Indie Animation ‘Lendarys’ Scores String of Pre-Sales – Global Bulletin

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Is it time for South Korea’s TV drama series to move over and make way for Korean unscripted entertainment — namely game shows and reality shows? While 2003 drama series “Jewel in the Palace,” or the more recent “Crash Landing on You,” “Memories of the Alhambra,” “Mr. Queen,” “Love (ft. Marriage and Divorce)” and “Descendants of the Sun” have for years successfully tugged at emotional heartstrings across Asia, the unscripted category has equally long been a staple of Korean domestic TV. Korean variety shows have been a catch-all with multi-generational appeal. Talent contests have worked well in the home market, but often were too quirky — too much dialogue, or distracting titles flashing across the screen — which meant that they were best exported as formats rather than finished shows.

K.J. Yossman “Absolutely Fabulous” star Joanna Lumley is going to guest anchor Sky News’ coverage of King Charles III’s coronation next month after attending the ceremony itself as a guest.

Billy Porter has got his next role lined up, and the “Pose” star will be stepping into some big shoes after signing on to play legendary gay Black writer and civil rights activist James Baldwin.

Billy Porter has booked a very exciting new role!

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media Reporter Billy Porter is preparing to portray the author and civil rights activist James Baldwin in an upcoming biopic. He will also co-write the untitled movie with Dan McCabe, which will be adapted from the 1994 book “James Baldwin: A Biography” by David Leeming. An emeritus professor of English at the University of Connecticut, Leeming was well versed in Baldwin as his friend of 25 years as well as his assistant. Porter says it has been a career-long dream to tell the story of Baldwin on film. Born in Harlem in 1924, Baldwin was a Black gay writer whose influential works include “Go Tell It on the Mountain,” “Notes of a Native Son” and “If Beale Street Could Talk.” In addition to writing, Baldwin fought for racial justice in the U.S. civil rights movement. In Leeming’s book, he’s described as a “complex, troubled, driven, and brilliant man” who has a “gift for compassion and love.”

K.J. Yossman Production head Alison Barnett has been unveiled as the recipient of this year’s BAFTA Television Craft Special Award in honor of her pioneering role as one of U.K. television’s first female head of productions. Barnett, who has worked in television for forty years, is currently head of production at Kudos. She has worked on shows including “Doctor Who” and “The Rig.” “I’m overwhelmed to receive this award from BAFTA,” said Barnett. “But mainly I’m delighted to receive it on behalf of all those unsung heroes who work in production offices throughout the television industry. This is a chance for them to be recognised today too.” The BAFTA TV Craft Awards are set to take place on April 23 in London, with former “Great British Baking Show” presenter Mel Giedroyc hosting the ceremony.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief A growing range of Thai, Japanese and Chinese-language films and TV shows are reaching global audiences – joining the by-now well-established international viewership for South Korean shows.Netflix’s Global Top 10 for the week April 3-10, sees made-for-streaming Korean title “Kill Boksoon” on top of the non-English-language films list, with 27.5 million hours watched in its second week of release. It is immediately followed by Thai film “Hunger,” about a young woman apprentice in an upmarket restaurant working under a tough boss. The film is directed by Sitisiri Mongkolsiri and stars “Bad Genius” breakout Chutimon Chuengcharoensukying.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief ITV has commissioned a second season of the comedy-drama series “The Dry” for ITVX. It will be produced by Element Pictures (part of Fremantle), in association with Fís Eireann/Screen Ireland and ITV Studios, in partnership with RTÉ. Nancy Harris (Dates) and acclaimed director Paddy Breathnach (Viva, Rosie) will return to helm the second season, which will stream exclusively on ITVX next year. The first season was made available to view for free on the streamer last month. With the story picking up seven months after the end of the first, Roisin Gallagher will return as recovering alcoholic Shiv Sheridan, alongside regular cast members from the first series. Further casting details will be confirmed later. in due course.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Jan Mojto’s Beta Cinema has announced first pre-sales for feature film “The Offing,” which will star and is executive produced by Helena Bonham Carter. Jessica Hobbs, who won an Emmy Award for “The Crown,” directs the U.K.-set English-language project. Distributors Curzon, Cineart and Madman joined forces and acquired all rights for U.K./Ireland, Benelux, and Australia/New Zealand in a multi-territory deal, fending off robust competition. The project was one of the hottest titles at the European Film Market, and further deals in major territories will be announced shortly, Beta Cinema said.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Michelle Yeoh, star of the globally acclaimed Oscar-winning film “Everything Everywhere All At Once,” will serve as guest of honor and advisor at the fifth Meihodo International Youth Visual Media Festival, a platform for young visual artists and one of the largest short film festivals in the world. The festival takes place in Fukuoka, Japan. Other new guests include Maggie Q (“Mission Impossible: III,” the “Divergent” franchise and CW series “Nikita”), film editor Gabriella Cristiani and Stephen Castor (“Spider-Man”), co-CEO of It’s Just Us Productions, Rocket Science 3D and Rocket Science Motion Capture Studios, franchise.

Hilaria Baldwin penned a loving tribute to her husband, Alec Baldwin, in celebration of his 65th birthday in a new Instagram post uploaded on Monday.  The yoga instructor, 39, could be seen posing with the Emmy-winning actor and their seven children in the family photo shared to her 1 million fans and followers.  The two lovebirds, who officially tied the knot in 2012, recently reached another milestone earlier Sunday by celebrating the 11th anniversary of their engagement.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief C More has commissioned a second, six-episode season of ITV Studios Finland’s glossy detective drama “Helsinki Crimes” (aka “Harjunpää”). The first season of Helsinki Crimes became one of C More’s most-watched crime series to date. After its launch on Netflix last year, in regions across CEE, Benelux, Austria and the Nordics, the series was one of the top ten most-watched series, and the third most-watched in Finland.  In the new season, Chief Constable Timo Harjunpää, portrayed by Olli Rahkonen, and his murder team investigate bloody clashes between street gangs, love scams and a wave of burglaries.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Amazon MiniTV, a free-of-charge service within the Amazon shopping app and on Fire TV, will next month begin airing short-form teen romance series “Gutar Gu.” The show is produced by Guneet Monga and Sikhya Productions, whose “The Elephant Whisperers” recently won the Oscar for best documentary short. “We at Sikhya are super excited to work with director Saqib Pandor, transforming our well-received short film into its own web series! “Gutar Gu” – a new chapter in the story of Ritu and Anuj, dives deep into the many ups and downs of teenage relationships- navigating strict parents, dating protocols, and the innocence and moments of first love,” said Monga.

Naman Ramachandran Blue Ant Media and World of Wonder have launch free, ad-supported streaming TV (FAST) channel Drag Race Universe on Amazon Freevee in the U.S. Programming launch highlights on the Drag Race Universe channel include: “Canada’s Drag Race” seasons 2 and 3 (19 x 60’), “RuPaul’s Drag Race U.K. vs The World” (6 x 60’), “RuPaul’s Drag Race U.K.” seasons 2 and 3 (20 x 60’). “Drag Race Holland” (8 x 60’), “Drag Race Espana” (10 x 60’), “RuPaul’s Drag Race Down Under” seasons 1 and 2 (16 x 60’), the first season of “Drag Race Philippines” (10 x 60’) and “Drag Race Philippines Untucked” (10 x 30’), its companion series that follows the backstage drama.

charged with involuntary manslaughter in the 2021 death of “Rust” cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, is facing criticism online after posting about gun control.The actor, 64, reshared a screenshot of a viral tweet from musician Peter Frampton following the school shooting at Covenant School in Nashville this week, which took the lives of six people and the shooter.“26 years ago, a gunman entered Dunblane Primary School in Scotland, killing 16 kids and a teacher,” the tweet read. “The UK govt responded by enacting tight gun control legislation.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief “The Bad Kids,” a hit series from Chinese streamer iQiyi, is to be remade as a Japanese feature film “Gold Boy.” The 12-episode gritty crime thriller depicts the troubles that arise after three children accidentally film a murder. The series was previously licensed to Japanese pay-TV group Wowow.

Avenged Sevenfold to offer fans NFT-gated pre-sale tickets to the band’s tour.Avenged Sevenfold – who have their own NFT community fanclub, Deathbats Club – partnered with Ticketmaster to integrate its fanclub into its system, which will reportedly provide fans with priority access to tickets and added levels of security, including the absence of bots and scalpers.A complete list of Avenged Sevenfold’s North American tour dates can be found below. Get your tickets here.We’re stoked to announce the first leg of our Life Is But A Dream… North American Tour • July 18 through August 7 • with special guest @aof_official.

EXCLUSIVE: Chris Chalk will star as James Baldwin in the latest installment of Ryan Murphy’s Feud series—Feud: Capote’s Women.

K.J. Yossman U.K. podcast production outfit Blanchard House has tapped HBO Max podcasting strategy director Hassan Chaudhry as its new head of partnerships and strategy, Variety can exclusively reveal. Meanwhile Amica Sciortino Nowlan, formerly of The Economist, joins as managing producer. The new hires come ahead of a busy year for the podcast outfit, which is set to launch five shows this year, including two at Audible. Chaudhry, who is based in New York, is responsible for establishing and leading HBO Max’s podcasting group, whose output includes “The Game of Thrones Podcast” and “Batman: The Audio Adventures.” At Blanchard House Chaudhry will look after film and TV relationships and lead growth.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Hit Japanese animation “Suzume” improved its box office performance in its third week of release in South Korea and remained far ahead of all competing titles. “Suzume” earned $6.06 million over the weekend between Friday and Sunday, a 7% increase on its previous weekend, itself a strong hold that almost equalled its opening session. Data is sourced from Kobis, the tracking service operated by the Korean Film Council (Kofic). The film, which has been a huge hit in Japan and some other Asian territories, enjoyed a 66% share of the entire Korean cinema box office over the most recent weekend and expanded its cumulative haul to $23.9 million after 19 days on release.