“Lost in Perfection,” the second film by journalist-turned-filmmaker Sung Hsin-yin (“On Happiness Road”), has set Oct. 27 as the date of its commercial release in Sung’s native Taiwan. Ahead of the Taiwan release, the film is expected to have its world premiere at a major festival.
The film is a psychological thriller about a woman who probes a romance scam that appears to involve her father and may involve a series of murders. The cast is headed by Shao Yu-Wei (“More than Blue: The Series”), Lin Mei-Hsiu (“Zone Pro Site”) and Rhydian Vaughan (“Monga”) along with Mark Lee (“Looking for You”) playing the father and Tseng Shao-Tsung (“More than Blue: The Series”) as the protagonist’s fianc?. The film is presented by Screenworks Asia, My Story Entertainment, Taiwan Television Enterprise, Tomorrow Together Capital and Happinessroad Productions. Catchplay is handling the Taiwan release and Screenworks Asia the overseas sales.
International content industry conference NATPE Global has added several high profile speakers to its lineup. They include Izzet Pinto, founder and CEO, Global Agency; Chris Williams, founder and CEO, pocket.watch; Mariano Cesar, head of general entertainment content, Latin America and U.S. Hispanic, Warner Bros. Discovery; Ronald Day, president, entertainment and content strategy, NBCUniversal Telemundo Enterprises; Francisco Morales, head of content strategy and acquisitions, Latin America, Amazon Studios; and Augusto Rovegno, senior VP Content, ViX, TelevisaUnivision.
The conference will take place in Miami Jan. 16-18, 2024.
Top Korean actor Gang Dong-won (“Jeon Woo-chi The Taoist Wizard,” “Secret Reunion,” “The Priests”) has launched his own talent agency. His AA Group and will seek to bring other talent on board, Korean media reports. Gang, who next stars in “Dr. Cheon and the Lost Talisman,” which opens at the holiday peak season on Sept 27., was previously represented by YG Entertainment. But his contract there expired in December and he has been without representation since then.
The BBC has acquired the second series of Entertainment One‘s award-winning hit Australian drama “The Newsreader,” starring Anna Torv (“The Last of Us,” “Mindhunter”) and Sam Reid (“Prime Suspect 1973,” “Lambs of God”) as well as new cast members Daniel Gillies (“Virgin River”) and Rory Fleck Byrne (“This is Going to Hurt”).
Created, written and produced by award-winning writer Michael Lucas (“Offspring,” “Five Bedrooms”), and directed by Emma Freeman (“Interview with the Vampire,” “Stateless”), the six-part series will air in the U.K. on BBC Two and iPlayer later this year.
A year on from the 1980s-set events of series one, audiences once again meet Helen Norville (Torv) and Dale Jennings (Reid), who are now established as ‘The Golden Couple of News’. To the outside world, they present a glowing image of success and romance. But the truth is more complex.
The series is produced by Werner Film Productions, for ABC in Australia in association with eOne. The producer is Joanna Werner (“Clickbait,” “Secret City”).
“Following the great success of series one, we couldn’t be more excited to welcome back the News at Six team and watch Helen and Dale navigate their ever more complicated personal lives whilst dealing with the pressures of covering the big news events of 1987,” said Sue Deeks, head of program acquisition for the BBC.
Netflix has set a Dec. 7 launch date for “The Archies,” its feature length coming of age musical that is adapted from the iconic “Archies” comic book series. Directed by Zoya Akhtar, the film stars Dot as Ethel Muggs, Agastya Nanda as the charming and talented Archie Andrews, Khushi Kapoor will take on the role of Betty Cooper, Mihir Ahuja as the always hungry Jughead Jones, Veronica Lodge will be portrayed by Suhana Khan, heartthrob Reggie Mantle will be showcased by Vedang Raina and Yuvraj Menda will play Dilton Doiley. The film is written by Reema Kagti, Akhtar and Ayesha Devitre. Production is by Akhtar’s Tiger Baby, Graphic India and Archie Comics.
Japanese TV competition series “Ninja Warrior” has been picked up for local adaptation in India by Hong Kong-based O4 Media. The sales and licensing company will be involved with the localization of the show, but it has not yet disclosed a production company or broadcast partner in the market. The show hails from Tokyo Broadcasting System, which has operated the obstacle course series “Sasuke” since 1997 and has seen it adapted in some 18 territories.
“The show’s fast-paced challenges align perfectly with the energy of India. We believe that ‘Ninja Warrior’ will cut across all ages and backgrounds, and we look forward to delivering the show’s exhilarating content to fans across India,” said Gary Pudney of O4 Media.
Three recently-released, theatrical titles headline the Emerging Japanese Films mini-festival, which runs Sept. 26-28, at the Linwood Dunn Theater in Hollywood. They are Kumakiri Kazuyoshi’s quirky, character-driven, road trip drama “Yoko,” which stars Kikuchi Rinko (“Tokyo Vice,” “Babel”) and marks the 20-year follow-up to their initial collaboration, “Hole in the Sky,” which won the FIPRESCI prize in Rotterdam in 2001; “Ripples,” a dark comedy from director Ogigami Naoko about a repressed matriarch and a series of circumstances that take her to the brink; and “Tea Friends,” from director Sotoyama Bunji, that is an original story about a specialist prostitution ring that caters to the elderly.
