Japan Showbiz Latest News and Updates

Taylor Swift has been on the road with her mega popular Eras Tour for well over a year now, playing to tens of thousands of fans each night across the continents in North and south America, Australia and Japan, so far. Luckily for British Swifities, the queen of pop will be making the UK and Ireland her home for the next leg of the Eras tour in a matter of weeks.

Charles Leclerc holds a pint of his brand new ice cream LEC on Thursday (April 11) in Milan, Italy.

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.

Lauren Sanchez isn’t afraid to make a fashion statement. The journalist, pilot, author and philanthropist wore a stunning corset dress for a dinner at the White House, which she attended with her fiancé Jeff Bezos. Lauren Sánchez and Jeff Bezos embrace family time in Japan’s cherry blossom wonderlandLauren Sánchez’s Style Guide: How she incorporates red into her looksSanchez wore an off the shoulder red gown that was form fitting, with some details at the top that gave it a corset-like look.

Jeff Bezos and his future wife Lauren Sanchez hold hands as they arrive at the State Dinner on Wednesday (April 10) at the White House in Washington, DC.

Shōgun are noticing a striking resemblance between one of its characters and a certain actor.The series, which is available to watch on Disney+, features a Japanese actor called Hitoshi Masaki, who some have noticed looks similar to Rob McElhenney.A post on X containing a screenshot from the show went viral, as the user wrote: “This guy in Shōgun looks like Japanese Mac,” referring to McElhenney’s character in the US sitcom It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia, Ronald ‘Mac’ McDonald.McElhenney, who also famously co-owns Wrexham football club with Ryan Reynolds, replied to the post saying: “Great find. Time to do some research on my family history…”I gotta find this guy.

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.

Robert De Niro and Tiffany Chen are making a special public appearance at the White House!

A magnet-fishing dad and his young son have uncovered a chilling haul of deadly weapons in Scotland's rivers and canals.

Former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton are making a return visit to the White House as guests at tonight’s White House State Dinner for Japan‘s Prime Minister Kishida Fumio and Kishida Yuko.

Ice Spice is headed to the big screen!

Race Across the World is back on BBC One, and among the five teams of two are Londoner Eugenie and her daughter Isabel.The contestants will be pushed to their physical and emotional limits as they leave behind smartphones, internet access and bank cards to cross six seas and eight borders from northernmost Japan.The first team to reach the final destination bags a £20,000 cash prize. Eugenie, 60, hails from Barking and is a teacher, while her daughter Isabel, 25, from Birmingham, is a trainee clinical scientist.They hope that the experience will bring them closer together, despite admitting that their relationship can be fiery at times.

Warner Bros is getting back in business with The Color Purple director Blitz Bazawule, with the studio landing rights to the tentatively titled Black Samurai with Bazawule directing. He wrote the pic on spec and will also produce under his Inward Gaze banner.

Angelique Jackson In a competitive situation, Warner Bros. has landed “The Color Purple” director Blitz Bazawule’s next project, which takes on the legendary Yasuke, an African warrior who became the first Black samurai.

Well Go USA has landed North American rights for Dutch action thriller Invasion about a daring military operation in the wake of a hostile attack on the Caribbean islands of Aruba and Curacao.

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.

Crunchyroll has acquired North American and select EMEA and Latin America theatrical rights to the highly anticipated feature anime spinoff Blue Lock The Movie – Episode Nagi. Crunchyroll and Sony have set a North American release for June 28, 2024 with the international dates still to be confirmed. The buzzy title is currently dated for April 19 in Japan.

So, Sony was here at CinemaCon after all. In a way. Sony domestic distribution chief Adrian Smith took the stage to introduce the first ever Crunchyroll presentation at the Las Vegas exhibitor and studio confab. Smith beamed that the label “has exceeded all our expectations and everyone at Sony is excited about the future and what’s coming.” 

Korean auteur Park Chan-wook (“Old Boy”) is moving along at a nice clip. On the way is his HBO period spy series “The Sympathizer,” which comes out later this month, and potentially next is his long-gestating remake of the dark comedy “The Ax.” And while that’s undoubtedly an abundance of great projects in the works, there are even more on the horizon.

Aoki Lee Simmons, 21, took the internet by storm this weekend when photos went viral of the model with 65-year-old restauranteur Vittorio Assaf. With any age gap, it sparked a discussion, with many debating the situation online. Aoki got roasted by social media, and even her parents, Russell Simmons and Kimora Lee started catching some heat.Aoki and Assaf certainly looked happy on their romantic trip to St.

Peter Debruge Chief Film Critic SPOILER ALERT: The following essay discusses key plot points, including the ending. Last weekend, I took in “Le Samouraï” for what must have been the sixth or seventh time, relishing the new 4K restoration of Jean-Pierre Melville’s masterpiece (now playing at Laemmle theaters in Los Angeles). As I exited the screening, I discreetly eavesdropped on my fellow audience members. Most seemed impressed.

Christian Nodal and Cazzu are basking in the happiness of parenthood with their daughter, Inti. Since becoming first-time parents, the family has been experiencing many “firsts” together. Most recently, they introduced Inti to the ocean.

Oppenheimer continues to break records around the world, and now the film has become Christopher Nolan’s biggest Box Office hit overseas.The biopic profiles Robert J. Oppenheimer (played by Cillian Murphy), the real-life American physicist who played a pivotal role in the creation of the atomic bomb in World War II.

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.

Lauren Sánchez, a former entertainment news anchor turned entrepreneur, and her fiancé, Jeff Bezos, the renowned Amazon founder, are making headlines yet again. Still, it’s not for business ventures or technological breakthroughs this time.

Annika Pham Copenhagen-based DR Sales has secured major sales on the Sundance Grand Jury Prize winner and Visions du Réel Grand Angle entry “A New Kind of Wilderness.” The film, directed by Silje Evensmo Jacobsen, has been acquired by ZDF and Arte for Germany and France, Cinema Delicatessen for the Netherlands, Dalton Distribution for Belgium, Against Gravity for Poland, Kino Pavasaris for the Baltics and Stardust for Japan. “From the moment ‘A New Kind of Wilderness’ was presented to us, we fell in love with the film,” said DR Sales’ Freja Johanne Nørgaard Sørensen.

EXCLUSIVE: The company that sells The Traitors format around the world and the Japanese broadcaster behind Ninja Warrior and Takeshi’s Castle have teamed up to create a physical gameshow.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor AMC Networks plans to offer ad-supported versions to all of its targeted streaming services by the end of the 2024-2025 upfront market, part of a broader bid to give advertisers a potential perch in nearly every video venue. AMC in late 2023 launched an ad-supported edition of its flagship AMC+ streaming venue, which comprises offerings from Shudder, Sundance Now and IFC Films Unlimited. Now, it wants to offer plans tied to those individual hubs, as well as other services, outside of an overarching AMC+ plan.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor French broadcaster M6 has greenlit a French-language adaptation of Turkish crime drama “Persona,” to be titled “Mémoire Vive.” Instead of a male protagonist, as in the Turkish version, it will have a female main character, Esther Lefevre, to be played by Clementine Celarie, whose credits include “Six Women,” “Betty Blue” and “Two Is a Family.” “Mémoire Vive,” which will comprise four hour-long episodes, is being produced by Calt Studio. It is written by Laurent Burtin (“Astrid: Murder in Paris”), Anne-Gaëlle Daval (“Ladies”) and Hélène Lombard (“Call My Agent!”).

Callum McLennan U.K. distribution powerhouse DCD Rights is announcing strong pre-sales for its musical legend laden slate at MipTV. The remastered release of “David Bowie: Ziggy Stardust & The Spiders from Mars” in stunning 4K leads the pack with a pre-sale to NHK Japan already in place.