Dave Boyle on How Netflix Hit ‘House of Ninjas’ Ducked Genre Stereotypes and Deflected Cultural Appropriation

Jazz Tangcay Artisans Editor SPOILER ALERT: This contains major spoilers for the ending of “Civil War,” now playing in theaters. “Civil War” production designer Caty Maxey was tasked with building a dystopian America that showed bombed-out buildings and abandoned cars that stretched for miles on the freeway. It was all part of her creative brief for Alex Garland’s latest film. Garland drops audiences into the middle of “Civil War.” America is no longer united and there are warring factions.

Bridgerton fans don't have long to wait until the hit show returns for its hotly-anticipated third season.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief “Stormy,” a documentary about former porn star Stormy Daniels, has been picked up by Blue Ant Studios for international distribution. The launch was announced on Monday, the same day that former U.S. president Donald Trump begins a criminal trial in New York for allegedly covering up hush money payments to Daniels. “Stormy,” offered as two one-hour episodes or a two-hour feature, is produced by Emmy-nominated producers Erin Lee Carr (“I Love You,” “Now Die: The Commonwealth v.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Oscar-winning Japanese animated fantasy “The Boy and the Heron” held on to top spot at the mainland China box office to record a second weekend win. The film, which opened triumphantly on April 3, in time for a family-oriented long weekend, fell steeply in its second, non-holiday, frame. It earned $12.8 million (RMB90.6 million), according to data from consultancy firm Artisan Gateway.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief “Kung Fu Panda 4” took top spot at the South Korean box office becoming the film that finally pushed aside local champion “Exhuma,” which had dominated for seven consecutive weeks. But it was an understated victory, rather than a triumphant one, and the exhibition industry’s $5.6 million nationwide haul was among the lowest scoring weekends this year. “Kung Fu Panda 4” earned $2.81 million between Friday and Sunday with a 50.1% market share. Over its full five day run since a Wednesday opening, it enjoyed a $5.96 million total. “Exhuma” slipped to second place in its eight weekend of release.

Scottish dessert sauce entrepreneur Mairi Hawkes, from the Isle of Lismore, is set to appear on Channel 4's new six-part series Aldi's Next Big Thing.

Jeff Bezos and his future wife Lauren Sanchez hold hands as they arrive at the State Dinner on Wednesday (April 10) at the White House in Washington, DC.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Oscar-winning Japanese animation film “The Boy and the Heron” earned a chart-topping $34.9 million between Friday and Sunday at the mainland China box office. Over its full five-day opening run, it took an even more spectacular $73 million. China was the last major territory to play the Studio Ghibli-produced fantasy in cinemas – it released in its native Japan in July and is imminently headed to streaming in many other territories – but that did not stop Chinese audiences from lapping it up. While most films release in China on a Friday, “The Boy and the Heron” was given a Wednesday outing in order to capture momentum from the Thursday-to-Saturday Qingming public holiday. Consultancy firm Artisan reports that it earned RMB248 million ($34.9 million) over the conventional Friday-to-Sunday weekend.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Without significant new challengers, spooky Korean drama “Exhuma” held on at the top of the South Korea box office chart for the seventh consecutive weekend. Its cumulative passed the symbolic $80 million mark. The lack of strong new release titles also meant that aggregate weekend box office in Korea slipped to a lowly $5.59 million. The Choi Min-sik-starring “Exhuma” dropped roughly 50% week-on-week to record $1.59 million between Friday and Sunday, and a 28% market share, according to data from Kobis, the tracking service operated by the Korean Film Council (Kofic).

Jack Dunn In association with Washington D.C. nonprofit the Hispanic Heritage Foundation, the Mexican American golf drama “The Long Game” will screen at the White House April 9, just ahead of its April 12 release date.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Oscar-winning Japanese animation “The Boy and the Heron” opened its wings in mainland Chinese theaters in midweek and soared to the top of the box office. Data from multiple local tracking sources show the Miyazaki Hayao-directed fantasy-adventure accounting for more than half of all cinema revenues on both Wednesday and Thursday. On Wednesday it garnered $13.8 million, according to estimates from Ent Group. By 6.30pm on Thursday, ticket sales firm Maoyan was showing the title as having grown its two-day running total to RMB254 million or $35.2 million. While films mostly open on Fridays in China, “The Boy and the Heron” was given a Wednesday outing in order to play into the three-day Qingming public holiday.

EXCLUSIVE: House of Ninjas creator Dave Boyle and the star and co-EP of the Netflix series, Kento Kaku, are opening the doors to their new production company, Signal181.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief YG Entertainment, the firm behind K-pop sensation Blackpink, has appointed Yang Min-seok as its new, sole CEO. The younger brother of company founder Yang Hyun-sun, he was previously joint CEO with Hwang Bo-kyun. The announcement was made shortly after YG’s annual shareholder meeting that closed the books on a year in which revenues climbed 65% to $430 million. The firm, which recently denied that it had paid $30 million to retain its position with Blackpink (but saw the girl group’s individual members sign personal representation contracts with other agencies) is busily launching BabyMonster, another all-female act that is seen in some circles as a successor to Blackpink. BabyMonster, which was formed late last year through reality TV show “Last Evaluation 2023,” is a seven part group with members from Korea, Thailand and Japan.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Leading Japanese broadcaster TV Tokyo and Taiwan-based LGBT streaming platform GagaOOLala will this month release “At 25.00 in Akasaka,” a live-action drama series in the popular Boys Love (BL) genre. Based on a popular manga by Natsuno Hiroko, the underlying comic has sold over 1.2 million copies. The series explores the romance between a renowned actor and an aspiring talent, cast as leads in a BL drama that wins the hearts of audiences worldwide.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Veteran Chinese director Zhang Yimou will be presented with a lifetime achievement award at the upcoming edition of the Festival of Far East Film in Italy’s Udine (April 24 – May 2). The lineup will include three films by Zhang: his 2023 political thriller “Under the Light” in its competition section; as well as “To Live” and “Raise the Red Lantern” in its restored classics section. The festival’s total lineup includes 74 films in total – 47 in competition and 28 out of competition) from 11 countries.

Esteemed British writer David Nicholls is not precious when it comes to adaptations of his novels and cites Netflix’s recent adaptation of his 2009 novel One Day as being a perfect example of how being open-minded to fresh ideas on established material can result in good work. 

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief ‘Kung Fu Panda 4’ opened on top of the mainland China box office in its first official week of release. But its debut was soft and led the market to one of its quietest weekends of the year. The Universal-DreamWorks Animation picture earned $14.7 million (RMB105 million) between Friday and Sunday, according to data provided by consultancy firm Artisan Gateway.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Warner Bros. Discovery is to significantly expand its investment and production of Japanese anime through its existing local studio in Japan. “We have a Japanese anime studio, which has been producing five or ten anime series per year, over the last few years,” said James Gibbons, WBD president of Asia-Pacific. “We’ve approved expansion to take that to more than ten series per year.” The studio has been operational since 2011 and delivered over 80 titles in that span, a mix of high-quality anime, live action series and movies.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Miyazaki Hayao’s “The Boy and the Heron,” which recently won the Oscar for best animated feature film, will head to global streaming giant Netflix later this year, excluding the U.S. and Japan. The hand-drawn, critically acclaimed fantasy adventure film is part of a renewed worldwide catalog deal between Netflix and the Japanese producer Studio Ghibli, sales agent Goodfellas and independent distributor GKids.

Scotland is set to be hit with snow in just a matter of days, according to new weather maps.