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76 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.
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 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
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
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, 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
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 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
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
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
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
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 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
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 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)
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
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: 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 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)
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)
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
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
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
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)
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)
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)
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
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
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 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 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)
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
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 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)
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
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
The Goldscene Desk
Anika Rao