Buddy Marini, Veteran Asia Executive, Hired as GM of Warner Bros. Discovery in Japan

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Sony is to launch an academy that will develop talent involved in the creation of anime, it was announced on Thursday. The initiative was revealed as part of Japanese electronics and entertainment conglomerate Sony Group Corporation’s annual corporate strategy presentation.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief The final matches of the NBA season will be screened live at selected Imax cinemas in Hong Kong and Taiwan from June 6. The screenings are the first time that Imax China, the offshoot of Imax Corp., the Canadian giant screen cinema and equipment company, offers a live sports experience. It comes as a result of a first-time deal between Imax China and NBA China.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Already adapted as a two-part feature film, the acclaimed manga “Dead Dead Demons Dededede Destruction” is to be made available worldwide as an animated TV series on Crunchyroll later this week. The two-part feature film, distributed by Gaga Corp., has only been released in Japan – part one debuted in Japan in March, while part two will open on May 24. The film content, complemented by new footage not seen in the theatrical features, will be screened as an 18-part TV series. Starting from May 23, episodes will upload every Thursday evening Los Angeles time (or Friday May 24, Japan time). The underlying manga is based on a graphic novel by Asano Inio (“Goodnight Punpun”) and was published by Shogakukan between 2014 and 2022, with over three million copies in circulation.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief The 27-member European Film Agency Directors Association and the Asian Film Alliance Network, which was established this time last year and currently has seven members, have agreed to work together on topics of common interest and to jointly develop a better world film ecosystem. At a meeting this week held on the sidelines of the Cannes Film Festival, EFAD and AFAN promised to enhance understanding and collaboration between Asian and European national film agencies. Topics included: dialog on policy and regulations; the development of the film industry in both regions; and addressing new media and challenges ahead. Separately, the founding AFAN members convened for a closed-door roundtable discussion on May 16.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief “The Last Frenzy,” a comedy film about a dying man’s last hurrah, returned to the top spot in mainland Chinese cinemas in its third weekend of release. “Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes,” which a week earlier had been the biggest title, slipped to fourth place. In another China disappointment for Hollywood, “The Fall Guy” opened outside the Chinese top ten.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief First-time feature director Constance Tsang makes a splash in Cannes with “Blue Sun Palace,” the first U.S. film in Critics Week that is in the Mandarin Chinese language. Set in a massage parlor, staffed with Chinese immigrants, in Queens, New York, the melodramatic film tells of how the romantic relationship between a man and a woman is disrupted by a sudden disappearance. Tsang was careful to avoid stereotypes and to be true to the community that she grew up in and observing. But the feature effort was also a big step up from the short films she cut her teeth on. Underlining that point, she amassed a powerful cast of leading Chinese-speaking actors, including Lee Kang-sheng (“What Time Is It There” and a dozen Tsai Ming-liang films), Wu Ke-xi (“Nina Wu,” “The Road to Mandalay”) and rising Mainland China star Xu Haipeng.How did you jump from a succession of short films into your first feature? I would say that jumping into the feature is exactly what happened.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Through the Lens Entertainment, the East-West film studio that made a splash at Cannes last year, is expanding into manga. It has launched Hoshi Studios, a manga development and publishing startup with outposts in Singapore and Japan. The outfit will create teams combining western film and TV talent with established Japanese manga artists to create books and other comic-book properties.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Leading Hong Kong actor Tony Leung has been set as the president of the jury that will decide the main competition prizes at the Tokyo International Film Festival later this year. “Japan is close to my heart in more ways than one. And to be involved in celebrating film in this way, is a big deal for me.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Chinese video streamer iQiyi reported increased profits in the first quarter of the year, derived from lower revenue. The company, which is NASDAQ-listed but majority owned by Chinese tech giant Baidu, said that net income attributable to iQiyi grew to RMB655 million ($90.8 million), compared to RMB618 million in the same period in 2023. Revenues were RMB7.9 billion ($1.1 billion), a decrease of 5% year-on-year. “We have been generating positive operating cash flow for eight consecutive quarters, and our balance sheet continued to improve,” said Wang Jun, the company’s chief financial officer. Performance transparency, however, has recently been reduced.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Korea’s Barunson E&A has picked up world sales rights to Vietnamese horror-comedy “Don’t Cry Butterfly.” Sales will be launched this week at the Cannes Market. Written and directed by Duong Dieu Linh, the Hanoi-set film follows a housewife who uses voodoo to try and get her cheating husband fall back into love with her, but instead invites a mysterious presence into the house.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Cultivator Films Australia, the local subsidiary of France’s Studiocanal, has begun production of “Kangaroo,” its first movie. It tells the story of Chris Barns, aka ‘Brolga,’ founder of the Kangaroo Sanctuary in Alice Springs. Previously announced in December, the film is directed by Kate Woods (“The Umbrella Academy,” “The Good Lord Bird,” “Looking for Alibrandi”) and is written by Harry Cripps (“The Dry,” “Penguin Bloom”) with Melina Marchetta and additional material from Danielle MacLean & Peta-Lee Cole-Manolis.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Female stunt performer Wiriya Caesar will step up into the lead performer role in upcoming Thai action film “The 24.” The film project is being launched this week in the Cannes Market by new international sales firm Boz Pictures. Wiriya (aka Porntip Wiriya, aka “Fan”) has previously been a stunt double for Mary-Elizabeth Winstead in “Kate” and Golshifteh Farahani in “Extraction,” and has other credits on “Thirteen Lives” and “Hidden Strike.” In “The 24” she will star as an assassin who wakes up with a time bomb strapped to her body. She has clear instructions to kill a hit list of 24 members of the Bangkok underground, with each successful hit buying her more time alive. Caesar is joined in the cast by Japan’s Sakaguchi Tak (“Re:Born,” “One Percenter,” “Versus”), Dan Chupong (“Ong Bak 1 &2,” “Born to Fight”), Sunny Pang (“The Night Comes for Us,” “Headshot” and Gareth Evans’ upcoming “Havoc”) and Simon Kook (“Ip Man 3,” “Mayhem”). The film, which will shoot in the fourth quarter of this year, is written and directed by Lee Thongkham (“The Maid,” “The Lake,” “Kitty the Killer”).

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Seoul-based film sales company, Finecut has notched pre-sales for its upcoming action-comedy “The Desperate Chase, which it is launching this week at the Cannes Film Festival‘s Cannes Market,. The film is an action comedy featuring a hot-blooded detective and a swindler who is also a master of disguise who team up to combat an evil mafia. Early rights buyers include Rights Cube for Japan, Apex Success Global for Taiwan and Mockingbird Pictures for Vietnam. Screening as a rough cut in the Cannes Market, the film is the second feature by Kim Jae-hoon, known for his debut with the body-switch action thriller “Devils,” which released in South Korea last year.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Asian audiences are increasingly turning to homegrown content in their streaming choices. Asian titles powering 80% of premium VOD engagement and customer acquisition, according to new research from research and consultancy firm Media Partners Asia. “The Rise of Asian Content” is based on passive tracking of 40,000 users by sister company AMPD in nine major Asian markets – Japan, Korea, Singapore, Taiwan, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines and Thailand – over 15 months between Jan.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Alex Garland’s critically-acclaimed “Civil War” has confirmed a theatrical release in mainland China. Marking the first A24 production to be released in China, it will arrive in cinemas from June 7. Huahua Media took rights to the film for China. Tech and entertainment giant Alibaba will also be partnering with Huahua throughout the release. Depicting a dystopian future America, the film’s story follows a team of military-embedded journalists as they race against time to reach Washington DC before rebel factions descend upon the White House.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Tencent, the Chinese social media, gaming and streaming giant, enjoyed a 62% gain in profits, earned from a 6% revenue improvement in the first quarter of the year. Profits between January and March reached RMB42.6 billion ($5.92 billion). That figure also represented a 55% quarter on quarter gain.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief “Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes” debuted on top of the mainland China box office with an opening weekend score of $11.4 million (RMB81.1 million). That was only the fourth weekend this year that a Hollywood film has topped the China charts and the third time in 2024 that a Hollywood title has opened on top. “Apes” was also the top film this weekend in North America and international markets. Data from consultancy firm Artisan Gateway showed that the film accounted for some 30% of the theatrical total on a weekend where theaters earned a combined $38.2 million.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief “Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes” opened in second place at the South Korean weekend box office, a distance behind local holdover title “The Roundup: Punishment.” “Punishment,” the fourth part of Don Lee’s “Roundup” action franchise, dominated proceedings for the third weekend in succession. It earned $5.53 million and advanced its cumulative total to $67.7 million, according to Kobis, the tracking service operated by the Korean Film Council (Kofic).

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Kii Muneyuki, a former head of production at Japan’s Toei, is launching K2 Pictures, a company that aims to upend Japanese filmmaking practices. Its debut slate, with films by Kore-eda Hirokazu, Iwai Shunji and Nishikawa Miwa, will be unveiled in Cannes next week. A key part of the new company’s strategy is the establishment of a film fund, K2P Film Fund I, that will invest in live action and animations productions.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Amsterdam- and Beijing-based Fortissimo Films is to pre-sell Chinese crime drama “Family at large,” kicking off at the Cannes Market. The film had previously been announced with sales handled jointly by Fortissimo and Rediance. Now, Fortissimo alone is representing rights worldwide, ex-China. Directed by Kang Bo, the film is set in the chilly far north of the country.