China Showbiz Latest News and Updates

The Who’s Pete Townshend has put a dampener on any hopes for a farewell tour, saying that he was being “sarcastic” when he hinted at the idea.It comes as both he and the band’s frontman Roger Daltrey have spoken about what the future holds for the iconic rock group in recent weeks, and hinted that their time as a band may be drawing to an end.Initially, it seemed that the band were planning a farewell tour to end their touring days with a bang, with the guitarist stating last month that The Who have one “final” thing left to do before they call it quits. “It feels to me like there’s a final tour where we play every territory in the world and then crawl off to die,” he said.

SHINee singer Key has announced dates for his upcoming 2024 ‘Keyland On: And On’ tour, featuring concerts in Thailand, Indonesia and more.Today (April 17), SHINee’s Key revealed four new dates for his 2024 ‘Keyland On: And On’ tour. They come about three months after the singer originally kicked off the series of concerts with a two-night performance at the Olympic Handball Stadium in Seoul, South Korea.Key will bring his ‘Keyland On: And On’ tour to the cities of Bangkok, Jakarta and Macau in July 2024, all of which will take place on either a Saturday or Sunday.

FCC chair Jessica Rosenworcel finds it shocking that U.S. law prevents foreign ownership of old media assets but has nothing to say about new media — including wildly popular TikTok, which is owned by a Chinese company. A bill passed by the House last month that would require parent ByteDance to divest TikTok or see the app banned appears to have stalled in the Senate. But if it ever “makes it to the President’s desk, he should absolutely sign it.”

Jem Aswad Executive Editor, Music It turns out that when Pete Townshend recently told the New York Times that he was planning on a final Who farewell tour, he was “being sarcastic,” he told the “Sound Up!” podcast in an interview released today (April 16). “It feels to me like there’s one thing the Who can do, and that’s a final tour where we play every territory in the world and then crawl off to die,” he told the Times in an interview published last month.

Manchester actress Lesly Sharp and Netflix Fool Me Once star Richard Armitage are set to star in a 'ground-breaking' new ITV thriller, Red Eye plunges viewers into the tension of a "red eye" flight from London to Beijing.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Disney has confirmed that Korean webtoon-to-screen adaptation “Low Life” is poised to begin production. When valuable treasure is discovered off the coast of Korea, the country’s biggest degenerates come crawling out of the woodwork in the hope of striking it big. Word spreads after a fisherman got lucky and kept a piece of the booty for himself.

Refresh for latest…: As it crossed the $1B international box office milestone this past weekend, Warner Bros again owned the frame with Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire and its third session haul of $33.7M from 71 markets. That was good for a 47% drop from the previous weekend and lifts the overseas cume to $278.6M and global to $436.6M. Meanwhile, WB and Legendary’s other major title in the marketplace, Dune: Part Two, now has a shot at getting to $700M worldwide.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Cannes Critics’ Week, the sidebar dedicated to first and second films, will open with Jonathan Millet’s psychological thriller “Ghost Trail” and wrap with Emma Benestan’s genre film “Animale.” “Ghost Trail” and “Animale” are two of the 11 features slated for Critics’ Week, which runs alongside the Cannes Film Festival. The sole U.S.

Formula 1‘s Charles Leclerc dons a white striped suit while attending the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters held at Monte-Carlo Country Club on Sunday (April 14) in Monte-Carlo, Monaco.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Crime drama “The Goldfinger” was the numerical winner at the Hong Kong Film Awards, where it won six prizes on Sunday. But it missed out on the best film prize, which went to box office record breaker “A Guilty Conscience.” “The Goldfinger,” a retro financial thriller starring Tony Leung Chiu-wai and Andy Lau Tak-wah, earned a slew of technical award (cinematography, art direction, costume and make up, sound design and visual effects) as well as the lead actor prize for Leung. Two films took three prizes each: “In Broad Daylight,” an investigation into abuse at a care home, and “Mad Fate,” Soi Cheang’s grungy examination of superstition in the city.

The Formula 1 schedule for the 2025 season has already been revealed!

Legal drama A Guilty Conscience took the top award for best film at this year’s Hong Kong Film Awards, while crime thriller The Goldfinger was the biggest winner overall with six prizes, including best actor for Tony Leung Chiu-wai. 

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.

Cixin Liu’s 3 Body Problem trilogy was considered unadaptable, but D.B. Weiss, David Benioff and Alexander Woo did it for Netflix. Even though Season 1 is streaming, that doesn’t mean they’ve solved Season 2. The trio joined Deadline’s Contenders TV event Sunday to discuss the adaptation, and Weiss explained why continuing the show poses even more creative problems.

Led by Dune: Part Two and Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire, Warner Bros has crossed the $1B mark at the international box office, becoming the first studio to reach the milestone this year. Getting there in just 15 weeks, this also sets a new speed record for WB, besting the 17 weeks it took in 2018. The full international estimate through today is $1.04B.

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at Large Netflix has acquired “Rather,” the documentary about veteran journalist Dan Rather‘s landmark career in news. The film, which premieres April 24 on the streamer, utilizes the story of of Rather’s life on television to also explore the evolution of broadcast journalism, the troubles a free press now faces, along with the slide of American society from hard-fought advances in social justice and democratic freedoms.

8 Out Of 10 Cats star Jon Richardson and his wife Lucy Beaumont are divorcing after nine years of marriage, they have announced in a joint statement.The comedy couple have starred in Meet The Richardsons, in which they play “exaggerated versions of themselves”, since 2020. A statement to the PA News agency said on Friday: "After nine years of marriage, we would like to announce that we have separated.

88rising will return to Coachella over the next two Sundays with a new ‘Futures’ set that will shine a light on four Japanese artists – find out more in NME’s interview with 88rising founder and CEO Sean Miyashiro.First announced April 8, the line-up for 88rising Futures includes viral sensations and NME Cover artists Yoasobi, rapper Awich, J-pop boyband Number_i, and the label’s own boundary-breaking group, Atarashii Gakko!. The set will also include appearances from Korean hip-hop legends Tiger JK and Yoonmirae, plus Chinese singer and dancer Xin Liu, 88rising’s newest signing.The programming reflects Miyashiro’s observations of widespread growth and appreciation of Japanese artists in today’s music landscape, he told NME, and 88rising’s efforts to celebrate and spotlight Japanese music “on what is the world’s most influential, prestigious music festival stage”.“There’s so much music coming out of Japan of all genres, and there’s so many people wanting to make music and be artists,” he said.

Pearl Jam have announced a special ‘Dark Matter-verse’ event to take place in London on the same day as the release of their new album.‘Dark Matter’, the band’s 12th studio album, is set for release on April 19 via Monkeywrench Records, and can be pre-ordered/pre-saved here. The band have already shared the title track and its follow-up single ‘Running’.And now, they have revealed details of the ‘Dark Matter-verse’, which will take place at Outernet in London on April 19, from 2pm to 7pm.

EXCLUSIVE: Theo Rossi (Emily the Criminal), Michael Rooker (Guardians of the Galaxy), David Costabile (Lincoln) and Jackie Earle Haley (Watchmen) have wrapped production in Arkansas on In Fortune’s Shadow, a new thriller from writer-director David L. Hunt (Greater) and his 2521 Entertainment.

Jon Burlingame Hailed by no less than the New York Times as “the hottest artist on the classical music planet,” Chinese pianist Lang Lang has expanded traditional performance boundaries beyond the usual Bach, Mozart and Chopin to include Disney songs and contemporary film music. On April 10, he will become one of a handful of classical pianists to receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. (Among them: Vladimir Horowitz, Arthur Rubinstein, Rudolf Serkin and Ignace Paderewski.) This recognition acknowledges Lang Lang’s connection to movies and his commitment to bringing classical music to younger audiences everywhere.

Liam Gallagher has defended the length of his gigs following his recent tour with John Squire.The moment arose during a new conversation with NME, where the former Oasis frontman opened up about the response to his huge collaborative self-titled album with the ex-Stone Roses guitarist, and their recently wrapped up UK and European tour.During the interview, the singer-songwriter was asked about his latest album with the Britpop guitarist, and questioned about why he chose to limit the LP to just 10 songs – despite them already revealing they had material left over from the writing sessions.“I’m glad there’s only 10 songs on the album. I think when you start doing more songs you take the foot off the gas on certain songs.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief TF Entertainment, the company behind Chinese pop sensations TFBoys and Teens in Times (aka TNT), has struck a strategic alliance with Universal Music Greater China. The deal includes global digital distribution for TF Entertainment’s roster of talent and the targeting of markets outside Mainland China. The objective is to leverage parent group Universal Music Group’s global distribution capabilities and marketing network to elevate Chinese pop’s global prominence. TF Entertainment was founded in 2009 and developed a trainee system to cultivate idol groups within Chinese pop.

Producers in Southeast Asia are facing a very different, much quieter landscape to the one in front of them just 12 months ago, as U.S. players rein in their spending to appease shareholders, and neighboring countries such as Korea, Japan and India draw attention.

The Killing star Sofie Gråbøl has reflected on how her Danish breakout series redefined “national and linguistic borders” when it came to TV viewing.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief China’s video streamers, much like their counterparts in the west, have passed their peak growth phase and have been forced to refocus their efforts on achieving profitability. In the case of IQiyi, which is a subsidiary of tech giant Baidu but has its own stock market listing on the NASDAQ, that transition has meant reduced content spending and a more rigorous approach to quality and investment in winning shows. “To the Wonder,” which debuted on Sunday in competition at Canneseries, is a product of that less-is-more approach.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief “Snow in Midsummer,” which quietly probes the 1969 massacre of Malaysian Chinese during post-election turmoil, was named the winner of the best film for young cinema competition (Chinese-language) at the Hong Kong International Film Festival. Liang Ming was named best director for “Carefree Days,” while the film’s female lead Lyu Xingchen collected the best actress award.

Malaysia-Singapore-Taiwan co-production Snow in Midsummer and Swedish title Sons took top prizes in the Young Cinema Competition at the 48th Hong Kong International Film Festival (HKIFF).

This spring, Tattu - the modern Chinese restaurant group - welcomes Blossom Season with enchanting floral installations, a fresh spring menu, terrace takeovers and bespoke cocktails.

Lagi Demetriou, best known for his performances on Britain's Got Talent as one half of Stavros Flatley, has undergone a remarkable transformation since his days on the ITV talent show. Alongside his father Demi, Lagi captured the hearts of audiences with their Greek-infused Lord of the Dance routine, complete with leather trousers and comical blonde wigs, back in 2009. Despite their unforgettable audition, Lagi and Demi fell short of clinching the top prize, losing out to dance troupe Diversity.