A contract extension for Kep1er is under discussion, says WAKEONE

Seoul-based sales company Finecut has got off to a busy start at Busan’s Asian Contents & Film Market (ACFM) closing a trio of deals on webtoon adaptation Brave Citizen, and picking up international rights to inspirational drama Victory. 

The Match Factory has announced a raft of world sales for Sofia Coppola’s biopic Priscilla ahead of its North American premiere as the Centrepiece selection of the New York Film Festival on Friday.

Hong Kong star Chow Yun-Fat, attending Busan International Film Festival where he has been named Asian Filmmaker of the Year, talked about the challenges facing Hong Kong cinema at a press event today. 

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Japan‘s Fair Trade Commission on Tuesday approved a remedial proposal by Toho Cinemas, the country’s largest movie theater operator, not to apply unfair pressure on third-party film distributors. The FTC opened an investigation into film booking practices in March of last year, having received reports that Toho Cinemas, which is also in the same family of companies as Japan’s leading distributor, had pressured other companies to only use its theaters. In its decision, reported by Japanese media, the FTC said that it accepted Toho Cinemas’ proposed remedies and said that it would not need to issue a cease-and-desist order or take other punitive measures that the anti-monopoly laws allow. The FTC explained that distributors choose so-called main cinemas as venues for promotional events (stage greetings, fan meetings and gala screenings). It found that since 2016 Toho would not accept film bookings at cinemas in its circuit unless a Toho Cinemas venue had also been designated as a main cinema. At the time of the complaint, the Asahi Shimbun business newspaper mentioned ‘intimidation’ by Toho.

Thania Garcia Matty Healy took some time out of the 1975 concert at the Hollywood Bowl Monday night to issue an updated apology for “some of my actions have hurt some people.” Healy has been under fire numerous times throughout his musical career for controversial comments and behavior but he incited a mass hate storm when he appeared on an episode of “The Adam Friedland Show” earlier this year. The episode featured racist jokes, some of them having been pointed at rising star Ice Spice.

UPDATED with deal closing: CAA and Artémis on Monday said that its deal for Artemis to acquire a majority stake in CAA has officially closed.

Coco Gauff took a week off from Tennis after winning her first Grand Slam at the US Open but is ready to get back to work. The 19-year-old champion accepted a wild card to play the Zhengzhou Open, a WTA 500 tournament in China.

Naman Ramachandran Charades has sold key territories on Chiara Malta and Sébastien Laudenbach’s hand-painted animation “Chicken for Linda!” (“Linda veut du poulet!”) that won dual honors at the Annecy Animation Festival. The film follows loving mom, Paulette, who feels guilty after unfairly punishing her daughter Linda and would do anything to make it up to her.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Trinity CineAsia has picked up U.K. and Ireland rights to Chinese hit film “The Ex-Files 4: Marriage Plan.” The film ranked third worldwide at the box office over the latest weekend. Trinity CineAsia will give it an official release from Oct.

The San Sebastian Film Festival awarded O Corno (The Rye Horn) with the Golden Shell for Best Film. San Sebastián native Jaione Camborda took the top prize of the night for the feature she directed.

Parker Stevens, best known as the oleaginous comms man Hugo Baker in Succession, has revealed that Leonardo DiCaprio played matchmaker between him and David Beckham.

Italian rock band Måneskin just launched their Rush! World Tour and we have the set list from the first U.S. show.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Disney has given a green light to a second season of Japanese drama -horror series “Gannibal.” Set in a fictional Japanese village, season one of Gannibal saw recently relocated police officer Agawa Daigo arrive in his new home a broken man. Wrestling with his guilt over an event that traumatized his daughter, things started off promisingly for the new arrival before a series of alarming events quickly led Agawa to the horrifying realization that something was deeply wrong with the villagers and the mysterious Goto family.

Amazon is giving all customers a free £5 voucher to spend to mark its 25th anniversary. The voucher can be claimed from 9am on Friday, September 15, but savvy shoppers will have to act quickly to take advantage, as it only lasts until midnight.

Some of Hollywood’s most popular it-girls are taking over Tokyo together!

EXCLUSIVE: Blumhouse CEO and founder Jason Blum is among the Guest Sharks joining ABC’s Shark Tank for the upcoming 15th season. He will be joined by fellow Guest Sharks, Fanatics chairman & CEO Michael Rubin; Candace Nelson, founder of Sprinkles Cupcakes and CN2 Ventures and Pizzana co-founder; along with returning Guest Shark Emma Grede, CEO and co-founder of Good American and founding partner of Skims. Daniel Lubetzky, founder of Kind Snacks, Camino Partners and Starts With Us, is returning as a recurring Guest Shark.

VAV have announced their upcoming 2024 ‘Subcönscióus’ US tour.Today (September 12), organiser Studio PAV announced VAV’s upcoming 10-date tour of the US. The boybank will kick things off on the East Coast, with a show in New Jersey.Following that, VAV will head to Illinois and Florida, before playing a single show in the territory of Puerto Rico.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Yakusho Koji, the Japanese star who was named best actor at Cannes this year in Wim Wenders’ “Perfect Days,” is set as the subject of a seven-title showcase at the upcoming Golden Horse Film Festival in Taiwan. Among the septet are classic erotic film “Lost Paradise” from 1997, this year’s “Perfect Days” and 1996 film “Shall We Dance,” which was later remade in Hollywood. A former civil servant who first ventured into Taiga drama (long-running TV series broadcast by NHK), then played in several films by Kurosawa Akira, Yakusho became a major 1990s star in Asia as a result of “Shall We Dance?,” in which he portrayed a ball room dancer, and “Lost Paradise.” He also starred in Itami Juzo’s “Tampopo.” Directed by Morita Yoshimitsu, “Lost Paradise” is a tale of a man and a woman whose marriages no longer make them happy, but who rediscover desire in each other’s arms. Fatefully, however, their newfound joy means ever greater transgression of Japan’s strict morality laws. At the time of the release of “Lost Paradise,” the producers deliberately darkened the erotic scenes to make them less explicit and to achieve less restrictive release classifications.

Japan’s Visual Industry Promotion Organization (VIPO) and Japan Film Commission have announced details of a new incentives program for offshore film and TV productions shooting in the country. 

Phoenix were joined on stage by special guest Clairo in New York last night (September 9) – watch them play ‘After Midnight’ below.The artists teamed up on a remixed version of the song earlier this year, with the original appearing on Phoenix’s 2022 album ‘Alpha Zulu’.During Phoenix’s show with Beck at Madison Square Garden, they gave the track its live debut with help from Clairo herself.Watch footage of the performance below.A post shared by Michelle Willie (@mwillie70)A post shared by Claire Cottrill (@clairo)Beck and Phoenix are currently finishing up their co-headline 2023 ‘Summer Odyssey’ tour across North America.The bands kicked off a 19-city run on August 1 in Seattle, Washington, with stops in Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Houston, Boston, New York and more. It wraps up tonight (September 10) in Columbia, Maryland.