Indonesia Showbiz Latest News and Updates

Roblox studio boss Stefano Corazza has hit back at claims the gaming platform “exploits” children.In 2021 a video from People Make Games claimed that online game creation system Roblox was taking advantage of its young playerbase by selling them the dream that they could become entrepreneurs with their creations and earn “serious cash” in the process.Anyone can create a Roblox experience via the platform’s ‘Create’ tool, which also offers tutorials and support. However, game developers are paid with in-game currency Roblux, with Roblox taking a 75.5 per cent cut of all profits.

SHINee singer Onew has opened up about his decision to leave long-time label SM Entertainment.In a new interview with (x)clusive Singapore, SHINee’s Onew spoke more about why he made the choice to leave SM Entertainment, after over 15 years with the K-pop agency. The singer left the company this March and signed to Griffin Entertainment earlier this month.“You could think of it as me taking on another challenge, as I aspire to be an artist who looks further ahead rather than being complacent,” Onew told the publication in a new interview, adding that “it was not easy to decide to start anew in a new place”.Elsewhere in the interview, the SHINee singer also spoke about how to keeps his passion for music after being in the industry for so long: “I have become flexible to different situations, and I think that’s the key.”Onew is the second member of SHINee to leave SM Entertainment, following Taemin, who has since signed with Big Planet Made.

Super Junior have announced their upcoming 2024 ‘Super Show Spin-off: Halftime’ tour, with concerts in Thailand, Singapore and more.Today (April 18), Super Junior announced the dates and venues of their upcoming 2024 ‘Super Show Spin-off: Halftime’ tour. It comes about three months after the boyband first teased the tour in a statement to news outlet News1.The K-pop boyband will kick off their 12-date tour with a two-date performance on June 22 and 23 at the KSPO Dome in Seoul, South Korea.

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.

NME has revealed the line-up for its upcoming unplugged Girls To The Front showcase in Singapore next month – find out more below. First announced in early March, the Girls To The Front showcase is scheduled to take place on May 8 from 7PM SGT at the newly launched Swee Lee outlet at Clarke Quay during Branded’s CreatorWeek 2024.

Apple is turning the story of the Hollywood con queen into a documentary series.

The Gospel Of The Beast, directed by the Philippines’ Sheron Dayoc, picked up the Golden Star Award for Best Southeast Asian Film at the first edition of the Ho Chi Minh City International Film Festival (HIFF) in Vietnam. 

After a year of waiting, Race Across the World returned to screens on Wednesday, 10 April. Five teams are taking part in the race that spans across 10,000 miles across Asia.The teams began in Sapporo, in Hokkaido one of the main islands of Japan all the way to Lombok, an island of Indonesia.

TV’s biggest globetrotting adventure is back with 10 brand new contestants taking on the once-in-a-lifetime challenge. In pairs, the Race Across the World competitors are tasked with navigating their way through East Asia with limited resources, no credit cards and no phones. Over 50 days, they must travel from Japan to Indonesia, with only what they can carry, in an attempt to get their hands on a cash prize of £20,000.This year’s youngest duo, Alfie and Owen, both 20 years old, are best friends and confessed they weren’t exactly fans of the show before agreeing to participate.

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 BOYZ have announced their upcoming 2024 ‘Zeneration II’ world tour, featuring concerts in Asia, the US, Europe and more.Today (April 8), THE BOYZ announced the first batch of dates for their upcoming 2024 ‘Zeneration II’ world tour. The trek will follow their 2023 ‘Zeneration’ world tour, which had featured 24 dates in Asia.‘Zeneration II’ will kick-off in July with a three-date show in South, South Korea, before the boyband head to the US for a solo tour the first time since 2022.

Refresh for latest…: A busy holdover weekend for wide studio releases was led by the trio of Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire, Kung Fu Panda 4 and Dune: Part Two. And, in a soaring performance, Hayao Miyazaki’s Oscar winner The Boy and the Heron swooped into China helping the market set a new Qingming holiday record. 

Marc Malkin Senior Editor, Culture and Events Dev Patel refused to let the slew of injuries he suffered while filming his elaborate fight scenes in “Monkey Man” get in the way of him completing the movie. Patel not only directed and co-wrote the action movie, but he also stars as Kid, a young man who seeks to avenge his mother’s death at the hands of India’s corrupt law enforcement officials, political figures and spiritual leaders. He earns money by competing in a brutally violent underground fight club.

The CEO of ABS-CBN has lifted the lid on how the media conglom’s first collaboration with former network rival GMA typifies a new era of business for the Filipino company.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief YG Entertainment, the firm behind K-pop sensation Blackpink, has appointed Yang Min-seok as its new, sole CEO. The younger brother of company founder Yang Hyun-sun, he was previously joint CEO with Hwang Bo-kyun. The announcement was made shortly after YG’s annual shareholder meeting that closed the books on a year in which revenues climbed 65% to $430 million. The firm, which recently denied that it had paid $30 million to retain its position with Blackpink (but saw the girl group’s individual members sign personal representation contracts with other agencies) is busily launching BabyMonster, another all-female act that is seen in some circles as a successor to Blackpink. BabyMonster, which was formed late last year through reality TV show “Last Evaluation 2023,” is a seven part group with members from Korea, Thailand and Japan.

Korean horror film Exhuma has become the highest-grossing Korean film ever in Vietnam, its distributor Showbox Co said.

Michaela Zee Celebrity chef and humanitarian José Andrés has announced that several members of his World Central Kitchen nonprofit organization were killed in Gaza on Monday. “I am heartbroken and grieving for their families and friends and our whole WCK family,” Andrés wrote on X/Twitter. “There are people…angels…I served alongside in Ukraine, Gaza, Turkey, Morocco, Bahamas, Indonesia.

Monkey Man.The British actor’s new film premiered to a strong reaction at SXSW last month, but he has since spoken about how difficult it was to get the film made.During a Reddit AMA (Ask Me Anything) ahead of the film’s cinema release this week (April 5), the actor said that directing, producing and acting in the film was “the most demanding thing I’ve ever done in my life”, per Variety.He added that “everyday we faced absolute catastrophe” throughout the process.“I begged our financier not to shut us down a few weeks before principal photography,” he said. “We were meant to shoot in India then COVID hit.

Zack Sharf Digital News Director Dev Patel makes his feature directorial debut with the upcoming action movie “Monkey Man,” which blew the roof off SXSW earlier this month and earned strong reviews, but getting the film made was no walk in the park. During a Reddit AMA ahead of the film’s April theatrical release, Patel told fans that directing, acting in and producing “Monkey Man” was “the most demanding thing I’ve ever done in my life” because “everyday we faced absolute catastrophe.” “I begged our financier not to shut us down a few weeks before principal photography,” Patel wrote.

Warner Bros/Legendary Entertainment’s Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire is out and roaring at the international box office, generating $15.9M from 49 markets through its first two days overseas (Wed/Thurs). Not included in that total is the strong China opening day today which came in at an estimated RMB 96.9M ($13.4M).

EXCLUSIVE: Brazilian actress Amanda de Godoi (Lulli) and Indonesian actress and singer Acha Septriasa (June And Kopi) are set to star with writer-director-actor Carl Jackson in indie movie The Wedding.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Veteran Chinese director Zhang Yimou will be presented with a lifetime achievement award at the upcoming edition of the Festival of Far East Film in Italy’s Udine (April 24 – May 2). The lineup will include three films by Zhang: his 2023 political thriller “Under the Light” in its competition section; as well as “To Live” and “Raise the Red Lantern” in its restored classics section. The festival’s total lineup includes 74 films in total – 47 in competition and 28 out of competition) from 11 countries.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent “Dahomey,” the Berlinale Golden Bear-winning film helmed by French-Senegalese director Mati Diop, has been sold to a raft of international territories by Les Films du Losange. Along with being acquired by Mubi in key markets, “Dahomey” has been acquired in Australia & New Zealand (Rialto), China (Hugoeast), Spain (Filmin), Portugal (Nitrato Filmes), Greece (One From the Heart), Scandinavia (NonStop Entertainement), Benelux (Cinéart), Bulgaria (Beta Films), Ex-Yugoslavia (Discovery), Hungary (Mozinet), Czech Republic (Film Europe), Romania (Voodoo), Baltic Countries (Taip Toliau), Poland (New Horizons), Ukraine (Kyivmusicfilm), Taiwan (Joint Entertainment), Indonesia (PT Falcon) and Sudu Connexion in Africa.

A burger restaurant where staff are purposely rude to customers has issued an update after its Manchester branch was put on the market. The lease for Karen's Diner, which opened in Prestwich in 2022, was listed on Rightmove prompting questions about its future.

EXO singer D.O. – real name Doh Kyung-soo – has announced his upcoming 2024 ‘Bloom’ fan concert tour of Asia.Today (March 25), EXO’s D.O.

UK director, writer and cinematographer Molly Manning Walker, who won the Cannes Un Certain Regard prize last year for How To Have Sex, has been selected for the festival’s four-and-a-half month La Résidence program in Paris.

Coming out of the weekend, and with Sunday’s actuals and Monday’s numbers included, there are new global milestones to celebrate for the two major Hollywood titles currently in release.

Lionsgate has landed domestic U.S. rights to Badarawuhi Di Desa Penari (Dancing Village: The Curse Begins), the prequel to Indonesia‘s highest-grossing film, KKN Curse of the Dancing Village.

Meghan Markle and Prince Harry stole the spotlight from Prince William this week with the announcement of the Duchess's new brand. While Prince William appeared at several events — including a visit to the Diana Legacy Awards ceremony — he was overshadowed by Markle's latest business venture. The Duchess of Sussex launched an Instagram page and website for American Riviera Orchard on Thursday.

The Prince of Wales looked smart in a tuxedo as he arrived at the Science Museum in London this evening (Thursday, 14 March) to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Diana Legacy Award and present the prizes to 20 lucky winners. Prince Harry will also appear at the event via video call from Montecito and will congratulate this year's inspirational winners.The Diana Award was created to keep Diana, Princess of Wales' belief alive that young people can make the world a better place.