Frater Asia: Last News

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Cinema box office in South Korea amounted to a dismal $5.45 million over the weekend, propelling “Alien: Romulus” back to top spot, despite the film’s steep week-on-week decline. Among new releases there was joy for a Korean-produced panda documentary and disappointment for “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice.” “Alien: Romulus” earned $905,000 between Friday and Sunday, according to data from Kobis, the tracking service operated by the Korean Film Council.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief The 44th running of the Hawaii International Film Festival presented by Halekulani will open with “Tinā,” an uplifting drama film that marks the feature directorial debut of Miki Magasiva, and close with Sori Fumihiko’s “Hakkenden: Fiction and Reality.” In between, the festival will pack in 92 features and 114 short films, major awards for guests including Jimmy O Yang, Hong Kong’s Sandra Ng and documentary filmmaking star Stanley Nelson. “This year, we have the largest selection of Hawai`i films in competition in the festival’s history, are presenting multiple films that explore Indigenous perspectives, narrative sovereignty, and the nurturing of cultural identity, and additionally, we are launching a new spotlight showcasing the best in television,” said Beckie Stochetti, HIFF executive director.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Leading indie distributor Well Go USA has picked up North American rights to “Death March,” an upcoming WWII action film starring and conceived by action star Scott Adkins (“Undisputed” franchise, “John Wick: Chapter 4”). In Adkins’ story, scripted by Marc Clebanoff, a British airman washes ashore after being ejected from his plane and becomes a prisoner in a Japanese-run POW camp. While waiting to join the infamous Bataan death march, the airman is tortured by the camp commander and is forced to fight for his life against an array of skilled Japanese warriors.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Taiwan-based Andrews Film has picked up international sales rights to drama film “Daughter’s Daughter” ahead of its premiere in the Platform section of the Toronto International Film Festival. Directed by Huang Xi (“Missing Johnny”), the film has an impeccable pedigree flowing from its executive producers Hou Hsiao-hsien and Sylvia Chang. Taiwan industry icon, Chang also stars in the picture, alongside Karena Lam and Eugenie Liu (“Old Fox”).

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Specialty sales and finance firm Rediance has picked up international sales rights to “Bound in Heaven,” the directorial debut feature of experienced Chinese screenwriter Hou Xin. The tragic love story will have its world premiere this week in the Centerpiece section of the Toronto International Film Festival. It will subsequently travel to San Sebastian for its European debut. Adapted from the novel of the same title by Liu Xiuwen, the drama centers around a successful young woman who lives in the city with her abusive fiance and a lonely terminally ill man running a noodle shop in Wuhan.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief BTS members RM and Jung Kook are both set to launch feature-length documentary films within the next month. “RM: Right People, Wrong Place,” directed by Lee Seok-joon and distributed by CJ 4DPLEX,will have its debut at October’s Busan International Film Festival. The film “tells the story of the production of [RM’s] second solo album, ‘Right Place, Wrong Person’, which was released in May. The film adds meaning as a record of BTS’ leader RM, solo artist RM, and human Kim Namjoon as a self-exploration while also embodying the sensual cinematography that was well received in the music video of his solo album, giving the impression of watching an art film,” said CJ 4DPLEX in a statement. Director Lee was previously involved in the production of the music videos for “Arson” and “MORE,” the double title track of BTS’ J-Hope’s solo album “Jack in the Box.” The film will have an open-air screening at Busan (Oct.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Writer-director Samuel Van Grinsven says that his new film “Went Up the Hill” was inspired by a single image of two people in a room, a coffin between them, both equally mourning the person inside, but knowing next to nothing about one another. His film, which debuts this week at the Toronto International Film Festival, sees a young man, Jack (Dacre Montgomery), travel to a remote part of New Zealand to attend the funeral of his estranged mother. There he meets her grieving widow, Jill (Vicky Krieps).

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief “Stranger Eyes,” Yeo Siew Hua’s powerful film about surveillance and the surveilled, has been selected as the opening title for the Golden Horse Film Festival in Taiwan. The film, which is structured as a co-production between Singapore and Taiwan, stars Taiwan film icon Lee Kang-sheng alongside Wu Chien-ho, Vera Chen and Anicca Panna. In ‘Stranger Eyes,’ a young couple begins to receive strange videos after the mysterious disappearance of their baby daughter and realize that someone has been filming their daily life — even their most intimate moments.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Thai auteur, Sivaroj Kongsakul made his feature directorial debut with “Eternity,” which screened at festivals including Busan, Rotterdam and Hong Kong back in 2010. Having waited for over a decade, Kongsakul has chosen to entwine the fates of an old man, a little girl and a young soldier in his second feature, “Regretfully at Dawn.” The new film is confirmed to premiere in the New Directors section at the San Sebastian festival and will follow that shortly after with an appearance xx in Busan International Film Festival in October. The film is very different from “Eternity” and from Kongsakul’s recent TV work. In a small province not far from Bangkok, the life of Yong Junjam (portrayed by Surachai Juntimatorn, who is better-known as a veteran Thai rock musician) at first seems typical of an old man.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Chinese director Lou Ye’s pandemic-era docu-drama film which has its North American premiere this week at the Toronto International Film Festival will have a commercial release in the market in early 2025.North American rights to the film, which premiered in Cannes in May, have been picked up by indie distributor Film Movement. Sales are handled by the film’s co-producer The Coproduction Office. Plans for the film’s North American roll-out include a 2025 theatrical release, as well as distribution on leading digital platforms and in the home entertainment marketplace. Set in January 2020, “An Unfinished Film” follows director Xiaorui who convinces his cast and crew to resume the shooting of a film halted ten years earlier.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief The Busan International Film Festival will expand its screening program by some 8% in what it calls “an effort to maintain a scale befitting Asia’s top film festival.” This is despite a 50% cut in government financial support. The festival will open on Oct. 2 with “Uprising,” a star-studded period drama from Netflix that was scripted and produced by Park Chan-wook (“Oldboy”) and directed by Kim Sang-man.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Manta, one of the leading platforms for subscription-based digital comics, says it will add over 300 webcomic titles over the next year. It is also revamping its in-app currency, GEM.The company, which is owned by Korea’s RIDI Corporation, launched in 2020 and has become the number one comics app on Google Play in certain territories, including the U.S., Mexico and Spain. Manta, known for its successful ‘romantasy’ titles such as “I’ve Become a True Villainess,” and “Betrayal of Dignity,” will launch a new season of its top title “Under the Oak Tree” on Tuesday and go on to introduce about 50 series from Manta Studios and its partners within the month. Manta, which also carries “Solo Leveling,” “Villains Are Destined to Die” and “Daughter of the Emperor,” will add “over 300 webcomic titles from now through early next year.”Webtoons are a made-for-mobile genre of comics, that have become another Asian entertainment category that is having fast-growing international success, following the expansion of Japanese anime, Korean TV drama and K-pop.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Park Hoon-jung, an in-demand director of action-noir films, will begin production this month on “Tristes Tropiques.” The picture will be launched to distributors on the sidelines of the Toronto International Film Festival by Finecut, which is to handle sales rights. The film follows a group of young assassins affiliated with the Tristes Tropiques organization, which specializes in jungle warfare and is under the absolute rule of Master. The production will be located in Thailand and run from September to December. Finecut reports that it will boast an international cast adept at diverse styles of action, but it offers no details of either the Korean or foreign elements. “Tristes Tropiques” is produced by director Park’s own production company, Gold Moon Film and is co-produced by Mindmark, a content IP company owned by the Shinsegae department stores and duty-free shopping group.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief “Alien: Romulus” claimed a third weekend win at the mainland China box office. And Thai comedy “How to Make Millions Before Grandma Dies” climbed into the top five on its second week of release in the Middle Kingdom. But those bright spots for imported titles underlined the currently poor performance of Chinese-made films which have dragged the Chinese summer season lower. “Alien: Romulus” earned RMB63.4 million ($8.9 million) between Friday and Sunday, according to data supplied by consultancy firm Artisan Gateway.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Concert film, “Lim Young Woong IM HERO The Stadium” was the top-grossing film at the South Korean cinema box office over the latest weekend, ahead of conventional narrative movies ‘Alien: Romulus” and “Pilot.” Data from Kobis, the tracking service operated by the Korean Film Council (Kofic) show “IM HERO” to have earned $1.89 million between Friday and Sunday and $3.47 million over its five-day opening frame. “Alien: Romulus” earned $1.66 million in its third weekend and has a 19-day cumulative of $12.5 million. However, local convention allocates chart ranking according to spectator numbers.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief A love triangle involving a middle-aged couple and a younger woman is exposed and scrutinized from every angle when a professional breakup agent is employed in Elizabeth Lo’s “Mistress Dispeller.” The Chinese-U.S. documentary, which plays in Venice’s Horizons section, is extraordinary for both the candor of the subjects and the film’s exceptional fly-on-the-wall setup. The film’s static opening shot, depicting a woman quietly weeping under the dryer as she gets a new hairdo, sets the tone.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Timo Tjahjanto, the Indonesian genre film director who commands a fiercely loyal following, has dropped a trailer for his upcoming action thriller “The Shadow Strays.” Audiences at the Toronto International Film Festival will get the first look at the completed film as it screens in the festival’s Midnight Madness section. It will then upload to Netflix on Oct. 17.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Two of South Korea’s biggest male stars Hyun Bin and Jung Woo-sung will go head-to-head in “Made in Korea,” an upcoming crime series. Set in the turbulent 1970s, “Made in Korea” is a crime thriller about Kitae, a man consumed with a desire for wealth and power, and Geonyoung, a stalwart prosecutor that stands in his way. Constantly at loggerheads, the pair find themselves involved in an era-defining incident that will forever change their futures.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief The Tokyo International Film Festival will launch its first Women’s Empowerment section. This year’s edition of the festival will also showcase the works of (male) director Irie Yu in its Nippon Cinema Now strand. Film festivals in Asia have been slower than their North American and European counterparts to bake diversity, equality and inclusion principles into their structures and selections.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Netflix has revealed a trailer for its hit Korean mystery series “Gyeongseong Creature” ahead of the upload of its second season on Sept. 27. The first season was set in 1945, during the Japanese occupation of Seoul, then known as Gyeongseong.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Daniel Sancho Bronchalo, a Spanish YouTube chef, was sentenced Thursday to life in prison for a gruesome murder and dismemberment in Thailand. The case was documented in a Spanish-language HBO documentary. Sancho is the son of prominent Spanish film and TV actor Rodolfo Sancho and Silvia Bronchalo, who has crew credits and is reported to have acted as well.