All Asia articles – Page 528
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Oz box office up 3% for second biggest year on record
Australians spent $801.7m (A$895m) on going to the movies in 2007, making it the second best year on record in terms of annual gross box office.The Motion Picture Distributors Association of Australia (MPDAA) released the figure today and said it represented a 3% rise on the previous year. Only in ...
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South Korea - The profitability factor
South Korea is no stranger to talk of a crisis in the film industry, even in the midst of years of swollen admissions, record-breaking local hits and rising exports.However, a recent study from the Korean Film Council (Kofic) estimates the average local film in 2007 to have earned back just ...
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Bae TV series set for Korean theatrical release
Korea's most expensive television series, Taewangsashin-gi, aka The Four Guardian Gods Of The King, featuring Korean Wave mega-star Bae Yong-joon, is due to hit local theatres in May. The announcement from producer Kim Jong-hak follows on the heels of the TV drama's theatrical release in Japan on 10 screens nationwide, ...
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Pye-Dog set forsimultaneous theatrical, TV release in Singapore
Singapore telco SingTel and Hong Kong-based Mei Ah Entertainment are planning to give Derek Kwok's directorial debut The Pye-Dog a same-day premiere in cinemas and on television. The film will be telecast on Mei Ah Movies Channel, via SingTel's IPTV platform mio TV, on Jan 10, the day it also ...
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International box office drops 22% week on week with few openers
An absence of heavy-hitting new releases could be attributable to the 22.2% week-on-week drop in the international top 40 this weekend, with the only four new entrants all failing to enter the top 30. The top 40 international films generated $208.8m from 49,452 screens for the period of January 4-6. ...
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J.A. Media unveils cast of Tsui Hark romantic comedy
Mainland Chinese actresses Zhou Xun and Zhang Yuqi and Taiwan's Gui Lunmei will star in Tsui Hark's upcoming romantic comedy She Ain't Mean, which will be the first production this year from Beijing-based J.A. Media. At a press conference held today in Beijing, Tsui said the film will start shooting ...
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Indian production Victory drawn into test cricket controversy
There are conflicting reports on whether Victory, an Indian film shooting all this month in Australia, has been affected by a controversy that has greatly intensified in the last 24 hours around the current test cricket series being played between India and Australia. Producer Vivek Aggarwal said none of the ...
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Eros-owned Ayngaran to back Robot starring Rajnikanth
After much speculation on who would star in his next project, sci-fi feature Robot, Indian director Shankar has confirmed that he is reuniting with the Tamil-language film industry's biggest star, Rajnikanth. Rajnikanth starred in Shankar's Sivaji - The Boss which grossed an estimated $38m-$43m last year from domestic and overseas ...
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Shochiku lines up sequel to Gegege No Kitaro
Japan's Shochiku Studios is producing a sequel to its biggest hit of 2007, action fantasy Gegege No Kitaro. Director Katsuhide Motoki will again direct and singing idol-turned-actor Eiji Wentz will reprise his role as Kitaro, a half-human half-yokai (creatures and supernatural beings).He is joined by returning cast members Rena Tanaka, ...
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Korean admissions down for first time inadecade
Leading South Korean exhibitor CJ CGV has announced its year-end statistics for 2007, with nationwide admissions taking a dip for the first time in 11 years. Total admissions numbered 157,525,412, down 5.5% since 2006, but still the second highest on record. Korean films market share fell to 50.8%, down 25.7% ...
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Hong Kong box office up 11% due to multiplex expansion
After years of falling revenues or at best flat growth, Hong Kong was back on its feet in 2007 with total box office revenues at $129.63m (HK$1.01bn), the best in recent years, according to local industry body, the Motion Picture Industry Association (MPIA). It not only represented a big jump ...
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Lost In Beijing film-makers banned for two years
China's State Administration of Radio, Film and Television (SARFT) hasblocked distibution of Lost In Beijing in cinemas or online, and banned producer Fang Li and his Laurel Films from making movies for two years.It has also suspended the film's screening permission and confiscated print and promotion material following an alleged ...
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Malaysia's 2007 box office to hita record $91m
Malaysia is on track to produce yet another record-setting year with the total box office expected to sail past the $91.2m (RM300m) mark for the first time in its history.A growth of at least 20% year-on-year is estimated, which would make it the seventh consecutive year with double-digit growth in ...
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Ian Maycock promoted to MD of Technicolor Thailand
Technicolor (Thailand) has named Ian Maycock as the new managing director of its Bangkok facilities, a key hub for servicing filmmakers and distributors in the pan-Asian region.Maycock who has worked in Australia, Hong Kong, Beijing, Shanghai and Malaysia, has a background in the production and post-production businesses of Asian films ...
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Olympic challenge for international film in China
As the finishing touches are being made to Beijing's sports venues, there is an air of nervous anticipation in the Chinese capital.The Beijing 2008 Olympics (August 8-24) will either be the biggest international coming-out party that China has ever seen, or a public-relations nightmare, with human-rights protesters spilling onto the ...
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Keinohrhasen leads non-US films in Screen international chart
German film Keinohrhasen was this weekend's highest non-US performer in the international top 40, generating a robust $7.6m over the three-day period.The top 40 international films generated $269.1m from 49,546 screens for the period of December 28-30.For the full international chart, compiled by Len Klady, click here.The romantic comedy was ...
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Western Australian mining boom helps funding for thriller Crush
Few feature films are made in Western Australia but producer Deidre Kitcher said that profits from the area's mining boom lead to the thriller Crush going into production yesterday.She and co-directors John V Soto and Jeff Gerritsen convinced six investors to put up the $1.76m (A$2m) budget with the help ...
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Japan, Korea make strong showing in HAF 2008 line-up
Japan's Nakata Hideo (Ring series) and South Korea's Park Chan-wook (Old Boy) and Bong Joon-ho (The Host) are among the world-renowned Asian filmmakers who have had projects selected for the 2008 edition of the Hong Kong-Asia Film Financing Forum (HAF). A total of 25 projects have been selected for the ...
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Yip rejoins Hong Kong's Emperor Motion Pictures
May Yip has rejoined Hong Kong's Emperor Motion Pictures (EMP) as general manager for distribution. Yip left EMP in 2003 to join Fortune Star Entertainment in which she spent the next four years heading up distribution. In her new role at EMP, she reports directly to chief executive Albert Lee.Lee ...
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Li Kai wins top Beijing Projectprize
Chinese filmmaker Li Kai has taken the top Beijing Project prizeat the Second Forum on Young Generation in Filmmaking in the Chinese capital. Li's debut project August Unfinished was awarded a $1,364 (RMB10, 000) cash prize and a grant of $136,400 (RMB1m) by Chinese film investor Idealink Entertainment for the ...