Indonesia Showbiz Latest News and Updates

Jogja-Netpac Asian Film Festival (JAFF), held in the Indonesian city of Yogyakarta, is launching an industry event that aims to showcase Indonesian content and connect the country’s fast-expanding film industry to international markets.

EXCLUSIVE: Focus Features has acquired U.S. rights and select international territories on upcoming thriller Last Breath, starring Woody Harrelson, Finn Cole and Simu Liu. Focus will distribute the Alex Parkinson-directed title in the U.S. with Universal Pictures International handling select territories including France, Scandinavia, Australia and New Zealand, China, Indonesia, Malaysia, South Korea and Vietnam. 

Indonesia‘s Jogja-Netpac Asian Film Festival (JAFF) will unveil its inaugural JAFF Market in December. The initiative was announced at the Cannes Film Festival on Thursday. This new three-day event aims to reshape the Indonesian film industry by fostering networking, innovation and collaboration among various sectors.

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.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Korea’s Barunson E&A has picked up world sales rights to Vietnamese horror-comedy “Don’t Cry Butterfly.” Sales will be launched this week at the Cannes Market. Written and directed by Duong Dieu Linh, the Hanoi-set film follows a housewife who uses voodoo to try and get her cheating husband fall back into love with her, but instead invites a mysterious presence into the house.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Asian audiences are increasingly turning to homegrown content in their streaming choices. Asian titles powering 80% of premium VOD engagement and customer acquisition, according to new research from research and consultancy firm Media Partners Asia. “The Rise of Asian Content” is based on passive tracking of 40,000 users by sister company AMPD in nine major Asian markets – Japan, Korea, Singapore, Taiwan, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines and Thailand – over 15 months between Jan.

Niki was just 15, she won a contest and was given the opportunity to open for Taylor Swift’s ‘Red Tour’ in Jakarta.A decade later, the Indonesian pop star is headlining a tour of her own.Starting in September, the “lowkey” singer will hit arenas, auditoriums, theaters, ballrooms, music halls and event centers all over the U.S. and Canada as part of her forthcoming ‘Buzz Tour’ in support of her third studio album with the same name, due out Aug.

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.

The Venice Film Festival will fete Australian director and screenwriter Peter Weir (Dead Poets Society, The Truman Show, Master & Commander) with its honorary Golden Lion at its forthcoming 80th edition.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Korean sales firm Finecut has inked multiple deals for horror thriller “Noise” and for “A Traveler’s Needs,” the recent Berlin prize-winner directed by Hong Sangsoo.“Noise” is a “multi-sensory and realistic horror” film that intertwines societal motifs of “floor noise” with suspenseful elements. Directed by Kim Soo-jin, the film centers around a woman with a hearing aid haunted by inexplicable sounds linked to her sister’s disappearance in her own apartment and attracting a malevolent presence.

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.

With the fourth series of BBC smash hit Race Across the World now well underway, viewers at home have been excitedly watching a new set of teams try and duke it out for a coveted cash prize by travelling from Japan to Indonesia with only a limited budget. So far, the five teams have made it from Japan to Cambodia after travelling through South Korea and Vietnam, with the gap between each pair getting tighter and tighter.

Addie Morfoot Contributor In “Hollywood Con Queen,” director Chris Smith chronicles one of Hollywood’s most audacious scams that involved an impostor who posed as top entertainment studio executives to swindle aspiring artists. Based on the original reporting of entertainment journalist Scott Johnson, and his book, “Hollywood Con Queen: The Hunt for an Evil Genius,” the three-part Apple TV+ docuseries features first-hand accounts and insights from Johnson, private investigator Nicole Kotsianas, the alleged con artist, Hargobind Tahilramani, and his victims.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief The video-on-demand streaming sector in Southeast Asia delivered record subscription numbers and subscription revenues in the first quarter of the year, according to a new study. Those trends represent recovery after a tough 2023. Data from consultancy firm Media Partners Asia and its AMPD research affiliate showed VOD usage at a barely changed 96.3 minutes in the five Southeast Asian countries studied (Singapore, Thailand, The Philippines, Indonesia and Malaysia). Total paying subscriptions reached 48.5 million, representing net additions of 652,000 quarter-on-quarter and 1.6 million year-on-year.

Race Across the World made a welcome return to TV screens earlier this month, with a new set of contestants ready to take on the once-in-a-lifetime challenge.The new seasons saw 10 competitors tasked with navigating their way through East Asia in pairs, with limited resources, no credit cards and no phones.The duos have 50 days to travel from Japan to Indonesia with only what they can manage to carry.The winning pair get a cash prize of £20,000. With the BBC show back on screens, many fans have been wondering about certain details of the race.

SHINee singer Onew has announced his upcoming solo 2024 ‘Guess!’ tour, featuring concerts in Singapore, Malaysia, the Philippines and more.SHINee’s Onew and his label Griffin Entertainment announced the K-pop singer’s solo 2024 ‘Guess!’ tour on April 29. The tour will feature 11 concerts across seven countries in Asia from May to July this year.The idol will kick off his tour with a two-date concert in Seoul, South Korean on May 17 and 18.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Visinema Studios, the family division of leading Indonesian entertainment company Visinema Group, is set to make its debut in live theater with “Keluarga Cemara: The Musical.” “Keluarga Cemara” (aka “Cemara Family”) has previously existed as a classic Indonesian novel about a family facing up to financial hardship, but emerging resilient and optimistic. It has since been adapted as two feature films “Keluarga Cemara” and “Keluarga Cemara 2,” which attracted over two million theatrical admissions, and the recent “Keluarga Cemara: The Series” which played on Disney+ Hotstar Indonesia. The stage show will be presented with cultural institution Galeri Indonesia Kaya and the Teater Musikal Nusantara.

K-pop touring cycle is in full swing. Stars including SEVENTEEN, aespa and NCT Dream are touring the world with new tunes in tow – and hitting Asia very soon.While some of those artists are staging their own headline shows, others are on the line-ups of music festivals with both multi-genre and Hallyu-only line-ups.

ZEROBASEONE have announced the dates for their upcoming 2024 ‘The First Tour’ tour, featuring concerts in Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia and more.Today (April 29), ZEROBASEONE revealed the dates for their forthcoming 2024 ‘The First Tour’ tour, which will feature 14 concerts in seven different countries from September to December this year.The K-pop boyband will kick off their tour with a three-date show at the KSPO Dome in Seoul, South Korea from September 20 to 22. In the same month, the group will also hold a concert at the Singapore Indoor Stadium.In the following month, ZEROBASEONE will bring their 2024 ‘The First Tour’ tour to other cities and countries across Southeast Asia.

Apink, Girls’ Generation and more have allegedly been “detained” in Bali, Indonesia after reportedly filming a show in the country without permit.Today (April 26), South Korean news outlet SPOTV reported that four K-pop idols – Girls’ Generation’s Hyoyeon, Apink’s Bomi, Secret Number‘s Dita and ex-I.O.I member Nayoung – have been detained in Bali, alongside other cast and crew members of the upcoming reality television programme Pick Me Trip in Bali.According to the news outlet, the K-pop idols arrived in Bali on April 21 and were scheduled to leave on April 25. However, their departure from Bali was stopped after local authorities discovered that the show the was being filmed without appropriate permits.All of the cast and crew, which amounts up to around 30 individuals, have allegedly had their passports confiscated and are currently residing in a hotel while the case is under investigation.

Travellers heading to Indonesia have been warned to check their passports before heading out.

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.