Terra Mater Goes Off the Beaten Track With ‘The Bastard King’

Stephen Colbert mocked the GOP’s latest attempt to try to prove the 2020 presidential election was rigged in favor of Joe Biden on Monday’s “Late Show,” where he tore into the Cyber Ninjas security firm attempting to find traces of bamboo on Maricopa County ballots to tie them to China.“Maricopa already had two official audits right after the election, both of which revealed exactly zero shenanigans,” Colbert said.

Vivienne Chow The Hong Kong government has acquired the broadcast rights to July’s Tokyo Olympics in order to allow citizens to watch the games for free and cheer for athletes from Hong Kong and mainland China, the city’s leader announced on Tuesday.The games will now be shown free of charge on free-to-air channels Television Broadcasts, ViuTV and Hong Kong Open TV and pay-TV stations Now TV and Cable TV.

It is such a hard day for so many people who are experiencing the heartbreak of no longer having their special someone here — which is something Ryan Dorsey knows all too well.

Rebecca Davis editorPeter Jackson’s “The Return of the King,” the third film in his classic “Lord of the Rings” trilogy,” will hit China on May 14 in remastered 4K.The first two films of the trilogy are already in theaters, having debuted April 16 and April 23, respectively.

Disney is to close 18 of its television channels in Southeast Asia and Hong Kong on October 1, according to local reports.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefDisney is to close 18 TV channels in Southeast Asia and Hong Kong as the conglomerate puts a greater emphasis on direct-to-consumer streaming. The move will take effect from Oct.

Rebecca Davis editor“Better Days” is Hong Kong’s first Oscar submission to be nominated for best international feature film since 1993, but its nod has only inflamed political tensions at home.

Refresh for latest…: Warner Bros/Legendary’s Godzilla Vs Kong has reached a new global benchmark, crossing $400M with a cume through Sunday of $406.6M worldwide. Of that, $320M comes from the international box office in 41 markets. The monster mash, already the biggest Hollywood movie of the pandemic era, continues to track above its Monsterverse predecessors. It is the highest-grossing of the films in China, Russia, Spain, Australia, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Mexico.

Hong Kong has cultivated a reputation for punching above its weight. Once producing 300 films a year, the small territory hatched global martial arts superstars like Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan, Michelle Yeoh and Donnie Yen.

Rebecca Davis editorReporters Without Borders (RSF) ranked China fourth to last out of 180 countries on its 2021 World Press Freedom Index on Tuesday, while warning that Hong Kong journalism is also now under “grave threat.”China ranked 177th in 2019, 2020 and 2021, down from a period at 176th from 2015 to 2018.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefWarnerMedia has set up two Chinese-language series that will debut later this year. Period drama series “Legacy” hails from mainland China, while crime drama “Trinity of Shadows” is a three-way venture involving partners from Taiwan and Hong Kong.“Legacy” is a 1920s-set drama that chronicles the lives of the wealthy Yi family and three sisters who vie to inherit their father’s shopping mall business.

Hong Kong director Derek Tsang's harrowing youth drama Better Days is the rare Oscar best international film nominee that was both critically acclaimed and a massive commercial hit. Released in mainland China in October 2019, the film grossed $223 million, which is more than 40 times the total earnings of the other four international feature nominees combined.

Rebecca Davis editorUniversal Pictures officially announced Friday that “F9,” the latest entry in the “Fast & Furious” saga, will hit China on May 21, more than a month ahead of its June 25 debut in North America.It had passed Chinese censorship approvals and given permission for theatrical release last week.Along with China, “F9” will also debut in several foreign territories, including Russia, Korea, the Middle East, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore and Vietnam, throughout the month of May.

Refresh for latest…: Fuel-injecting some mega muscle into the international box office landscape, Universal’s F9 is revving up for a May 21 release date in China, a full five weeks before domestic. But China won’t be the only overseas market to release early, as I hear several other key hubs are also going throughout the month of May including Korea (which is expected to kick things off on May 19), Russia, the Middle East, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore and Vietnam.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefNews over the weekend of a record breaking $2.8 billion fine for Chinese tech giant Alibaba produced a huge relief rally.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefChinese media group CMC Inc. is being readied for a share listing in Hong Kong.