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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...

“The Cell” director Tarsem Singh is making his global comeback with his first Indian film, “Dear Jassi,” based on a true story with plot details being kept under wraps.

Singh made his name with visually dazzling fantasy films like “The Cell,” “Immortals” and “Mirror, Mirror” but has been mostly out of action since helming the single 10-episode season of NBC’s “Emerald City” in 2017. “Dear Jassi” will be his first feature since “Self/Less” in 2015.

“It’s my passion project,” Singh said of “Dear Jassi.” “I believe this is the right time for the world to see it. Such a strong story needs to be told.”

Singh said the synergy behind the film’s production made it possible.

“I had a great set of producers partnering with me on this film,” he said.

Postproduction is underway in Montreal after the film was shot in Punjab, India. The crew consists of a...

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.

By Ky Lee Man

Gaming is considered to be the next frontier in media for its interactivity, immersivity, personalization, and ability to be a social square/space without the need to be physically present. Numerically, gaming revenue is now $120 billion dollars per year compared to the $30 billion and $42.5 billion dollar music and movie industry, respectively.

With an increase interest in gaming, gaming IP should become more popular and can be used to create content through various mediums. Matthew Ball goes into depth on how gaming IP is experiencing modest, but greater success at the box office than in the past, and the soon to be content explosion of gaming IP adapted to TV and films in the next few years.

China has seen an increase in revenue going towards the movie, and gaming industry. China’s box office has been the second largest since 2012, and has seen an increase YoY,...

Leading Hollywood visualization studio The Third Floor (Ttf) has opened its first Beijing office. It seeks to create a hub in China on par with its other main outposts in Los Angeles and London that will cater primarily to local projects.

Ttf specializes in the pre-production process of pre-visualization, or pre-viz, which uses digital tools to plan complex film and TV projects shot by shot. The firm is known for its work on titles like HBO’s “Game of Thrones,” Marvel’s “Avengers: Endgame” and Alfonso Cuaron’s “Gravity.”

Its new Beijing outpost will be led by Maggie Lu, who comes off years in the theme park side of the entertainment business with stints at Dalian Wanda and Dalian Haichang. She will command a staff of around 20, many of whom have been in training for the past year both in China and Los Angeles.

“The coronavirus pandemic will influence the speed of our team-building,...

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,...

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 ...

An Oriental Odyssey is one of the newest Chinese dramas to air. Though it initially started out strong and continues to grow in popularity, it is not enough to place among other established Chinese dramas. Making its debut last Thursday on October 18, 2018, An Oriental Odyssey — also known as The Magical Nights of Glorious Tang — is a mystery period drama set to run 50 episodes. It stars Wu Qian, Zhang Yujian, and Zhang Yecheng (Legend of the Ancient Sword). An Oriental Odyssey is about […]

The post An Oriental Odyssey starts out strong but does not place among established Chinese Dramas appeared first on Monsters and Critics.

Felix Chong’s film surpassed ‘Hello, Mrs Money’ and ‘Shadow’.

The first week of October (Oct 1-7) is traditionally one of the most lucrative Chinese box office windows, but disappointment looms over this year’s National Day holiday.

It collected $277.62m (RMB1.91b) over seven days, down 27.5% from the same period in 2017 (although the holiday lasted eight days last year). This is the second time the National Day holiday recorded negative growth over the last 10 years.

Last year, the first seven days of the holiday period raked in over $43.6m (RMB300m) daily, but only the first two days of...

This upcoming Chinese film Legend of the Ancient Sword looks like a blast! This is a fantasy adventure action film that comes from director Renny Harlin. He has previously brought us films such as Die Hard 2, Cliffhanger, Cutthroat Island, The Long Kiss Goodnight, Deep Blue Sea, Exorcist: The Beginning, and 12 Rounds. This is definitely different from anything he's done before and the trailer that you can watch below is so damn cool! 

The film is based on the video game Gu Jian Qi Tan 2, the story centers around a young student of a lost martial arts form called "Yan" and he embarks on a journey to find a great master. As you'll see, the trailer teases some great visually stunning fight sequences. Here's the synopsis:

Due to a fateful occurrence, Yue Wuyi leaves home. He meets revered master Xie Yi, who imparts to him the magical arts of Yan,...

Nothing like some campy Chinese fantasy action to start the day, right? The first teaser trailer has debuted online for a new Chinese fantasy-adventure-action film directed by action veteran Renny Harlin titled Legend of the Ancient Sword. Based on the video game "Gu Jian Qi Tan 2", the film centers around a young student of a lost martial arts form (called "Yan") who heads out from his hometown to find a great master. The main cast includes Leehom Wang, Victoria Song, Godfrey Gao, Karena Ng, Julian Cheung, Archie Kao, Ada Liu, and Li Yan. This looks pretty much exactly like it sounds: packed with CGI action, vibrant sets, eccentric characters, and a flaming "ancient" sword. Have fun. Here's the first teaser trailer for Renny Harlin's Legend of the Ancient Sword, direct from YouTube: Due to a fateful occurrence, Yue Wuyi leaves home. ...