Paramount+ today announced the acquisition of a new original film, LOVE IN TAIPEI, based on the New York Times’ best-selling novel Loveboat, Taipei by Abigail Hing Wen. In the novel, a young American woman is sent by her parents to a cultural immersion program in Taipei – inspired by an actual program attended by thousands of Chinese and Taiwanese diaspora youth – where she begins a new journey of self-discovery and romance. LOVE IN TAIPEI will premiere this summer exclusively on Paramount+ in the U.S. and Canada, and will also be coming to the service in the UK, Australia, Latin America, Brazil, Italy, France, Germany, Switzerland, Austria and South Korea. Paramount Global Content Distribution will distribute the film, with additional territories to be announced.
LOVE IN TAIPEI will star Ashley Liao (Fresh Off The Boat, The Hunger Games: The Battle of Songbirds and Snakes) as Ever Wong, whose summer takes an unexpected turn when her parents surprise her with a trip to Taipei for a cultural immersion program. Ever is surprised to discover that she hasn’t signed up for homework and history lessons, but instead for a summer-long free-for-all the locals and other students call “Loveboat.” It quickly lives up to its name when Ever finds herself trying not to fall for two attractive but wildly different boys who are vying for her attention, while at the same time finding the courage to defy her parents’ high expectations and pursue her true passion: dancing.
In addition to Ashley Liao, LOVE IN TAIPEI also stars Ross Butler (Shazam! Fury of the Gods, To All The Boys franchise) as Rick Woo, an infamous sports and scholastic prodigy; Nico Hiraga (Booksmart, Moxie) as Xavier Yeh, a free-spirited artist and heir to an international tech empire; Chelsea Zhang (Daybreak, Titans) as Ever’s friend Sophie, whom she meets at Loveboat; and Cindy Cheung (The Sinner, 13 Reasons Why) as Ever’s Aunt Shu.
LOVE IN TAIPEI is directed by Arvin Chen (Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow?) and produced by Matt Kaplan for Ace Entertainment. The film, shot on location in Taipei, is based on the bestselling book Loveboat, Taipei by Abigail Hing Wen, who also serves as executive producer, with the screenplay by Charlie Oh and Mackenzie Dohr. Christopher Foss, Matthew Janzen, Max Siemers, Aubrey Bendix, Cheng-Chung Chang and Ross Butler also serve as executive producers. The production was headed by Ace Entertainment, which purchased the film rights to the novel, financed and oversaw production with 1 Productions Film. Lionsgate handled the film’s sale globally to Paramount+.
HarperCollins published the book series, which continues the journey with Loveboat Reunion and the upcoming Loveboat Forever.
From New Line Cinema comes “Shazam! Fury of the Gods,” which continues the story of teenage Billy Batson who, upon reciting the magic word “SHAZAM!,” is transformed into his adult Super Hero alter ego, Shazam.
Bestowed with the powers of the gods, Billy Batson and his fellow foster kids are still learning how to juggle teenage life with having adult Super Hero alter-egos. But when the Daughters of Atlas, a vengeful trio of ancient gods, arrive on Earth in search of the magic stolen from them long ago, Billy—aka Shazam—and his family are thrust into a battle for their superpowers, their lives, and the fate of their world.
“Shazam! Fury of the Gods” stars returning cast members Zachary Levi (“Thor: Ragnarok”) as Shazam; Asher Angel (“Andi Mack”) as Billy Batson; Jack Dylan Grazer (“It Chapter Two”) as Freddy Freeman; Adam Brody (“Promising Young Woman”) as Super Hero Freddy; Ross Butler (“Raya and the Last Dragon”) as Super Hero Eugene; Meagan Good (“Day Shift”) as Super Hero Darla; D.J. Cotrona (“G.I. Joe: Retaliation”) as Super Hero Pedro; Grace Caroline Currey (“Annabelle: Creation”) as Mary Bromfield / Super Hero Mary; Faithe Herman (“This Is Us”) as Darla Dudley; Ian Chen (“A Dog’s Journey”) as Eugene Choi; Jovan Armand (“Second Chances”) as Pedro Pena; Marta Milans (“White Lines”) as Rosa Vasquez; Cooper Andrews (“The Walking Dead”) as Victor Vasquez; with Djimon Hounsou (“A Quiet Place Part II”) as Wizard.
Joining the cast are Rachel Zegler (“West Side Story”), with Lucy Liu (“Kung Fu Panda” franchise) and Helen Mirren (“F9: The Fast Saga”).
The film is directed by David F. Sandberg (“Shazam!,” “Annabelle: Creation”) and produced by Peter Safran (“Aquaman,” “The Suicide Squad”). It is written by Henry Gayden (“Shazam!,” “There’s Someone Inside Your House”) and Chris Morgan (“Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw,” “The Fate of the Furious”), based on characters from DC; Shazam! was created
by Bill Parker and C.C. Beck. Executive producers are Walter Hamada, Adam Schlagman, Richard Brener, Dave Neustadter, Victoria Palmeri, Marcus Viscidi and Geoff Johns.
Joining director Sandberg behind-the-camera are director of photography Gyula Pados (the “Jumanji” franchise), production designer Paul Kirby (“The Old Guard,” “Jason Bourne”) and editor Michel Aller (“Shazam!,” “The Nun”). The music supervisor is Season Kent (“DC League of Super-Pets,” “The Addams Family 2”) and the music is by Christophe Beck (“Free Guy,” “Frozen II”). Visual effects supervisors are Bruce Jones (“Aquaman,” “It”) and Raymond Chen (“Alita: Battle Angel,” “The Meg”). The costume designer is Louise Mingenbach (“Jumanji: The Next Level,” “Godzilla: King of the Monsters”).
New Line Cinema presents A Peter Safran Production of A David F. Sandberg Film, “Shazam! Fury of the Gods,” which is set to open in theatres internationally beginning 15 March 2023 and in North America on March 17, 2023.
(Photo/video credit: Warner Bros. Pictures Canada)
It was an awesome Easter/Passover Long Weekend in Toronto. Some stars arrived back in town, some stayed in town!
As production is set to resume on the eighth season of acclaimed Series Suits this week, Amanda Schull who stars as Katrina Bennett and was upgraded recently to a Series Regular, made her way back to town with husband George Wilson. With stars Patrick J. Adams and Meagan Markle exiting the Series, we see some exciting additions to the Cast like Katherine Heigl (Grey’s Anatomy) who just arrived last week.
See our Snap:
While Netflix’s The Umbrella Academy continues to film around town through July and potentially August, we haven’t seen many of its stars around but one interesting thing is that Mindhunter star Cameron Britton has been cast as Hazel in the Series based on My Chemical Romance Frontman Gerard Way‘s Comic Book Series. Other recent additions include R&B Queen and Actress Mary J. Blige.
See our Snap:
For the Soccer fans, Mexico’s Club América arrived to much fanfare at the Airport which hoards of fans and Media awaiting their arrival. They will be in a much-awaited clash against Toronto FC! Hover cursor left and right to navigate the slideshow!
Club América
Some other talent we’ve seen around town, although exactly what for, still is unconfirmed:
Ross Butler
Adam Brody
DJ Cotrona
We also saw Ruby O. Fee, a German Actress finishing the last leg of filming for Jonas Åkerlund‘s Assassin Thriller POLAR starring Katheryn Winnick, Vanessa Hudgens and Mads Mikkelsen.
Ruby O. Fee
Our Snap:
The Cast of Shazam! continue to make a splash around the City and we love following how big a family they’ve become over Social Media, bonding over TV, Movies and game nights. They even went to CN Tower together last week and also had a special private screening of Ready Player One at Warner Bros. Pictures Canada‘s Head Office uptown. Film wraps May.
Some Snaps:
Marta Milans
Cooper Andrews
Grace Fulton
Ian Chen
The Cast largely have been really nice to fans and we have been extra cautious with the younger talent ensuring their caretakers and parents were okay with photos.
A Reader who requested to remain anonymous sent us this Snap of Zachary Levi in-costume as he filmed on-location a while back. The costume appears faithful to the original Comics. Dare we say it may even veer a bit to the nostalgic/campy?
Expect a huge unveil July at San Diego Comic Con after it wraps here in May. Warner Bros. Pictures Canada release SHAZAM! April 2019.
(Photo credit: Mr. Will Wong/USA Network)
His star is rising fast! Singapore-born and Virginia-raised, 27-year-old Actor Ross Butler has been incredibly visible appearing in back-to-back hit Netflix Series RIVERDALE and 13 REASONS WHY. The former in which he starred in the high-profile role as Reggie Mantle, later was taken over by Charles Melton as he went-on to fulfill commitments on the latter equally-acclaimed Series as Zach Dempsey.
Butler has been in Toronto on the set of DC Comics‘ SHAZAM and appears he’s hard at work getting his strong physique to the next level alongside From Dusk till Dawn star D.J. Cotrona. We ran into Butler outside a Starbucks by surprise and he was so amazingly-nice to stop for a quick Snap. His Trucker Cap was a give away as we remember seeing him in it on Social Media! He’s so tall.. and dashing!
See our Snap:
(Photo credit: Mr. Will Wong/Netflix)
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