UPDATE: Yes, it’s true.

I’m trying to confirm Twitchfilm.com’s report this AM that Patrik Frater, the editor in chief of Variety Asia, and Marcus Lim, the web editor, have been laid off. Frater is known as one of the best connected guys in the region. “And for those who are wondering, yes, this will probably also mean an end to Grady Hendrix’s popular “Kaiju Shakedown” blog as both of the men he reports to have just been canned,” the site says. So is it R.I.P. Variety Asia? I do know from my own sources that China’s home-grown film business, once flourishing, is now shutting down until presumably that country’s economic crisis eases. And that will take only-god-knows how long. Oh, and before I forget, I also heard that Variety laid off two of its three London editorial staffers.

Editor-in-Chief Nikki Finke - tip her here.