Mina ParkFive Philippine films you can play in the US and Canada
Filipiñana is the Philippines' Oscar submission. Five other films were already on Netflix, Prime Video, the Criterion Channel, and Tubi in the US and Canada on October 30.
Image: Janus Films
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Film
106 stories on film across film, TV, music, fashion, food, and diaspora culture.
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The Goldscene DeskRinko Kikuchi and Jeon Do-yeon are playing women in midlife
In Ha-chan, Shake Your Booty!, Rinko Kikuchi plays a widow who wants her dance instructor. In Possible Love, Jeon Do-yeon plays a wife deciding what a richer woman gets to film.
Image: Sony Pictures Classics
Hoyeon spent six months getting strong enough for Hope
Hoyeon's first film is Na Hong-jin's Hope. She added muscle, learned to drift, and took a rookie officer who stays in a town young people leave.
Image: Gabriel Hutchinson (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Dan Lin is out at Netflix, and the Asian titles on the calendar are staying
Peter Rice started this week as Netflix's content chief after Bela Bajaria and film chair Dan Lin left. Possible Love and the KPop Demon Hunters sequel are still on the calendar.
Image: Netflix
Jeon Do-yeon is in the Gotham lead ten for Possible Love
The Gotham Awards nominated Jeon Do-yeon for outstanding lead performance in Possible Love. The film is also up for international feature and original screenplay. Netflix has it Nov. 6.
Image: Netflix
Paradise Lost had its biggest day. The half million is still far off.
Saturday was Paradise Lost's best day, about 28,000 people, for a total near 82,500. Yeon Sang-ho would be glad if 500,000 came. The film already earned its budget back overseas.
Image: CJ ENM
Jeon Do-yeon: the Cannes prize, and the quiet that followed
Jeon Do-yeon won best actress at Cannes for Secret Sunshine, then watched the offers thin. Possible Love is in a few theaters through October 25, and on Netflix November 6.
Image: Park Dae-jin / Republic of Korea (CC BY-SA 4.0)
The Philippines' Oscar film is sold out in Houston tonight. Saturday still has seats.
Filipiñana, the film the Philippines sent to the Oscars, sold out Friday at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. Saturday at 2 p.m. still has seats, at $9.
Image: Potocol, Ossian International, Epicmedia, Easy Riders, Idle Eye
Jeon Do-yeon is in a few theaters today, back with Lee Chang-dong
Jeon Do-yeon plays Mi-ok in Possible Love, Lee Chang-dong's first feature since Burning. A few theaters have it today, including New York and Los Angeles. Netflix has it Nov. 6.
Image: Netflix
Anirudh and Kavya Maran's reception card is for November 21 in Chennai.
Anirudh Ravichander and Kavya Maran have a reception card for November 21 at the ITC Grand Chola in Chennai. Talk of a private ceremony in Greece still has no printed invitation.
Image: Dani Charles (CC BY-SA 3.0)
The Weeknd set a Tony Leung photo to Faye Wong's Chungking Express song.
The Weeknd is in Hong Kong a week early for four Kai Tak nights. He had dinner with Tony Leung and Carina Lau, then set a photo of the two of them to Faye Wong's Cantonese cover from Chungking Express.
Image: lajabordidar (CC BY-SA 2.0)
Kim Hye-ja is back in theaters Wednesday, nine years after her last film.
The star of Bong Joon-ho's Mother opens in Still Shining on October 21, her first film since 2017. She had meant to stop acting.
Image: PlusM Entertainment
Paradise Lost leads Korean presales. US theaters get it November 6.
Yeon Sang-ho's Paradise Lost held 19.4% of Korean advance tickets on Saturday, first among Korean films. Well Go USA has a limited US date on November 6.
Image: CJ ENM
Busan closed with Majid Majidi's Midday Meal as best film.
Majid Majidi's Midday Meal won best film at Busan, and Ibuku took the jury prize. BIFF is calling the win an Oscar path. The Academy's key dates still say September 30, and the submissions site still says October 22.
Image: Mani Majidi
Sony's English Ramayana trailer is out. November 5 is the date on the campaign.
Sony posted a new English trailer for Ramayana: Rise of a Legend and put November 5 on the campaign. Fandango's Ramayana page still says November 8.
Image: Sony Pictures
Ghost in the Cell and Para Perasuk lead Indonesia's Citra nominations
Joko Anwar's Ghost in the Cell leads Indonesia's Citra nominations with 12 categories. Wregas Bhanuteja's Para Perasuk and Ryan Adriandhy's Na Willa follow with nine. The ceremony is November 20 in Jakarta.
Image: CaseyJNewell (CC BY-SA 4.0)
YG wouldn't license BLACKPINK's music for 'Always Lalisa'
Sue Kim says YG would not license BLACKPINK's music or footage for Always Lalisa. The documentary opens in IMAX and theaters October 12, then on YouTube Premium later this year.
Image: Outhere505 (CC BY-SA 4.0)
'Ibuku,' starring Christine Hakim, premieres in Busan competition
Eddie Cahyono's Ibuku, starring Christine Hakim, has premiered in Busan competition. She plays a Javanese widow trying to reach a daughter on death row in Saudi Arabia. The festival runs through October 15.
Image: D.W. Fisher-Freberg (CC BY-SA 3.0)
Michelle Yeoh is back in Busan as Asian Filmmaker of the Year, fifteen years after The Lady
Michelle Yeoh accepted BIFF's Asian Filmmaker of the Year award on October 6, her first Busan carpet since The Lady in 2011. The next morning she talked about playing 70 in It's My Time, and about wanting to work with Lee Chang-dong.
Image: BIFF / Screen Daily
Choo Young-woo: the actor who kept going after 100 nos
A profile of Choo Young-woo: the JYP scout offer he declined, the long audition dry spell, the Baeksang win for The Tale of Lady Ok, Netflix’s The Trauma Code, and Ahn Pan-seok’s final drama Between Steps.
Image: ENA
Bae Hyun-sung gets cold in Yeon Sang-ho’s Paradise Lost
Bae Hyun-sung plays the son who returns wrong in Yeon Sang-ho’s Paradise Lost, out in Korea October 21 after TIFF and Busan. It is his first feature lead, and the casting started with one Hellbound episode.
Image: CJ ENM
Hsu Kuang-han’s year after Nantou is the rising story
Hsu Kuang-han left Nantou substitute service in August 2025 and walked straight into Measure in Love, a Cheng Wei-hao crime series, and a Taipei Golden Disc mic. Japan just got the romance under a new title. The Marvel rumor can wait.
Image: Play大明星 (CC BY 3.0)
Anika RaoNetflix just put KPop Demon Hunters 2 on the same theatrical shelf as Narnia
At Bloomberg Screentime, Ted Sarandos said the KPop Demon Hunters sequel will get a very broad theatrical release, the same four-quadrant lane as Narnia and Charlie vs. the Chocolate Factory.
Image: Shelby Lee (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Well Go USA brings China’s $318M kitchen-war hit Once Upon a Time in the Middle East to theaters Oct. 9
Well Go USA opens Wen Muye’s Once Upon a Time in the Middle East in U.S. and Canadian theaters October 9. Shen Teng leads the China summer hit about a Chinese chef whose restaurant becomes a wartime refuge.
Image: Well Go USA Entertainment
Past Lives is still the quiet diaspora romance worth clearing an evening for
Celine Song’s Oscar-nominated debut still follows Nora and Hae Sung across 24 years between Seoul and New York. In late 2026 it is often a rent-or-buy in the U.S. and on Crave in Canada. Here is why it remains the right quiet night.
Image: Martin Kraft (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Shreya Patel just became MISAFF’s 2026 Rising Star as Mississauga’s South Asian film week opens
Sarnia-raised, Toronto-based actor-director Shreya Patel is MISAFF’s 2026 Rising Star. She hosts a symposium chat with Transplant lead Hamza Haq on October 1 as the Mississauga festival runs through October 4.
Image: Shreya Patel
Theja Rio: the Nagaland director who just walked Angh into the Oscar race
Thejavituo Rio, the Kohima-born director of Angh, won TIFF’s Platform Prize with a Konyak-language debut shot on 16mm in Nagaland, earning a festival route into the 2027 Oscar international race beside India’s official entry.
Image: Gabriel Hutchinson (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Lee Chang-dong's Possible Love opens in Korea after Venice
Lee Chang-dong's first film in eight years opened in Korean theaters today after the Venice Silver Lion. A few North American screens follow Oct. 23. Netflix has the rest of the world Nov. 6.
Image: Joo Jae-bum / Netflix
Why Asia may be the next media and entertainment epicenter
Asia already takes the largest regional slice of global box office and posted double-digit music growth in 2025. Hollywood still mints event movies. It is also selling fewer seats, thinner slates, and a merger stuck in court.
Image: I Dare U JK (CC BY 3.0)
HYBE Cine Fest goes global, with BTS live from South America
BTS is in Argentina for the first time, and HYBE is selling that night to multiplexes worldwide. Oct. 24-31, more than 60 territories, tickets Sept. 30.
Image: HYBE / Trafalgar Releasing
Outback: Australian-set Korean thriller goes into production
Netflix greenlit Outback, an Australia-set Korean mystery from the webtoon G'Day, with Jung Ho-yeon, Ryu Jun-yeol, Hong Kyung, Won Ji-an, and Justin H. Min. No release date yet.
Image: Netflix
Anushka Sen got the first Indian lead in a Korean film
Anushka Sen is the first Indian actor to headline a South Korean film. Jeju Olle wraps a three-year India-Korea bridge into a Jeju romance musical with a November multi-market release.
Image: News1 / 오미란
Bangladesh's first Venice feature is a Dhaka beauty-parlour body horror. TIFF is next.
Rubaiyat Hossain's The Difficult Bride became the first Bangladeshi feature in Venice Orizzonti, then heads to TIFF with ticketed screenings mid-September. The Soft Power story is bridal beauty turned into feminist body horror.
Image: Films Boutique
5 Vietnamese films to watch after Madame in Saigon
Loved Madame in Saigon? Five Vietnamese films you can actually find next: Song Lang for Saigon stage world, The Third Wife for period power, Furie for action heat, The Scent of Green Papaya for the Oscar gateway, and Inside the Yellow Cocoon Shell for Cannes slow cinema.
Image: Studio68 / Breaking Glass Pictures
Anna Sawai: from Wellington and Yokohama to an Emmy that cracked the lead category
Anna Sawai, born in Wellington and raised in Yokohama, left the J-pop group Faky for acting, then won Emmy, Golden Globe, and SAG awards for Toda Mariko in Shōgun as the first Japanese actress to take a Primetime Emmy.
Image: Harper's Bazaar
BIPOC streaming leads crashed from 51% to 36%. Asian Hollywood felt it first.
UCLA's 2026 Hollywood Diversity Report found BIPOC leads in streaming films fell from 51% in 2024 to 36% in 2025. Asian actors remained underrepresented as leads even as Asian-led titles kept drawing audiences.
Image: AramilFeraxa (CC BY 4.0)
Madame in Saigon opens wide Friday. Go for Hồng Ánh and the 1963 case underneath it.
Madame in Saigon opens Friday, August 28 in more than 200 North American theaters, after a Los Angeles premiere Wednesday with Thanh Hằng. The two-hour period drama draws on a real 1963 Saigon acid attack, and Hồng Ánh is the performance worth the ticket.
Image: Reel Citrus / Live On
Thanh Hằng produced the movie that wrecks her own face
Vietnam's defining supermodel developed the script for eight months, produced it, and played the dancer who gets destroyed. Madame in Saigon opens in North America this week after a domestic run that lost money.
Image: Live On
Ruby Ruiz and Pokwang share Cinemalaya's Best Actress prize
Cinemalaya split Best Actress between Ruby Ruiz in Status: Rejected and Pokwang in 2 Valid IDs. In Manila, both wins had decades of work behind them.
Image: Kristofer Purnell / Philstar.com
Why Filipina character actresses keep becoming the best part of the movie
Ruby Ruiz and Pokwang tied for Cinemalaya Best Actress after decades of work Manila already knew. Hollywood still treats women like Dolly de Leon, Chai Fonacier, and Jaclyn Jose as overnight finds.
Image: Cinemalaya / Black Cap Pictures
Hong Kong’s ASEAN Film Festival Is Betting on a Bigger Definition of Asian Cinema
The fourth ASEAN Film Festival opens August 20 in Hong Kong with more than 30 films from all 11 ASEAN countries, Timor-Leste included. The bet is the city as a circulation desk for Southeast Asian titles that still struggle to leave home.
Image: ASEAN Film Festival / Hong Kong-ASEAN Foundation
Li Sitong is why Dear You works
Li Sitong was a Jieyang finance student when a Douyin search made her the lead of Dear You. The film is already a roughly $291 million hit. September 4 is whether North America learns her name.
Image: Well Go USA / Damai Entertainment
Why Southeast Asian film hasn't had its K-drama moment yet
Thai, Indonesian, and Vietnamese films are smashing local box offices, and Netflix is greenlighting Southeast Asia faster than ever. The K-drama moment still has not arrived because the region is many languages, theatrical-first, and horror-shaped, not one serialized export machine.
Image: GDH 559
Ahn Hyo-seop: the former JYP trainee who found his way to Jinu
Ahn Hyo-seop left Toronto for a JYP trainee dorm, traded the idol track for acting, and became a global K-drama lead. Jinu’s English voice and a Khalid single brought music back on terms he could control.
Image: SWinxy (CC BY 4.0)
Pengfei’s Rust-Belt Jetpack Fable Gets a U.S. Run
Take Off opens in U.S. theaters September 17, giving Pengfei’s warm, working-class flight story a wider run after Tokyo, New York, and a $12 million Chinese release.
Image: Orchid Tree Media
China’s $2 Million Teochew Sleeper Hit Gets a Second Shot at North America
Dear You turned a $2.1 million Teochew-language family drama into a roughly $291 million global hit. Its new U.S. trailer sets up a Sept. 4 release after an earlier North American date vanished and Well Go USA took the handoff.
Image: Well Go USA / Damai Entertainment
KATSEYE’s new concert film wants to replace pop perfection with something messier
KATSEYE: WILD HEARTS hits theaters August 12, two days before the WILD EP and weeks before the Wildworld Tour, with Sophia and Manon on mental-health hiatus. The film is selling raw authenticity from a group built by HYBE and Geffen’s Dream Academy machine.
Image: Trafalgar Releasing / HYBE x Geffen
Michelle Yeoh: from Ipoh and Hong Kong stunts to an Oscar that remade the ceiling
Michelle Yeoh Choo Kheng, born in Ipoh, built Hong Kong action fame, crossed into Bond and Crouching Tiger, then won Best Actress for Everything Everywhere All at Once as the first Asian woman to take the Oscar.
Image: Elena Ternovaja (CC BY-SA 3.0)
Gold House spent years opening other people’s movies. Now it wants the greenlight.
Bing Chen’s Gold House is launching Gold House Studios, moving from Gold Open campaigns and consulting into producing film, TV, and digital itself, with Karen Fukuhara’s Akiya leading the first slate.
Image: Auokay (CC0)
Destin Daniel Cretton’s Spider-Man just became India’s biggest Hollywood film ever
Spider-Man: Brand New Day, directed by Destin Daniel Cretton, is India’s highest-grossing Hollywood film after about $52.8M in 11 days, passing Avatar: The Way of Water in a market local cinema still dominates.
Image: Marvel Studios / Columbia Pictures
Asian film festivals are quietly becoming North America’s missing development system
AAIFF closes tomorrow. CAAMFest and VC Film Fest wrapped in May, and Reel Asian’s 30th is November. These fests fund, mentor, and premiere work that Hollywood still treats as a side bet.
Image: Hisako Films / Significant Productions
Netflix’s The Ribbon Hero revives the manga princess who refused one gender role
The Ribbon Hero lands on Netflix August 8, adapting Osamu Tezuka’s Princess Knight for a global streamer audience. The useful question is not the runtime. It is why this particular heroine is being revived now, and what a 1950s gender experiment becomes in a calamity story.
Image: Twin Engine / Netflix
Tokyo’s TIFFCOM is rebuilding itself as a global market for anime, IP and AI
TIFFCOM is expanding its Tokyo IP Market and adding anime and AI sessions for 2026. The story is not the conference calendar. Japan wants to export adaptable story worlds, and Tokyo is trying to become where those rights get packaged for global buyers.
Image: Syced (CC0)
Why Asian American actresses are finally being allowed to be unlikeable
For years the goal was positive representation. The real arrival is messier: Asian actresses playing selfish, glamorous, manipulative, coldly ambitious women who are not there to make anyone proud. Complexity, not virtue, is the win.
Image: Martin Kraft (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Ji-young Yoo is the face of the next studio K-pop bet
Colorado-born Ji-young Yoo went from Tribeca and Expats to Zoey's speaking voice in Netflix's most-watched film. Now she leads Paramount and HYBE's K-Pop: The Debut, due February 26, 2027.
Image: Gage Skidmore (CC BY-SA 3.0)
5 Asian American directors who scaled from indie to tentpole
Five Asian American directors who proved indie specificity can scale: Destin Daniel Cretton on Spider-Man opening day, Justin Lin, Chloé Zhao, Lee Isaac Chung, and Lulu Wang.
Image: Sony Pictures / Marvel Studios
5 Hong Kong films to watch after Daniel Wu's return
Five Hong Kong films for the queue after Daniel Wu's Cold War 1994 return and NYAFF Best from the East: the prequel itself, Twilight of the Warriors: Walled In, Night King, We're Nothing at All, and Overheard.
Image: Well Go USA / Media Asia
Madame in Saigon gets a North America pipe. The bet is diaspora turnout.
Reel Citrus and Live On are bringing Mesdames Thanh Sắc to North American theaters as Madame in Saigon on Aug. 28, with Thanh Hằng at an LA premiere and an Orange County junket aimed at Vietnamese diaspora audiences.
Image: Reel Citrus / Live On
Daniel Wu: the Berkeley-to-Hong Kong bridge actor Hollywood still undervalues
Daniel Wu built a leading-man career in Hong Kong after leaving Berkeley and Oregon architecture school, then crossed into Badlands, American Born Chinese, and a 2026 return via Cold War 1994 and NYAFF's Best from the East.
Image: Post 78 (CC BY 3.0)
Destin Daniel Cretton: from Maui group homes to Spider-Man opening night
Destin Daniel Cretton built Short Term 12 and Just Mercy from Maui and group-home experience, then directed Shang-Chi and Wonder Man before opening Spider-Man: Brand New Day on July 31, 2026.
Image: Gage Skidmore (CC BY-SA 2.0)
Wong Fu is making Sung for $500K. The bet is a pipeline, not a studio favor.
Philip Wang is putting Wong Fu Productions back into features with Sung, a $500,000 romantic dramedy with open casting after years of studio bounce, and a pitch to build an Asian American indie pipeline.
Image: Wong Fu Productions
AAIFF49 opens tomorrow. Indonesia, then Korean America, then Indian basketball.
The 49th Asian American International Film Festival runs July 30–August 9 in NYC and online, opening with Indonesian Levitating, centering Isle Child, and closing with Hoop Like This.
Image: Asian CineVision / AAIFF49
Chiikawa's first movie just posted a Conan-scale opening. Cute still prints tickets.
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
Hope just cleared 3.4 million tickets. The easy weekends are almost over.
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)
Netflix's most-watched film ever is still a year-old K-pop cartoon
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)
5 Asian horror movies for late summer
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)
5 Indian films to watch before Ramayana
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: the Korean Canadian director who made Netflix's biggest film
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 takes Ramayana worldwide. India stays with Dharma.
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: the Kannada mass hero who co-produces Ravana for the world
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)
Ranbir’s Tiranga pin and Yash’s Trishul do the soft-power work at Comic-Con
At San Diego Comic-Con, Ranbir Kapoor pinned a Tiranga brooch to his navy bandhgala and Yash wore a gold Trishul on black. The Ramayana carpet said India in accessories, not logos.
Image: Times of India / San Diego Comic-Con press
Scene Report: Asian Film Festival of Dallas turns 25 at Angelika
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
Scene Report: Gundam opens After Apocalypse with a 2027 clock
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
Scene Report: Hope takes Ballroom 20 after Ramayana clears the room
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
Jana Nayagan opens as a sitting chief minister’s last film, not a farewell tour stop
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)
Helen of Troy wears a Karachi sculptor’s broken-statue bronze for The Odyssey
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
Scene Report: Ramayana takes Ballroom 20 for a Diwali-scale Comic-Con launch
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
5 anime to watch before Comic-Con week actually starts talking
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)
Scene Report: Japan still uses Comic-Con as its North America launchpad
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 is running every version of herself at once
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: the Cannes genre auteur who made Hope Harbor argue
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)
Hope is selling tickets because Korea cannot agree on it
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)
Wild Sing hits Netflix July 31: Gang Dong-won's Y2K K-pop comedy goes global
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 sets K-Pop: The Debut for February 26, 2027
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
Aishwarya Rai endorsements in 2026: what's confirmed vs rumor
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: from Kim's Convenience to Shang-Chi and the representation fight
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)
Why second-generation rom-coms look different on screen now
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: from Skins to Slumdog to A24-backed global directing
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: Bollywood star to global brand operator
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)
Netflix drops Husbands, a comedy action film pairing ex and current spouses
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 arrives on Prime Video after a Rs 330 crore theatrical run
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)
The Season drops on Hulu with a Hong Kong sailing-set drama
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)
Calendar Notesfilm5 min
Summer 2026 culture calendar: festivals, film, and what to queue
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
NYAFF's 25th edition opens with Colony and honors Joan Chen
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's Best of the Best turns college Bollywood dance into a comedy runway
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)
Asian cinema had a strong Cannes year, but the business story is harder
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's first India production wraps on Dev Patel's medieval revenge epic
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)
Zverev's first French Open title sent the diaspora back to Om Shanti Om
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)
Peddi reignites the South Indian cinema conversation about how women are written
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)
Anna May Wong biopic taps Xin Zhilei for the lead
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's mahjong movie draws criticism over casting
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)
Pakistan's highest-grossing film is finding an audience in Chinese cinemas
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)
Simu Liu on Hollywood and Asian representation
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)
Aishwarya Rai Bachchan Is Still One of Luxury's Most Global Faces
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
Da Nang Asian Film Festival 2026 expands its international focus
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)
Asian rom-coms enter their glossy era
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)