Richard Gere’s ‘Hachi: A Dog’s Tale’ to Get Chinese Remake Starring Joan Chen, Feng Xiaogang

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefLeading Chinese actor Huang Xiaoming will take a production role on selected film titles emerging from Stars Collective, the talent incubator program backed by China- and Los Angeles-based financier Starlight Media.Huang, who has credits including “The Message” and “American Dreams in China,” will lead Stars Collective’s talent discovery efforts in China, be a mentor to the selected filmmakers and take a formal producer role on selected, individual projects the

Richard Kuipers “Hi, Mom” begins as a pleasant enough comic fantasy about a young Chinese woman who time-travels from 2001 to 1981 and becomes friends with her late mother. That’s before it flicks an inspired story-telling switch and turns into a top-notch tearjerker that will have viewers everywhere reaching for the tissues.

Marvel legend Stan Lee.The film will be an adaptation of Monkey Master, an unreleased comic book series that Lee and his longtime collaborator Sharad Devarajan created in 2016 loosely based on the Chinese legend of The Monkey King.According to The Hollywood Reporter, the film will follow New York City archeologist Li Yong as he discovers an ancient prophecy about the Monkey King, which brings him to India where he uncovers a hidden power that transforms him into a modern-day superhero, The

Naman Ramachandran Celebrated action filmmaker John Woo will produce a live action adaptation of Stan Lee’s “Monkey Master,” from a superhero story created by Lee and collaborator Sharad Devarajan.Based on an unreleased comic book series and story created by Marvel maven Lee and Graphic India co-founder and CEO Devarajan, the film will follow New York City archeologist Li Yong who discovers an ancient prophecy about the Chinese legend of The Monkey King that brings him to India where he

BBC China correspondent John Sudworth has relocated to Taiwan amid fears for his safety as tensions grow between Beijing and Britain’s public broadcaster.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefJohn Sudworth, China correspondent for the BBC has left the Chinese mainland and relocated to Taiwan. His move follows mounting East-West tension over Xinjiang and Hong Kong and accusations that the BBC in particular has defamed China.Sudworth’s move was announced Wednesday by the BBC in a Twitter message.

Godzilla vs Kong has turned out to be among the top earners amid the pandemic releases at the global box office. The film debuted with a collection of over USD 121.8 million at the foreign box office, as per Hollywood Reporter.

Netflix movie Wedding Season has secured the talents of both Rizwan Manji and Ari Afsar. The two actors are known for their roles in Schitt's Creek (Manji played Ray Butani) and Hamilton (Afsar brought Eliza Hamilton to life on stage in Chicago).

DEALSWarner Chappell has signed producer DA Got That Dope. “From number ones like [Tyga’s] ‘Taste’ to [Kodak Black’s] ‘Zeze’, DA effortlessly creates memorable beats that connect with fans around the world”, says Warner Chappell’s Ryan Press.

Garraway gave insight into her husband's life-threatening battle with coronavirus in the ITV show Kate Garraway: Finding Derek last night. It's nearly one year since her husband was hospitalised with the deadly virus that has claimed the lives of 126,000 people in the UK.

Warner Music and Tencent Music Entertainment Group said Tuesday that they have expanded their long-running licensing relationship while also partnering on a new joint venture record label targeting the China market. A dominant player in digital music in China, Tencent Music has been licensing songs from Warner Music for over a decade.

Meghan McCain apologized on Monday after John Oliver singled out past remarks she made on The View in aLast Week Tonight segment on anti-Asian violence and the shootings in Atlanta. "I condemn the reprehensible violence and vitriol that has been targeted towards the Asian-American community," The View co-host said in a tweet after the Sunday episode of Oliver's HBO show excerpted her past comments.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorTencent Music Entertainment Group, part of the massive China-based Tencent media company, and Warner Music have announced an expanded multi-year strategic licensing agreement that will also see the companies collaborating on a new joint venture record label.While Tencent became a 20% owner of Warner competitor Universal Music Group late last year, it and Warner have been working together since their original agreement more than a decade ago. As part of the expanded

Meghan McCain has apologized after John Oliver called her out for saying she had “no problem” with Donald Trump calling COVID-19 the “China virus”… and then tweeting “Stop Asian Hate” a year later. The View co-host wrote March 22 on Twitter, “I condemn the reprehensible violence and vitriol that has been targeted towards the Asian-American community. There is no doubt Donald Trump’s racist rhetoric fueled many of these attacks and I apologize for any past comments that aided that agenda.”

EXCLUSIVE: Rizwan Manji (Schitt’s Creek) and Ari Afsar (Hamilton) have joined the cast of Netflix comedy Wedding Season. They will star alongside Suraj Sharma (Life Of Pi) and Pallavi Sharda (Tom & Jerry), as Deadline previously revealed. 

James Cameron's Avatar again dominated China'sbox office over the weekend, adding $14.1 million to its record as the world's top-grossing film of all time. Over the past 10 days, the 2009 blockbuster has earned $41 million on rerelease, lifting its career total in China to $250.2 million.

Rebecca Davis editorLongstanding Alibaba executive and pop culture icon Gao Xiaosong has left his role as director of Alibaba Music, according to company data publicly available via the Chinese company information site Tianyancha.He exited Tuesday, the same day that the Wall Street Journal reported that the Chinese government has asked Alibaba Group to sell off or reel in its sprawling assortment of media assets.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefChinese indie sales agency Blossoms Entertainment returns to FilMart with a slate of large-scale commercial pictures sourced from a clutch of China’s biggest film studios.The agency, operated by former IM Global staffers Vicky Ding and Leslie Chen, is pre-selling “Railway Heroes,” a tale of heroism and wartime sabotage which is targeting a National Day release in October.

Refresh for latest…: As we first reported yesterday, James Cameron’s Avatar is again king of the all-time worldwide box office, having snapped the title back from Avengers: Endgame thanks to a very robust China reissue this session. The full three-day frame in the Middle Kingdom is estimated at $21.1M, also giving the sci-fi epic bragging rights to being the weekend’s global and international box office leader. The overseas gross is now an estimated $2,050.3M with $2,810.8M worldwide.