Macau Showbiz Latest News and Updates

The Chinese economy is already struggling because of the nation’s “Zero-Covid” policy, which continues to enforce absolute shutdowns because of small Covid-19 outbreaks.

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.

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.

Marco Mueller, who over the past decades has headed both the Venice and Rome fests – among several other events – is back in Italy where he is expected to be appointed artistic director of Sicily’s storied but troubled Taormina Film Festival. According to several sources Mueller, who in more recent years relocated to China, is expected to sign a contract on Thursday to become Taormina fest chief. The event is run by the Fondazione Taormina Arte Sicilia foundation currently being managed by Sergio Bonomo.

B.I has announced the Asia dates for the concerts on his upcoming 2024 ‘Hype Up’ tour.Over the weekend on March 30, B.I revealed the first batch of dates for his upcoming 2024 ‘Hype Up’ tour, which will kick off this May with concerts across six Asian cities.B.I will embark on his newly announced tour on May 24 with a show in Hong Kong. Thereafter, the singer will perform concerts in Bangkok, Singapore, Manila and Jakarta in June, followed by a Macau show in July.According to the poster for the 2024 ‘Hype Up’ tour, more cities and dates will be announced soon.

aespa have announced their upcoming 2024 ‘SYNK: Parallel Line’ world tour, featuring concerts in Asia, Australia and more.Today (February 19), the K-pop girl group announced their new tour, titled ‘SYNK: Parallel Line’, on their official Weverse artist page. aespa’s 2024 tour currently features 19 concerts across 13 different cities in Asia and Australia from June to September 2024.The tour will kick off at the end of June with a two-night concert in Seoul, South Korea.

Alex Ritman “Superpower,” the Sean Penn fronted and co-directed documentary following the Oscar-winner as he embeds himself with Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelensky in the wake of Russia’s invasion, has scored new sales. Ahead of the Berlinale, where “Superpower” first premiered in 2023 while still in production, Fifth Season — which financed the film alongside Vice Studios — has unveiled broadcast deals with streamer Stan and Nine Network (Australia), Movistar Plus (Spain), HBO (CEE and Baltics), PCCW for Now TV (Hong Kong and Macau), DPG Media (Belgium), A+E Networks/History Channel (Germany) and Kyivstar TV (Ukraine).

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief As Russia’s war in Ukraine approaches its second anniversary, leading Russian director Aleksey German Jr. (“House Arrest,” “Under Electric Clouds”), is currently giving “Air,” his state-funded WWII thriller, a commercial release in Russian cinemas. With ferocious action and cruel detail, “Air” has been called out for being a patriotic film.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief “I don’t find the definition of Chinese filmmakers by generation to be a useful tool,” said Marco Mueller, introducing dark satire “The Movie Emperor” as the opening film of the first edition of his Festival of Young Cinema (Asia-Europe) in Macau on Friday. “Much more interesting is the concept of exchange between new and old and between East and West.” “The new forces of Chinese cinema are present and participating.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Chinese director Huo Meng, Taiwanese actor Lee Hong-chi and Macau-based Maxim Bessmertny are among a dozen emerging East Asian talent who will present feature film projects and works in progress at the Festival of Young Cinema (Asia-Europe). The inaugural edition of the festival, running Jan.

Ning Hao’s The Movie Emperor will screen as the opening film of Macau’s Asia-Europe Young Cinema Film Festival, which is holding its inaugural edition from January 5-11. Vidhu Vinod Chopra’s 12th Fail, recently a hit in India, will screen as the closing film. 

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief China and Netherlands-based Fortissimo Films has picked up international sales rights to anticipated Chinese blockbuster movie “If You Are the One 3.” To be released on Dec. 30 in China, the picture is directed by Feng Xiaogang as the second sequel in his anti-romance comedy franchise, about a rich businessman and an air stewardess, which kicked off in 2008 and earned a follow-up in 2010.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Macau casino operator, Sands China entered into a strategic partnership with Chinese streaming company Tencent Video and Chinese cinema ticketing firm Maoyan Entertainment. The three parties will team up to host large-scale offline events, content creation of lifestyle and entertainment programs and online marketing and promotion. Operating The Venetian Macao, The Parisian Macao and The Londoner Macao casino resorts, Sands runs several large entertainment facilities in Macau, including the 15,000-seat Cotai Arena, the 1,800-seat Venetian Theatre, the 6,000-seat The Londoner Arena, the 1,200-seat The Parisian Theatre, and the 1,700-seat Londoner Theatre. The three will co-organize events in Macau including live performances, concerts, films, TV series, variety shows, sports and cultural activities.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Marco Mueller, the veteran film festival curator and director, is set to launch a new festival and market in Macau. It will have its first edition in January. The Asia-Europe Young Cinema Festival, running Jan.

Veteran film festival director Marco Mueller is working with the Macau government to launch a new film festival, Asia-Europe Young Cinema Festival, which is scheduled to take place in Macau from January 5-11. 

SM Entertainment has previewed its upcoming music releases for the first quarter of 2024, featuring new music by aespa, NCT’s Taeyong and RIIZE.In the newly published SM Entertainment Earnings Release report for the third quarter of 2023, the company included a preview of the music line-up for the first quarter of 2024 It details a slew of planned album, mini-album and single releases from several SM artists for the period.Following the most recently announced upcoming release of Taeyeon’s mini-album ‘To. X’ on November 27, SM Entertainment has revealed that other artists slated to put out new music for the rest of the year include Super Junior’s Ryeowook, NCT 127 and TVXQ.

Warner Bros Discovery‘s international restructuring has continued with James Gibbons setting out the shape of his Asia Pacific team, with Japanese Country Manager Masami Takahashi choosing to retire.

Naman Ramachandran Warner Bros. Discovery has revealed several leadership roles across its Asia Pacific (APAC) business, following the appointment of James Gibbons as president, Asia Pacific, in October.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief The inaugural edition of the Cinema at Sea – Okinawa Pan-Pacific International Film Festival will be held next month (Nov. 23-29) on the Japanese island of Okinawa.

K.J. Yossman “House of Kardashian,” the documentary about television’s most famous family, is heading to Australia among other territories. FOXTEL have picked up the three-part doc series, made by 72 Films, for the Australian market.

EXCLUSIVE: The Eternal Memory, the latest film from Oscar-nominated filmmaker Maite Alberdi (The Mole Agent), has landed a series of international deals for Dogwoof and MTV Documentary Films ahead of its UK premiere this week at the London Film Festival. 

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Berlin-based sales agency M-Appeal has closed multiple deals for Cannes Film Festival titles “Power Alley” by Lillah Halla, and “Let Me Go” by Maxime Rappaz, which are both female-led films. Cannes Critics’ Week title “Power Alley,” set in Brazil, follows talented volleyball player Sofia who discovers she is pregnant on the eve of a career-defining game. Seeking an abortion, which is illegal in Brazil, she is confronted by a fundamentalist group who become fixated on stopping her.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief The 2023 Golden Horse Film Project Promotion, the project market that accompanies the Golden Horse film festival and awards in Taiwan in November, has laid out a huge 64-title selection for its 2023 edition. These include 39 film projects at various stages of development and financing; a further seven works in progress; and the 18-previously announced series at project stage.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Neo Sora’s concert documentary “Ryuichi Sakamoto | Opus,” a standout at the Venice Film Festival, has sold for theatrical distribution in North America to Janus Films ahead of its North American premiere at the New York Film Festival. The theatrical release will be followed by a Blu-ray Disc release on the “Janus Contemporaries” label. This is the latest deal inked by London and Paris-based production, finance and sales outfit Film Constellation, following a slew of sales to Spain (Filmin), Portugal (Midas Filmes), Germany and Austria (Rapid Eye), Scandinavia (NjutaFilms), Baltics (Kino Pavasaris), South Korea (Media Castle), China (JL Vision Films), Hong Kong and Macau (Edko Films), Taiwan (Cai Chang) and Singapore (Anticipate Pictures).

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Director Clara Law (“The Goddess of 1967”) has been set as president of the jury which will discern this year’s Asia Pacific Screen Awards. She will be joined by Malaysia’s Yeo Yann Yann (“Ilo Ilo,” “Wet Season,” American Born Chinese”), German producer Anna Katchko (“Stepne,” “Happiness”), and Faisal Baltyuor, producer and CEO of Muvi Studios in Saudi Arabia. A separate jury for documentaries and animation will be headed by Taiwan-based Myanmar director Midi Z, India’s Rima Das and Japanese documentary maker Toda Hikaru. The APSAs will be presented at a ceremony in Gold Coast, Queensland on Nov.

(G)I-DLE have worked with Meghan Trainor, Ryan Tedder and more for their upcoming English EP, ‘HEAT’.Today (September 19), (G)I-DLE released the tracklist for their first English-language EP, ‘HEAT’. The project will be led by the title track ‘I Want That’, alongside the previously released ‘I Do’ and three other songs.Notably, ‘I Want That’ is co-written by OneRepublic frontman Ryan Tedder.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Kim Jee-woon’s black comedy “Cobweb,” which debuted this year at Cannes, is set for a U.S. theatrical release in early 2024.

Samuel Goldwyn Films has acquired U.S. rights to Korean filmmaker Kim Jee-woon’s Cobweb, starring Song Kang-ho, which had its world premiere Out Of Competition at this year’s Cannes Film Festival. 

JAY B, a member of K-pop boyband GOT7, has left CDNZA Records.Over the weekend, CDNZA Records announced though its official Twitter account that JAY B was no longer being represented by the label.In its statement, CDNZA Records said that it and JAY B had “come to a mutual agreement to terminate the artist contract effective as of 2023 April”. It added that the decision came after “after much thought and discussion with the artist”.[Notice] JAY B 관련 안내 pic.twitter.com/3nxYSIdSh8— cdnzarecords (@cdnzarecords) July 22, 2023The news comes less than a year after JAY B first joined CDNZA Records in July 2022, following his departure from H1GHR Music.

BamBam, also a member of boyband GOT7, has announced the first wave of dates for his upcoming solo world tour ‘Area 52’.Today (July 12), BamBam shared that he would soon be holding his first-ever world tour, revealing its first few stops. the singer’s upcoming ‘Area 52’ world tour is set to kick off in Seoul this September, before heading to Manila, Macau, Kuala Lumpur and Bangkok over the next two months.According to the accompanying tour poster, more dates in other regions will be added to the ‘Area 52’ tour, which is set to continue into 2024. More details, such as ticket availability and prices, have yet to be announced.

AB6IX have announced the dates for their upcoming 2023 ‘The Future’ world tour.AB6IX are set to go on a 12-date world tour from July to September this year, in support of their new mini-album ‘The Future Is Ours: Lost’. The upcoming tour will feature shows in Asia and across North America.AB6IX’s ‘The Future’ world tour outside of South Korea will kick off in Macau, China on July 15.