Patrick Frater

Japanese animation film “The First Slam Dunk” was the undisputed champion at the South Korean box office over the weekend. Not only did depose “Abatar: The Way of Water” from first place it also grew its week-on-week performance by 10% – in its fifth weekend on release. A week earlier the two top titles were […]

‘MOTORWAY’ DIRECTOR IN THE DRIVING SEAT Cheang Pou Soi (better known as Soi Cheang) whose latest film “Mad Fate” will premiere this month at the Berlin Film Festival, will be further honored next month when the Hong Kong International Film Festival makes him its Filmmaker in Focus. He was born in Macau, but gained his […]

Sympatico, a production partnership combining the U.K.’s Argo Films and Malaysia’s Double Vision, is hatching a busy slate of film and TV productions that it says will be authentically Asian. “Too often, Southeast Asia has been portrayed in a mix of styles on screen with, for example, iconic establishing shots of Kuala Lumpur ‘s Twin […]

Amazon’s Prime Video has taken worldwide rights to Peter Farrelly’s long awaited “Ricky Stanicky.” The long-gestating film will shoot in Melbourne, Australia where the film’s two stars Zac Efron and John Cena have now arrived. Ricky Stanicky is the name of an imaginary character invented and perpetuated by three friends over several years so that […]

 Miyake Sho’s female-led boxing drama “Small, Slow, But Steady” has been named the best Japanese film of 2022 by Kinema Junpo magazine. This honor has been awarded annually since 1924 and is considered the Japanese industry’s most prestigious.   Kishii Yukino, who starred as a struggling deaf boxer, claimed the best actress award, while Miura Tomokazu, who […]

Japanese electronics and entertainment giant Sony Group Corporation reported net profits that were down 6% to JPY327 billion ($2.53 billion) in the three months from October to December, 2022, that represent the third quarter of its current financial year. Revenues were up 13% in local currency terms, to JPY3.41 trillion ($26.4 billion). The group-level results […]

Japan’s Gaga Corporation and Wild Bunch International will collaborate again for international sales of “Monster,” the upcoming film directed by Japanese auteur Kore-eda Hirokazu. Gaga will handle Asian territories. Wild Bunch will handle worldwide excluding Asia. A promo reel for buyers will be available at the upcoming European Film Market that operates alongside the Berlin […]

Netflix has unveiled a trailer for Berlin-bound action drama “Kill Boksoon,” with Jeon Do-yeon, previous winner of the best actress prize at Cannes, in the starring role. The film sees Jeon as Gil, a single woman juggling the demanding and conflicting roles of professional killer and mother to a teenage daughter. Despite her unblemished track […]

The Shanghai International Film Market will relocate to new premises as it makes a return in June 2023 as an in-person event. The Shanghai International Film Festival and the accompanying market were both cancelled last year due to the COVID crisis and China’s strict disease prevention response. This year’s festival will be a silver jubilee, […]

Producer and distributor, Media Ranch has begun representation of two Korean formats from DiTurn, the company of “The Masked Singer” creator Park Wonwoo. “Round Table” is a proven singing game-show format created by Park that was a hit in Korea on KBS 2. It involves celebrities without singing ability needing to sing to win the contest. “Love […]