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Patrick Brzeski

Asia Bureau Chief

Patrick Brzeski is The Hollywood Reporter's Asia Bureau Chief. Based in Tokyo, Brzeski works closely with THR's team of Asia correspondents to cover some of the world's fastest growing and most dynamic entertainment markets. He is a Southern California Journalism Award winner and National Arts and Entertainment Journalism Awards nominee for feature writing. His work has appeared in the Wall Street Journal, South China Morning Post, Financial Times and elsewhere.

More from Patrick Brzeski

Korean Cheerleading Drama ‘Victory’ to Get North American Release

Korean cheerleading movie Victory is headed to U.S. cinemas. Ahead of its upcoming South Korean release, the film was pre-sold by Seoul-based sales outfit Finecut to 815 Pictures for a North American theatrical run.  Described as “an uplifting and heartwarming drama centered around a high-school dance duo,” the film follows the cheerleaders as they inspire […]

‘Twilight of the Warriors: Walled In’ Director Soi Cheang on Reviving Hong Kong Action Cinema, Plans for Prequel and Sequel

Since its local release in May, Soi Cheang’s action sensation Twilight of the Warriors: Walled In has become Hong Kong’s second-biggest domestic hit ever, earning $13.7 million in a city of just 7.2 million residents. But not only has the film reinvigorated Hong Kong’s fabled martial arts genre; it also has revived — if only fleetingly […]

Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp. Considering Sale of Australian Pay TV Company Foxtel

News Corp. is weighing a sale of Australian pay TV and streaming operator Foxtel, the Murdoch family-controlled company said Thursday in its full-year earnings release. News Corp chief executive, Robert Thomson, said that potential buyers had emerged for Foxtel during a review of the company’s assets.  “That review has coincided recently with third-party interest in a potential […]

Netflix Partners With Japan’s Toho to Reboot Sci-Fi Classic ‘The Human Vapor’ 

Japanese sci-fi classic The Human Vapor — directed by Godzilla creator Ishirō Honda and released in 1960 — is set to receive a contemporary reimagining as a live-action series courtesy of Netflix and Toho Studios. The remake project marks the first time the global streamer and Japanese studio giant are collaborating.  The series is being co-helmed […]

Warner Bros. Discovery Inks First-Look Deal with Former Exec Jack Nguyen, Sets Korean Remake of ‘The Intern’

Warner Bros. Discovery has signed a first-look film deal in Asia with company veteran Jack Nguyen. The agreement, revealed Monday, was set up through Nguyen’s startup production banner Joat Films and will focus on Asia-focussed remakes of Warner Bros’ English-language library titles. The two partners said their first project under the pact will be a […]

Busan International Film Festival Adds Documentary Audience Award 

Documentary filmmakers will compete for a new honor at this fall’s 29th Busan International Film Festival. The influential South Korean festival said Monday that its upcoming edition will inaugurate an audience award for feature documentaries. The fest described the decision as an effort to cultivate deeper interest among the local audience for the documentary form. […]

Chinese Director Guan Hu on Releasing ‘Black Dog’ and ‘A Man and a Woman’ in the Same Year: “Both Films Are Simply About Life”

Chinese filmmaker Guan Hu has been on the move relentlessly in 2024. In May, his tenth feature as a director, Black Dog, won the Cannes Film Festival’s prestigious Un Certain Regard competition, giving him the highest international honor of his career to date. A few weeks later he premiered another finished film, the pandemic-set character […]

‘Sunny’ Creator Talks “Bonkers” Upcoming Episodes and How the Sci-Fi Drama Changed Her Views on AI

The timing of Apple TV+’s recently launched sci-fi drama series Sunny was doubly fortuitous.  The show stars Rashida Jones as Suzie, an American woman living in Kyoto, Japan, whose life is upended when her husband and son disappear in a mysterious plane crash. As a “consolation” she’s given Sunny, one of a new class of […]

Japanese Director Kei Chika-ura Discusses the Personal Origins of His Breakthrough Feature ‘Great Absence’

One of the finest Japanese independent films of the past few years is finally landing in U.S. cinemas this weekend. Second-time director Kei Chika-ura’s Great Absence, which debuted to strong reviews at the 2023 Toronto Film Festival and later won the best actor prize in San Sebastian for its star, Japanese screen icon Tatsuya Fuji (In the […]

‘Shogun’ Makes History With 25 Emmy Nominations

As we enter the new post-Succession era, a fearsome potential ruler has emerged to seize power at the 2024 Emmys. FX Productions’ lavish Japanese period series Shogun — a show, incidentally, all about the complicated succession process after the death of an esteemed leader — dominated the drama category announcements Wednesday morning with 25 nominations. […]

Japan’s Wowow Launches Production Services Unit (Exclusive)

Leading Japanese pay-TV broadcasting company Wowow is planting a flag in the production services business, hoping to both encourage and profit from a surge of industry interest in Japan-set live-action content. The company revealed Wednesday the launch of Wowow Bridge, a new subsidiary that will provide a full suite of services to international film and […]

CJ ENM Names Jang Kyung ik CEO of Powerhouse K-Drama Subsidiary Studio Dragon

Korean entertainment powerhouse CJ ENM has named veteran executive Jang Kyung ik CEO of its K-drama subsidiary Studio Dragon. The appointment was revealed on Monday in Seoul.  An established figure in the Korean entertainment landscape, Jang comes to CJ ENM from content investor-distributor Next Entertainment World (NEW), where he served as head of the company’s […]