All Asia articles – Page 538

  • News

    Pursuit Of Happyness cleared for China release

    2007-12-21T03:58:00Z

    Amid rumors of a prolonged black-out period on US blockbusters, Sony's Will Smith-starrer The Pursuit Of Happyness is now scheduled for release in China on Jan 17. Chinese film import officials confirmed the release date. The film will be released on a revenue-sharing basis but will be shown only in ...

  • News

    Juthamas resigns from PPP following bribery accusations

    2007-12-21T02:23:00Z

    Former governor of the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT), Juthamas Siriwan, yesterday (Dec 20) tendered her resignation as deputy head of Thailand's Puea Padin Party following the revelation of a bribery scandal over the Bangkok International Film Festival (BKKIFF). The corruption link to Juthamas has been making top headlines all ...

  • News

    Kim to replace Shin as CJ international chief

    2007-12-20T09:58:00Z

    Leading Korean investor/distributor CJ Entertainment has announced that head of International Business, David Shin, has stepped down. Former head of Domestic Marketing and Distribution, Kathy Kim, will take his place with an expanded role as head of International Business and Worldwide Distribution. Kim will continue to oversee distribution of foreign ...

  • News

    Luhrmann's Australia helps double Oz production to $232m

    2007-12-20T09:35:00Z

    On first glance, figures released today indicate that more money is being poured into Australian features, which are traditionally made for very low budgets, but the improvement is illusionary. The numbers in the Australian Film Commission's (AFC) annual production survey only look healthier than the previous year because they have ...

  • News

    Khoo wraps Tamil-language drama You And Me

    2007-12-20T02:00:00Z

    Singapore director Eric Khoo today wrapped his latest film You And Me after a 12-day shoot. The picture features a Tamil cast and the dialogues are in the Tamil language, making it the first Indian Tamil film made in Singapore. Amateur actor Francis Bosco plays a drunkard father who redeems ...

  • News

    Indian director Vidhu Vinod Chopra signs with ICM

    2007-12-19T23:58:00Z

    Indianfilmmaker Vidhu Vinod Chopra, who directed the short documentary Oscar nomineeAn Encounter With Faces, has signed with ICM.Choprais preparing his English language debut, the thriller 64 Squares, and isdeveloping the Indian fantasy epic Talisman and a satire on India's educationalsystem.Hiscredits include the Bollywood Munna Bhai franchise as well as Parinda, ...

  • News

    International box office up 17% on last week boosted by Warlords

    2007-12-19T14:45:00Z

    Chinese heavy-hitter The Warlords was this weekend's highest non-US entry to the international chart, helping boost the top 40 revenue by 17.3% week-on-week.The top 40 international films generated $169.7m from 43,384 screens for the period of December 14-16.For the full international chart, compiled by Len Klady, click here.The period epic, ...

  • News

    Gerald Green arrested over Bangkok film festival bribes

    2007-12-19T14:18:00Z

    Los Angeles-based film executive Gerald Green and his wife Patricia of Film Festival Management (FFM) were arrested yesterday (Dec 18) in a Los Angeles federal court for paying bribes to obtain lucrative contracts for the Bangkok International Film Festival (BKKIFF). The US Justice Department announced that a criminal complaint alleges ...

  • News

    China Film raises capital for digital production centre

    2007-12-19T08:24:00Z

    Continuing its capital-raising streak, Chinese state-owned conglomerate, China Film Group Corporation, has issued $67.7m (RMB500m) in corporate bonds to finance digital film production and cinemas. The seven-year bonds have a fixed annual coupon rate of 6.1% and are available to domestic institutional investors. China Merchants Securities is the lead underwriter. ...

  • News

    Indigenous film-makers line up To Hell And Back, Samson and Delilah

    2007-12-18T14:49:00Z

    Australia 's indigenous film-makers are telling their own stories with two features being prepared. Richard Frankland's road movie To Hell and Back finished its six-week shoot in Western Australia last week. Financed by Film Finance Corporation Australia and the local state agency ScreenWest, it has been dubbed the Australian version ...

  • News

    Jakarta honours 3 Days To Forever, Nagabonar

    2007-12-17T13:50:00Z

    Riri Riza's road movie 3 Days To Forever was named best Indonesian film as the 9th Jakarta International Film Festival (Jiffest) came to a close. Deddy Mizwar bagged best Indonesian director for his comedy hit Nagabonar (Becomes) 2. Each was awarded a cash prize of US$5,000.To nurture young filmmakers, Jiffest ...

  • News

    Warlords rampages across Asia with $15m opening

    2007-12-17T12:56:00Z

    Peter Ho-sun Chan's The Warlords has set a record as the biggest simultaneous Chinese release of the year, grossing $15m across five Asian territories on its opening weekend. The bulk of the box office came from China where the film became the biggest domestic opener of the year, clinching $12.2 ...

  • News

    Toho set for record annual box office, announces 2008 lineup

    2007-12-14T16:12:00Z

    Japan's largest distributor, Toho Studios, has surpassed box office earnings of $442m (Y50b) for the fourth year in a row, the company announced. The company's releases during the lucrative Christmas/New Year's period are set to break Toho's record-setting year in 2006.Earnings up until the end of November totaled $476.4m (Y53.63b). ...

  • News

    Chan's epicWarlords conquers Chinain sneak previews

    2007-12-14T06:20:00Z

    Peter Ho-sun Chan's highly-anticipated period epic The Warlords stormed into China, conquering RMB10m ($1.36m) within six hours during its sneak previews in selected cities on Wednesday night (Dec 12). Polybona's Yu Dong expressed confidence that the picture would cross $13.6m (RMB100m) in its first weekend and break new box-office records ...

  • News

    Australia's Abacus Fund backs Geena Davis project Accidents Happen

    2007-12-13T10:26:00Z

    A film fund aimed at raising $26.4m (A$30m) for the production of Australian films has been formed, with the first beneficiary being Andrew Lancaster's debut film Accidents Happen, starring American actress Geena Davis (Thelma & Louise). Accidents Happen was one of five films which yesterday won investment from the ...

  • News

    Glickman responds to unconfirmed Chinese block on Hollywood films

    2007-12-13T02:47:00Z

    Reacting to growing concerns over an apparent blockade of Hollywood films in China, MPAA chairman and CEO Dan Glickman said any such move would represent 'an enormous step backwards' in that country's efforts to establish a legitimate film market.Glickman's comments followed reports that China has told the US majors they ...

  • News

    Hong Kong's Pang Brothers to direct Storm Riders sequel

    2007-12-12T15:31:00Z

    Hong Kong-based Universe Entertainment is lining up a sequel to 1998 martial arts fantasy The Storm Riders, to be directed by the Pang Brothers (Bangkok Dangerous, Re-cycle). The Storm Riders II (working title) is budgeted at $12m and scheduled to start shooting in March 2008 for tentative delivery in October ...

  • News

    France makes headway in international chart with L'Auberge, Luke

    2007-12-12T14:35:00Z

    While The Golden Compass was largely accountable for the 14.5% week-on-week increase in the international top 40, two new entries from France made their presence known taking a collective $4.3m.For the full international chart, compiled by Len Klady, click here.Roissy Films' comedy L'Auberge Rouge was the second highest new entry, ...

  • News

    Japan's Shinobu Yaguchi returns to director's chair

    2007-12-12T12:14:00Z

    After a three year absence from feature films, director Shinobu Yaguchi is set to direct a new comedy set in the world of air travel entitled Happy Flight (working title). Based on research conducted by Yaguchi last year, Happy Flight's story is set on a flight bound for Honolulu, Hawaii. ...

  • News

    Japan's Avex establishes arthouse subsidiary

    2007-12-11T06:02:00Z

    Avex Group film subisidary, Avex Entertainment, has launched an arthouse label PiX Inc, the company announced yesterday. PiX will handle arthouse and other specialty titles that fall outside of Avex Entertainment's more mainstream contents. Avex Entertainment formed the company with a capital outlay of Y60m ($536,000). Avex Entertainment COO Mio ...