Hong Kong Arrests Singer Tommy Yuen on National Security Grounds, Restricts Internet

Big Bang member T.O.P is reportedly working on his debut solo album.The rapper reportedly spoke to lifestyle-luxury magazine Prestige Hong Kong about his hopes for the future, following his departure from long-time management agency YG Entertainment last month, as well as his plan to release a debut solo album soon.Further details on what his upcoming solo release might entail are expected to be detailed in the rapper’s cover story with the magazine, which is due out on March 7. According to the magazine, T.O.P will also “break his silence” on his disappearance from the public eye and speak about his “love for art and music”.A post shared by Prestige Hong Kong (@prestigehk)Last month, YG Entertainment announced that the rapper decided to part ways with the agency after 16 years.

Wu Jing, the highest-grossing male actor of all time in China, will join British action star Jason Statham in Warner Bros.’s “Meg 2: The Trench,” sources close to the production have confirmed to Variety.The giant shark actioner, however, will be without Li Bingbing (“Transformers: Age of Extinction”). The Chinese actor, who played a female oceanographer, embodying both brains and beauty in Jon Turteltaub’s testosterone-fueled 2018 “The Meg,” is not returning to the franchise at this point.With Ben Wheatley in the directing chair, production on “Meg 2: The Trench” began at the end of January at the Warner-owned Leavesden Studios outside London.

Partner Content The ongoing pandemic has inevitably changed the workings of the global film industry in a variety of ways. Throughout these ups and downs, one thing has yet to waver, and that’s the demand for new content.

The Hong Kong Film Festival has been forced to alter plans for its 46th edition due to a spike in local Covid cases caused by the Omicron variant.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefThe Hong Kong International Film Festival, scheduled to have taken place from the end of March, has been postponed due to the ongoing COVID-19 crisis. Organizers also canceled remaining screenings in the Cine Fan community outreach program.This decision follows the Hong Kong government’s moves earlier this week to extend social distancing measures until April 20, 2022.

Vivienne Chow Hong Kong protest films “Revolution of Our Times” and “May You Stay Forever Young” will have their British premiere in March at a new film festival organized by artists and culture sector workers who have relocated to the U.K. Ng Ka-leung, a producer and director of Hong Kong dystopian anthology “Ten Years,” and documentary filmmaker and writer Wong Ching, co-curators of Hong Kong Film Festival U.K. 2022, said the festival is more than just about screening films that can no longer be shown in their hometown due to political changes.It is organized by Hong Kong Umbrella Community, a U.K.-based body co-founded by Nathan Law, a former Hong Kong lawmaker who is now living in exile in Britain.

EXCLUSIVE: Sonia Yuan, who stars in Japan’s first Best Picture Oscar nominee Drive My Car, has signed with Artist International Group for management.

LeBron James’ reaction to Macy Gray’s national anthem performance had everybody talking on Twitter Sunday.

Bill Maher couldn’t hide his contempt for the country hosting the Winter Olympics on his Friday Real Time. 

Whether it’s Sasha Atwood’s ‘witch box’, Holly Willoughby’s nightmare busting crystals, or even Victoria Beckham’s handbag essential, it seems that celebrities can’t get enough of this ancient healing practice.The power of crystals and gemstones dates back to many ancient cultures including Egypt, Greece and China, who believed that they carried healing properties and could help increase good energy and remove toxicity. And fast forward to 2022, while there is admittedly a lack of evidence to support the practice, the growing use of crystals goes hand in hand with sage burning, chakra cards and even face rolling.

Vivienne Chow Action thriller “Limbo” and “Anita,” a biopic about the late Canto-pop queen Anita Mui lead the nomination race for this year’s Hong Kong Film Awards, which is holding its 40th edition after being postponed from last year.“Limbo,” a Cantonese noir that follows a cop duo’s hunt for a serial killer, received 14 nominations including best film, best director for Soi Cheang, best screenplay, best actor for Lam Ka-tung and best actress for Cya Liu. The film had earlier won the critics heart at the annual Hong Kong Film Critics’ Society Awards, which named “Limbo” as best film and Liu best actress for her role as a young addict.“Anita” received 12 nominations, including best film and best director for Longman Leung.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefCritically-acclaimed Australian series “The Newsreader” is set to air in 80 additional territories, following a string of rights sales deals organized by Entertainment One. The six-part show was licensed to the BBC (U.K.), Arte (France and Germany), RTE (Ireland), Viaplay (the Nordic and Baltic regions, Poland and The Netherlands), Cosmo (Spain), Filmin (Portugal and 2nd window in Spain), Now TV (Hong Kong), Telus (Canada) and NBCUniversal International Networks & Direct-To-Consumer (Latin America).Starring Anna Torv and Sam Reid, “The Newsreader” centers around the frantic, busy heart of a commercial TV newsroom set in the 1980s, while following the relationship between an ambitious young TV reporter and the star female news anchor.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefBlackOps Studios Asia from the Philippines, Story Arch Pictures from the U.S. and Agog Film from Hong Kong have joined forces to develop, produce and finance a slate of genre movies that target the streaming marketplace.The 16-title slate comprises nine films and seven series in the action, horror and sci-fi genres, with 11 flowing from BlackOps, two from Story Arch and three from Agog.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefA new film project by Xinjiang-based Wong Lina and others produced by Stanley Kwan and Soi Cheang are among fifteen works-in-progress that have been added to the Hong Kong-Asia Film Financing Forum (HAF).HAF previously announced the selection of 28 projects that are at an earlier stage of development. The event is organized by the Hong Kong International Film Festival Society and runs March 14-16, 2022, alongside the Hong Kong FilMart entertainment rights market March 14-17.Wong, who made a stunning directorial debut “A First Farewell,” appeared in Berlin and won the Firebird Award in the HKIFF’s first Chinese-language Young Cinema competition in 2019, returns with “Village .

EXCLUSIVE: After teaming in the Disney/Marvel film Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, Michelle Yeoh is set to top an international cast for the Destin Daniel Cretton-directed Disney+ fantastical series American Born Chinese. She will star alongside Ben Wang (MacGyver), Yeo Yann Yann (Wet Season), Chin Han (Mortal Kombat), Daniel Wu (Reminiscence), Ke Huy Quan (Finding Ohana), former Taekwondo champion Jim Liu and Sydney Taylor (Just Add Magic).

RZA and producer DJ Scratch have released an official music video for their single ‘Saturday Afternoon Kung Fu Theater’, which originally dropped last year.The Danny Hastings and RZA-directed clip arrived on Friday (February 4), and plays out like an old-school martial arts movie. It draws inspiration from films made by the Hong Kong production house Shaw Brothers (Shaolin Prince, The One-Armed Swordsman, The Five Deadly Venoms), featuring RZA as himself and his alter ego, Bobby Digital, whom he faces off against.Check it out below.‘Saturday Afternoon Kung Fu Theater’ is the titular single off RZA and Scratch’s forthcoming collaborative album, formally titled ‘RZA vs Bobby Digital’.

The opening ceremony of the 2022 Winter Olympics is just getting under way in Beijing. Overseeing the event is filmmaker Zhang Yimou, back after directing the 2008 Summer Games opener to global acclaim. This time around, Zhang has said the ceremony will have a romantic tone that he hopes will “amaze the whole world.”