13,” it was revealed on the sidelines of the 21st Hong Kong – Asia Film Financing Forum (HAF). The novel, published by Orion in 2018, follows a protagonist who is smuggled to the Middle East as a child, trained as one of the most elite insurgents of his generation and forced to do things no one should for a cause he couldn’t believe in. But as his brothers were preparing to kill, he was looking for a way out. On the eve of the deadliest coordinated attacks the world has ever seen, he finally has his chance and looks to break free and hunt down those who made him a monster.

Last year, it was announced that John Woo was actually ready to direct a remake of his classic Hong Kong action film, “The Killer.” Well, not only is that still happening, but we now know the two leads that will star in the film. According to Deadline, Nathalie Emmanuel and Omar Sy are set to star opposite each other in John Woo’s upcoming “The Killer” remake.

Marcus Lim Chinese TV producer Linmon Media struck a decidedly international tone during the presentation of its 2023-24 slate at FilMart, with presenters speaking about their Chinese-language projects in only English and Korean, and handing out sleek project literature in multiple languages. Apart from a slate of romance, medical and crime dramas targeted at domestic audiences, the studio is actively remaking its hit female-led contemporary drama “Nothing but Thirty” in Thailand, Indonesia and Hong Kong, having previously licensed the remake rights to Korean pay TV network JTBC. The drama, which follows the lives of three women as they transition from their 20s into their 30s, is emblematic of the Linmon slate, which is heavy on female-centric contemporary romance dramas.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Hong Kong-based indie sales agent Good Move Media has added Japanese music drama “Plastic” to its FilMart slate. The film is directed by Miyazaki Daisuke, the Japanese helmer behind “Yamato (California),” which had festival play in 2016, and 2019 slacker youth title “Tourism” in 2019. The new picture is the story of teenagers Juna and Ibuki, who set out to find the psychedelic rock band Exne Kedy. Exne Kedy is a fictional creation from musician Ide Kensuke, who previously released punky album “Kensuke Ide With His Mothership — Contact From Exne Kedy and the Poltergeists,” but the band is actually credited as performing and providing part of the music track in the film. “Plastic” is recently completed and headed for a theatrical release in Japan in July.

EXCLUSIVE: MakerVille, the recently launched entertainment subsidiary of Hong Kong media group PCCW, is set to make a splash at Filmart, unveiling an ambitious slate of movies and premium series, following its debut feature Mad Fate, which had its world premiere at Berlin film festival. 

Marcus Lim Africa is turning out to be an unlikely market for Chinese television producers, according to one production executive. Hou Hong Liang, chairman of Chinese television production company Daylight Entertainment revealed his amazement at meeting African fans of Chinese television stars in a recent trip to the continent, even as he bemoaned the lower profitability of the region. “We had African fans coming to the airport to meet the cast for one of our recent productions. I was amazed to see we had fans in Africa. I thought they wouldn’t understand our culture, but they did. I don’t think Africa is a true market yet, our IP is not valued as much. We have to nurture the audience, so we sell our IP at a lower price to African broadcasters.”

Top executives from Asian media companies including CJ ENM, Zee Entertainment Enterprises, BEC World and Bona Film Group discussed Asia’s changing media landscape on the first day of Hong Kong’s Filmart. 

Michelle Yeoh made history at the 95th Oscars on Sunday, and she had her whole home country behind her!The star completed her awards season run with an Academy Award for Best Actress, making her the first Asian woman and second woman of color to win in the award's history.In her emotional acceptance speech, Michelle thanked her mother, Janet, as well as «all the moms in the world.»«I have to dedicate this to my mom — all the moms in the world — because they are really the superheroes, and without them, none of us would be here tonight,» the actress noted. «She's 84.

Roberto Stabile, head of special projects, Directorate General for Cinema and Audiovisual-Ministry of Culture at Cinecittà, told Variety. “This support will increase the presence of Italian audiovisual content not only in cinemas, but also on streaming platforms, online distribution, television, everything,” he added.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Despite a barnstorming address celebrating the re-opening of Hong Kong and China by Bona Film Group COO Jiang De Fu, it is clear that the film industry in China is still suffering its own version of long-COVID, with box office tracking at around half of 2018 levels. “The Chinese box office was RMB60.7 billion ($8.89 billion at current rates of exchange) in 2018. And 83 films made over RMB100 million. 16 films that made over RMB1 billion. Post-pandemic, in 2022, China’s box office was RMB29.9 billion. [Just] 41 films made over RMB100 million. [And] 8 films made over RMB1 billion. We are now only at 50% of the level in 2018,” said Jiang aty a presentation on the first day of Hong Kong’s FilMart.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief “Post-Truth,” a Chinese comedy film about a cemetery plot salesman trying to salvage his reputation in the face of online assaults, topped the cinema box office in mainland China over the weekend, ahead of another new release title “Revival.” Data from consultancy Artisan Gateway showed that “Post-Truth” earned $17.0 million between Friday and Sunday. Including preview, it has a cumulative of $20.3 million. Crime drama, “Revival” earned $10.3 million over the weekend and has a running total of $11.4 million including previews. The two newcomers dominated the box office and relegated Hong Kong-produced courtroom drama “A Guilty Conscience” to a distant third place. “Guilty” took $2.3 million (RMB15.8 million) for a cumulative of $23 million since releasing on Feb. 24.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Singapore’s Mocha Chai Laboratories and Emissary Pictures, a company that straddles New Zealand, Australia and Indonesia, have announced a strategic partnership for the development and production of cross-cultural films, series and content in Asia. The venture will have offices in all four countries and will identify, develop and produce content across genres and formats, including films, television series, documentaries and digital content. The agreement was announced in Hong Kong on the first day of the FilMart rights market. The pair say that they have scripted and unscripted projects in development and production. Slate details, however, remain under wraps as do distribution plans.

Naman Ramachandran Asian content heavyweights revealed their thoughts on several subjects at a panel called “The Asian Wave in 2023 and Beyond” on March 13, the opening day of FilMart in Hong Kong. The lively session, moderated by Variety‘s Asia editor Patrick Frater, featured Sebastian Kim, director of international content sales and acquisition at Korea’s CJ ENM, Sanmesh Thakur, executive VP and territory head, Asia Pacific, at India’s Zee Entertainment Enterprises and Ziraviss Vindhanapisuth, VP, international business at Thailand’s BEC World Public Company. The evergreen topic of co-production was discussed in some depth. Kim said: “We’ve been looking for this formula for decades and for now, we find that the best formula of co-production is more like an adaptation of the original — A place to B place production — that’s how we’ve been doing it.”

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