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Selena Lee, Kenny Kwan, and Adam Pak lead the cast of “Tape,” a Cantonese-language remake of the Richard Linklater drama film that debuted in 2001. The new film is to be directed by Bizhan Tong with cameras set to roll next month in Hong Kong.

“Tape” tells the story of 3 best friends who, following an event at a graduation party that transforms their lives, reunite 15 years later where a case of blackmail forces them to confront a terrible secret from their past.

The original film starred Ethan Hawke, Uma Thurman and Robert Sean Leonard and played at the Sundance, Toronto and Rotterdam festivals.

In Tong’s remake, Kwan, Lee, and Pak play the contemporary characters while Mason Fung, Summer Chan, and Angus Yeung portray their younger versions.

The script is written by Stephen Belber, Tong, Lee and Bonnie Lo, and is an adaptation of Belber’s own scripts from both the original film and stage play.

Screenwriter Lau debuted as a director in 2015 with a heist film “Two Thumbs Up” starring Francis Ng and Simon Yam. Based on true events, “Caught in Time” is his follow up and it concerns the story of a ruthless mainland Chinese criminal Zhang Jun (Daniel Wu) and his Eagle gang who rob and kill as they commit robberies throughout different provinces of China during the 1990s.

“Caught in Time” is screening at Udine Far East Film Festival

On his first day of work after being transferred to Chongqing, Police Captain Zhong Cheng (Wang Qian Yuan) gets involved in a jewelry store heist in progress, run by Zhang who holds him hostage. Fortunately for him, as a distraction, they throw him off their getaway van instead of killing him while they escape. Consequently, this leads to the obsession of catching these criminals for Zhong and his Provincial Criminal Bureau team from that moment on.

Making Waves – Navigators of Hong Kong Cinema, a touring film programme to mark the 25th anniversary of the establishment of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (Hksar), will kick off during the 24th Far East Film Festival in Udine later this month. This unique cinematic extravaganza is presented by Create Hong Kong in partnership with the Far East Film Festival (Feff) and supported by the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in Brussels. Running from 22 to 30 April at Udine’s Teatro Nuovo Giovanni da Udine and Visionario cinema, it showcases a specially curated 13-film screening programme, focusing on new and emerging talents, and a virtual photographic exhibition that showcases the works of four unit photographers, each telling a unique story of Hong Kong cinema in a new artistic dimension and fascination.

Schemes in Antiques

“We started Far East Film Festival with a zero edition completely dedicated to Hong Kong films...

2022 brings Far East Film back to its historical dimension. The Feff is once again what it has always been since 1999, but it also carries the imprint of all the latest changes: it is an augmented festival, more inclusive, and even more curious. If in the last two years Far East Film was forced to reinventing itself and review its formula with different parameters, these last few months have generated a sudden and wonderful acceleration: a wave of new energy, a vital frenzy which has shaped the twenty-fourth edition.

The Teatro Nuovo “Giovanni da Udine” with its 1200 seats will firmly resume its role as headquarters and it will be joined by the Visionary, an outpost of the special sections and retrospectives. The 2022 selection will include a total of 72 titles of which 42 in competition. 15 countries will be represented (including an Italy-China co-production), the number of female directors rises to 12 (of which 8 in...

The Far East Film Festival in Italy’s Udine has set Chinese-Italian co-production “The Italian Recipe” as the opening title of a revived, largely in-person event.

The film, directed by Hou Zuxin, sees an unexpected series of events bring together a Chinese reality TV show contestant and a woman already resident in Italy. The collision of personalities, connections and chemistry between stars Liu Xun and Yao Huang resemble those of “Roman Holiday,” festival organizers suggest. The film has its world premier on Friday next week, launching a nine-day event that runs until April 22-30.

The 2022 selection runs to 72 titles, selected from over 400 submissions, numbers that organizers say, is proof that Asian filmmaking was not halted by the Covid-19 pandemic. “The fear, not unreasonable, given all the halted productions, dismantled sets and release dates announced and then postponed for months, that there wouldn’t be many films to choose from was...

Veteran Hong Kong director Herman Yau has assembled a top-notch cast for “War Customised,” a high-octane action thriller that is one of the highest-profile commercial productions to emerge from the territory in the past couple of years.

The cast is headed by Jacky Cheung and Nicholas Tse, along with Karena Lam and Francis Ng.

The supporting cast includes Liu Yase (“Limbo”), Michelle Wai, Angus Yeung (“Raging Fire”), Melvin Wong (“Above the Law”), Ben Yuen, Amanda Strang (“Final Romance”), and Brahim Chab as the villain of the piece.

Production, now underway, is by Emperor Motion Pictures, with principal Albert Yeung named as producer. Emperor is also handling international rights licensing.

The “War Customised” screenplay is by Erica Li. Plot details have been withheld.

In addition to playing the lead, Tse will also act as the film’s action choreographer.

Yau is a veteran of the action, martial arts and comedy genres...

Other contenders include biopic ‘Anita’, ‘Drifting’ and ‘Raging Fire’, the final thriller by the late Benny Chan.

Soi Cheang’s crime thriller Limbo leads the pack for the 40th Hong Kong Film Awards (Hkfa) with 14 nominations, as the event prepares to return as an in-person ceremony following last year’s cancellation as a result of the pandemic.

The black and white crime noir, which premiered in Berlinale Special in 2021, secured nods including best film, best director and for actors Lam Ka Tung[/link], Cya Liu and Fish Liew. The thriller centres on a veteran detective and rookie copy who team up to catch a serial killer.

Screenwriter Lau debuted as a director in 2015 with a heist film “Two Thumbs Up” starring Francis Ng and Simon Yam. Based on true events, “Caught in Time” is his follow up and it concerns the story of a ruthless mainland Chinese criminal Zhang Jun (Daniel Wu) and his Eagle gang who rob and kill as they commit robberies throughout different provinces of China during the 1990s.

Signature Entertainment is releasing this action thriller on Digital Platforms starting February 7, 2022.

On his first day of work after being transferred to Chongqing, Police Captain Zhong Cheng (Wang Qian Yuan) gets involved in a jewelry store heist in progress, run by Zhang who holds him hostage. Fortunately for him, as a distraction, they throw him off their getaway van instead of killing him while they escape. Consequently, this leads to the obsession of catching these criminals for Zhong and his Provincial Criminal Bureau team from that moment on.

Action thriller “Limbo” was named best film of 2021 at the annual Hong Kong Film Critics’ Society Awards. The film’s female lead, Chinese actress Cya Liu, was crowned best actress for her role as a young addict.

Results of five awards and 10 recommended films were decided on Jan. 16, 2022 after nine hours of deliberation and three rounds of votes. A total of 48 films released in 2021 met the entry criteria for the awards, which is in its 28th edition this year.

Critics said the Cantonese noir “Limbo,” based on the novel of the same name by mainland author Lei Mi, was an “extraordinary work.” It was directed by Soi Cheang.

The grim, crumbling slum that serves as a backdrop for the story revolving around a cop duo’s hunt of a serial killer—just like how an imagined southern Chinese city depicted in the novel—is one metaphor for a “near future,...

Screenwriter Lau debuted as a director in 2015 with a heist film “Two Thumbs Up” starring Francis Ng and Simon Yam. Based on true events, “Caught in Time” is his follow up and it concerns the story of a ruthless mainland Chinese criminal Zhang Jun (Daniel Wu) and his Eagle gang who rob and kill as they commit robberies throughout different provinces of China during the 1990s.

On his first day of work after being transferred to Chongqing, Police Captain Zhong Cheng (Wang Qian Yuan) gets involved in a jewelry store heist in progress, run by Zhang who holds him hostage. Fortunately for him, as a distraction, they throw him off their getaway van instead of killing him while they escape. Consequently, this leads to the obsession of catching these criminals for Zhong and his Provincial Criminal Bureau team from that moment on.

However, since Zhang is always one step ahead of the police,...

This year, Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month comes at a peculiar time where members of the community are simultaneously celebrated and attacked. In April Chloé Zhao and Yuh-Jung Youn made Oscars history, less than a week after an Indianapolis shooter killed four members of the Sikh community, and nearly a month after an Atlanta gunman carried out a mass shooting that left eight victims, six of which were Asian women, dead.

The attacks and discrimination, which were among the most recent examples of rising violence against the Asian community, has mobilized notable Asian creators in Hollywood to speak out. With incidents of loss and grief preceding the month-long celebration of Asian American culture and contributions, In the Heights and Crazy Rich Asians helmer Jon M. Chu said he feels there’s an urgency to spotlighting Asian stories.

“There’s a sense of urgency that I haven’t felt before.

Korean production company MoonWatcher is claiming the film is an unauthorised adaptation of a popular web comic.

Local comedy Bath Buddy, produced by Beijing Culture and directed by Yi Xiaoxing, topped the China box office over the weekend (December 11-13), according to figures from Artisan Gateway, with a gross of $28.1m, despite being at the centre of a copyright dispute.

Korean production company MoonWatcher is claiming the film is based on a popular Korean webcomic and that it had struck a deal to set up the adaptation with the director and China’s Wanda Media in 2018.

However, the Chinese side...

Patriotic Chinese viewers flexed their muscles this weekend to topple Paul W.S. Anderson’s “Monster Hunter,” which grossed just $4.8 million before it was pulled from cinemas due to complaints that interpreted a line of dialogue to be racist and “insulting to China.”

In a slow week, however, that was enough to net it a fifth place open, even though cinemas had entirely pulled the title from their line-ups by early Saturday. The result is assuredly disappointing, however, considering Anderson’s previous China outing.

His last film to screen in China was 2017’s “Resident Evil: The Final Chapter,” which grossed $160 million there — six times more than it did in the U.S., making China the title’s top-selling global market by a margin of more than $123 million.

(The two other of Anderson’s films screened in the country did not receive quite the same reception: earlier franchise chapter “Resident Evil: Retribution...

Chinese netizens blasted the film, which opened December 6, and grossed $4.8m before it was withdrawn.

US action adventure Monster Hunter, produced by Constantin Film and Impact Pictures, was pulled from Chinese screens over the weekend following an online outcry over dialogue in the film that was perceived as being a racial insult.

The film, which has been co-financed with China’s Tencent and Japan’s Toho, opened on Friday, December 6, and grossed around $4.8m on its first day, ranking third behind two local releases, before disappearing from screens on Saturday.

Although authorities finally requested the withdrawal of the film, the...

‘Tenet’ crosses $300m excluding North America.

The Croods: A New Age is weekend’s biggest grosser worldwide

Universal’s release of Dreamworks Animation’s The Croods: A New Age was the weekend’s top title at the global box office, thanks to an estimated $35m debut session. That breaks down into $14.2m for North America for the five-day Thanksgiving holiday, plus $20.8m internationally across seven markets.

Internationally, China did the heavy lifting, landing in first place with $18.9m, ahead of local competitors Caught In Time and One Second. The animated sequel also opened top in Saudi Arabia, Vietnam and UAE.

Monday Update, writethru after 8:47Am Sunday post: DreamWorks Animation/Universal’s The Croods: A New Age led the weekend in China with a $19.2M debut, outpacing local titles One Second and Caught In Time as it got a huge Saturday boost. This is the third best bow for a studio movie in the Middle Kingdom during the pandemic era — behind Tenet (which topped $300M overseas this session) and Mulan. In total, the sequel opened in seven offshore markets for a combined $20.8M at the international box office. There were also No. 1 starts in Saudi Arabia, Vietnam and the UAE. The worldwide opening estimate including domestic is $35M.

This is a solid start for the animated film that comes seven years after the original. Directed by Joel Crawford, it has strong word of mouth in China (9.1 on Maoyan and Taopiaopiao and 8.2 on Douban). Play increased by 191% from Friday to Saturday...

Zhang Yimou’s One Second also opened over the weekend and grossed $10.6m in three days.

Universal and DreamWorks Animation’s The Croods: A New Age headed up the China box office over the three-day weekend (November 27-29), according to figures from Artisan Gateway, grossing $18.9m, almost twice as much as the $9.71m the film grossed in the US over Thanksgiving weekend.

The first The Croods movie grossed $6m (RMB40.1m) on its opening weekend in China in April 2013 and went on to take $60m (RMB394.6m). However, that was during an earlier stage of the market’s development, when China had fewer screens,...

Universal’s The Croods: A New Age was the decisive winner of a competitive three-way race at China’s box office over the weekend, topping both holdover local hit Caught in Time and the latest release from venerated Chinese filmmaker Zhang Yimou.

Croods 2 opened in China to a healthy $19.2 million, which was $5 million more than its five-day holiday start in North America. Worldwide, the animated family film has earned $35 million — the best Hollywood studio rollout in weeks, as the pandemic continues to weigh on key markets around the globe. The first Croods film grossed $63 million in China.

Croods ...

Universal’s The Croods: A New Age was the decisive winner of a competitive three-way race at China’s box office over the weekend, topping both holdover local hit Caught in Time and the latest release from venerated Chinese filmmaker Zhang Yimou.

Croods 2 opened in China to a healthy $19.2 million, which was $5 million more than its five-day holiday start in North America. Worldwide, the animated family film has earned $35 million — the best Hollywood studio rollout in weeks, as the pandemic continues to weigh on key markets around the globe. The first Croods film grossed $63 million in China.

Croods ...

Sunday Am Update: Universal’s estimates for DreamWorks Animation’s The Croods: A New Age didn’t veer greatly from what we were seeing yesterday for the weekend, with a $9.7M 3-day, $14.2M 5-day and global grab of $35M. On a 3-day U.S./Canada basis, this is the biggest opening during the pandemic since theaters re-opened, even beating Warner Bros. Tenet. The 3-day of Tenet‘s full domestic over Labor Day was $9.35M according to Comscore.

As we mentioned all along, by historical Thanksgiving B.O. records, these numbers are awful. But by pandemic standards, these are some of the best B.O. figures we’ve seen, and that’s largely because Universal spent to promote the movie. Also, families came out. Back when exhibition was re-opening, studies showed that families would be the slowest and most cautious to return to the cinemas. It appears Universal has busted a...

DreamWorks Animation/Universal’s The Croods: A New Age looks set to lead the weekend in China where the cume is an estimated $11.7M through its first two days, and pre-sales are solid. This portends an Fss frame of $20M, per Uni, with family uptick throughout. Six other overseas markets are also getting a first look at the prehistoric family pic that’s directed by Joel Crawford, and are expected to round out the offshore session total to $21.6M for a $35.8M global bow when including domestic.

Friday’s $3M China opening was the third-highest for a Hollywood title in the market this year, coming in behind only Tenet and Mulan. It is running ahead of local titles including last week’s champ Caught In Time and Zhang Yimou’s new entry One Second. Word of mouth is strong with a 9.1 on Maoyan and Taopiaopiao as well as an 8.2 on Douban.

Tuesday Update, writethru: Japan’s runaway smash, Demon Slayer The Movie: Mugen Train, continued its reign at the top of the local charts this weekend as it neared $250M. Including Monday’s Labor Thanksgiving Day holiday in Japan, Demon Slayer‘s total across 39 days is 25.9B yen ($248M). The anime adaptation has now overtaken Frozen (25.5B yen) to become the No. 3 all-time biggest movie in the market. The next one to beat is Titanic, followed by Japan’s No. 1 film ever, Spirited Away (30.8B yen).

In terms of admissions, Demon Slayer sold nearly 19.4M tickets through Monday, placing it as the 4th most-attended film of all time in the market. That figure will continue to rise. The coming weekend will see illustration card giveaways to entice moviegoers back to cinemas, a strategy that proved successful for the cultural phenom a few weeks ago.

Demon Slayer is also estimated to be...

Hong Kong-produced crime thriller helped boost the weekend box office up by 45% to $51.4m.

Emperor Motion Pictures’ crime thriller Caught In Time topped the China box office over the weekend (November 20-22), according to figures from Artisan Gateway, grossing $30.3m in its opening three days.

Directed by Lau Ho-leung, the film stars Daniel Wu and Wang Qianyuan in the story of a detective tracking down a gang of criminals ten years after they initially evaded arrest.

Local war epic The Sacrifice slipped to second place after four weekends in pole position, grossing $6m for a cumulative total of $160.9m. Co-directed by Frant Gwo,...

The international total for Gerard Butler actioner Greenland is $43.1m.

Greenland’ adds $5m for $43m total

New openings in China, Mexico, Brazil and Bolivia provided a boost to Gerard Butler actioner Greenland, which grossed an estimated $4.83m from 11,009 locations at the weekend. The international total for the STX-backed film is $43.1m.

Greenland opened in third place in China with an estimated $3.4m from 9,187 cinemas – behind Daniel Wu Crime drama Caught In Time (with $30m) and local war epic Sacrifice (with $5m), a chart veteran that has reached a total of $156m. Greenland was the weekend’s top imported film at the China box office.

Hong Kong-produced “Caught in Time” gave fresh life to the mainland China box office over its opening weekend.

The fantasy crime thriller about a cop chasing a gang through different eras earned $30.3 million. Produced by Emperor Motion Picture, the film stars the popular Daniel Wu and Wang Qianyuan, and was directed by Lau Ho-leung.

It edged aside patriotic war film “Sacrifice” which had held the top spot for the previous three weekends. “Sacrifice” managed $6.0 million in its fourth weekend, for a cumulative score of $161 million, according to data from consultancy Artisan Gateway.

Third place, and a $3.3 million haul, belonged to “Paw Patrol” in its second weekend. That compared with $5.5 million in its opening frame, and extended the film’s 11-day cumulative to $9.6 million.

Disaster action movie “Greenland” opened modestly with $3.2 million for fourth place, despite the presence of Gerard Butler above the title. His previous releases of “Geostorm” and “London Has Fallen...