Amid a generally positive market the familiar gripe of high asking prices has sent a clear message that buyers and sellers are finding it increasingly tough to reconcile their respective financial models.
The tension remains particularly acute on A-list market packages, where independent producers have fought (and paid) to attract and hold on to talent in a post-strike world where hefty offers from studios and streamers, driven by talent agents, have been hard to resist.
The ripple effect has forced sales agents to push up their asks in order to recoup financiers’ investments. Sales estimates set more than a year ago,...
The tension remains particularly acute on A-list market packages, where independent producers have fought (and paid) to attract and hold on to talent in a post-strike world where hefty offers from studios and streamers, driven by talent agents, have been hard to resist.
The ripple effect has forced sales agents to push up their asks in order to recoup financiers’ investments. Sales estimates set more than a year ago,...
- 5/21/2024
- ScreenDaily
Unfolding in the cramped corridors of Hong Kong’s Kowloon Walled City (it was one of the most dangerously dense urban areas on Earth before being demolished in 1993), Soi Cheang’s ’80s-set “Twilight of the Warriors: Walled In” delivers on its blockbuster action promise. However, its martial arts spectacle is scattered across a sprawling refugees-and-triads saga that, while adequately laying foundation for the aforementioned fisticuffs, is seldom coherent or engaging on its own.
Based on the Chinese comic “City of Darkness” by Andy Seto, the film follows Chan Lok-kwun (Raymond Lam), a mainland refugee trying to pay his way to a fake ID by winning bare-knuckle brawls. When he ends up double crossed by remorseless triad leader Mr. Big (legendary actor-director Sammo Hung), the desperate outsider steals a satchel of the head honcho’s cocaine and makes a run for the Walled City, which Cheang and cinematographer Cheng Siu-keung capture as a darkened citadel,...
Based on the Chinese comic “City of Darkness” by Andy Seto, the film follows Chan Lok-kwun (Raymond Lam), a mainland refugee trying to pay his way to a fake ID by winning bare-knuckle brawls. When he ends up double crossed by remorseless triad leader Mr. Big (legendary actor-director Sammo Hung), the desperate outsider steals a satchel of the head honcho’s cocaine and makes a run for the Walled City, which Cheang and cinematographer Cheng Siu-keung capture as a darkened citadel,...
- 5/21/2024
- by Siddhant Adlakha
- Variety Film + TV
“The Last Frenzy,” a comedy film about a dying man’s last hurrah, returned to the top spot in mainland Chinese cinemas in its third weekend of release.
“Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes,” which a week earlier had been the biggest title, slipped to fourth place.
In another China disappointment for Hollywood, “The Fall Guy” opened outside the Chinese top ten. Universal Pictures estimates that it earned $900,000 from 10,000 screens. Another data provider Ent Group provisionally reports that the film took $740,000 over three days.
The broader picture, however, shows that there was little difference in performance among the top four titles and a lowish nation-wide aggregate of just $37.1 million. Theatrical momentum, which has made China the world’s biggest cinema market so far this year, is beginning to slow in the flat spot between the May Day holiday and China’s own summer season.
Consultancy firm, Artisan Gateway calculates...
“Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes,” which a week earlier had been the biggest title, slipped to fourth place.
In another China disappointment for Hollywood, “The Fall Guy” opened outside the Chinese top ten. Universal Pictures estimates that it earned $900,000 from 10,000 screens. Another data provider Ent Group provisionally reports that the film took $740,000 over three days.
The broader picture, however, shows that there was little difference in performance among the top four titles and a lowish nation-wide aggregate of just $37.1 million. Theatrical momentum, which has made China the world’s biggest cinema market so far this year, is beginning to slow in the flat spot between the May Day holiday and China’s own summer season.
Consultancy firm, Artisan Gateway calculates...
- 5/20/2024
- by Patrick Frater
- Variety Film + TV
Hong Kong action thriller Twilight Of The Warriors: Walled In, which screened at Cannes this week, is set to become a trilogy, reuniting director Soi Cheang and producers John Chong and Wilson Yip.
Like the first film, the two new instalments will be based on the novel City Of Darkness by Yuyi. Both are expected to go into production around the same time next year on newly built extensive sets, according to Angus Chan of Entertaining Power, who owns the film rights to the novel.
The second instalment, Twilight Of The Warriors: Dragon Throne will be set in the 1950s and 1960s,...
Like the first film, the two new instalments will be based on the novel City Of Darkness by Yuyi. Both are expected to go into production around the same time next year on newly built extensive sets, according to Angus Chan of Entertaining Power, who owns the film rights to the novel.
The second instalment, Twilight Of The Warriors: Dragon Throne will be set in the 1950s and 1960s,...
- 5/19/2024
- ScreenDaily
One of the most anticipated movies of the year, Soi Cheang's “Twilight of the Warrior: Walled In” is a true powerhouse, featuring all those elements that made Hk action one of the most popular genres internationally. And even more so, an all star cast including Sammo Hung, Louis Koo, Raymond Lam, Philip Ng in the protagonists' seat, Kenji Kawai in the soundtrack, and John Chong and Wilson Yip as producers. The story is based on the novel by Yu Yi and the manhua by Andy Seto.
Twilight of the Warriors: Walled In will be released in in UK and Irish cinemas from 24 May, courtesy of Trinity CineAsia
The film begins in a past arc, when Cyclone, a newcomer in Kowloon Walled City, and his gang fought the leader of the area, Lui and his right hand, The King of Killers Jin, eventually managing to win and take over. In the 80s,...
Twilight of the Warriors: Walled In will be released in in UK and Irish cinemas from 24 May, courtesy of Trinity CineAsia
The film begins in a past arc, when Cyclone, a newcomer in Kowloon Walled City, and his gang fought the leader of the area, Lui and his right hand, The King of Killers Jin, eventually managing to win and take over. In the 80s,...
- 5/17/2024
- by Panos Kotzathanasis
- AsianMoviePulse
Since it was first announced back in 2013, the nostalgia-fuelled martial arts epic set within the labyrinthine back alleys of Kowloon Walled City has nurtured a mythical status to rival the notorious neighbourhood itself. Development of the project dates back to the early 2000s, with such prestigious names as John Woo, Johnnie To, Chow Yun-fat and Donnie Yen rumoured to be attached at one point or other. Filming finally commenced in November 2021, at the height of the pandemic lockdown, with director Soi Cheang at the helm, and Louis Koo, Raymond Lam, Sammo Hung and Philip Ng headlining the cast for Koo’s production company One Cool Films. Opening under the unwieldy English title Twilight of the Warriors: Walled In, the 80s-set gangland throwdown opened...
[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...
[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...
- 5/11/2024
- Screen Anarchy
Soi Cheang’s action feature Twilight Of The Warriors: Walled In topped the Hong Kong box office over the Labour Day holiday and opened strongly in mainland China.
The feature took $2.7m (Hk$21.1m) from its first five days on local release (May 1-5), including $677,000 (Hk$5.3m) on its opening day – the second biggest opening day ever for a Hong Kong film.
Set in the 1980s against the backdrop of the now demolished Kowloon Walled City, which was a notorious slum for crime and gangs, the cast includes rising stars such as Raymond Lam and Terrance Lau opposite established stars Louis Koo,...
The feature took $2.7m (Hk$21.1m) from its first five days on local release (May 1-5), including $677,000 (Hk$5.3m) on its opening day – the second biggest opening day ever for a Hong Kong film.
Set in the 1980s against the backdrop of the now demolished Kowloon Walled City, which was a notorious slum for crime and gangs, the cast includes rising stars such as Raymond Lam and Terrance Lau opposite established stars Louis Koo,...
- 5/6/2024
- ScreenDaily
“The Last Frenzy,” a comedy film about a dying man’s last hurrah, took the top spot in mainland Chinese cinemas ahead of chasing pack of new releases.
It earned $30.7 million (RMB218 million) between Friday and Sunday, according to data from consultancy firm Artisan Gateway. Over its full five-day opening session, it accumulated $55.2 million.
In second place was patriotic action thriller “Formed Police Unit” which focused on Chinese peacekeeping forces. It earned $24.6 million over the weekend, but an even higher $59 million over the five days from its May 1 release.
In third place was “Twilight of the Warriors: Walled In,” a Hong Kong-produced action thriller that a week earlier had topped the box office chart through preview screenings alone. Over its first official weekend of release, it earned $21.5 million. That gave it a cumulative total of $47.2 million.
Contemporary Japanese animation “Spy x Family: Code White” took fourth place with $13.1 million over the weekend.
It earned $30.7 million (RMB218 million) between Friday and Sunday, according to data from consultancy firm Artisan Gateway. Over its full five-day opening session, it accumulated $55.2 million.
In second place was patriotic action thriller “Formed Police Unit” which focused on Chinese peacekeeping forces. It earned $24.6 million over the weekend, but an even higher $59 million over the five days from its May 1 release.
In third place was “Twilight of the Warriors: Walled In,” a Hong Kong-produced action thriller that a week earlier had topped the box office chart through preview screenings alone. Over its first official weekend of release, it earned $21.5 million. That gave it a cumulative total of $47.2 million.
Contemporary Japanese animation “Spy x Family: Code White” took fourth place with $13.1 million over the weekend.
- 5/6/2024
- by Patrick Frater
- Variety Film + TV
South Korea’s M-Line Distribution has secured world sales rights to Walking In The Movies, a documentary about Korean film industry pioneer Kim Dong-ho, ahead of its premiere at Cannes.
The film, which will screen as part of the Cannes Classics strand of the upcoming festival, is a portrait of a man often called the godfather of the Korean film industry who has spent his life and career serving cinema.
Kim was a co-founder of Busan International Film Festival and spent 15 years there as festival director, helping it weather periods of political turbulence.
Filmed over a year from February 2023, the...
The film, which will screen as part of the Cannes Classics strand of the upcoming festival, is a portrait of a man often called the godfather of the Korean film industry who has spent his life and career serving cinema.
Kim was a co-founder of Busan International Film Festival and spent 15 years there as festival director, helping it weather periods of political turbulence.
Filmed over a year from February 2023, the...
- 4/30/2024
- ScreenDaily
Buzzy Glasgow Film Festival (Gff) premiere Tummy Monster has been boarded for sales by UK outfit Reason8.
The debut feature from Glasgow-based filmmaker Ciaran Lyons blends elements of dark comedy and psychological thriller and stars Bridgerton’s Lorn Macdonald alongside Orlando Norman.
Producers are Beth Allen and Josefin Bagge.
Tummy Monster was a hit at Gff, with the festival adding additional screenings to accomodate demand.
The story revolves around a self-absorbed, 20-something tattoo artist who discovers his latest client is a famous young musician. This revelation sparks an obsession with obtaining a selfie with the musician, plunging them both into...
The debut feature from Glasgow-based filmmaker Ciaran Lyons blends elements of dark comedy and psychological thriller and stars Bridgerton’s Lorn Macdonald alongside Orlando Norman.
Producers are Beth Allen and Josefin Bagge.
Tummy Monster was a hit at Gff, with the festival adding additional screenings to accomodate demand.
The story revolves around a self-absorbed, 20-something tattoo artist who discovers his latest client is a famous young musician. This revelation sparks an obsession with obtaining a selfie with the musician, plunging them both into...
- 4/29/2024
- ScreenDaily
Trinity CineAsia has acquired UK and Ireland rights to Twilight Of The Warriors: Walled In, the Hong Kong period action drama that will screen at Cannes next month, in a deal with Media Asia.
Directed by Soi Cheang, the highly anticipated feature is set to be released in Hong Kong and China on May 1 before it plays in the Midnight Screenings section of Cannes. An opening date in the UK and Ireland has yet to be announced but Trinity CineAsia said it is “scheduled for release across cinemas nationwide soon after” the festival, which runs May 14-25.
Distribution deals were...
Directed by Soi Cheang, the highly anticipated feature is set to be released in Hong Kong and China on May 1 before it plays in the Midnight Screenings section of Cannes. An opening date in the UK and Ireland has yet to be announced but Trinity CineAsia said it is “scheduled for release across cinemas nationwide soon after” the festival, which runs May 14-25.
Distribution deals were...
- 4/29/2024
- ScreenDaily
“Twilight of the Warriors: Walled In,” a Hong Kong-produced action thriller, took the top spot at the mainland China box office over the latest weekend. But it was a quiet session and came ahead of a welter of new releases targeting the May Day public holiday.
The film, which is among those that have a Wednesday (May 1) official release date, earned $5.5 million (RMB38.9 million) between Friday and Sunday, according to data from consultancy firm Artisan Gateway.
The nationwide weekend total was a slender $18.7 million. That was the quietest theatrical weekend in China since the end of the country’s official anti-covid policies in December 2022.
Directed by the prolific Soi Cheang, “Twilight” stars the veteran martial arts star Sammo Hung and actor-producer Louis Koo in a tale of a youngster who stumbles his way into Kowloon’s notorious Walled City and discovers a new kind of order within its seemingly criminal chaos.
The film, which is among those that have a Wednesday (May 1) official release date, earned $5.5 million (RMB38.9 million) between Friday and Sunday, according to data from consultancy firm Artisan Gateway.
The nationwide weekend total was a slender $18.7 million. That was the quietest theatrical weekend in China since the end of the country’s official anti-covid policies in December 2022.
Directed by the prolific Soi Cheang, “Twilight” stars the veteran martial arts star Sammo Hung and actor-producer Louis Koo in a tale of a youngster who stumbles his way into Kowloon’s notorious Walled City and discovers a new kind of order within its seemingly criminal chaos.
- 4/29/2024
- by Patrick Frater
- Variety Film + TV
Get in touch to send in cinephile news and discoveries. To keep up with our latest features, sign up for the Weekly Edit newsletter and follow us @mubinotebook on Twitter and Instagram.NEWSThe Pill Pounder.The Brussels International Fantastic Film Festival is known for audiences who talk back to the screen, but such rowdiness took a dark turn last weekend at a screening of Love Lies Bleeding (2024), during which homophobic and misogynistic taunts caused more than 60 attendees to walk out and then to stage a protest at the cinema door, which was broken up by the police.Italy’s right-wing government has left the country’s motion-picture industry stalled in uncertainty as they debate new regulations to tax incentives for film and television production, some of which may give preference to films “tied to Italy’s national identity.”Ten of thirteen IATSE locals now have tentative agreements with AMPTP. Talks...
- 4/17/2024
- MUBI
"The reason you can sleep soundly, isn't the Walled City. It's the people inside it." So let them fight! Ha. An official trailer is already available now for this Hong Kong action movie titled Twilight of the Warriors: Walled In. It was recently announced as one of the Midnight premieres in the line-up at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival coming up this May. It's also opening in China and Hong Kong first right at the beginning of May before heading to France after to premiere in Europe. The film is an adaptation of the manhua City of Darkness by Andy Seto. It stars the action legend Sammo Hung as well as Louis Koo as Tornado (龍捲風), a martial arts master who is regarded as a legend in Kowloon Walled City. It's also produced by Wilson Yip Wai Sun and John Chong. The film follows the troubled youth Chan Lok-kwun (Raymond Lam...
- 4/16/2024
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
With Cannes Film Festival kicking off in less than a month, one title that is sure to rile up the crowds is the Midnight screening selection of Soi Cheang’s Hong Kong martial arts actioner Twilight of the Warriors: Walled In. Led by the formidable action duo of Louis Koo and Sammo Hung, it’ll premiere in Hong Kong and China a bit prior, on May 1, and has been picked up by Well Go USA for a subsequent U.S. release. Ahead of the premieres, the first trailer has now arrived.
Set in the 1980s inside the Kowloon Walled City, “a dangerous Chinese enclave within British colonial Hong Kong,” the story “follows a troubled youth as he accidentally enters the Walled City, discovers order amidst the chaos, and gains life lessons as he gets closer to the denizens as they resist a villainous invasion.”
Check out the trailer and poster below.
Set in the 1980s inside the Kowloon Walled City, “a dangerous Chinese enclave within British colonial Hong Kong,” the story “follows a troubled youth as he accidentally enters the Walled City, discovers order amidst the chaos, and gains life lessons as he gets closer to the denizens as they resist a villainous invasion.”
Check out the trailer and poster below.
- 4/16/2024
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
Hong Kong’s biggest ever local hit A Guilty Conscience was named best film at the 42nd Hong Kong Film Awards (Hkfa), while Mad Fate’s Soi Cheang took best director and The Goldfinger swept six awards including best actor for Tony Leung.
A Guilty Conscience producer Bill Kong received the top award on stage from acclaimed Japanese director Hirokazu Kore-eda. That was the only win on the night for the courtroom drama, which went into the awards ceremony with 10 nominations.
Scroll down for full winners list
Murder mystery Mad Fate scooped three awards comprising best screenplay, best editing and best director for Cheang.
A Guilty Conscience producer Bill Kong received the top award on stage from acclaimed Japanese director Hirokazu Kore-eda. That was the only win on the night for the courtroom drama, which went into the awards ceremony with 10 nominations.
Scroll down for full winners list
Murder mystery Mad Fate scooped three awards comprising best screenplay, best editing and best director for Cheang.
- 4/15/2024
- ScreenDaily
Among the high-profile filmmakers selected for this year’s Cannes Film Festival is a wave of upcoming talent from Asia and the Middle East, including the first Indian feature chosen for Competition in 30 years and the first film from Saudi Arabia to ever make the Official Selection.
While Cannes has a reputation for bringing back familiar names year after year, the line-up for the 77th edition does feature several rising filmmakers and not just in the “discovery” strands of the selection.
Making her first appearance in Competition is Indian filmmaker Payal Kapadia with All We Imagine As Light. It marks...
While Cannes has a reputation for bringing back familiar names year after year, the line-up for the 77th edition does feature several rising filmmakers and not just in the “discovery” strands of the selection.
Making her first appearance in Competition is Indian filmmaker Payal Kapadia with All We Imagine As Light. It marks...
- 4/12/2024
- ScreenDaily
Get in touch to send in cinephile news and discoveries. To keep up with our latest features, sign up for the Weekly Edit newsletter and follow us @mubinotebook on Twitter and Instagram.NEWSThe Truman Show.Joana Vicente has resigned from her post at the helm of the Sundance Film Festival after less than three years. Some industry sources have pointed to a contentious relationship with the board on fundraising matters as one possible explanation.This year’s Cannes Film Festival will open with Quentin Dupieux’s The Second Act, a surrealist backstage comedy starring Léa Seydoux, Vincent Lindon, Louis Garrel, and Raphaël Quenard.Concerns about copyright, continuity, tech business models, and the uncanny valley lead industry insiders to speculate that generative AI won’t soon be making its big-screen debut, though it will increasingly be a part of pre-production workflows.Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer (2023) has opened in Japan to mixed...
- 4/3/2024
- MUBI
Hong Kong star and producer to be honoured for his contribution to the film industry.
Acclaimed Hong Kong star and producer Louis Koo is set to receive the highest honour bestowed by the New York Asian Film Festival (Nyaff) next month.
Koo will receive the Extraordinary Star Asia Award for Exceptional Contribution to Asian Cinema at New York’s Film at Lincoln Center on July 19.
As one of Hong Kong’s biggest stars, Koo has more than 100 credits to his name including sci-fi action thriller Warriors Of Future, which became the highest-grossing Asian film of all time in the territory following its release last August.
Acclaimed Hong Kong star and producer Louis Koo is set to receive the highest honour bestowed by the New York Asian Film Festival (Nyaff) next month.
Koo will receive the Extraordinary Star Asia Award for Exceptional Contribution to Asian Cinema at New York’s Film at Lincoln Center on July 19.
As one of Hong Kong’s biggest stars, Koo has more than 100 credits to his name including sci-fi action thriller Warriors Of Future, which became the highest-grossing Asian film of all time in the territory following its release last August.
- 6/8/2023
- by Michael Rosser
- ScreenDaily
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