Patrick: Last News

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Disney has confirmed that Korean webtoon-to-screen adaptation “Low Life” is poised to begin production. When valuable treasure is discovered off the coast of Korea, the country’s biggest degenerates come crawling out of the woodwork in the hope of striking it big. Word spreads after a fisherman got lucky and kept a piece of the booty for himself.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief James Warburton, MD and CEO of Seven West Media, one of Australia’s largest media conglomerates, has resigned following a series of scandals. He was scheduled to depart the company in December, but now exits with immediate effect following a board meeting on Thursday. In a filing to the Australian Stock Exchange, Seven West said that Jeff Howard, currently its chief finance officer, will take over as MD and CEO with effect from Friday.

Barron Trump has given insight into what his dad, former President Donald Trump, does at home. The 45th president of the United States and Melania Trump’s 18-year-old son spoke about his father during a dinner at Mar-a-Lago with Patrick Bet-David, Tom Ellsworth and Vincent Oshana.Barron Trump makes rare appearance with his parents over Easter“I’ve never seen Tom laugh this hard for an hour and a half,” Patrick recalled on an episode of the PBD Podcast earlier this month, revealing that they just “watched Barron run dinner with stories, entertainment, everything.” Vincent called the former president’s youngest son “witty, smart, hilarious,” noting that Barron has a “good head on his shoulders “ and is “smart on politics,” adding, “He’s like ‘You know, everybody’s always going to fight. There’s left.

EastEnders favourite Patrick Trueman (played by Rudolph Walker) is set to make a triumphant return to Albert Square in upcoming scenes. However, it appears that there are many revelations that will shock him. While Patrick was away, Yolande Trueman (portrayed by Angela Wynter) formed a close friendship with Pastor Clayton (Howard Saddler), but though things took a turn when he revealed a darker side to him.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Escapade Media has come on board to take international sales rights to ‘Follow the Rain,’ a feature-length documentary about unknown species of mushroom that has enjoyed theatrical release in its native Australia. The film is directed and produced by Catherine Marciniak and follows Marciniak and Stephen Axford, her partner in production company Planet Fungi, as they explore forests and wetlands charting some of the millions of undocumented forms of mushroom, fungus and mycelium.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Oscar-winning Japanese animated fantasy “The Boy and the Heron” held on to top spot at the mainland China box office to record a second weekend win. The film, which opened triumphantly on April 3, in time for a family-oriented long weekend, fell steeply in its second, non-holiday, frame. It earned $12.8 million (RMB90.6 million), according to data from consultancy firm Artisan Gateway.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief “Kung Fu Panda 4” took top spot at the South Korean box office becoming the film that finally pushed aside local champion “Exhuma,” which had dominated for seven consecutive weeks. But it was an understated victory, rather than a triumphant one, and the exhibition industry’s $5.6 million nationwide haul was among the lowest scoring weekends this year. “Kung Fu Panda 4” earned $2.81 million between Friday and Sunday with a 50.1% market share. Over its full five day run since a Wednesday opening, it enjoyed a $5.96 million total. “Exhuma” slipped to second place in its eight weekend of release.

In Challengers, Luca Guadagnino serves up a film that is as much about the volleys of human emotion as it is about the physical rallies on the tennis court.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Korea’s second largest generalist film event the Jeonju International Film Festival has set eight fiction films by first or second-time feature directors, for its main competition. They are “Cu Li Never Cries,” by Pham Ngoc Lan; “Junkyard Dog,” by Jean-Baptiste Durand, “La Palisiada,” by Philip Sotnychenko; “My Endless Numbered Days,” by Shaun Neo; “Oxygen Station,” by Ivan Tymchenko; “Practice,” by Laurens Perol; “The Major Tones,” by Ingrid Pokropek; and “The Permanent Picture,” by Laura Ferres. Additionally, two documentary features also compete: “After the Snowmelt,” directed by Lo Yi-Shan and “Kix,” by Balint Revesz and David Mikulan. The COVID-pandemic continues to affect filmmaking and festival selection, organizers said. “Even films planned to be made beforehand had to extend their production period due to the pandemic, and many works highlighted the limitations of the production environments, such as smaller cast numbers and minimal locations,” said chief programmer Chun Jinsu. The festival runs May 1-10 in Jeonju, a major town on South Korea’s west coast.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Rights to “I, The Executioner,” which will premiere as a Midnight Screening at the Cannes Film Festival this year, have been picked up by South Korea’s CJ ENM. The crime-action film directed by Ryu Seung-wan (also written Ryoo Seung-wan) is a sequel to Ryu’s 2015 hit “Veteran” and in Korea goes by the title “Veteran 2.” Few details of the story have yet been disclosed, but CJ describes the film as “combining Ryu’s trademark action with observations and messages about social change.” Ryu last year enjoyed major box office success with crime comedy “Smugglers.” Hwang Jung-min, who recently enjoyed box office success in “12.12: The Day,” reprises his role from “Veteran.” He is joined in the sequel by Jung Hae-in (“Tune in for Love”) as a new member of the film’s Violent Crime Investigation Squad. “I, The Executioner” was produced by Filmmaker R & K, the production shingle owned by Ryu and his wife Kang Hae-jung, with CJ ENM as financier and local and international distributor. CJ ENM expects to give the film a theatrical release in South Korea at an unspecified date in the second half of the year. The original “Veteran” had its international premiere in a sidebar of the 2015 Toronto festival, was named best film at the Sitges genre festival in Spain.

The firm behind a well-known Greater Manchester TV studio has been placed into liquidation it has been confirmed. Factory Transmedia Ltd was formed in 2000 and employed hundreds of people over its near quarter of a century in business.

Zendaya is looking as stunning as ever as she continues her Challengers press tour.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief The Hong Kong government has licensed the broadcast rights to the Summer Olympic Games in Paris. It intends to relicense the rights to four TV broadcasters in the city – TVB, ViuTV, HOY TV and government-owned RTHK.

EastEnders is set to tackle a harrowing storyline involving sexual assault, with Yolande Trueman at the centre of the drama. The soap has teamed up with charities End Violence Against Women Coalition and Hourglass to depict Yolande (played by Angela Wynter) being attacked by Pastor Clayton (Howard Saddler), who she considered a trusted friend.The plot will explore the devastating effects of the assault on Yolande's life, including her marriage to Patrick Trueman (Rudolph Walker), reports the Daily Star.

A young rugby player described as an 'exceptional human' has died suddenly. Gabriel Holt, 21, played for Wigan St Patricks and the University of Central Lancashire.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Showtime, Taiwan’s second largest cinema chain, is to open eight ScreenX auditoriums across the island. Developed by Korea’s CJ group of companies, ScreenX is cinema technology that expands specially selected sequences of a film onto the left-and-right-side walls of the auditorium, creating a 270-degree panoramic experience. The first four theaters are expected to be completed before summer this year in northern, central and southern Taipei. The others will be completed by mid-2025. Among the first sites, Taichung Wenxin will bring both the inaugural ScreenX auditorium and the first EWD laser 4K projection system to Taiwan.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Filming has begun on “Return to Paradise,” an Australian spin-off series of the global hit murder mystery franchise “Death in Paradise.” With filming in locations across Sydney and the Illawarra coastal region, the six-part whodunit is produced by BBC Studios Productions Australia with Red Planet Pictures for the ABC in association with the BBC. The BBC will screen the series on BBC One and iPlayer in the U.K.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief “Vikings” star Travis Fimmel reprises his role as Detective Cormack in a second season of Australian mystery drama series “Black Snow.” The six-part series is now shooting in Queensland, Australia, and has unveiled first-look images. “Australian film and television have never been stronger. Now, with the addition of streaming networks and their reach, I’m so proud that our local productions and their hard work can be recognized not only here, but around the world,” said Fimmel in a prepared statement. The first season of “Black Snow” was nominated as ‘most outstanding drama series’ at the 2023 Logie Awards and received two nominations at the 2024 AACTA Awards – for best drama series and best lead actor in a drama, for Fimmel.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief “Snow in Midsummer,” which quietly probes the 1969 massacre of Malaysian Chinese during post-election turmoil, was named the winner of the best film for young cinema competition (Chinese-language) at the Hong Kong International Film Festival. Liang Ming was named best director for “Carefree Days,” while the film’s female lead Lyu Xingchen collected the best actress award.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Oscar-winning Japanese animation film “The Boy and the Heron” earned a chart-topping $34.9 million between Friday and Sunday at the mainland China box office. Over its full five-day opening run, it took an even more spectacular $73 million. China was the last major territory to play the Studio Ghibli-produced fantasy in cinemas – it released in its native Japan in July and is imminently headed to streaming in many other territories – but that did not stop Chinese audiences from lapping it up. While most films release in China on a Friday, “The Boy and the Heron” was given a Wednesday outing in order to capture momentum from the Thursday-to-Saturday Qingming public holiday. Consultancy firm Artisan reports that it earned RMB248 million ($34.9 million) over the conventional Friday-to-Sunday weekend.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Without significant new challengers, spooky Korean drama “Exhuma” held on at the top of the South Korea box office chart for the seventh consecutive weekend. Its cumulative passed the symbolic $80 million mark. The lack of strong new release titles also meant that aggregate weekend box office in Korea slipped to a lowly $5.59 million. The Choi Min-sik-starring “Exhuma” dropped roughly 50% week-on-week to record $1.59 million between Friday and Sunday, and a 28% market share, according to data from Kobis, the tracking service operated by the Korean Film Council (Kofic).