A total of 50 billion yuan ($7.9 billion) has been invested in building the studio complex in the eastern port city of Qingdao, according to the project’s initiator, Chinese conglomerate Dalian Wanda, which is owned by one of China’s richest men Wang Jianlin.

But the opening lacked the high-wattage star power that turned out for the project’s inauguration in 2013, when Hollywood A-listers Leonardo DiCaprio, John Travolta and Nicole Kidman showed up for a lavish event.

The waning celebrity interest comes as debt-laden Wanda has been forced to carry out a fire sale of its real estate holdings following an overseas spending spree over the last several years.

The size of 500 football fields, the 376-hectare “Qingdao Movie Metropolis” features 30 studios with “the highest international standards”, according to Wanda.

It has already hosted some high-profile productions, including “The Great Wall” starring Matt Damon, and “Pacific Rim: Uprising”.

The company plans to build ten more studios.

The vast complex includes a school, a hospital, luxury hotels and a yacht club inspired by one in Monaco.

The mini-city also features a giant shopping mall with restaurants, an ice skating rink, an amusement park and the biggest movie theatre in Asia.

“This is the largest investment the global film and television industry has ever seen,” the company said.

Wanda, whose interests range from real estate to entertainment, snatched up Legendary Entertainment — maker of “Jurassic World” and Christopher Nolan’s “Batman” trilogy — for $3.5 billion in 2016, as well as US-based cinema chain AMC Theatres.

In a bid to ease its debt problems, Wanda last year sold dozens of hotels and other projects to Sunac and real estate firm R&F Properties for around $10 billion.

Thirteen years after its creation, the wildly popular video-sharing platform is rolling out its first major original content series, “Cobra Kai” — a revival of the 1980s saga with a twist.

With the first 10-episode series going live online on May 2, Google-owned YouTube is also hoping to draw new customers to its $10-a-month streaming service, YouTube Red, which was launched in 2015.

YouTube Red is now available in five countries — the US, Australia, New Zealand, Mexico and South Korea.” — but YouTube says it will reach dozens more by year’s end.

The portal — which now has 1.5 billion users — is hoping its forays into original content will help change the company’s economic model, which until now has been largely based on ads and homegrown viral video stars.

To do that, and also counter the rise of Netflix and Amazon, the company have looked to a known quantity.

“The Karate Kid,” released in 1984, led to three sequels, and even a reboot in 2010 starring Will Smith’s son Jaden. Overall, the films have taken in more than $500 million at the box office worldwide.

The star of the first film, Ralph Macchio, and the creative team behind such unhinged, raunchy comedies as the “Harold and Kumar” films and “Blockers,” are on board for “Cobra Kai.”

The twist?

The series — still set in the Los Angeles suburbs — is a comedy, and it’s told not from the perspective of Daniel LaRusso (Macchio), the bullied teen hero who learns karate from a martial arts master, but that of his nemesis Johnny Lawrence (William Zabka).

“Cobra Kai” creators Josh Heald, Jonathan Hurwitz and Hayden Schlossberg helped convince a hesitant Macchio, now 56, to get on board.

“They were so convincing, passionate, completely well versed into the narrative of where they wanted to go, respectful of the nostalgia, the legacy of what the film is,” Macchio said at a roundtable organized during the recent Tribeca Film Festival.

“It’s their ‘Star Wars’,” he added, referring to the series creators’ passion for the source material. “They know much more about the movie than I do, which is kind of freaky.”

Nostalgia card

“Cobra Kai” subverts the usual hero-villain set-up of many martial arts film by exploring the complexity of Johnny, who was somewhat misunderstood, and thus demonized.

Johnny, now in his 50s, has led a life full of ups and downs — mostly downs. Viewers can imagine that Daniel’s triumphant kick in the original film’s ultimate bout was the beginning of his woes.

Johnny is offered a chance to rebuild his life — and upset that of his old rival, now a successful car dealer.

Karate still takes center stage, along with a more general look at martial arts training and teenage relationships — all hallmarks of the original films. But the show has an off-kilter humor that stems from Heald, Hurwitz and Schlossberg.

With a cast of mainly young actors, YouTube hopes “Cobra Kai” can earn a following with a generation whose parents remember the first films, but often don’t understand what makes their own kids tick.

“There was something especially about bullying that looked very 2018 to us,” said Heald.

“We had to show restraint. We had to pull ourselves back and resist the will to just swim in a ‘Karate Kid’ fan bath.”

YouTube has already produced some series for YouTube Red, including a fresh take on the popular “Step Up” street dance films. The first episode of “Step Up: High Water,” put online in late January, has so far been seen 12 million times.

But those shows were squarely aimed at the under-25 crowd. With “Cobra Kai,” YouTube is hoping to also play the nostalgia card, and win over a much bigger audience.

Viewers can watch the TV premieres of top grossing box-office movies in 2017 including “Wonder Woman”, “Get Out”, “Kong: Skull Island”, “Despicable Me 3”, “The Mummy”, and the film adaptation of the popular TV series, “Baywatch”.

Sci-fi fans can enjoy the entire “Star Wars” movie franchise from “Episode I The Phantom Menace” to Episode VI – Return of the Jedi”, while Trekkies can catch “Star Trek Beyond”.

Whether you are a Marvel or DC comic fan, HBO has you covered with your favourite superhero movies like “Avengers: Age of Ultron”, “Ant-Man”, “Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice” and “Suicide Squad”.

More blockbuster hits on HBO and HBO GO via AIS Play and AIS Playbox during this period include “Transformers: The Last Knight”, “The Fate of the Furious”, “XXX: Return of Xander Cage” and “John Wick: Chapter 2”. Fans of animation movies will enjoy “The Lego Batman Move” and “The Secret Life of Pets”.

Brad Pitt’s production house Plan B and Annapurna Pictures have acquired the rights to make the film, The New York Times confirmed Thursday. The story was first reported by specialized Hollywood news outlet Deadline.

The film will chronicle the work of Times reporters Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey investigating Weinstein’s misconduct — stories that recently earned them a Pulitzer Prize, which they shared with Ronan Farrow of The New Yorker.

Producers are looking to Oscar-winning films “Spotlight” and “All the President’s Men” as their models for the movie, which will focus not on Weinstein’s litany of alleged misdeeds but on the journalists and the obstacles they faced while reporting.

Since the Times and New Yorker articles last October, more than 100 women have publicly accused Weinstein of misconduct ranging from sexual harassment to rape, sparking the #MeToo movement that has seen a string of influential men lose their jobs and reputation.

Weinstein’s marriage has ended; he has been under police investigation in London, Los Angeles and New York; he is facing a series of civil lawsuits; and his former production company has been forced to file for bankruptcy.

When the news first broke in the Times, Weinstein himself told The Hollywood Reporter: “The story sounds so good, I want to buy the movie rights.”

Representatives of Plan B and Annapurna did not immediately respond to AFP’s requests for comment.

Among Weinstein’s accusers is Gwyneth Paltrow. At the time she says the movie mogul harassed her, she was dating Pitt, who confronted Weinstein over the incident.

The frail, 80-year-old Cosby — once beloved as “America’s Dad” — risks spending the rest of his life behind bars when he is sentenced for drugging and molesting Andrea Constand at his Philadelphia mansion in January 2004.

Cosby sat emotionless in the packed courtroom in Norristown, just outside Philadelphia, as the verdict was read out to stifled sobs in the gallery. Cosby’s attorney immediately vowed to appeal.

T=It was a devastating downfall for the once towering figure in late 20th century American popular culture, the first black actor to grace primetime US television, who hit the big time after growing up as the son of a maid.

Now, he is a convicted sex offender staring prison in the face.

Cosby’s first trial ended last June with a hung jury, hopelessly deadlocked after 52 hours of deliberations.

But on Thursday, a new sequestered panel, which deliberated for more than 14 hours over two days, found him guilty on all three counts of aggravated indecent assault.

Constand, a 45-year-old Canadian former basketball player turned massage therapist, sat with supporters in court to hear the verdict.

Each count carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison. Judge Steven O’Neill is expected to hand down a sentence in the next 60 to 90 days.

The pioneering African American actor and entertainer, adored by millions for his defining role on “The Cosby Show,” sat in silence as the jury announced the verdict that will change his life forever.

But after the panel was led out, the Emmy winner — dogged by allegations of similar assaults against 60 women — erupted in an expletive-laden tirade when prosecutors argued he was a flight risk.

Profanity from Cosby

“He doesn’t have a plane, you asshole!” yelled Cosby, referring to himself in the third person, to shocked gasps after the district attorney claimed he could flee anywhere in the world by private jet.

The verdict was a vindication for the prosecution, with the district attorney who presided over the conviction saying the real Cosby had been unmasked after he “spent decades preying on women.”

“He used his wealth, he used his network of supporters to help him conceal his crimes. Now we know today who was behind that act, who the real Bill Cosby was,” said the chief prosecutor, Kevin Steele, hoping the verdict would embolden other victims of sex crimes to come forward.

Other women who claimed to have been assaulted by the disgraced megastar were elated. One was so emotional, she broke down in sobs and had to be escorted out of the courtroom.

“We are so happy that finally we can say, women are believed, and not only on #MeToo, but in a court of law,” said Gloria Allred, the high-profile lawyer who represents 33 Cosby accusers.

“I feel like my faith in humanity is restored,” said Lili Bernard, the woman who had to be guided out of the courtroom.

The verdict ended a winning streak for Los Angeles lawyer Tom Mesereau, who leapt to fame for getting Michael Jackson acquitted of child molestation in 2005, but who ultimately failed to deliver for Cosby with a defense that hinged on his portrayal of Constand as a money-grabbing con artist.

“We are very, very disappointed,” he said, vowing to appeal. “We don’t think Mr. Cosby is guilty of anything and the fight is not over.”

A case with no physical evidence, the trial essentially boiled down to he-said, she-said, and what the jury thought of Constand’s credibility.

Experts had suggested that the #MeToo movement, which since last year has disgraced a litany of powerful men such as Harvey Weinstein and Kevin Spacey, could make jurors more inclined to believe female victims.

‘Could not fight him off’

Constand said she went to Cosby’s home to discuss her impending resignation as director of operations for women’s basketball at Temple University, where he was on the board of trustees.

The actor offered her three blue pills to “help take the edge off,” which she took believing they were a natural remedy. But within minutes, she lost consciousness.

When she came to, she said Cosby was penetrating her vagina with his fingers, groping her breasts and making her masturbate him.

“I was limp and I could not fight him off,” she said.

On Thursday, she beamed and hugged her attorney, but declined to speak to reporters.

When Constand first reported the assault, Montgomery County refused to press charges.

Prosecutors reopened the case in 2015, nearly a decade after she signed a $3.4 million settlement with Cosby in 2006, claiming that new evidence had come to light just as other accusers came forward.

Around 60 women, many of them onetime aspiring actresses and models, publicly branded him a calculating, serial predator who plied victims with sedatives and alcohol to bed them over four decades.

But Constand’s was the only case that happened recently enough to prosecute.

Crucial to the second trial was the judge’s decision to let five other accusers testify.

While it doesn’t get the same publicity as its fellow Japanese events in Tokyo and Osaka, the Okinawa International Movie Festival, now celebrating its tenth birthday, is an interesting cultural platform on the islands known as “the Hawaii of Japan”.

Held every April on Japan’s southernmost island, it’s organised by Yoshimoto Kogyo, a Japanese entertainment conglomerate that specialises in comedian acts and focuses on “feel-good” films and comedies as well as mainstream movies from around the world plus those produced or filmed on the island. The festival is supported by the United Nations to help spread the messages of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) that aim to improve the quality of life of everyone on Planet Earth.

And it’s not just about the movies – since 2015, the festival has also been a platform for comedians, singers, and shows from Japan and Asia.

The latest edition, which kicked on April 19 and wrapped last Sunday, saw “In Pursuit of the General”, the 3D Chinese opera film from Beijing opera win the Audience Award for foreign films, while “Reon”, a comedy about an unlucky office temp and a womanising CEO who end up swapping bodies after a traffic accident, pick up the Audience Award for Japanese films.

“The festival has gone on for 10 years, but I hope it will continue for 100 years,” said Hiroshi Osaki, chairman and chief executive of Yoshimoto Kogyo, which founded the event.

“I hope that in the next century, a new entertainment industry from Okinawa will go out into the world.”

The festival has from the very beginning presented films made in Okinawa, which are very different from the usual Japanese films, and recently Yoshimoto Kogyo expanded its presence in Okinawa by opening the Laugh & Peace Entertainment School on the island. The new facility will teach performance arts and creative arts to anyone who is interested. The school is open to international students who’d like to how to be a performer or a manga artist, for example.

Among the Also screened at the festival was Hiroshi Abe’s latest film “Nomitori Samurai”, directed by Yasuo Tsuruhashi, with the actor coming to Okinawa to walk the red carpet and present his film. Toshio Lee’s drama “When I get home, My wife always pretends to be dead” also had its world premiere and is expected to come to Thailand later this year.

Toshiyuki Teruya’s “Born Bone Boon”, which was made in Okinawa and focuses on the bone washing ceremony unique to Aguni Island, also premiered as did “Jimami-Tofu”, a Singapor ean production entirely shot in the Okinawa Islands about a Singaporean chef in Tokyo who discovers the art of traditional Okinawan food.

The Thai animation “The Legend of Muay Thai: 9 Satra” was originally scheduled for screening but its participation as well as that of its team members was cancelled shortly before the festival. Though no other Thai films were shown, Thailand’s Culture Minister and the Tourism Authority of Thailand brought along traditional Thai puppet troupe Joe Louis Theatre and Sweat 16, the Thai idol group, who are co-produced by Yoshimoto Thailand and LOVEiS.

“This is our first time performing in Japan”, said a member of Sweat 16, who arrived in Okinawa in time to walk the red carpet and perform.

“Okinawa is famous for the colour of the sea and even from the plane, I could see the emerald green of the ocean. It’s so beautiful,” commented an excited Suthasinee “Frame” Aemthong, obviously thrilled to be Okinawa.

“The difference between our show in Thailand and in Japan is communication,” added Warinda “Ant” Nernpermpisut, the group’s captain, “We needed to rehearse much more and work really hard before coming here to perform.

“Our songs are based on the original Japanese melody but the lyrics are adapted so we can sing them in Thai. Here we had to sing in Japanese. And that meant we had to learn Japanese.”

Some members of the group – Pim Khajonvekin for one – is already a Japanese speaker, so she could help other members of the group in practising Japanese for their show in Okinawa.

“I studied Japanese and I am happy that I can use my knowledge to help the group. It was very important that we sang the Japanese lyrics with the correct pronunciation. The lyrics are already difficult but the pronunciation is even more difficult,” Pim explained.

“The audience is so large here,” added Chadatan “‘Mahnmook” Dankul, referring to the performances, which took place on three stages across Naha city, last Friday in front of capacity crowds.

“We are so excited to perform on the same stage as idols from Japan and many other countries. We were a little bit worried how the show would turn out, but after we arrived here and saw the stage, the Japanese audience, and our Thai fans who flew to Okinawa to support us, we knew we had to do our best. Everything must be perfect.

We saw the shows by other groups and they were really great. They reminded us that we still need to improve and practise a lot to be at the same level as them.”

Sharing the stage was the Japanese icon group NMB48, the sister group of AKB48 and all the Thai girls were impressed with their professionalism.

“We want to perform and communicate with the audience as well as they did. Their shows made us realise that we need to work harder.”

“The audience here is so lovely and they really gave us support. Before we came here, we were not sure if we could communicate well enough with the audience, but we are very proud of the result. Our mission here is complete,” Ant added.

Chairman and CEO Jim Gianopulos opened the studio’s segment at the annual CinemaCon film industry convention in Las Vegas with the news, praising director John Krasinski, who stars in the monster invasion thriller opposite real-life wife Emily Blunt.

“If you told me five years ago that an almost silent film starring the very funny guy Jim from ‘The Office’ would have been a hit at Paramount, I would have said, ‘Well, I should go work at Paramount,'” said Gianopulos, who joined the studio a year ago.

“A Quiet Place,” which regained top spot at the domestic box office over the weekend, has amassed more than $200 million in revenue worldwide against a budget of just $17 million and is Paramount’s biggest hit since 2016’s “Star Trek Beyond.”

It has been a ray of light in a dark year or more for Paramount, which has struggled to make the box office impact of its “big six” rival studios, all of which are presenting at CinemaCon.

Since the third of the rebooted “Star Trek” movies recouped almost $350 million globally, Paramount’s high-profile flops have included “Ben-Hur,” “mother!” and Matt Damon vehicles “Suburbicon” and “Downsizing.”

Gianopulos acknowledged the studio had suffered a rough year but vowed that Paramount was “laying the foundation” to repeat its past successes.

“I’m incredibly confident that we have the right team, culture, and attitude in place to take Paramount to new heights,” he said.

“And we already started on that road to giant success with ‘A Quiet Place.'”

Gianopulos announced a string of sequels in partnership with Skydance Media, including a new “Terminator” with Linda Hamilton from the original movie back on board with Arnold Schwarzenegger, “Top Gun: Maverick” with Tom Cruise — and two new “Star Trek” films.

Tantalizingly, he offered no details and it remains unclear if these will be a continuation of the reboot franchise or if they include a previously announced “Star Trek” movie from “Pulp Fiction” director Quentin Tarantino.

Paramount initially said after “Star Trek Beyond” came out that a fourth release would bring back “Thor” star Chris Hemsworth as Captain James Kirk’s father, George.

J.J. Abrams, the creative force behind the 2009-16 reboots, wasn’t at CinemaCon but he appeared onstage at Caesar’s Palace to promote horror movie “Overlord,” the first R-rated release from his Bad Robot production company.

Abrams scotched rumors that the World War II Nazi experiments shocker would be another release in the “Cloverfield” series.

But he added that he was planning a genuine theatrical sequel to 2008 found-footage thriller “Cloverfield,” unlike the most recent film in the franchise, the critically panned Netflix February release “The Cloverfield Paradox.”

“Fire and Blood” is set several centuries before “Game of Thrones” in the same fantasy world of Westeros, the author said on his blog. Martin stressed it is not a novel, but rather a historical text setting out the history of Westeros’ Targaryen dynasty.

Since 2012, the author has published several passages from the new book. Publisher Bantam Spectra did not respond to a request for comment about the upcoming release, but the book is already available for presale online.

As for the sixth “Game of Thrones” book — “The Winds of Winter” — Martin said: “No, winter is not coming… not in 2018, at least.”

Between 1996 and 2011, Martin published five volumes of the “Game of Thrones” series — letting six years pass between the fourth and fifth.

Since the sixth season of the phenomenally popular television show based on the series, the writers have not directly relied on Martin’s books — and in any case, producer HBO took many liberties with the original story in previous seasons.

The series — whose eighth and final season is expected in 2019 — has already scooped up a record 38 Emmy Awards.

The films vary in genre and eras and include the epic “Tamnan Somdej Phra Naresuan Maharaj” (“The Legend of King Naresuan”) by MR Chatrichalerm Yukol, “Santi-Vina”, the 1954 film that was lost for 60 years then rediscovered, restored and shown at the Cannes International Film Festival in 2016 , Euthana Mukdaanit’s acclaimed teenage drama “Ruang Khong Nampu” (“The Story of Nampoo), Thailand’s all-time top-grossing horror comedy “Pee Mak Phra Khanong”, and Apichatpong Weerasethakul’s “Loong Boonmee Raluek Chat” (“Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives”), which won the Palme d’Or award at Cannes.

Members of the public were invited to submit the names of the films they would like to see again. The criteria included: the film being made during the reign of King Rama 9 (June 9, 1946 to October 15, 2016) and either the winner of an award, national or international or in the top five box office releases in each year.

Almost 30,000 film fans answered the call and submitted around 359 movies. These were then considered by a jury made up of 258 individuals from the private and public sectors as well as filmmakers and national artists, before being submitted to the national film board.

Other films that made the list include “Ruan Pae” (1961), “7 Yod Manut (1974)”, “Wai Onlawon” (1976), “Bang Rajan” (2004) and “Phleng Khong Khao” (“The Song of Rice”) (2015).

The ministry has also selected 10 of the movies to screen for free at theatres across the nation. They are running at Scala through Friday in parallel with the exhibition, with nine of the movies going on tour to major provinces from May 7 to May 23 stopping at Nakhon Ratchasima (at Major Cineplex), Chiang Mai (SFX Cinema Maya), Phuket (SFX Cinema at Central Festival Phuket) and Hua Hin (Major Cineplex).

Some of the movies will also be shown overseas.

Admission for the nation showings is free but reservations must be made through the Content Thailand Facebook page.

The South African entry, which was shortlisted for the Best Foreign Language Film for the 90th Academy Awards, has been selected by Anucha Boonyawatana, the director and writer of “Malila” (“The Farewell Flower”), which won Kim Jiseok Award at Busan International Film Festival 2017 and saw Anucha nominated for Best New Director at the 12th Asian Film Awards in 2018.

After the screening, Anucha will give a talk and facilitate a Q&A about the film as well as her writing and directing styles.

“The Wound” premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 2017 and was praised for its unsettling coming-of-age exploration of masculinity and repressed sexuality through an outsider’s experience of a South African initiation ritual.

“It’s an African gay film that focuses on rural life and culture which speaks to me. There are several components in the film that I find intriguing and some of them can be seen in ‘Malila’ as well,” says Anucha.

Entry is Bt60 per person including the programme. Tickets go on sale at 3pm and the screening starts at 5pm in the fifth floor auditorium. It has both Thai and English subtitles. The post-screening talk will be in Thai with English translation.

Find out more at http://www.Bacc.or.th.