News

Hong Kong-based Celestial Tiger Entertainment (Cte) has renewed its exclusive, multi-year output deals with Hong Kong studios Emperor Motion Pictures (Emp), Mega-Vision Project Workshop (Mvpw) and Universe Entertainment.

Under the terms of the deals, Cte has secured first and exclusive pay-tv rights, as well as pay-per-view (PPV), video-on-demand (VOD) and over-the-top (Ott) rights, to each studio’s upcoming slate of movies for Cte’s Celestial Movies channel in Malaysia, Brunei and Indonesia.

Upcoming Emp productions include Heaven In The Dark, a drama reuniting Jacky Cheung and Karena Lam who both starred in July Rhapsody in 2002; Fruit Chan’s suspense thriller Kill Time, starring Ethan Ruan and Angelababy; and The Mobfathers, starring Anthony Wong and Chapman To.

Mvpw’s slate includes the third installment of blockbuster franchise From Vegas To Macau, which will star Andy Lau in addition to Chow Yun Fat and Nick Cheung. Mvpw is also in pre-production on The Invincible 12, which marks the 100th film from...

It’s not every actor that can claim to have seared themselves a place in the cinematic pantheon with just one stroll through a fountain, but Anita Ekberg certainly fits that bill. The Swedish star, who most famously graced the screen in Federico Fellini’s La Dolce Vita, has died at the age of 83.Born in Malmo, Sweden in 1931, Ekberg came from a large family, with seven siblings, and enjoyed close relationships with her parents. At the age of 20, she won the Miss Sweden title, parlaying that into a chance at the Miss Universe crown. She didn’t win, but Universal Pictures immediately snapped her up into a contract, kicking off a film career with a variety of small and uncredited parts, but moving her up the roster with a role as Helene Kuragina in 1956’s adaptation of War And Peace.From there, she starred in films such as Pickup Alley,...

Chinese online video platform Youku Tudou is launching a film division, Heyi Film, to produce a slate of theatrical features.

Youku founder, chairman and CEO Victor Koo will be chairman of Heyi Film, while Youku senior vice president Allen Zhu, will be CEO of the new subsidiary. Lee Yong-kwan, director of the Busan International Film Festival, will serve on the company’s board as an independent director.

The company’s debut slate includes Bad Sister, directed by Kim Tae-gyun and starring Ivy Chen; The Master, produced by Beijing Century Partner Culture & Media; and Paris Holiday, produced by Hong Kong’s Universe Entertainment and starring Louis Koo. It also plans to produce feature film versions of five web original shows, including Surprise, Yes Boss! and Miss Puff.

“Youku Tudou has helped transform how media and entertainment related content is distributed and marketed since our inception. Going forward, we will continue to change how content is created and monetised...

Universe Films Distribution is to unveil four new projects at Filmart, including an as-yet-untitled action film from Benny Chan and Adrian Kwan’s drama Little Big Master, which Chan will produce.

Based on a true story, Little Big Master explores the problem of schools closing down in Hong Kong, due to the ageing population, and follows an enthusiastic headmaster who runs a kindergarten regardless of low pay. The $4.5m film is scheduled to start shooting in May.

Chan’s new project as director is described as a “Midnight Run-style action comedy” set in Hong Kong and mainland China. He expects to start shooting the $12m project after production has wrapped on Kwan’s film. Delivery is scheduled for the second half of 2015. Chan previously produced Kwan’s 2002 romantic comedy If You Care.

Universe is also selling Herman Yau’s $9m action title Time To Explode (working title) and James Yuen’s $5m romantic comedy Paris Holiday, starring...

Long Shadows: The Late Work of Satyajit Ray opens this evening and runs through April 26 at the Film Society of Lincoln Center: "Of special interest is Home and the World [1984; image above], his final, wonderful adaptation of a work by his mentor, Rabindranath Tagore (whose 150th anniversary we celebrate this year), as well as his final, luminous work, The Stranger, an extraordinary summing up of so much of Ray's worldview graced with a sensational lead performance by Utpal Dutt." Plus, "we asked some friends of the Film Society: what film would you recommend seeing, and why?" Meantime, Paul Brunick posts a roundup on Distant Thunder (1973) at Alt Screen. Update, 4/20: Salman Rushdie for the Fslc on The Golden Fortress (1974): "The film is a true delight and the moment when the Golden Fortress is discovered — when it is revealed not to be a child's fantasy but a real place, shimmering on...