Hong Kong Protest Documentary ‘Blue Island’ Picked up for North America Ahead of HotDocs Debut

Gorillaz have announced details of a North American tour. The animated band, led by Damon Albarn, will hit the road in September with 21 dates in the diary.

Most supermarkets have been around for decades, but there's a relatively new kid on the block and it's pulling in more customers every week.

(G)I-DLE have announced a 2022 world tour that will take the Korean girl group to North America, Asia and more.The group took to social media on Wednesday (May 11) to announce the tour, titled ‘Just Me ( )I-DLE’. The tour, which so far runs from June to October, will see the group perform in the United States, Mexico, Chile, South Korea, Indonesia, the Philippines, Japan and Singapore.

Walt Disney chief financial officer Christine McCarthy said the company could record a $350 million squeeze on operating income in the current quarter – it’s fiscal third — from its Hong Kong and Shanghai theme parks, tempering the parks division’s upbeat narrative a bit.

EXCLUSIVE: Shout! Studios has acquired North American rights to Concourse Media’s drama On Sacred Ground, starring William Mapother (Lost), David Arquette (Scream franchise) and Amy Smart (Stargirl), with plans for a strategic launch of the pic across all major entertainment platforms, beginning with a theatrical day-and-date debut in the first quarter of 2023. The multi-platform entertainment distribution and production arm of Shout! Factory will also screen the film on over 1,000 college campuses, as a means of promoting its underlying message of equality and the importance of upholding indigenous rights.

HONG KONG -- Hong Kong authorities arrested a Roman Catholic cardinal, a singer and at least two others on Wednesday on suspicion of colluding with foreign forces to endanger China's national security, reports said.Cardinal Joseph Zen, singer-actress Denise Ho, lawyer Margaret Ng and scholar Hui Po-keung were detained by Hong Kong’s National Security Police, the U.K.-based human rights group Hong Kong Watch said.The arrests were apparently related to their roles as trustees of the 612 Humanitarian Relief Fund, which provided legal aid to people who took part in 2019 pro-democracy protests that were quashed by security forces, the group said. The fund closed in 2021, it said.Scores of pro-democracy activists have been arrested under a sweeping National Security Law imposed on the city by Beijing in 2020 following the demonstrations.

David Beckham is one doting father – and has been making the most of his family time in Miami, so much so that was gatecrashed his second eldest son Romeo's date night with his girlfriend Mia Regan.MORE: Romeo Beckham shares sweet picture of Mia Regan after Brooklyn's weddingThe trio headed to fancy Korean steakhouse COTE Miami, with David poking fun at himself for "third-wheeling". Alongside a selfie, the 47-year-old joked: "Third wheeling these two [laughing face emoji].

Jennie Punter Chan Tze Woon’s “Blue Island,” a doc-narrative hybrid exploring Hong Kong’s recent protest movement and ensuing crackdown, won Hot Docs’ Best International Feature Documentary Award and a Cnd. $10,000 cash prize, it was announced Saturday in Toronto at the festival’s awards ceremony, held at the TIFF Bell Lightbox.The film was cited by the jury for its “evocative use of re-enactments interwoven with traditional documentary forms to create a rich, socially-grounded cinematic tapestry.”North American rights to “Blue Island” were picked up by New York-headquartered documentary distributor Icarus Films in advance of the film’s world premiere at Hot Docs, which is an Academy Award qualifying festival for feature documentaries.

EXCLUSIVE: AMC’s genre streamer Shudder has picked up Northern Irish folk horror Mandrake, which debuted earlier this year at FrightFest Glasgow.

Legendary action director John Woo is making quite the Hollywood comeback. He’s currently working with actor Joel Kinnaman (“The Killing,” “The Suicide Squad“) for his new western pic “Silent Night” that is already in production, but another high-profile project will see the Hong Kong filmmaker take a crack at remaking one of his seminal movies from the 1980s.

Addie Morfoot ContributorTwo years ago, Kate Mara watched a rough cut of “The Smell of Money” – a documentary about Elsie Herring’s decades-long fight to stop a multibillion-dollar corporate hog farm from spraying animal waste on her family’s land in North Carolina – and signed on to become an executive producer alongside David Lowery. Directed by Shawn Bannon, “The Smell of Money” examines not only how and why hog waste is killing innocent people, but also environmental racism, corporate malfeasance and global warming.

EXCLUSIVE: Park Chan-wook’s anticipated Cannes Competition title Decision To Leave has sold to arthouse streamer, theatrical distributor and producer Mubi in what we understand to be the company’s biggest film deal to date.

BEIJING -- Veteran Hong Kong actor Kenneth Tsang has died at age 86 while in a COVID-19 quarantine hotel in the southern Chinese city, local media reported.Tsang was best known internationally for his action roles in the 2002 James Bond film “Die Another Day,” John Woo’s “The Killer” in 1989, “Rush Hour 2” in 2001 starring Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker, and 1998′s “The Replacement Killers” alongside Chow Yun-Fat and Mira Sorvino.Tsang had been undergoing seven days of quarantine after returning from Singapore on Monday and was found collapsed on the floor of his hotel room by staff on Wednesday, according to the South China Morning Post newspaper and other media.No cause of death was given and the paper said he had tested negative for the virus and had no underlying medical conditions.In all, Tsang had some 237 acting credits, mainly in Hong Kong film and television productions, and especially in detective and martial arts movies, according to his IMDb page.Born in Shanghai on Sept. 2, 1935, Tsang began acting after obtaining an architecture degree at the University of California, Berkeley, making his debut in 1955.

Rush Hour 2 and Die Another Day, has died at the age of 86.Tsang was reportedly found unconscious in a quarantine hotel in Hong Kong’s Tsim Sha Tsui district on Wednesday (April 27) after returning from a trip to Singapore. Tsang was later pronounced dead at the scene.According to the South China Morning Post, Tsang took a COVID-19 rapid antigen test on Tuesday and tested negative.

Kenneth Tsang, who made his mark in Hong Kong’s golden age of film before coming to the US and scoring roles in several prominent movies, died at age 87 today. He was found after quarantining in a Hong Kong hotel after entering China from Singapore, per that country’s Covid-19 protocols.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefKenneth Tsang, a veteran Hong Kong actor who starred in pioneering martial arts movies, has died. He was 86.Tsang (aka Tsang Kong) was staying in the Kowloon Hotel on Nathan Road, a venue used for passenger quarantine after overseas travel, and was found dead in the room on Wednesday. No immediate cause of death has been given by Hong Kong authorities.

Lizzo is hitting the road for a North American tour!

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefThe Hong Kong International Film Festival will shift to new dates in August, having been postponed earlier this year due to the COVID pandemic.The 46th edition of the festival will take place Aug. 15-31, 2022, at multiple venues across the territory. Like last year’s HKIFF45, the hybrid festival will feature in-person and online screenings and events.The annual spin-off event, Cine Fan Summer International Film Festival, which usually takes place around the same time in August, will be shelved and likely return in 2023.The main HKIFF was scheduled to have started on March 31.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefChinese TV producer Linmon Media has filed an application for an initial public offering in Hong Kong. It is the third time that the eight-year-old company has sought a stock market flotation.The heavily-redacted draft prospectus, sponsored by Morgan Stanley and CICC, does not reveal how much fresh capital the company aims to raise, nor the company’s anticipated valuation.