Netflix Opens In-Person Experience in Japan Based on Rilakkuma Cartoon

Sum 41 frontman Deryck Whibley has sold his publishing and recorded music catalogue in a new deal with equity fund, HarbourView Equity Partners.Whibley has served as the Canadian pop-punk outfit’s lead singer and primary songwriter since their inception in 1996. Their 2001 breakout album ‘All Killer No Filler’ boasted the hit single ‘Fat Lip’, which landed at Number 66 on the Billboard Hot 100.

M.I.A. has released an official music video for her single ‘Popular’, the most recent taste of her forthcoming album ‘MATA’.Directed by Arnaud Bresson (Kanye West, Beabadoobee), the ‘Popular’ music video sees M.I.A. direct her artificial doppelganger – referred to in a press release as an “influencer-bot-in-training” called M.A.I.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief“The House of the Lost on the Cape,” a Japanese animated movie which was an official selection at the recent Annecy festival will have a theatrical release in North America from Sept. 7. The film is to be distributed by Los Angeles-based Eleven Arts in association with Anime Expo and Iconic Events Releasing.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefNet earnings at Alibaba, the Chinese e-commerce giant and media owner, dropped by 50% to $3.40 billion (RMB22.7 billion) in the three months between April and June, the first quarter of its current financial year. Revenues were unchanged at $30.7 billion (RMB206 billion).

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefIndia-based filmmaking duo Raj Nidimoru and Krishna DK have formed a multi-year creative partnership with Netflix. Under their D2R Films banner, Nidimoru and DK will develop and produce their upcoming projects for Netflix.“With an impressive slate of cult films, blockbusters and premium shows, Raj & DK are undoubtedly one of India’s finest and most successful creators,” the streamer said in a statement.

Healthy hindsight. Aaron Rodgers is opening up about his relationship with ex Danica Patrick — and he has nothing but appreciation for the time they shared together.

A prison officer has denied murdering a man who was found dead on his 40th birthday. James Johnson, 29, pleaded not guilty to murdering David Toulson in Salford.

Neil Patrick Harris is celebrating the release of his new Netflix series!

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefSci-fi-comedy “Moon Man” rocketed to a $130 million opening weekend and helped the China box office to escape gravity.Data from consultancy Artisan Gateway showed that the film scored a three-day gross of RMB873 million ($130 million) and accounted for fully 90% of the nationwide weekend theatrical business. The strong results came despite some cinemas remaining closed in key markets and capacity limitations remaining in place in others.

Geoffrey Owens is opening up about his son, Jordyn Owens, acting debut.

Geoffrey Owens is “beyond words proud” of his son, Jordyn Owens, who’s following in his dad’s footsteps by making his acting debut in new Netflix comedy series “Uncoupled”.

No, that’s not actually Neil Patrick Harris‘ member used in the d–k pic for his new Netflix series Uncoupled, but he did get to pick it out.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefNetflix has unveiled footage from “Seoul Vibe,” a Korean original movie that will release on Aug. 26, 2022.

EXCLUSIVE: Michael Rainey Jr., star of Starz’s Power Book II: Ghost, has signed with APA for representation. Rainey moves to APA from ICM Partners to join his former agent Andrew Rogers, who recently joined APA as a new Partner and Head of Global Talent.

Neil Patrick Harris can't help but gush over his husband, David Burtka. ET spoke to NPH at the premiere of his new series for Netflix, Uncoupled, Tuesday night,about being coupled up with Burtka for the last 18 years.«David and I started dating, and we never stopped, so, in an interesting way, it's all I've known,» Harris said of his long-lasting relationship with his husband.

Tim Miller revealed that his feature take of The Goon comic is being made at Netflix with Love, Death & Robots episodic filmmaker Patrick Osborne directing.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefLeading Korean film and TV star Song Hye-kyo will head the cast of “The Glory,” an epic revenge drama series being produced for Netflix. The series is a change of direction for Kim Eun-sook, a screenwriter billed as the queen of Korean romance.The project is also a reunion of sorts for the pair.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefAustralia-set fantasy-drama “Boy Swallows” is to shoot in Brisbane, Queensland from next month. The series is an adaptation of Trent Dalton’s international best-selling novel “Boy Swallows Universe” and is being produced by Brouhaha Entertainment for streaming platform Netflix.“Boy Swallows Universe” follows working-class Brisbane teenager Eli Bell in a whirlwind story about drug addiction, ex-cons, poverty, violence and the discovery of hope through the power of love, said local screen agency Screen Queensland.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefTerapin Studios, a U.S.-Korean media investor backed by NPX Capital, has paid $160 million to acquire Toomics Global, one of South Korea’s fastest rising platforms for webtoons.Webtoons, vertically-scrolling comic strips designed to be viewed on smartphones, emerged in South Korea about 15 years ago and have become a major cultural phenomenon across Japan, Korea and much of Southeast Asia.Webtoons have also been the form of IP underlying many Korean film and TV hits, including Netflix’s “All of Us Are Dead” and “Itaewon Class,” Disney+’s “Moving” and “Dr Brain” for Apple TV+.Netflix is also on course to produce a series, “Black Knight,” based on Toomics’ original webtoon IP “Delivery Knight.” The sci-fi miniseries, starring A-list actor Kim Woo Bin (“Alienoid”), is expected to premiere this year. The Terapin-Toomics deal follows a February 2022 acquisition that saw Terapin buy Copin Communications, a Korean webtoon producer.The two deals together are expected to give Terapin the capacity to take its stable of cartoon creators further into international markets and the ability to negotiate deals for its IP in multiple related or ancillary markets, from animated film and TV, to books, games, merchandize and NFTs.“A [third party] Korean production company is working with Netflix on ‘Black Knight’,” Samuel Hwang, founder and CEO of NPX Capital, told Variety.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefThe Asian Contents and Film Market, the industry component of the Busan International Film Festival, is to launch an in-person story market at this year’s event.The ACFM has for ten years operated what it called an Entertainment Intellectual Property Market. But where the E-IP Market has been a one-way pitching event, the new Busan Story Market is conceived as something functionally closer to a conventional rights market, with buyers and sellers meeting at sales booths, but trading books, webtoons, web novels, games, and stories.The Busan Story Market is an outgrowth of the E-IP event and will operate in addition to the continuing pitching sessions.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief“Top Gun Maverick” reclaimed the lead at the South Korea box office as “Thor: Love and Thunder” slowed rapidly and Korean cinemas endured a weekend that slowed the recent recovery trend.“Top Gun Maverick” earned $5.77 million between Friday and Sunday, in its fourth week of release in Korea, according to data from Kobis, the tracking service operated by the Korean Film Council (Kofic). That was a drop of only 11% from its previous weekend.In contrast, “Thor Love and Thunder” registered a 66% weekend-on-weekend tumble, falling from $9.88 million previously to $3.34 million.