‘The Shawshank Redemption’ Stage Adaptation Opens in Shenzhen, China

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Fish out of water comedy film “Jonny Keep Walking” kept its place at the top of the mainland China box office in its fifth weekend of release. The top five titles remained unchanged from the previous week. “Jonny,” in which a man from the countryside struggles to hold down a corporate job in a big city, earned $12.1 million (RMB86.2 million), according to data from consultancy Artisan Gateway.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief “Citizen of a Kind,” a comedy-drama about a woman who takes matters into her own hands after becoming the victim of a scam, fulfilled its promise from an earlier week of previews. “Citizen” topped the South Korean box office on its opening weekend, accounting for a more than 40% market share.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Sony Pictures‘ “Madame Web,” a standalone origin story in the studio’s array of “Spider-Man”-based Marvel characters, has been granted a theatrical release in mainland China. The film will open in the country on March 1 — two weeks after the title’s Valentine’s Day bow in North America and multiple international territories, including the Chinese-language markets of Taiwan and Hong Kong. The release marks a welcome opportunity for Sony, which, along with the other traditional studios faced difficulty in securing theatrical runs in China over recent years.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Six projects have been announced as participating in the inaugural edition of the HKIFF Industry – CAA China Genre Initiative, a project incubator in Hong Kong for Chinese-language genre films. The HCG platform will run March 11-13, 2024, alongside the 22nd Hong Kong – Asia Film Financing Forum (HAF) and the Hong Kong International Film & TV Market (FilMart), Asia’s largest film and TV rights market. From the six, two winning projects will each receive a cash prize of $20,000 for development funding.

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.

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.

Glastonbury Emerging Talent Competition have been released for 2024 – find all the information below.The free-to-enter contest gives up-and-coming musicians the chance to play at one of the festival’s main stages.The winner will also be awarded a £5,000 Talent Development prize from PRS Foundation to help develop their songwriting and performing, while two runners-up will each be awarded a £2,500 PRS Foundation Talent Development prize.Musicians of any genre can enter the 2024 competition for one week only using the form on the Glastonbury website from 9am GMT, Monday, January 29 until 5pm GMT Monday, February 5.After the entry period closes, a panel of 30 UK music writers will help compile a longlist of 90 acts. That will be narrowed down to a shortlist of eight artists, with judges including Glastonbury organisers Michael and Emily Eavis, before the live finals in Pilton which will decide the winning act.Last year’s finalists were: Cordelia Gartside, EVA, FFSYTHO?!, Naomi Kimpenu, N’famady Kouyaté, The Love Buzz, and NME 100 stars for 2022: Prima Queen and VLURE.The festival welcomes entries from disabled artists, who they say will be supported to ensure they are not disadvantaged by the process.“At a time when it’s not always easy for acts to get their foot on the ladder, we’re really happy to be able to offer this opportunity for rising artists,” said Emily Eavis in a press statement.

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.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Fish out of water comedy film “Jonny Keep Walking” kept its place at the top of the mainland China box office in its fourth weekend of release. Hong Kong-made action comedy “Rob N Roll” opened in second position. “Jonny,” in which a man from the countryside struggles to hold down a corporate job in a big city, earned $15 million (RMB106 million), according to data from consultancy Artisan Gateway.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief First-time mainland Chinese director Lin Jianjie (aka JJ Lin) makes a splash this weekend with the premiere of his “Brief History of a Family.” Asking questions about family in the era since the end of China’s ‘One Child Policy,’ while also borrowing genre tropes such as the idea of the intruder and blood, it is a polished and ultra-modern fable that sees a teenage schoolboy ingratiate himself into another boy’s family.Variety spoke to biologist-turned-filmmaker Lin on the eve of his Sundance debut.How did you get from zero to making your first feature?[After graduating in biology] I did two short films at film school. I went to Tisch Asia, which had a campus in Singapore. We also had an exchange program with Tisch in New York.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Leading Asian film directors including Josh Kim, Fukada Koji and Patiparn Boontarig line up to pitch their in-development projects at the March edition of the Hong Kong – Asia Film Financing Forum (HAF). Leading directors Wang Xiaoshuai and Zhang Lu will also be on the ground at HAF, operating as producers. So too will established producers Yamamoto Teruhisa (“Drive My Car”) and Michael J.

The Smashing Pumpkins have received more than 10,000 applications after advertising a new guitarist position in the band.Earlier this month the group launched a search for an additional guitarist, and anyone interested was encouraged to apply.The position came up after longtime guitarist Jeff Schroeder announced that he’d decided to leave the band last October.The alternative rock band revealed in a social media post today (January 17) that “the band has received over 10,000 submissions for the position of an additional guitarist”.It continued: “Currently, there are 8 people working full-time to review each and every one.”Update pic.twitter.com/J2GoayuBvw— The Smashing Pumpkins (@SmashingPumpkin) January 17, 2024In a statement announcing his departure from The Smashing Pumpkins, Schroeder wrote: “It’s easy to say now that when I joined The Smashing Pumpkins in 2007 I had no idea what I was getting into. The opportunity seemed to have come out of nowhere.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Liam Neeson is to reprise his role as a truck driver turned rescue worker from 2021 indie hit “The Ice Road.” With director Jonathan Hensleigh (writer of “Die Hard with a Vengeance,” “Armageddon” and “Jumanji”) again on board, “The Ice Road 2: Road to the Sky” relocates its story from Canada in the original to Nepal in the sequel. Film production is set to shift from North America to Australia’s Victoria State. Filming will begin this month using Gippsland town of Walhalla as the backdrop for some of the picture’s action scenes.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Fish out of water comedy film “Jonny Keep Walking” kept its place at the top of the mainland China box office in its third week of release. Two newcomers broke into the top five, comedy “Follow Bear for Action” and imported action title “The Beekeeper.” “Jonny,” in which a man from the countryside struggles to hold down a corporate job in a big city, earned $19.7 million (140 million), according to data from consultancy Artisan Gateway. That was another strong hold after an opening weekend of $26.1 million (on Dec.

In Netflix’s San Gabriel-based crime action–comedy The Brothers Sun, actor Sam Song Li plays Bruce Sun, a kind-hearted college student who dreams of being a master of improv despite his mother’s wishes for him to be a doctor. However, his life gets turned upside down upon the arrival of his long-estranged brother, Charles (Justin Chien), a cutthroat assassin who enlists the help of their mother, Mama Sun (Michelle Yeoh), to take down a dangerous crime syndicate. Throughout the eight-episode series, co-created by Byron Wu and Brad Falchuk, Bruce has to contend with learning that his family, unbeknownst to him, are major players in one of the most lucrative and dangerous gangster businesses in Taiwan.

UBA should have broken this news. The Morning Show director and producer and two-time ER Emmy winner Mimi Leder will receive the Art Directors Guild‘s 2024 Cinematic Imagery Award.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Hamaguchi Ryusuke’s “Evil Does Not Exist” and Korean blockbuster “12.12: The Day” dominated the nominations for the 17th edition of the Asian Film Awards. Both picked up six nominations, including those in the best film category. The nominations were announced on Friday afternoon in Hong Kong, ahead of a ceremony on March 10, that will return to the city’s West Kowloon Cultural District and the Qiyu Centre.

Applications for The Traitors season three are now open, so any big fans of the show can potentially live the experience for real.The second series of the hit BBC programme is well underway, after launching on Wednesday, January 3.The Traitors fans can apply to be on the third series of the show, with filming expected to start later on this year. A post on X, formerly known as Twitter, from producers Studio Lambert, read: “Will you take #TheTraitors oath? Apply for The Traitors Series Three here http://bbc.co.uk/takepart”.The post included a video from show host Claudia Winkleman in character for her role on the show, as she outlined the necessary commitments required by candidates. Speaking to the camera, she says: “Well, good evening.

Purple Rain, Prince‘s smash 1984 music-packed film, is being developed for the stage by a Broadway producer, with a book by two-time Pulitzer Prize finalist Branden Jacobs-Jenkins and direction by Tony nominee Lileana Blain-Cruz.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Fish out of water comedy film “Jonny Keep Walking” climbed to the top of the mainland China box office in its second weekend on release. Previous winner, “Shining for One Thing” dimmed quickly and tumbled to fifth place. The first weekend of the new year and following a welter of Christmas-New Year releases, the latest weekend represented a reordering of holdover titles, rather than a session with an injection of significant fresh movies. “Jonny,” in which a man from the countryside struggles to hold down a corporate job in a big city, earned $22.4 million (RMB159 million) from Friday to Sunday, according to data from consultancy Artisan Gateway.