IQiyi, Chinese Streamer, Loses Subscribers but Records First Annual Profit

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Net profits at Tencent Music Entertainment, China’s largest digital music company, climbed 36% to reach $735 million (RMB5.22 billion) in 2023 – despite revenues declining by 2% to $3.91 billion. Fourth quarter profits were worth $198 million (RMB1.41 billion), earned from revenues 7% down at $971 million (RMB6.89 billion). The final figures cap a year in which the New York and Hong Kong listed subsidiary of Tencent saw monthly active user (MAU) numbers fall as it successfully organized the transition of a growing number of free users into paying subscribers. In the full year, revenues from music streaming subscriptions grew by 39% to $1.70 billion. That resulted from a 21% growth in the number of paying subscribers (from 88.5 million to 107 million) and a 20% increase in the average revenue per subscriber to RMB10.7 or $1.49.

Timothée Chalamet is taking on one of the most exciting and challenging roles of his career. He’ll be playing Bob Dylan in “A Complete Unknown,” a biopic that follows Dylan in the ‘60s, as his career rose to prominence and he changed the landscape of music and songwriting. Did Timothée Chalamet attend the Kardashian-Jenner Christmas Eve party with Kylie?How Zendaya helped Timothée Chalamet with his first apartment in New York CityThe film recently entered production, with Chalamet spotted hanging around New York in costume.

Ari Aster, the visionary filmmaker behind horror pics Hereditary and Midsommar and last year’s darkly comic Beau Is Afraid, has locked in his starriest cast yet for his next A24 film, Eddington. Actors set to join the previously announced Joaquin Phoenix include Emmy and Golden Globe nominee Pedro Pascal (The Last of Us), Emma Stone (fresh off her second Oscar win for Poor Things), Luke Grimes (Yellowstone), Dune: Part Two‘s Austin Butler, Deirdre O’Connell (Outer Range), Micheal Ward (Top Boy), and Clifton Collins Jr. (Jockey).

Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce might’ve skipped the Oscars, but they still had fun behind the scenes of the iconic night!

at the 2024 Oscars, which took place at the Dolby Theatre in LA on Sunday.The “High School Musical” star strutted the red carpet before she took over hosting duties on ABC’s “Countdown to the Oscars: On the Red Carpet Live!” Hudgens, 35, donned a gorgeous black gown showing off her stomach while keeping her hair simple in a high ponytail that cascaded down her back. She and her baseball pro beau tied the knot during an ultra-private ceremony in Tulum, Mexico, in December.Several social media viewers were quick to express their shock. “Vanessa Hudgens is mother,” joked one account on X( formerly Twitter).

Vanessa Hudgens is looking back at her romantic relationship with ‘Elvis’ star Austin Butler, revealing that after their split, she was able to find “the right person.” The actress shared her thoughts about the breakup, admitting that she is “grateful” after finding her now-husband Cole Tucker.Vanessa Hudgens comments on Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce’s ‘High School Musical’ comparisonsVanessa Hudgens met ex-Austin Butler’s girlfriend Kaia Gerber when she was 5Vanessa Hudgens and Cole Tucker got married in Tulum, MexicoThe Hollywood star opened up about her dating history during her conversation on the ‘She Pivots’ podcast, where she talked about her split from the actor in 2020, after being together for 9 years. “I feel like so much of my character was built from my breakups,” she said on the podcast.Talking about Austin, Vanessa said; “I feel like my last breakup has really catapulted me to a very, very special place, obviously, getting married.” She went on to credit the actor for helping her find love again, and “push[ing] me to the right person, which I’m so grateful for.”Vanessa described her husband as “the most supportive, real understanding human being that I’ve ever met.” The newlyweds celebrated their love with an intimate wedding, which also served as a ‘High School Musical’ reunion, with part of the cast in attendance.

Austin Butler has revealed to NME that he drew inspiration from Gary Oldman and Heath Ledger for his performance in Dune: Part Two.Butler plays the role of Feyd-Rautha, the villainous nephew of and heir to Baron Vladimir Harkonnen (Stellan Skarsgård), in Denis Villeneuve’s new film.When asked if there were any classic movie bad guys that he took a lead from while preparing to play the role, Butler said that it was the broad career work of the two stars that motivates him.“I’ve always been inspired by Gary Oldman in many of his roles,” he said. “Léon: The Professional, or True Romance, or The Fifth Element.”“And you know, we’ve talked about Heath Ledger a lot, the sense of play that he had.

If Timothée Chalamet‘s dream comes true, he’ll reunite with “Dune: Part Two” co-star Austin Butler for “A Complete Unknown.” NME reports that in a joint interview with the actors for Denis Villeneuve‘s new sequel, Chalamet stated he’d love to see his Bob Dylan somehow bump into Butler’s Elvis Presley from Baz Luhrmann‘s 2022 biopic cameo in James Mangold‘s upcoming film.

Thanks to the growing popularity of his Amazon Prime Video action thriller series “Reacher,” based on the Jack Reacher books by Lee Child, Alan Ritchson’s is starting to really take off. It’s only been on for two seasons but seemingly taken off in the last year and is quickly turning the 6 ft 2 actor into a star.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Janet Yang, the Los Angeles-based producer and president of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences, has been appointed as an independent non-executive director to the board of Imax China, a subsidiary of premium large format cinema company Imax that has its own share listing on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. The company, Wednesday, reported a return to net profits of $27.5 million for the 2023 calendar year. That compared with net profit of $10.8 million in 2022.

“Dune: Part Two” is about to open in theaters worldwide on March 1, so most of the cast is out there pounding the pavement of press and getting the word out. One of them is Dave Bautista, who plays Glossu Rabban Harkonnen, nephew of Baron Harkonnen, and one of the baddies in the film who is seemingly usurped by his even more vicious family member Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen (Austin Butler).

Michaela Zee When “Dune: Part Two” star Stellan Skarsgård saw Austin Butler as the cruel and sadistic Feyd-Rautha for the first time, he laughed. “I laughed so much because it was so obvious that he really enjoyed being evil,” Skarsgård told Variety at the “Dune: Part Two” premiere Sunday night in New York City. Butler’s Feyd-Rautha is the younger nephew and heir of Skarsgård’s Baron Vladimir Harkonnen, who originally appeared in Denis Villeneuve’s 2021 sci-fi epic “Dune.” Butler studied Skarsgård’s voice performance in the first chapter to bring his version of Feyd-Rautha to life.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Hybe, the Korean entertainment group behind BTS, saw revenues and profits both grow by more than a fifth in 2023 as album sales doubled and post-COVID conditions allowed more concerts. The company Monday reported annual revenues of KRW2.17 trillion ($1.63 billion), up 23% compared with 2022. Net profits reached KRW187 million, more that three times 2022’s depressed result and exceeding 2021’s figure.

Austin Butler addressed a viral rumor that he got into a fist fight with another celebrity during a joint interview with Timothee Chalamet.

“Dune: Part Two,” which hits theaters March 1.“I’ve definitely in the past, with ‘Elvis,’ explored living within that world for three years and that being the only thing that I think about day and night,” Butler told the Los Angeles Times in an interview with the movie’s director, Denis Villeneuve.“With Feyd, I knew that that would be unhealthy for my family and friends.”Butler was so immersed in playing Elvis Presley in “Elvis” that, for a long time after finishing his role on the movie, he still spoke in Presley’s Southern drawl.Villeneuve joked that, if Butler absorbed himself as much in Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen as he did with Presley, it would also be unhealthy for the director.“So I made a conscious decision to have a boundary,” Butler said. “It allowed for more freedom between action and cut because I knew I was going to protect everybody else outside of the context of what we were doing.“That’s not to say that it doesn’t bleed into your life,” he said.

As always, the 2024 Sundance Film Festival gave us several likely Oscar nominees. Keiran Culkin for “A Real Pain,” documentaries “Union” or “Daughters“,” and, potentially, Sebastian Stan for “A Different Man.” But there was no Best Picture player in the vein of “Past Lives” or “CODA” in Park City last month, at least, there didn’t seem to be.

Zack Sharf Digital News Director Austin Butler was hospitalized after he wrapped filming on Baz Luhrmann’s “Elvis,” and it appears it was something of a miracle he avoided a similar fate on the set of Denis Villeneuve’s “Dune: Part Two.” The Oscar nominee joins the epic franchise as Feyd-Rautha, the cruel and sadistic younger nephew of and heir to Baron Vladimir Harkonnen (Stellan Skarsgård). Butler told Entertainment Weekly that heat stroke impacted several people on set during his first week of shooting. How’s that for a welcome? “It was 110 degrees and so hot,” Butler said.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Pinterest is readying the launch of its first-ever streaming show, cooking and lifestyle series “Deliciously Entertaining” — aimed at whetting the appetite of users to engage with the image-sharing social platform. “Deliciously Entertaining” is one of Pinterest’s biggest original productions to date, developed and produced in partnership with media company Tastemade.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Four Chinese films dominated the mainland China and global box office charts over the latest weekend. “YOLO,” a comedy drama about weight loss and self-discovery, was crowned as the top earning film worldwide for a second weekend running. “YOLO” took $86.5 million (RMB614 million) between Friday and Sunday, giving it a 9-day cumulative total of $402 million (RMB2.85 million), according to data from consultancy firm Artisan Gateway. The second film by Jia Ling, who previously directed 2021 Lunar New Year smash hit “Hi, Mom”, “YOLO” released on Saturday, Feb.

with the press, but they're not afraid of a bit of PDA.On February 15, the were spotted holding hands outside the Dune: Part Two premiere after-party in London, England. Although the didn't pose with her at the film's premiere screening, Gerber allowed herself to be seen in a sparkling, body-hugging gown with a metallic gold clutch and strappy heels.Kaia Gerber attends the Dune: Part Two reception following the World Premiere at The Old Sessions House on February 15, 2024 in London, England.Austin Butler attends the world premiere of Dune: Part Two in Leicester Square in London, United Kingdom on February 15, 2024.For his part, the was dressed in a black suit over a white tank top and simple chain necklace.