The Philippines’ ABS-CBN Launching Remake of ‘Bagman’ Series as Coproduction at FilMart

From time to time we see various films end up getting series remakes with the likes of action flicks such as Fox‘s “Lethal Weapon,” two shows based on Luc Besson‘s “La Femme Nikita,” and most recently with a series take on James Cameron‘s spy pic “True Lies.” Well, yet another action movie is getting the small-screen treatment with “Man of Fire” getting an eight-episode straight-to-series order from New Regency and Netflix, according to a report hailing from THR.

news on Gloria Macarenko’s CBC radio show “On the Coast With Gloria Macarenko.”After Macarenko asked how the showrunner would make the series for today, he mentioned that the effort was already in progress.  “Actually there’s a — I just spoke to a young man Ryan Coogler, who is going to remount the ‘X-Files’ with a diverse cast,” Carter said.

HYBE Labels subsidiary ADOR, home to K-pop girl group NewJeans, have opened online auditions for a potential new boyband.Today (March 28), ADOR unveiled several posters and videos on social media and YouTube announcing its ‘The Real Hype Boys’ audition. The label will be accepting online auditions on ador.world from now until 1pm KST on April 14.An unnamed male trainee as well as the members of NewJeans feature in the promotional video for the auditions, which details the online application period and host countries where in-person auditions will take place.Per ADOR’s guidelines, the auditions are open to boys born between 2004-2012.

It’s on her hubby’s football shirts and in the middle of her daughter’s name, so no prizes for guessing how many shades Victoria Beckham’s latest make-up launch comes in. Yes, it's that lucky number seven for VB’s new EyeWear Eyeshadow Sticks, £30 here, which are great for an effortless “just smudge with a fingertip” smoky eye.The shades of crayons come in a mix of mattes and shimmer finishes, and set for ultra long-wear, crease-proof, fade-proof wear for up to eight hours (seven hours would have been poetic there, VB).

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Vanessa Hudgens, the Asian American actor whose career kicked off in Disney’s “High School Musical” series, is set to shoot a travel documentary in the Philippines, the country of her mother’s birth. The untitled project will shoot in Palawan and Manila in March. Paul Soriano is attached as a director, producer and executive producer. Mark A. Victor of TEN17P will also serve as executive producer. No distributor, broadcaster or streaming platform has yet been disclosed. Soriano’s recent credits include directing the 2019 film “Mañanita” and Manny Pacquiao biopic “Kid Kulafu.”

The 1998 erotic thriller "Wild Things," which celebrates its 25th anniversary today, was almost a different movie for a variety of reasons. The film’s director John McNaughton revealed new details about the production, including a twist with Matt Dillon and Kevin Bacon’s characters.

Mother's Day this Sunday 19 March, HELLO! have taken a look at how the nation's celebrity mothers are spending the special day, as well as how they are paying tribute to their own mums.From Victoria Beckham's heartfelt tribute to her mum Jackie, as well as her doting tribute from husband David, to Lorraine Kelly's family lunch and Louise Redknapp's adorable post from her sons Charley and Beau, other stars have taken to sharing cute throwback photos from the past.Take a look at the best Mother's Day post from the likes of Catherine Zeta-Jones, Sarah Ferguson, Holly Willoughby and more… Former Spice Girls star Victoria Beckham shared the sweetest photograph beside her mother Jackie Adams to her Instagram Story along with the caption: "I love you so much."VB celebrated her mother-in-law Sandra Beckham on Sunday too, sharing a second snap of David's mum looking radiant in a sage green blouse. The mother-of-four also received a flurry of sweet messages from her sons Brooklyn, Cruz, and Romeo on social media, to which she responded that she is "blessed to be a mum".  This Morning star Rochelle Humes was showered with several bouquets of blooming spring flowers to mark Mothering Sunday.

CCTV footage has emerged of missing teenager Faith Marley meeting a man at Buchanan Bus Station.

Marta Balaga French TV festival Series Mania started out playfully with a slew of humorous digs directed at its starry guests during the opening ceremony, including Brian Cox, back in town to hold a masterclass and introduce the latest episode of his smash hit “Succession.” “I didn’t have time to watch Season 3. I have to see my children grow up, Brian!,” exclaimed host Daphné Bürki, before introducing this year’s opening show “Greek Salad” by Cédric Klapisch: “A prequel to ‘Norwegian Omelette,’ always starring Romain Duris,” Bürki joked. Series Mania general director Laurence Herszberg joined in on the fun, giving a shoutout to “Emily in Paris’s” Philippine Leroy-Beaulieu, attending with co-star Arnaud Binard: “She became a symbol of a Parisian woman. I hope there isn’t too much weight on your shoulders, Philippine!”

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief ABS-CBN, once The Philippines largest broadcast group, said Thursday that it would sell its internet and broadband division Sky Cable to PLDT, the country’s biggest telecoms company. The transaction is valued at $123 million and means that ABS-CBN will focus even more on content production and distribution. “The proceeds from the sale of the shares of ABS-CBN and the settlement of Sky Vision’s obligations to ABS-CBN will be used by ABS-CBN to settle and fund its retirement obligations. The sale of the company’s ownership in Sky will also allow ABS-CBN to focus its resources on content creation,” ABS-CBN said. Since losing its TV licenses, it distributes it content via its own streaming business and on Facebook and YouTube.

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.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Hollywood producer Scott M. Rosenfelt has joined Filipino TV crime-action series, “Sellblock,” as U.S.-based Blue Fox Entertainment joins as the show’s sales and distribution representative. Planned as a three-season series, “Sellblock” chronicles the activities of one of Asia’s biggest drug empires which is operating from inside a Philippines maximum-security prison. Production is scheduled to start in May. The cast is headlined by Jericho Rosales (“Basurero,” “Siargao,” “Pacquiao: The Movie”) alongside actors Empoy Marquez, Ronnie Lazaro, Mon Confiado, Sylvia Sanchez, and Ria Atayde.

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.

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 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.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief After three editions that were canceled due to a combination of COVID and bad timing, Hong Kong’s FilMart film rights market may have finally had some things go its way. It opens March 13 with many factors now moving in its favor. Not least of these are the moves by the Hong Kong government to end its previously harsh and persistent disease-control measures. The city wound down its disruptive quarantine and tracking measures at the end of 2022, opened its borders in January and finally dropped its mask mandate in the last 10 days. “We saw an immediate jump in interest from buyers and sellers after Chinese New Year’s border opening and there were no more restrictions on the food and beverage sector,” says Gloria Chan, section head for the entertainment industry at FilMart organizer, the Hong Kong Trade Development Council.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Hong Kong-based indie sales agent Autumn Sun comes to FilMart with a bulging slate of new film titles from around Asia — including two animated features from mainland China. Autumn Sun, headed by sales veteran Elliot Tong, is giving a market premiere to “Planet Cat,” an animated feature by Song Yuefeng (“Ping Pong Rabbit,” “Throne of Elves”) about a chance meeting between a stray cat and a girl in a city at night. The film is produced by Nuctopus Studio and Dreamers Studio and previously won a development prize at the Beijing International Film Festival. The feature is now in post-production and a promo reel is being screened at the market.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief The much-decorated Japanese drama “Drive My Car” was named the best film Sunday at the Asian Film Awards, defeating hot favorite “Decision to Leave.” Other notable awards went to Japan’s Hirokazu Kore-eda whose “Broker” debuted at Cannes, but which was largely shunned in his home country. “Decision to Leave,” which started the evening with ten nominations, was nevertheless rewarded with three awards, best screenplay, best production design and best actress for China’s Tang Wei.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief CJ ENM is putting an emphasis on TV content over feature film at the upcoming FilMart rights market in Hong Kong. The South Korean behemoth, which operates multiple studios and the TVing streaming platform, is touting at least six shows and formats. Sebastian Kim, the group’s director of international content sales and acquisition, will also be taking part in a Monday morning seminar “Spotlight Conversation: The Asian Wave in 2023 and Beyond” at FilMart. His lineup is headed by “The Heavenly Idol,” a fantasy, romance series which sees a priest from a different era transported to the present day as a pop idol. His training makes him a hopeless celebrity, but he has to learn to adapt. Starring Kim Min-gue and Go Bo-gyeol, the 12-part series began airing mind-February on tvN.

Argentina, 1985 Leads 2023 Platino Awards NominationsSantiago Miter’s political thriller Argentina, 1985 leads this year’s Platino awards nominations with 14 nods, including Best Director, Screenplay, and Best Ibero-American Fiction Film. Alejandro G. Iñárritu’s latest pic Bardo, False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths trails with six nominations alongside Spanish filmmaker Rodrigo Sorogoyen’s The Beasts and Lullaby by Alauda Ruiz De Azúa. On the TV side, the Colombian series Noticia de un kidnapping also notched six noms. This year’s Platino awards take place on April 22 at the IFEMA Municipal Palace in Madrid. Check out the full list of nominations here.