Patrick: Last News

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief “Wicked,” which was by far the highest grossing film in the world this weekend, failed to give the South Korea box office market a much-needed jolt. The Jon M. Chu-directed fantasy claimed a strong 45% share of the box office in Korea with $3.58 million earned from 501,000 admissions between Friday and Sunday. Over five days, it collected $4.64 million.Korean-produced “Hidden Face” earned $1.75 million, and a more than 21% market share, for second place.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief “Her Story,” a comedy-drama film told from a largely female perspective, topped the mainland China box office on its first weekend of release. “Gladiator II,” opening the same weekend, placed fourth. Data from consultancy firm Artisan Gateway showed “Her Story” earning RMB125 million ($17.5 million) between Friday and Sunday.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief “Kraven the Hunter” has been granted a theatrical release in mainland China that is closely coordinated with its North American and international rollouts. It will open in Chinese theaters on Dec. 14, a Saturday.

Under-fire Rangers boss Philippe Clement will NOT be leaving Rangers tonight, Ibrox sources have told Record Sport.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Recognizing the brilliance of British director Lucy Walker, both as a filmmaker and as an advocate for the documentary format, Shekhar Kapur hurriedly arranged an additional masterclass on Saturday at the International Film Festival of India, where he is festival director. And hosted the session himself. Their conversation ranged from technology and technique through to the filmmaker’s responsibility towards the subject. In particular, it dug deep into how and where to find a story. After an era of editing with film stock, Walker said that around the time she went to film school computer editing came in and changed the game.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief The vast expanse of opportunity that exists if India and Spain manage to increase and improve their film and TV industry co-operation was on display at a panel session on Sunday at Film Bazaar. “If you explained the incentives, people would be flocking [to Spain] to produce,” said leading Indian producer Nikhil Advani. He cited similar examples including Estonia and the Middle East where Indian films have been made with subsidies and location incentives.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Mainland Chinese director Lou Ye claimed the two top honors – best narrative feature film and best director – at the Golden Horse Film Awards on Saturday in Taiwan with his indie title “An Unfinished Film.”The prizes for Lou and others awarded on the night, represent a defiant gesture towards mainland Chinese authorities which operates a restrictive system of controls over its film industry.The long-running Golden Horse awards had for many years been regarded as the pinnacle awards event for Chinese-language cinema. But, after a speech advocating Taiwan’s independence was given from the stage by a 2018 awards winner, China sought to ban its filmmakers from attending and instead promoted its own prize race.The People’s Republic of China (mainland China) and the Republic of China (Taiwan) are at loggerheads over legitimacy in many international institutions.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Sony Pictures Networks India (SPNI) has agreed a cricket rights broadcast deal stretching eight years with the Asian Cricket Council. The deal encompasses all editions of the Men’s and Women’s Asia Cups, Men’s and Women’s Under-19 Asia Cups, and the Men’s and Women’s Emerging Teams Asia Cups. The agreement was sealed after a bidding process and the winning bid represents a 70% increase in the rights value, the ACC said without sharing the bid price. Quoting anonymous sources, multiple Indian media sources reported the value of the contract at $170 million. The substantial increase in rights value “will enable the ACC to channel significant resources into grassroots programs, infrastructure development, and talent pathways, especially for associate nations,” the organization said. “Congratulations to the ACC for conducting a fair and transparent bidding process for the rights to the ACC tournaments! We are delighted to bring these action-packed tournaments, which will also include India and Pakistan matches, to our viewers for the next 8 years,” said SPNI’s MD & CEO, Gaurav Banerjee. Sony had been looking to expand its TV and streaming businesses in India through a merger deal with Zee Entertainment Enterprises.

A new exhibition curated by the charity Remembering the Accused Witches of Scotland (RAWS) will explore the history of the Scottish witch trials and shine a spotlight on the stories of the accused in South Ayrshire.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Ridham Janve, an already acclaimed director attending the Film Bazaar with his second film “Hunter’s Moon” (aka “Kaatti Ri Raatti”), likens the editing process to a game of long-distance chess that he played with star editor Amit Dutta. “I would send him bursts of files, notes and elements of the mood, but not the narrative. That meant he had some surprises, such as the introduction of an important character midway through the story, but it was fascinating to have him discover my film from a different angle,” Janve told Variety. The largely remote editing process was not a COVID-era necessity, but rather reflected the fact that both Janve and Dutta are men close to nature and who live in mountainous regions. Mountains were key to Janve’s previous film “The Gold-Laden Sheep and the Sacred Mountain,” and are again more than just a setting for his “Hunter’s Moon.” The film’s narrative follows a hunter who stashes the meat he had caught in a place he thought to be safe.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Chinese video streaming group iQiyi incurred setbacks in subscriptions and advertising, but was able to improve its content sales, leading to a July to September quarter that was down in revenue and profit terms. Total revenues were RMB7.2 billion ($1.0 billion), a decrease of 10% year over year in the third quarter of iQiyi’s current financial year. Net income attributable to iQiyi was RMB229 million ($32.7 million), compared to RMB476 million in the same period in 2023. The company no longer discloses subscriber numbers, only subscriber revenues.

Noah Wyle stars in the brand new Max TV show The Pitt as an emergency room doctor – harkening back to his days starring on the fan fave TV show E.R.!

Ethan Shanfeld After nearly 15 years on “ER,” Noah Wyle puts his scrubs back on in Max’s new hospital drama series “The Pitt.” The show, from “ER” and “West Wing” executive producer John Wells, will begin airing its 15-episode first season in January. “The Pitt” is described by Max as “a realistic examination of the challenges facing healthcare workers in today’s America as seen through the lens of the frontline heroes working in a modern-day hospital in Pittsburgh, Penn.” The entire first season takes place across one 15-hour emergency room shift, with each one-hour episode representing real time, a la “24.” “That was baptism by fire,” one doctor says after executing a procedure in the high-intensity trailer. “More like baptism by blood,” another doc responds.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Legendary Hollywood director and producer Charles ‘Chuck’ Russell says that the breakout film “The Mask” was originally conceived by New Line Cinema as a horror movie. Instead, the 1994 action comedy went on to be a career-defining picture for Jim Carrey and Cameron Diaz, a global box office hit and a defining moment for the use of VFX in comedy films. “I’d directed ‘A Nightmare on Elm Street 3’ and made friends at New Line. Then I did ‘The Blob’ and New Line wanted another shocking horror film.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief “Stree 2,” already Bollywood’s biggest hit film of the year, and India’s second highest grossing film of 2024, is poised to be joined by one or more sequels, its director Amar Kaushik said on Wednesday. Kaushik was speaking at a Knowledge Series seminar which is part of the Film Bazaar project market that sits alongside the International Film Festival of India (IFFI) in Goa. “We have stories in mind and will shoot soon, though there’s is no definite timetable. Of course, it will have to be done in Madhya Pradesh.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Female director Tribeny Rai once took on hard labor in her native Sikkim, India, in order to prove that women are not weak. But she found that even those drastic efforts did not solve the problems of patriarchy and long-standing traditions that favor male decision-making, male children and even how women view their own roles in society. Rai’s new film “The Shape of Momo” attempts to tackle the issue with a different, soft-power approach.The film tells the tale of a woman who resigns from her job and returns to her family that is apparently cursed by the death of several of its male members.

The verdict is in on Laken Riley’s murder case.

Since celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2023 and with more than its share of inclusion across academia, there has still never been a full performance degree program focused entirely on Hip Hop. At the Peabody Institute, the oldest conservatory in the country and a division of Johns Hopkins University, students can now officially earn a Bachelor of Music in Hip Hop.

Gladiator II star Paul Mescal has received a glowing tribute from his former school who have congratulated him on his leading role in the new Hollywood film which hit cinemas at the weekend.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Drama film “To Gather Around” topped the mainland China box office over the weekend and deposed “Venom: The Last Dance.” The film, which also goes by the title “Brave New World,” is directed by Liu Xunximo and stars Deng Chao and Deng Jiajia in a tale of an internet company employee who is caught up in workplace dispute. He joins forces with others in order to defend his rights, but ends up in a bigger spiral of trouble. According to data from consultancy firm Artisan Gateway, “To Gather Around” earned RMB63.8 million ($9.0 million) over the weekend from Friday to Sunday. “Venom: The Last Dance,” in its fifth weekend of release in China, earned $4.9 million.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief “Gladiator II” topped the box office in South Korea through its opening sessions. But it did little to transform the recent dismal trend in Korean cinemas. The Ridley Scott-directed sequel earned $2.31 million between Friday and Sunday, according to data from Kobis, the tracking service operated by the Korean Film Council (Kofic). Over its full five-day opening, the film earned $3.19 million. Its opening weekend figure was below that of several other Hollywood spectacles released in Korea this year, including “Wonka,” “Kung Fu Panda 4,” “Furiosa: A Mad Max Story,” “Deadpool and Wolverine” “Alien” Romulus” and “Venom: The Last Dance.” But it was stronger than the recent “Red One,” which fell to 18th place in its second weekend of release in Korea.