Hong Kong Showbiz Latest News and Updates

Fireworks at Disney’s first-quarter earnings amid a bitter proxy fight quieted down in the second and the company’s commentary on a call today, especially around the parks business, generated some investor angst and knocked the stock lower.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor The Match Factory has finalized global sales for the Cannes competition title “The Substance,” directed by Coralie Fargeat and starring Demi Moore, Margaret Qualley and Dennis Quaid. The Match Factory has sold to Italy (I Wonder Pictures), Spain (Elastica Films), Scandinavia (Nonstop Entertainment), South Korea (Challan), Hong Kong (Golden Scene Company), CIS (VLG.FILM LTD.), Ukraine and Baltics (Adastra Cinema), Taiwan (Catchplay), Australia and New Zealand (Madman Entertainment), Poland (Monolith), Greece (Feelgood Entertainment), the former Yugoslavia (MCF Megacom), Bulgaria (Beta Film) and Romania (Independenta Film 97).

The Match Factory has finalized a raft of international deals for Coralie Fargeat’s Cannes Palme d’Or contender The Substance, following its buzzy premiere over the weekend in the presence of co-stars Demi Moore, Margaret Qualley, and Dennis Quaid.

Bury is set for its first Food and Drink Festival begins with dozens of stalls across the town centre and entertainment during the first half of the Bank Holiday weekend. The festival will see Bury town centre packed with pop-up food markets, artisan drinks, craft stalls, music and live entertainment between 9am – 4.30pm on Friday, May 24 and Saturday May, 25.

Passengers who sustained serious injuries while aboard the Singapore Airlines flight that endured acute turbulence earlier this week require spinal surgery, according to a Bangkok hospital.

Anita Gou is no stranger to the festival circuit. Her L.A.-based Kindred Spirit banner saw a raft of its first projects debut at Sundance (think Lulu Wang’s Mandarin-language comedy The Farewell, which made $23M worldwide, Shia LaBeouf-starrer Honey Boy and Sam Levinson’s Assassination Nation) but, more recently, her co-production Silent Twins was selected in Un Certain Regard in 2022, while Dominic Savage’s Close To You premiered in Toronto last year. The company’s Mubi-acquired doc The Last Year of Darkness, which explores the lives of alternative Chinese youth, was awarded a Special Mention prize in the Next:Wave section at the Copenhagen International Documentary Film Festival last year.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief The final matches of the NBA season will be screened live at selected Imax cinemas in Hong Kong and Taiwan from June 6. The screenings are the first time that Imax China, the offshoot of Imax Corp., the Canadian giant screen cinema and equipment company, offers a live sports experience. It comes as a result of a first-time deal between Imax China and NBA China.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Action choreographer Brahim Chab, who recently staged the action sequences for Deve Patel’s “Monkey Man,” has joined the crew of “Blood Passage.” To be directed by The Philippines’ Pedring Lopez, who recently completed the prison drama series “Sellblock.” “Blood Passage” is a martial arts vampire action horror feature set in Southeast Asia. It s tory follows a rescue mission gone wrong, that pits a private military unit against relentless supernatural forces. The film is the first to emerge from the alliance between Lopez’s Blackops Studios Asia and Alaric Tay’s Very Tay Media.

Siddhant Adlakha Unfolding in the cramped corridors of Hong Kong’s Kowloon Walled City (it was one of the most dangerously dense urban areas on Earth before being demolished in 1993), Soi Cheang‘s ’80s-set “Twilight of the Warriors: Walled In” delivers on its blockbuster action promise. However, its martial arts spectacle is scattered across a sprawling refugees-and-triads saga that, while adequately laying foundation for the aforementioned fisticuffs, is seldom coherent or engaging on its own.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief “The Last Frenzy,” a comedy film about a dying man’s last hurrah, returned to the top spot in mainland Chinese cinemas in its third weekend of release. “Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes,” which a week earlier had been the biggest title, slipped to fourth place. In another China disappointment for Hollywood, “The Fall Guy” opened outside the Chinese top ten.

EXCLUSIVE: The Philippines‘ Star Cinema and GMA Pictures are teaming up to produce Hello, Love, Again, the sequel to blockbuster hit Hello, Love, Goodbye.

NME’s compiled a list of musicians and bands performing in the continent this year, from pop heavyweights like Olivia Rodrigo and Anne-Marie to metal favourites like Arch Enemy and more.And if you’re wondering where all the K-pop concerts and fanmeets have gone – we’ve got a whole other list for them, which you can check out here. And here’s a small sample of the K-pop artists who are coming to Asia in 2024: aespa, RIIZE, (G)I-DLE and many more.If music fests are more up your alley, you can check out NME’s list of Asia festivals taking place in 2024.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Hit crime thriller “The Pig, The Snake and The Pigeon” received 13 nominations for the upcoming Taipei Film Festival’s Taipei Film Awards. These include nominations for best feature, best director, best screenplay, best actor, best supporting actress, and best supporting actor.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Leading Hong Kong actor Tony Leung has been set as the president of the jury that will decide the main competition prizes at the Tokyo International Film Festival later this year. “Japan is close to my heart in more ways than one. And to be involved in celebrating film in this way, is a big deal for me.

Jazz Tangcay Artisans Editor When “Expats” showrunner and director Lulu Wang was penning the script for episode 4, she featured a scene where Hilary gets trapped in the elevator with her mother. But little did she know, actress Sarayu Blue was claustrophobic. “That’s my biggest fear,” Blue says.

EXCLUSIVE: AMP International has taken world sales rights on the sci-fi film Touchdown from Bandit Country.

Forbes has released its annual 30 Under 30 list for 2024 in Asia, which features the likes of Voice Of Baceprot, IVE and more.Released today (May 16), the annual Forbes 30 Under 30 list shines a light on individuals aged below 30 who have made a significant impact in their respective fields, including entertainment and sports, science and activism, entrepreneurship and more.This year’s entertainment and sports portion of the list is headlined by Indonesian metallers and stars of NME’s The Cover, Voice Of Baceprot. Trailing behind them are K-pop outfit IVE, Japanese pop-rock group Atarashii Gakko!, Filipino rapper Ez Mil, Indian rapper Arpan Kumar Chandel (aka King), Japanese singer Aina The End and Indonesia’s Mahalini Raharja.The list also includes Chinese-New Zealand actress Jess Hong, Thai singer-actor Vachirawit Chivaaree, also known as Bright, and Indian singer-songwriter Pavithra Chari.This year’s North American 30 Under 30 list featured the likes of Boygenius, Ethel Cain, Dominic Fike, Gracie Abrams, Latto, Reneé Rapp, Ice Spice, Peso Pluma, Trippie Redd, Kali Uchis and more.This year’s European 30 Under 30 list features PinkPantheress, Nia Archives, Cat Burns, FLO, Holly Humberstone and more.Last year’s Forbes Asia 30 Under 30 list included K-pop girl groups NewJeans and Le Sserafim, Cambodian rapper VannDa, Singaporean singer Shye, South Korean singer LØREN, Indian singer-rapper Ambika Nayak – known professionally as Kayan – and Hong Kong singer Michael “MC” Cheung Tin-fu.The entertainment and sports category of the Forbes 30 Under 30 Asia list was judged by ONE Championship co-founder and Group President Hua Fung Teh and Caldecott Music Group CEO and founder Kuok Meng Ru.

Donnie Yen has inked a deal to reprise his role as Caine, the highly skilled, blind assassin introduced in John Wick: Chapter 4, in a new film from Lionsgate set to shoot in Hong Kong next year, the studio announced on Wednesday.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Female stunt performer Wiriya Caesar will step up into the lead performer role in upcoming Thai action film “The 24.” The film project is being launched this week in the Cannes Market by new international sales firm Boz Pictures. Wiriya (aka Porntip Wiriya, aka “Fan”) has previously been a stunt double for Mary-Elizabeth Winstead in “Kate” and Golshifteh Farahani in “Extraction,” and has other credits on “Thirteen Lives” and “Hidden Strike.” In “The 24” she will star as an assassin who wakes up with a time bomb strapped to her body. She has clear instructions to kill a hit list of 24 members of the Bangkok underground, with each successful hit buying her more time alive. Caesar is joined in the cast by Japan’s Sakaguchi Tak (“Re:Born,” “One Percenter,” “Versus”), Dan Chupong (“Ong Bak 1 &2,” “Born to Fight”), Sunny Pang (“The Night Comes for Us,” “Headshot” and Gareth Evans’ upcoming “Havoc”) and Simon Kook (“Ip Man 3,” “Mayhem”). The film, which will shoot in the fourth quarter of this year, is written and directed by Lee Thongkham (“The Maid,” “The Lake,” “Kitty the Killer”).

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief The feature “Tales of Taipei” is a tribute to the low-pressure, culturally rich city, which has been shaped by its regional neighbors, taken in diverse peoples and distilled the multiple competing influences into a messy, happy-go-lucky morass. Produced by Bowie Tsang and Amy Ma, the film calls on 10 directors hailing from Malaysia, France, Bhutan and Hong Kong, and Taiwanese locals Yin Cheng-han and Remii Huang to contribute.“Everything is possible in Taiwan, everything exits side by side,” says Tsang, who was born in Hong Kong. “We have old Chinese myths.

(G)I-DLE have announced the cities and dates for their upcoming 2024 ‘i-DOL’ world tour, featuring concerts in Asia, the US and Australia.Today (May 13), (G)I-DLE revealed details for their newly announced 2024 ‘i-DOL’ world tour, which will feature 19 concerts across Asia, the US and Australia from August to November this year.The K-pop girl group will kick off their tour with a two-date concert in Seoul, South Korea on August 3 and 4. In the same month, the quintet will also hold performances in Hong Kong, China and Tokyo, Japan.In September 2024, (G)I-DLE will bring their 2024 ‘i-DOL’ world tour to the US.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief “Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes” debuted on top of the mainland China box office with an opening weekend score of $11.4 million (RMB81.1 million). That was only the fourth weekend this year that a Hollywood film has topped the China charts and the third time in 2024 that a Hollywood title has opened on top. “Apes” was also the top film this weekend in North America and international markets. Data from consultancy firm Artisan Gateway showed that the film accounted for some 30% of the theatrical total on a weekend where theaters earned a combined $38.2 million.

EXCLUSIVE: Two-time Oscar winner Mahershala Ali is set to star with Tom Hardy in 77 Blackout, a crime thriller set on the night when the city that never sleeps lost power and plunged into chaos and lawlessness. Cary Joji Fukunaga is directing. Fresh from the Oppenheimer Best Picture Oscar, Charles Roven is producing along with Madison Weireter for Atlas Entertainment, and William Green and Aaron Ginsburg for The Cut.

Former WME Independent agent Nelson Mok is launching a new investment and sales company named Mokster Films, which will focus on projects from Southeast Asia, Hong Kong and Taiwan.

NCT member Mark has teased his new single ‘200’ and an upcoming solo albumToday (May 10), NCT’s Mark released an acoustic performance clip of his upcoming single ‘200’, which will be released inn full on May 16 at 6pm KST. The song will be will be accompanied by the B-side ‘200 (Minhyung’s version)’, with Minhyung being the rapper’s Korean name.Additionally, SM Entertainment has announced that the Korean-Canadian idol is preparing to release his first solo album sometime in February 2025.

Clayton Davis Senior Awards Editor “Shōgun” might be creating some drama at the Emmys. Multiple industry insiders tell Variety that FX, the heavyweight contender in the Primetime Emmy race for outstanding limited or anthology series, is considering a bold move: shifting its submission for “Shōgun” to the drama series categories this year. This strategic repositioning hints at the likely return of the protagonist, Lord Yoshii Toranaga (played by Hiroyuki Sanada).

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Skyline Media, a leading Vietnamese studio, is getting ready for Cannes with a string of sales on its local and Southeast Asian film sales slate. Since appearing at FilMart in Hong Kong in March, Skyine has licensed Cambodian horror title “The Night Curse of Reatrei” to Taiwan’s Cai Chang International and to Exponenta Film for the CIS region.

NCT Dream have announced their upcoming 2024 ‘The Dream Show 3: Dream( )scape’ world tour, with concerts in Asia, Europe, the US and more.NCT Dream’s 2024 ‘The Dream Show 3: Dream( )scape’ world tour currently features 17 shows across Asia, with concerts in nine different cities. The Latin America, US and Europe legs of the tour will be revealed on May 8.‘The Dream Show 3: Dream( )scape’ kick offed with a three-date concert on May 2 in Seoul, South Korea.

Doyoung of K-pop boyband NCT has announced his upcoming 2024 ‘Dear Youth’ tour, featuring concerts in Japan, Thailand, Indonesia and more.Today (May 9), NCT’s Doyoung revealed that he is set to embark on his first-ever solo tour later this month. Titled the 2024 ‘Dear Youth’ tour, the K-pop idol will kick things off with a three-date concert in Seoul, South Korea from May 25 to 27.Doyoung will then head to Japan in June 2024, featuring a two-date stop in Yokohama and a one-night show in Osaka.

Olivia Rodrigo has announced the Asia and Australia leg of her 2024 ‘Guts’ world tour set to kick off later this year.The Asian leg of the tour will kick off on September 16 at the Impact Arena in Bangkok. From there, the ‘Love Is Embarrassing’ singer will be making stops in Seoul, Hong Kong, Tokyo and Singapore.

The Chromatica Ball special is coming, after all!