ScreenX Cinema Experiences Added in Cambodia, Thailand (EXCLUSIVE) – Global Bulletin

Naman Ramachandran Prime Video and BBC Studios have launched BBC Player and BBC Kids on Prime Video Channels in India. The subscription-based service will provide Indian viewers a curated line-up of popular British content spanning dramas, comedy, documentaries, factual shows, entertainment, lifestyle programming and children’s shows. Prime members can purchase an annual add-on subscription to BBC Player for INR 599 ($7.30) that includes full access to BBC Kids. Alternatively, members can also subscribe to BBC Kids only for INR 199 ($2.42) annually. Title available at launch on BBC Player include “Six Four,” “The Diplomat,” “Chivalry,” “Citizen Khan,” “Sherlock,” “Unforgotten,” “Happy Valley,” “Top Gear,” “The Great British Bake Off,” “This is Going to Hurt,” “Small Axe” and “Strictly Come Dancing.” BBC Kids will feature “Hey Duggee,” “Go Jetters,” “JoJo & Gran Gran,” “Sarah & Duck” and “Junior Bake Off.”

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Korean TV series and films are increasing still further their hold on streaming audiences across East Asia. They accounted for half of viewing time in the first half of the year, according to new third-party research. Korean-made premium VOD content captured 50% of SVOD viewership and 42% of freemium viewership between January and June 2023, with a record 58 million VOD users tuning in nine East Asian territories (Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam), according to Singapore-based research and consultancy firm Media Partners Asia. The analysis is based on the measured media consumption activity of 40,000 Asia Pacific consumers, conducted by AMPD, the analysis firm’s sister company.

Ellise Shafer Netflix’s “Elite” is officially getting an eighth season. The streamer announced on Wednesday morning that production on Season 8 will commence in August. Episodes for the upcoming season will be directed by Daniel Barone, Ginesta Guindal, Jota Linares and Elena Trapé. New characters will include Ane Rot (“Killer Book Club”) and Nuno Gallego (“UPA Next”). Mina el Hammani will also return to the series to reprise her role of Nadia. “Elite,” created by Carlos Montero and Jaime Vaca, is Netflix Spain’s longest-running fictional series. Set at Las Encinas, an elite high school, the series follows a group of working class students at the school and their relationships with their wealthier classmates.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Exports of K-pop albums increased by 17% year on year to reach an all-time record of $133 million in the first six months of the year. The U.S. is now the second biggest overseas market for Korean music worth $25 million, having overtaken China, but still trailing Japan ($48 million), according to data from the Korea Customs Service. The next largest were Germany, Taiwan, Hong Kong, the Netherlands, Canada, the U.K. and France.The record was achieved despite the absence of BTS as a group (though BTS members Jimin, and Suga put out solo efforts) and saw Stray Kids, Tomorrow X Together, Seventeen, Ateez and Twice all make an international impact.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Movie stars Zhou Xun and Jelly Lin head the cast of “Imperfect Victim,” a new mainland Chinese drama series that focuses on workplace sexual harassment and leads to a rape trial. Zhou (“Cloud Atlas,” “The Silent War,” “Painted Skin”) plays a lawyer who steps in to represent the character played by Lin (“The Mermaid”), who alleges assault by her boss at work. He is portrayed by TV veteran Liu Yijun (“Nirvana in Fire,” “The Pretender”). The case becomes complicated and Zhou’s character is forced to question her own ethics. The show is highly topical, given the slowly building #MeToo movement in China. This is being fuelled by numerous instances of sexual discrimination, sexual assault and outright violence towards women, many instances of which have gone viral on Chinese social media before being deleted by censors.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief China’s box office weekend was marked more by the tussle for top spot between “Never Say Never” and “Chang An” than the entry of “Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One.” The Tom Cruise-starring U.S. blockbuster was the highest new release title, but landed in third place with an opening score of $25.9 million. The weekend’s top-ranked film was “Never Say Never,” a holdover title that scored $46.1 million. Lightchaser Animation-produced “Chang An San Wan Li” (aka “Chang An 30,000 Miles”) earned a shade less, at $43.9 million, according to data from consultancy Artisan Gateway. After 11 days of official release (plus substantial previews), “Never Say Never,” written and directed by actor Wang Baoqiang (“Lost in Thailand,” “Detective Chinatown”) has already become one of the biggest hits of the year. Its cumulative stands at $212 million. “Chang An” has accumulated $96.1 million in nine days.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Specialty distributor, Trinity CineAsia is releasing China’s summer blockbuster “Lost in the Stars” in the U.K and Ireland on some 30 screens from Friday. “I was fortunate to watch the film when it opened in China and once I saw it I just knew we had to have it,” said Cedric Behrel “‘Lost In The Stars’ is a very clever, uncanny thrill of a ride that harks back to classic Hitchcock and any noteworthy thriller since – the master himself had in fact once optioned the rights to the same story. We organized the fastest turnaround premiere known to man and we’ve been delighted by the reactions to the early previews. It epitomizes the best of what new Chinese cinema can bring to audiences.”

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Sakamoto Ryuichi, the Japanese film composer and music supervisor who died in March, has been posthumously named as the recipient of the Jecheon Film Music Award at the 19th Jecheon International Music & Film Festival (Aug. 10-15). Sakamoto won Academy Awards and Golden Globes for his score for “The Last Emperor” and has other credits including “The Sheltering Sky,” “Railroad Man,” “The Revenant,” “Call Me By Your Name” and “The Fortress.”Abrai Joji from Commons the music label established jointly with Sakamoto, and Yutaka Toyama from Promax, which had produced Sakamoto’s concerts since 1986, will visit the festival. Additionally, a tribute concert will be held on Aug. 12 at the Jecheon Stadium.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Disney+ has set an Aug. 9 upload date for Korean series “Moving” from webtoon pioneer Kang Full. The previously announced title forms part of a 20-component slate of films and series from East Asia that will release on the Disney-backed streaming platform in the second half of 2023 and through 2024.Also from Korea is “The Worst of Evil,” a detective series in which a rural policemen is brought to the big city to bring down a DJ dealing in a potent new drug. It stars Ji Changwook, “Squid Game” actor Wi Hajun and Lim Semi. Highlights from Japan include “Tokyo Revengers: Tenjiku Arc,” the latest instalments of a popular anime franchise, and the previously announced “Dragons of Wonderhatch,” a hybrid story set in both the “real world” and an anime land where dragons and humans coexist. The multi-dimensional story stars Nakajima Sena, Okudaira Daiken and Mackenyu.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Local titles dominated at the mainland Chinese cinema box office over the latest weekend. “Never Say Never” overtook the previous sensation “Lost in the Stars” to lead another strong summer session. “Never Say Never” (aka “Octagonal”) released officially on Thursday, ahead of China’s more normal Friday system. It earned $55.3 million (RMB384 million) between Friday and Sunday, according to verified data from consultancy Artisan Gateway. To that can be added some $9.6 million from Thursday and over $60 million previews and the film finished Sunday with a cumulative of $121 million. Co-written and directed by actor Wang Baoqiang (“Lost in Thailand,” “Detective Chinatown”), the film tells a tale of a man who tries to teach orphans about martial arts. But he is publicly shamed after his efforts are misinterpreted.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Manta, one of the leading platforms for subscription-based digital comics, has unveiled plans to launch more than ten original cartoon series through the third quarter of 2023. The company, which is owned by Korea’s RIDI Corporation, launched in 2020 and has become the number one comics app on Google Play in certain territories including the U.S., Mexico and Spain.Webtoons are a made for mobile genre of comics, that have become yet another Asian entertainment category that is having fast-growing international success. Many webtoons offer vertical scrolling, opportunities for new creators and content that is immediately available in multiple languages.

Naman Ramachandran Amazon miniTV, the free streaming service available on the Amazon Shopping app in India, is dubbing a raft of Korean, Turkish, Mandarin and Spanish dramas into the Hindi language for local consumption under the MiniTV Imported banner. The first set of shows, which streams from July 7, are all Korean and includes “Cheer Up,” “Heart Surgeons” and “Doctor Detective.” Amogh Dusad, head of content, Amazon miniTV, said: “In recent times, the viewing preferences of digital video consumers in India have changed significantly. They love diversity in content offering and are looking for unique stories & captivating characters from across the world. We have curated a list of blockbuster shows, from Korean, Turkish, Mandarin, Spanish and many more languages, that we believe will resonate with Indian viewers.”

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Chinese mystery drama “Lost in the Stars” expanded in its second week on release and gave China its third biggest box office weekend of the year. The film earned $117 million, according to data from consultancy Artisan Gateway. That was significantly up from its opening weekend of $70.7 million (RMB502 million) a week earlier and enough to make it the second biggest film on the planet, behind “Indiana Jones,” according to Comscore. After two weekends on release, it has accumulated $320 million. “Lost in the Stars” is a Chinese adaptation of a 1990 Russian movie “A Trap for the Lonely Man,” which itself was adapted from a Robert Thomas stage play. It sees a woman disappear while on an overseas trip with her husband. Just as mysteriously, she reappears at the moment that the search for her is running out of steam. But the man refuses to accept that she is the same woman and believes that she is an imposter.

Naman Ramachandran Prime Video India has revealed a blockbuster lineup of Indian and international titles ahead of Prime Day 2023 on July 15 and 16. The lineup includes the Hindi-language version of “Ponniyin Selvan 2,” starring Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, “Babylon,” headlined by Brad Pitt and Margot Robbie, Gerard Butler thriller “Kandahar” and Nawazuddin Siddiqui‘s Hindi-language drama-comedy “Tiku Weds Sheru.” Hindi-language original horror series “Adhura,” headlined by Rasika Dugal, the final season of hit series “Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan,” Tamil-language superhero film “Veeran” and Telugu-language family entertainer “Anni Manchi Sakunamule” are also part of the lineup as are Tamil-language series “Sweet Kaaram Coffee” that captures the journey of three women and Telugu-language Young Adult series “Hostel Days.”

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Warner Bros. Discovery will rebrand its kids’ TV channel Boomerang to Cartoonito in Southeast Asia, Taiwan and Hong Kong, with effect from July 28. The company said that the “switch is a result of positive feedback to the Cartoonito-branded block on Boomerang and Cartoon Network launched in 2022, and is focused on being more inclusive to pre-school aged viewers.” Sources close to the company explained that the move is “part of a big regional and global commitment by WBD to preschool content.” It follows Cartoonito rebrands and launches in other international territories including EMEA and LatAm.

Naman Ramachandran The 2023 Glastonbury Festival has broken previous digital audience records for viewing and listening on the BBC, with content streamed a record 50.3 million times across BBC iPlayer and BBC Sounds, up 47% on 2022. On BBC iPlayer, viewers streamed Glastonbury programming a record 47.5 million times, up 49% on 2022. On BBC Sounds, listeners played Glastonbury content 2.8 million times, up 26% on 2022. On BBC iPlayer, the Glastonbury live channel was the most popular, with Elton John‘s farewell U.K. performance on Sunday topping the charts after it was streamed 4.3 times. Saturday’s live channel came second, with 3.8 million streams and Friday’s third with 3.2 million streams. Live coverage from the Pyramid and The Other Stage followed with 2.1 million and 1.9 million streams.

K.J. Yossman The BBC has acquired the Australian version of hit gameshow “The Traitors” for broadcast and streaming this summer. “The Traitors Australia,” which sees contestants compete for a prize of AUS $250,000 in a luxury hotel in the Southern Highlands, is set to drop on BBC Three and iPlayer on July 9. It is hosted by Rodger Corser. “’The Traitors’ is an addictively fiendish format and I am so pleased that viewers can get their summer fix of treachery and suspicion as we head Down Under for the Australian version of the show on BBC Three and iPlayer,” said Nasfim Haque, head of content for BBC Three.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief KC Global Media, a leading multi-territory operator of linear TV channels in Asia, has sold Animax Korea to Aniplus, an Asian multinational television channel and anime distributor based in Singapore and South Korea. The deal “aims to elevate Animax Korea’s offerings while focusing on horizontally integrating its content across Aniplus’ platform and reach,” the companies said. The deal was agreed in April, but was subject to regulatory approvals. These have now been obtained. Deal terms were not disclosed. But sources close to the transaction suggest that it was valued at some KRW46 billion ($35.5 million).

Naman Ramachandran The return of long-running Australian soap “Neighbours” will see a new family, the Varga-Murphys, featuring mums, Remi (Naomi Rukavina) and Cara (Sara West) and teenage sons, JJ (Riley Bryant) and Dex (Marley Williams), moving to the iconic Ramsay Street. West said: “Cara has a bold, impassioned love for her family and I love that her intentions have, so far, always been good. I hope having the Varga-Murphys on telly will help better reflect the beautiful LGBTQIA+ community that I’m proud to be a part of and I can’t wait to share the family with you.” Rukavina added: “As a stalwart of Australian drama television, the show is on the front foot of showcasing diverse and real representations of Australian families, not in a tokenistic way.”