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Director Renny Harlin recently shot an entire trilogy of Strangers movies simultaneously, with The Strangers: Chapter 1 set to reach theatres on May 17th and The Strangers: Chapter 2 and The Strangers: Chapter 3 possibly following by the end of the year… but those aren’t the only Renny Harlin horror movies we’ll be seeing this year. In fact, Vertical will be giving a Harlin-helmed horror movie called Refuge a VOD release this Friday, April 19th – and the trailer for the film can be seen in the embed above!

Scripted by Ben Sztajnkrycer, Refuge has the following synopsis: After a mysterious attack from a malevolent demon during his tour of duty in Afghanistan, Sergeant Rick Pedroni returns home a changed man, and more dangerous than ever.

The film stars Sophie Simnett (Daybreak), Raza Jaffrey (The Rhythm Section), Aston McAuley (Rocketman), Johanna Harlin (Class Reunion 3), Shervin Alenabi (Gangs of London), Atanas Srebrev...

Finnish director Renny Harlin’s box office film Skiptrace was made in China. Harlin is not the only one attracted to the film market in Asia’s giant nation. With 1.4 billion inhabitants, China is the world’s largest country in terms of population. People in Asia have been becoming middle-class – and increasingly cinema-going.

Several films in Asia

Skiptrace is not the only movie Renny Harlin has made in Asia. Actually, the Finnish director has had several different projects in Asia. The most of the productions have been in China.

Here is a list of all the films directed by Renny Harlin in Asia:

Skiptrace (2016) – Renny Harlin directed this Chinese action comedy starring Jackie Chan and Johnny Knoxville. Bodies at Rest (2019) – Renny Harlin directed this Chinese crime film set in a Chinese forensic laboratory. Legend of the Ancient Sword (2018) – Renny Harlin co-directed this Chinese fantasy film. The Adventurers (2017) – Renny Harlin co-directed...

Paul Lindsay was a former FBI agent and Vietnam veteran who sought to utilize his investigative and military expertise in creating a series of espionage novels, published under the pseudonym Noah Boyd. Unfortunately, that effort only got as far as a second volume before Lindsay died of leukemia in 2011. The first one has been in feature development since that year, initially as a vehicle for Gerard Butler. It’s Aaron Eckhart instead who assumes the mantle of Jack Reacher-like hero Steve Vail in “The Bricklayer,” a screen translation that appears to take considerable liberties with the source material, likely to take advantage of locations and resources afforded by its multinational funding.

The result, largely set in Greece, is an entertaining thriller that constitutes one of globe-trotting director Renny Harlin’s better recent joints, alongside Chinese productions “Bodies at Rest” and “Skiptrace.” Handled in his best slick, colorful, fast-paced fashion, it...

Exclusive: Madelaine Petsch (Riverdale), Froy Gutierrez (Cruel Summer) and Gabriel Basso (Hillbilly Elegy) have been tapped to star in a Lionsgate remake of the 2008 horror The Strangers, which has entered production in Slovakia. Renny Harlin (Cliffhanger) is directing the film, which will be the first in a trilogy, having locked in a deal to helm the subsequent pair.

The original film The Strangers was a home invasion pic, which Bryan Bertino wrote and directed in his feature debut, with Liv Tyler and Scott Speedman starring. It registered as a sleeper hit upon its May 2008 release via Universal Pictures and came to be appreciated in the years following as a cult classic, with the sequel The Strangers: Prey at Night being released in March of 2018.

The new Strangers film will follow Petsch’s character as she drives cross-country with her longtime boyfriend (Gutierrez) to begin a new life in the Pacific Northwest.

The scandal over sexual misconduct allegations against multi-hyphenate superstar Kris Wu has grown beyond the scope of mere celebrity gossip to become a significant incident with public-interest implications, Chinese state media declared Tuesday.

The rebukes from the country’s top official news outlets, whose stances align with that of the ruling Communist Party, likely indicate trouble ahead for Wu, who has strongly denied the allegations leveled against him. In China, politicians and entertainment industry associations have championed the idea that artists deemed to be “immoral” should be banned for life.

Earlier this month, 19-year-old student Du Meizhu began writing social media posts alleging that Wu, 30, had date-raped her when she was 17, and lured numerous other young girls to his bed through unscrupulous means. She spoke in greater detail about her claims in a Sunday interview, sparking a frenzy of attention and commentary.

China’s strictly controlled state broadcaster CCTV issued...

Portal will feature eight ‘screens’.

Colombian theatrical distributor Cineplex has set the first two premieres for the launch of its virtual cinema portal CineplayMAX, offering online screenings of features across Latin America and, in some cases, the world.

The portal will have eight ‘screens,’ with titles available at launch to include two premieres and five features that have recently appeared in cinemas.

Films that have previously been in cinemas will screen on the portal in the usual transactional VoD (TVoD) window 45-60 days after theatrical release. Titles will be geo-blocked for markets where Cineplay does not have the rights or has made a prior deal.

As most cinemas remain closed across most of Latin America due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Colombian indie distributor Cineplex, run by Elba McAllister, has set a July 1 launch for the region’s first virtual theatrical exhibition initiative, CineplayMAX.

Inspired by similar schemes in the U.S., led by Kino Lorber, and Spain’s A Contracorriente Films, CineplayMAX has entered pacts with a host of independent exhibitors in the region to play their first-run and repertory titles online.

A host of independent exhibitors have already joined the initiative including Colombia’s Cineland, Vo Cinemas, Cinelandia, Multiplex Villacentro, Colombo Americano, Maloka and Cinematheque of the Caribbean while a handful more from Peru, Ecuador and Argentina have also signed on.

CineplayMAX will also premiere documentary “Jinetes del Paraiso,” directed by the anthropologist and director Talia Osorio and narrated by Grammy winner El Cholo Valderrama, which will take viewers on an exploration of the grand plains of Colombia.

For the action movies fans, Renny Harlin has earned the status of a living legend with the films he made during the 90s: “Die Hard 2” (1990), “Cliffhanger” (1993), “The Long Kiss Goodnight” (1996) and “Deep Blue Sea” (1999). For the last five years, the Finnish-American filmmaker has been mostly working in mainland China and Hong Kong where he has helmed three films so far. “Skiptrace” (2016) was a reasonably fun action-crime-comedy starring Jackie Chan and “Jackass'” Johnny Knoxville, while “Legend of the Ancient Sword” was an expensive flop. His latest movie, “Bodies at Rest”, is an addition to the collection of Christmas-set action flicks, which premiered at the last year’s edition of Hong Kong International Film Festival, before a short festival tour that included Far East Film Festival in Udine, Italy and Edinburgh International Film Festival. The theatrical release focused on the Far East markets ensued. The film is now available on DVD,...

Chinese animation “Nezha” continued its run as China’s biggest hit of the summer, maintaining its top spot at the box office even 25 days into its run with a weekend gross of $41.2 million. The tally made it this weekend’s fourth highest grossing film worldwide.

Meanwhile, two other new animated titles performed unremarkably. The flop of Tencent spinoff company China Literature Media’s new animation “The King’s Avatar: For the Glory” on its debut made it clear that just trotting out any old locally-made cartoon based on a well-known IP isn’t enough to spark “Nezha”-style box office domination. It grossed just $9.3 million, according to data from the Artisan Gateway consultancy, despite being an adaptation of a very popular online novel about an professional e-sports player that has top ratings for fan engagement. This made it fifth at the China box office and fourteenth globally.

Rovio Entertainment’s...

China's animated blockbuster Ne Zha continues to steamroll the competition — after 22 days on release.

During a fourth consecutive weekend of dominance at China's theatrical box office, the film earned $41.2 million, according to Artisan Gateway. With a running cumulative gross of $587.1 million, Ne Zha is not only China's biggest animated blockbuster ever — it has earned more than double the total of the market's second-biggest animated hit, Disney's Zootopia, which topped out at $236 million in 2016.

Online ticketing service Maoyan currently projects Ne Zha to finish its run at $663 million ...

The soundtrack for the introductory showreel at Wednesday evening’s Shanghai press event announcing Wanda Pictures’ annual line-up was aspirational and strangely defiant.

It began with Nina Simone crooning, “It’s a new dawn, it’s a new day, it’s a new life for me, and I’m feeling good,” and then continued with “Survivor” by Destiny’s Child. “You thought that I’d be weak without you, but I’m stronger… I’m a survivor, I’m not going to give up, I’m not going to stop, I’m going to work harder.”

The corporate parent, Dalian Wanda, whose entertainment empire straddled theme parks and cinema, film production and distribution, fell out of government favor and was put on a watch list in 2017. It also struggled with high levels of debt that forced a dramatic retrenchment. The company’s balance sheet has shrunk by more than $25 billion...

Chinese sci-fi hit “The Wandering Earth,” China’s Cannes competition film “Wild Goose Lake,” and Korea’s Palme d’Or-winning “Parasite” are among the nominees for the Aacta Award for best Asian film.

The nominees were announced on the margins of the Shanghai International Film Festival. The winners will be announced Dec. 4 at the Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts Awards ceremony in Sydney.

Other Chinese films in the running include “Pegasus”; Chinese-Hong Kong comedy-drama “The New King of Comedy”; animated fantasy film “White Snake”; Renny Harlin-directed “Bodies at Rest”; “Hidden Man”; Zhang Yimou’s “Shadow”; Hong Kong Film Award-winning action movie “Project Gutenberg”; dark comedy “A Cool Fish”; and mystery drama “Headlines.” Also included is the yet-to-be-released Australia-China co-production “The Whistleblower.”

From elsewhere in Asia, competing tiles include Indian action film “Uri: The Surgical Strike”; India’s foreign-language Oscar contender, “Village Rockstars”; Indian action comedy “The Man...

Bong Joon-ho’s ‘Parasite’ is among the films in competition for the Aacta Best Asian Film Award.

The Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts (Aacta) has unveiled some of the films that will compete for a nomination for the 2019 Best Asian Film award.

The selected films were announced at a gala dinner in Shanghai, where Aacta is also hosting an China | Australia film forum and panel discussion as part of its ongoing Asia International Engagement Program.

The Best Asian Film award is designed to honour the finest films of the past year from 19 Asian regions, reflecting the popularity and importance of Asian films in Australia.

Among the Chinese-language films in competition is Australian-Chinese co-production The Whistleblower, which shot in Victoria late last year.

It will go up against the second highest-grossing film of all time in China, Frant Gwo sci-fi The Wandering Earth, as well as three of the...

This year’s line-up for the Far East Film Festival in Udine includes numerous surprise hits, as well as a diverse selection that mixes the best of Asian commercial cinema with accessible Asian art house.

Among the surprise hits are “A Cool Fish” and “Dying to Survive” from mainland China, and “Project Gutenberg,” the Hong Kong counterfeiting thriller which topped the Chinese box office. From Taiwan, “More Than Blue” was another title that took China’s box office crown.

The mainland Chinese selection also includes Han Han’s “Pegasus”, Zhang Wei’s transgender drama “The Rib,” and coming of age drama “The Crossing,” which premiered in Toronto.

Labelled as a Hong Kong production, Renny Harlin’s “Bodies at Rest,” and Yuen Woo-ping’s “Master Z: The Ip Man Legacy” also find festival berths.

The festival’s nine titles from Japan include comedy “Fly Me To Saitama,” Sabu’s absurdist “Jam...

Renny Harlin's love affair with Asia continued on Monday as Bodies at Rest, his high-octane actioner starring Nick Cheung and Richie Jen, had its world premiere as the opening film of the Hong Kong International Film Festival. 

Best known for Hollywood action classics such as Die Hard 2, Cliffhanger and The Long Kiss Goodnight, Bodies at Rest is the Finnish director's ode to Hong Kong cinema. The Hollywood Reporter's review noted that the pic has "the kind of polished, Ott energy Hong Kong was once the standard bearer for in unchallenging, purely entertaining crime thrillers....

Renny Harlin's love affair with Asia continued on Monday as Bodies at Rest, his high-octane actioner starring Nick Cheung and Richie Jen, had its world premiere as the opening film of the Hong Kong International Film Festival. 

Best known for Hollywood action classics such as Die Hard 2, Cliffhanger and The Long Kiss Goodnight, Bodies at Rest is the Finnish director's ode to Hong Kong cinema. The Hollywood Reporter's review noted that the pic has "the kind of polished, Ott energy Hong Kong was once the standard bearer for in unchallenging, purely entertaining crime thrillers....

Stars from across the Asian film industry firmament descended on the 43rd Hong Kong International Film Festival's red carpet Monday, bringing some glitz and glamour to an otherwise hazy and suitably Blade Runner-esque evening in southern China's greatest skyscraper city.

The opening ceremony began with an interpretative dance performance dedicated to the Hong Kong festival's 2019 theme, "Colors in the Dark." Wilfred Wong, chairman of the Hong Kong International Film Festival Society (Hkiff), then took the stage to welcome the international industry dignitaries and assembled global media, noting that the festival would screen 230 films ...

Hong Kong’s leading studio Media Asia returned to FilMart on Monday with a slate of productions in the pipeline, ranging from pics with international names to daring projects helmed by homegrown talent addressing local social issues.

Headlining the line-up is “Bodies at Rest,” pictured above, the latest Chinese-language action thriller directed by Renny Harlin. Starring the award-winning Nick Cheung, Taiwanese singer-actor Richie Jen and mainland actress Yang Zi, the latest offering from the “Die Hard 2” helmer opened the 43rd Hong Kong Intl. Film Festival on Monday night.

Media Asia also recruited Japanese director Yojiro Kakita to work with a stellar Chinese cast for the first time on family drama “Silence of Smoke.” The film’s lead actors Han Geng, Zhang Guoli and actress Xu Qing said at the Media Asia event that they were thrilled to work with the famed helmer whose “Departures” (2008) won an Oscar for best foreign-language film.

After a successful career in Hollywood making action films including “Die Hard 2” and “Cliffhanger,” director Renny Harlin has called Beijing his home for the past few years. His third Chinese-language movie, “Bodies at Rest,” is set as the opener of the Hong Kong Intl. Film Festival on Monday. Harlin says he has learned plenty.

What are audiences going to get from this film?

I love the single-location thriller genre. This one is set in a morgue on Christmas Eve, in which two lab technicians endure a night of hell with criminals who want them to hand over a bullet found in a body. The criminals killed a member of a prominent crime syndicate and need to remove the evidence. But, we learn that the chief pathologist is the last person on earth who is going to collaborate with criminals.

Obviously, “The Shining” is the reference point for films of this genre.

Albert Lee, incoming executive director of the Hong Kong International Film Festival, has been involved in his city's fabled movie business for most of his life. He began his career in distribution at legendary studio Golden Harvest in the late 1970s, later taking up the position of CEO at film powerhouse Emperor Motion Pictures.

Unlike the struggling local film industry, the Hkiff, now in its 43rd edition, has maintained strong local support over the years, regularly attracting roughly 76,000 festgoers annually. The event will open with Renny Harlin's Hong Kong-set thriller Bodies at Rest and close with Franç...

Albert Lee, incoming executive director of the Hong Kong International Film Festival, has been involved in his city's fabled movie business for most of his life. He began his career in distribution at legendary studio Golden Harvest in the late 1970s, later taking up the position of CEO at film powerhouse Emperor Motion Pictures.

Unlike the struggling local film industry, the Hkiff, now in its 43rd edition, has maintained strong local support over the years, regularly attracting roughly 76,000 festgoers annually. The event will open with Renny Harlin's Hong Kong-set thriller Bodies at Rest and close with Franç...

Francois Ozon’s By The Grace Of God will close the festival, which runs March 18-April 1.

Renny Harlin’s Chinese-language crime thriller Bodies At Rest will open this year’s Hong Kong International Film Festival (Hkiff), while Francois Ozon’s By The Grace Of God will close the 15-day event (March 18-April 1).

Starring Nick Cheung and Richie Jen, Bodies At Restis co-produced by Hong Kong’s Media Asia and Beijing-based Wanda Pictures and is scheduled for release in April. Ozon’s By The Grace Of Godrecently won the Grand Jury Prize at the Berlin Film Festival.

Hkiff also announced that...

“Bodies at Rest,” a Chinese-language crime thriller directed by Beijing-resident Renny Harlin (“Die Hard 2”) has been set as the opening title of the Hong Kong International Film Festival. The festival will close with Francois Ozon’s “By the Grace of God,” which recently claimed the grand prize in Berlin.

Between the two events, the festival will unspool 230 titles from 63 countries and regions, of which 64 are world, international and Asian premieres. The festival, under the new leadership of Albert Lee, will run March 18-April 1.

Other highlights include gala screenings of: “Synonyms,” the winner of the Berlinale’s Golden Bear for best film, by Israeli director Nadav Lapid; Peter Jackson’s restored footage Wwi documentary “They Shall Not Grow Old”; and “First Night Nerves,” by Hong Kong director Stanley Kwan.

Chinese director Lou Ye’s “The Shadow Play” will receive a special screening after Lou, Jiang Wen, Tony Leung Ka-fai, actress...

The world premiere of Hong Kong thriller Bodies at Rest, starring Nick Cheung and Richie Jen, and directed by Finnish filmmaker Renny Harlin, has been announced as the opening film of the 43rd Hong Kong International Film Festival. Francois Ozon’s Berlin Grand Jury Prize winner By the Grace of God will close the festival, which runs from 18 March until 1 April 2019. Other Berlin favourites, including Nadav Lapid’s Golden Bear winner Synonyms, and Best Director winner Angela Schanelec’s I Was at Home, But… will also feature, although Wang Xiaoshuai’s So Long, My Son, which bagged both the Best Actor and Best Actress trophies, is notably absent. Best known for Hollywood action thrillers Die Hard 2, Cliffhanger and The Long Kiss Goodnight, Renny...

[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...

Bodies at Rest, the Chinese-language crime thriller by transplanted Hollywood director Renny Harlin, will open the 43rd Hong Kong International Film Festival on March 18. The fest will close with French auteur François Ozon’s real-life drama By the Grace of God.

Bodies at Rest, from Hong Kong’s Media Asia, is Harlin’s second feature film fully in Mandarin, following Alibaba’s Legend of the Ancient Sword in 2018. The thriller stars award-winning Hong Kong actor Nick Cheung and Taiwanese actor Richie Jen. Harlin relocated to China in the mid-2010s.

Ozon’s By the Grace of God, a film about a Catholic Church sexual ...

Bodies at Rest, the Chinese-language crime thriller by transplanted Hollywood director Renny Harlin, will open the 43rd Hong Kong International Film Festival on March 18. The fest will close with French auteur François Ozon’s real-life drama By the Grace of God.

Bodies at Rest, from Hong Kong’s Media Asia, is Harlin’s second feature film fully in Mandarin, following Alibaba’s Legend of the Ancient Sword in 2018. The thriller stars award-winning Hong Kong actor Nick Cheung and Taiwanese actor Richie Jen. Harlin relocated to China in the mid-2010s.

Ozon’s By the Grace of God, a film about a Catholic Church sexual ...

Australian-Chinese co-production, ‘Guardians of the Tomb’.

As part of the organisation’s Asia International Engagement Program, Aacta will host a China Australian Film Forum in Sydney in December with aims to encourage further collaboration between filmmakers of the two countries.

The forum is timely, as this year has seen production on two of the largest China-Australia co-pros, The Whistleblower and Legend of Sun and Moon, which follow on the footsteps of other co-productions At Last, The Longest Shot, Guardians of the Tomb, The Dragon Pearl, 33 Postcards and Children of the Silk Road.

A panel moderated by Shanghai International Film Festival’s Max Yang, will discuss the Chinese market and trends, new opportunities and challenges, and the status of a number of current co-pros and collaborations.

Speakers include:

China-based director and member of Aacta’s 2018 Best Asian Film Grand Jury Renny Harlin; Chinese screenwriter and Aacta Best Asian Film Grand Juror...

Takita is known for directing the Oscar-winning ‘Departures’.

Japanese filmmaker Yojiro Takita, best known as director of Oscar-winning drama Departures, is making his Chinese-language debut in Media Asia’s Silence Of Smoke.

Han Geng (So Young), Zhang Guoli (Back To 1942) and Summer Xu (Looper) head the cast of the film about a young cakemaker who takes over the family business but finds he can’t replicate his father’s success. When his daughter is diagnosed with leukemia, and his father dies after coming out of retirement to help him, the cakemaker starts to understand his father and appreciate everything he has done for him.

Director teams with producer Daljit DJ Parmar (Kung Fu Yoga) to launch Beijing and Hong Kong-based production and finance company.

Director Renny Harlin and producer Daljit DJ Parmar (Kung Fu Yoga) have launched a Beijing and Hong Kong-based production and finance company, Extraordinary Entertainment.

The new outfit will focus on developing international co-productions, as well as local-language Chinese films, focusing on features in the $10m-$50m budget range and scripted TV series. Parmar will serve as CEO with Harlin as chief creative officer.

The first original feature in development is sci-fi epic Solara, which Harlin is aiming to direct from...

Director Renny Harlin, who has made three movies in China and taken up residence in Beijing, is setting up a new China-based production and finance company, Extraordinary Entertainment, in partnership with producer Daljit DJ Parmar (“Kung Fu Yoga”).

Extraordinary Entertainment will have bases in Beijing and Hong Kong, and focus on developing international co-productions, as well as local-language Chinese content. Its pipeline is intended to be filled with action, sci-fi and comedy-adventure movies budgeted in the range of $10 million to $50 million, and New Age, premium and scripted series for TV and online. Parmar is CEO, while Harlin is the company’s chief creative officer.

The company has financial backing from Chinese strategic investors, mostly institutions and high-net-worth individuals. Talent agency UTA will represent the new company globally, including Harlin and Parmar.

The first announced feature, “Solara,” will see Harlin direct and produce with Parmar. “Solara” is a Mandarin-language sci-fi epic...