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43 stories on film across film, TV, music, fashion, food, and diaspora culture.
Browse Goldscene coverage tagged film. For how we source and write stories, see our editorial standards.
Chiikawa the Movie: The Secret of the Mermaid Island opened at No. 1 in Japan with about 1.51 million admissions and ¥2.24 billion in three days, after a ¥990 million opening day.
Image: © Nagano / 2026 Chiikawa Movie Production Committee
Na Hong-jin's Hope added 767,365 weekend admissions to reach 3.42 million total and held Korea's No. 1 for a second weekend, while advance bookings already tilt toward Spider-Man and Neon still holds September 9.
Image: Korea.net (CC BY-SA 4.0)
KPop Demon Hunters sits at 648.7 million Netflix views, more than twice The Super Mario Bros. Movie, and still ranked fourth in the first half of 2026 with 130.4 million views a year after release.
Image: Korea.net (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Five Asian horror films that build a Halloween runway without a drama dump: Ringu for cursed-media dread, The Wailing for folk fog, Train to Busan for kinetic zombie cinema (plus its August 4K theatrical return), Exhuma for occult blockbuster scale, and Impetigore for Indonesian folklore prestige.
Image: Svetlov Artem (CC BY 3.0)
Five Indian films that train the eye for Ramayana's Diwali 2026 bet: Baahubali 2 for two-part epic scale, RRR for Western crossover heat, KGF Chapter 2 for Yash's mass grammar, Dangal for Nitesh Tiwari's emotional blockbuster, and Ponniyin Selvan I for literary epic craft.
Image: Sriram Narasimhan (CC BY-SA 3.0)
Maggie Kang spent two decades in Hollywood story rooms before selling KPop Demon Hunters to Sony in a week. The Korean Canadian director then became the first filmmaker of South Korean descent to win the Oscar for Best Animated Feature.
Image: Omar David Sandoval Sida (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Sony Pictures will distribute Nitesh Tiwari's two-part Ramayana in every territory outside India, while Dharma Productions handles the domestic release, and the public trailer waited so the global campaign could move as one.
Image: Prime Focus Studios / Ramayana
Yash rose from Kannada television and Sandalwood romances to pan-India stardom as Rocky in the KGF films, then used Monster Mind Creations to co-produce Toxic and Ramayana, where he plays Ravana opposite Ranbir Kapoor.
Image: Anish1121 (CC BY-SA 4.0)
AFFD’s 25th edition runs July 23–26 at Angelika Film Center Dallas, opening with Yeon Sang-ho’s Colony and closing with a Train to Busan anniversary night. Texas readers get a full Asian cinema weekend without flying to NYAFF.
Image: Asian Film Festival of Dallas
San Diego’s Thursday Gundam stream named Mobile Suit Gundam RG XARX-ZERO, a 2027 TV anime from Kenji Kamiyama set in a new After Apocalypse timeline that already shares continuity with Gundam Rogue Orbit.
Image: SUNRISE / SOLA ANIMATION / Bandai Namco Filmworks
Na Hong-jin’s Hope lands in Ballroom 20 at 4:30 p.m. PT with Jung Ho-yeon introducing and exclusive footage ahead of Neon’s September 9 North American release. Same Thursday stage as Ramayana, different soft-power bet.
Image: Neon / Plus M Entertainment
Vijay’s 69th and final film hits theaters worldwide on July 23 after CBFC delays and a spring leak, with the actor already months into office as Tamil Nadu chief minister. The release joins a rare MGR-era parallel more than a normal opening weekend.
Image: KiranSaphoto (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Costume designer Ellen Mirojnick called Misha Japanwala’s bronze collar for Lupita Nyong’o’s Helen of Troy a “broken statue.” The Karachi-raised sculptor got the job the old-fashioned Hollywood way: a friend who already trusted her work brought her in.
Image: Misha Japanwala / Universal Pictures
Ranbir Kapoor, Yash, Nitesh Tiwari, and Namit Malhotra bring Ramayana to Ballroom 20 for exclusive footage and a Comic-Con first look. Indian epic cinema is using the room the way tentpoles always have.
Image: Ramayana / PVR Pictures
Five anime that make this week’s San Diego panels land: a modern Gundam on-ramp, My Hero Academia after its true finale, Castle in the Sky for Ghibli’s 40th, Sailor Moon for the Sunday room, and one comfort rewatch for Otakon recovery.
Image: 金琛玮 (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Preview Night is underway in San Diego, but the anime story lands Thursday: Bandai unveils a new Gundam series in Room 6BCF, then carries the same news on a worldwide YouTube program. Badgeless fans still get a real open.
Image: SUNRISE / SOLA ANIMATION / Bandai Namco Filmworks
Jun Ji-hyun's summer is a stacked career, not a single award night: My Sassy Girl in 4K, Colony from Cannes Midnight to 5.91 million admissions to NYAFF's first Korean actress Extraordinary Star Asia honor, Well Go USA theaters on August 28, and Human X Gumiho already booked for Amazon Prime in 2027.
Image: Republic of Korea (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Na Hong-jin built a four-feature Cannes ladder from The Chaser through The Wailing, then returned after a decade with Hope, his first Competition title and one of Korea's most expensive films. The profile maps the thriller-horror lane diaspora viewers actually mean when they say his name.
Image: Gabriel Hutchinson (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Na Hong-jin's Hope crossed about 2.13 million Korean admissions in five days, the fastest pace of 2026, while Naver scores split between love and hostility. The same Monday, NYAFF screens it as centrepiece with Na collecting the Daniel A. Craft Award, months before Neon's September 9 North American release.
Image: Gabriel Hutchinson (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Netflix will stream Wild Sing worldwide on July 31, taking Gang Dong-won, Um Tae-goo, Park Ji-hyun, and Oh Jung-se's early-2000s co-ed idol comedy from Korean theaters to a 32-language subtitle rollout.
Image: TV10 (CC BY 3.0)
Paramount and HYBE America locked the title K-Pop: The Debut and a February 26, 2027 theatrical date for Benson Lee's live-action K-pop survival drama, starring Ji-young Yoo and Eric Nam.
Image: Variety
A running ledger of confirmed Aishwarya Rai Bachchan brand and hospitality deals in 2026, plus how to read carpet photos and fan rumors before they hit press release.
Image: JW Marriott / Photo via Campaign India
Simu Liu rose from Canadian sitcom cult favorite to Marvel's first Asian superhero lead, then used that platform to argue Hollywood is pulling back on Asian-led projects even as diaspora audiences keep showing up.
Image: Gage Skidmore / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0)
Diaspora rom-coms stopped asking permission to be funny. Newer series and films trade trauma monologues for specificity, family chaos, and aesthetics that borrow from K-drama gloss without copying the plot homework.
Image: Forbes / Hulu
Dev Patel rose from British teen drama Skins to Oscar-winning Slumdog Millionaire, then rebuilt his career as a director and producer betting on South Asian stories with A24-scale ambition, including the 2026 India-set feature Peasant.
Image: Ariela Ortiz Barrantes / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Priyanka Chopra Jonas moved from Miss World and Bollywood blockbusters to Quantico, Hollywood film roles, and a luxury watch portfolio that includes Rolex, treating her South Asian origin as global brand infrastructure rather than a single-market constraint.
Image: Margaret Gardiner / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 3.0)
Husbands lands on Netflix June 19 with Jin Seon-kyu and Gong Myung as divorced and current husbands forced into one rescue mission when a criminal group kidnaps their wife and daughter, backed by a stacked Korean ensemble cast.
Image: Netflix / Photo via STARNEWS
Drishyam 3 begins streaming on Amazon Prime Video June 18, 2026, less than a month after its May 21 theatrical release, with Malayalam audio plus Tamil, Telugu, and Kannada dubs after crossing Rs 330 crore worldwide.
Image: Raphael Pinter / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0)
Hulu is streaming all six episodes of The Season starting June 17, a Hong Kong-set drama about elite sailing friends whose summer trip turns into betrayal, produced by SK Global and shot largely on location.
Image: Benh LIEU SONG / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)
A practical June-through-August guide to Asian and diaspora culture on the calendar: NYAFF and AAIFF dates, West Coast night markets, BTS Festa streaming, and the Goldscene watchlist picks worth queueing now.
Image: Wikimedia Commons
The first wave of NYAFF 2026 titles runs July 10–26, with Yeon Sang-ho's Colony opening, Joan Chen receiving a lifetime honor, and 50+ filmmakers set to attend across five New York venues.
Image: New York Asian Film Festival / Wikimedia Commons
Netflix Tudum announces Best of the Best, a dance comedy starring Maitreyi Ramakrishnan and Priyanka Kedia as childhood friends competing on a college Bollywood fusion team, streaming Sept. 18.
Image: Flexfxproductions / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)
Japanese directors led a strong Asian showing at the 79th Cannes Film Festival, even as producers face distribution pressure and flat admissions in key markets.
Image: BDS2006 (talk) / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)
A24 has wrapped The Peasant, Dev Patel's India-shot action-thriller and the studio's first production in the country, with a cast spanning Europe and South Asia.
Image: Diliff / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)
Alexander Zverev's 2026 French Open breakthrough fits Shah Rukh Khan's Om Shanti Om monologue about desire, destiny, and the universe conspiring in your favor.
Image: sk4t / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0)
Backlash around Janhvi Kapoor's role in Peddi opens a wider debate about female characters in Telugu, Tamil, and Malayalam commercial cinema.
Image: Raphael Pinter / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0)
Chinese actress Xin Zhilei was cast to play Anna May Wong in a new bilingual feature, Sunset Boulevard: The Anna May Wong Story, announced by Fundamental Films ahead of the Cannes Film Market.
Image: Chas Smith / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 3.0)
Hallmark faced pushback on Hallmark's All's Fair in Love and Mahjong, with critics pointing to an awkward gap between the game's Asian roots and the leads on screen.
Image: The Housley Life / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 3.0)
The Legend of Maula Jatt opened in Chinese cinemas in May 2026, earning early box-office traction as Pakistan and China mark 75 years of diplomatic ties.
Image: Joe Mabel / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)
In a CBC interview, Simu Liu argues that Hollywood has pulled back on Asian representation, treating Asian-led projects as too risky even as Asian and diaspora audiences keep showing up for film and TV.
Image: Gage Skidmore / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0)
JW Marriott named Aishwarya Rai Bachchan a global brand ambassador for its Stay in the Moment platform, a move that treats South Asian glamour as hospitality infrastructure, not a regional add-on.
Image: JW Marriott / Photo via The Hollywood Reporter India
The 2026 Da Nang Asian Film Festival will launch under the theme “Bridging Asia to the World,” widening international opportunities for Vietnamese cinema and newer filmmaking voices.
Image: BDS2006 (talk) / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)
Romantic comedies from East and Southeast Asia are leaning into high-gloss production, familiar tropes, and diaspora-friendly emotional clarity.
Image: MTV International (CC BY 3.0)
Mina Park
Anika Rao
The Goldscene Desk