Netflix Picks Up Japanese Animation Film ‘The Imaginary’ – Global Bulletin

Naman Ramachandran Prime Video has unveiled the first trailer for “Poacher,” the new series from Emmy-winning “Delhi Crime” creator Richie Mehta, executive produced by Bollywood star . An eight-part crime drama based on true events, “Poacher,” which bowed at Sundance 2023, uncovers the largest ivory poaching ring in Indian history.

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.

EXCLUSIVE: Netflix has picked up hit Israeli drama A Body that Works, which has sold to nearly 100 territories.

EXCLUSIVE: Anime streamer Crunchyroll is dropping a doc-series on renowned Japanese animation maker Studio Bones.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Indian director and cinematographer Jatla Siddhartha has assembled several of the biggest names in world cinema in service of “In the Belly of a Tiger.” The film has its premiere next week at the Berlin Film Festival. Pitched as a blend of surreal horror and selfless love, the film is a fictionalization of reportedly real events in rural India, in which a couple arranges to be eaten by a tiger in order to ensure their family’s financial security.

Naman Ramachandran “Sunset Boulevard” was the big winner at the U.K.’s 24th annual WhatsOnStage Awards, which are decided entirely by the theatregoers themselves. It won seven awards, including best performer in a musical for Nicole Scherzinger, professional debut performance for Grace Hodgett Young, direction for Jamie Lloyd, lighting design for Jack Knowles, sound design for Adam Fisher, video design for Nathan Amzi and Joe Ransom and music direction/supervision for Alan Williams.

Naman Ramachandran Altitude is launching international sales on two films featuring iconic British band Blur at the Berlin European Film Market. The band, consisting of singer Damon Albarn, guitarist Graham Coxon, bass guitarist Alex James and drummer Dave Rowntree, was formed in 1988 and tasted considerable success until it went on hiatus in 2015. The first film is an untitled feature-length documentary depicting the return of Blur, captured across a year in which the band made a surprise return with their first record in eight years, the #1 album “The Ballad of Darren.” It follows the relationship of the bandmates of over three decades as they come together to record 10 new songs ahead of their sold-out shows at London’s Wembley Stadium in 2023.

Today, it’s easy to put Martin Scorsese up there as one of the greatest American film directors of all time. However, according to one of his longest collaborators, that feeling is relatively new, as studios didn’t respect him as a living legend until the last decade or so.

Hunter Ingram SPOILER ALERT: This post contains spoilers for “Adios, Miami,” the series finale of “Griselda,” now streaming on Netflix. When viewers arrive at the end of Netflix’s new limited series “Griselda” — about the life and crimes of feared drug lord Griselda Blanco — they might be surprised to learn there is a lot more to the story. The series doesn’t follow Griselda into her post-prison twilight years. Instead, it ends with the so-called Cocaine Godmother of Miami on the worst day of her life –– a scene that tested Sofía Vergara, the woman playing her.

Even in the glut of Netflix content, some projects prove too troublesome for the streamer to release. Variety reports that after myriad post-production delays, Netflix won’t complete or release “The Mothership,” a sci-fi movie starring Halle Berry.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief “Chime,” a mid-length movie by leading Japanese director Kurosawa Kiyoshi, is among three late additions to the Berlin Film Festival’s Berlinale Special section. The two others are “August My Heaven,” another mid-length picture form Japan, directed by Kudo Riho, and “The Strangers’ Case,” a full-length feature directed by Brandt Andersen which will play as a Berlinale Special Gala presentation. In “Chime” Tashiro, a student at a culinary school, hears voices in his head.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Indie distributor Bitters End has finally set a theatrical release date in Japan for Christopher Nolan’s lauded “Oppenheimer” – after the Oscars. The film will arrive in Japanese cinemas on March 29, the company said on Thursday. That date is some two and a half weeks after the Oscars ceremony (March 10 in Los Angeles, March 11 in Japan), at which “Oppenheimer” has a strong chance of winning multiple awards. At the Oscars nomination event, earlier this week, “Oppenheimer” became the front-runner, collecting 13 nods, including best picture, best director and a trio of acting nominations.A post shared by 映画会社ビターズ・エンド (@bitters_end) Despite its critical and commercial success in cinemas around the world last year – it earned $952 million – the film is controversial in Japan.

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.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media Reporter Netflix has scrapped the release of “The Mothership,” a science-fiction film starring Halle Berry. The movie finished filming in 2021, but it couldn’t be completed after multiple delays in post-production, Variety has confirmed. “The Mothership” is the latest Hollywood movie to disappear even though filming had wrapped.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Iconic Hollywood musical film “La La Land” is to re-release (again) in South Korean theaters from Wednesday. Distributed by Pancinema, it will play at the country’s Imax cinemas for a one-week limited run with tickets costing upwards of KRW15,000 ($11.25) for adults. The film was directed by Damien Chazelle and stars Ryan Gosling (newly Oscar-nominated for his role as Ken in “Barbie”) and Emma Stone, and holds the box office record for movie musicals with global box office of $470 million. It recently re-released in cinemas in China in time for the Christmas peak season.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Netflix is not going to change up its movie strategy in the wake of the exit of film chairman Scott Stuber, according to co-CEO Ted Sarandos. Sarandos did not directly address Stuber’s departure, news of which came out Monday. But, asked on the streamer’s fourth-quarter 2023 earnings interview about whether “recent management departures” might signal a shift away from original movies, Sarandos replied, “We do not plan to change our strategy or the mix [of licensed and original films].

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.

Naman Ramachandran “Emergency,” written, directed and produced by Bollywood star Kangana Ranaut, has set a release date. The film focuses on one of the most controversial periods of post-Independence Indian history from 1975 to 1977 when then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi declared a nationwide state of emergency. During that time civil liberties and press freedom were curtailed and elections were canceled.

Naman Ramachandran Warner Bros. Discovery, the Board of Control for Cricket in India and Pitch International have signed a package of rights that will see them broadcast live international cricket hosted in India on its linear and digital platforms, TNT Sports and Discovery+, for the next five years.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief “Mongrel,” a Taiwan-set drama film that has done the round of project markets, will appear at the International Film Festival Rotterdam as a work in progress. In addition to the screening of 15 minutes of footage, Taiwan-based Singaporean director Chiang Wei Liang has confirmed the film’s cast as being headed by Thai actor Wanlop Rungkumjad (“Eternity,” “Manta Ray”) alongside Taiwanese female actor Lu Yi-ching (“The River”, “Stray Dogs”) and rapper Hong Yu-hong (“Bad Education”, “Miss Shampoo”) from Taiwanese hip-hop group Nine One One. Other key cast include Atchara Suwan (“By the Time It Gets Dark”), and Guo Shu-wei in his debut role.