News

‘The Tyrant’ director Park Hoon-jung is behind ‘The Witch’ films.

South Korea’s Acemaker movieworks has sealed deals on Park Hoon-jung’s upcoming action film The Tyrant (working title) and actor Jung Woo-sung’s directorial debut A Man Of Reason to a slew of territories.

The Tyrant has pre-sold to Germany (Splendid), Taiwan (MovieCloud), Southeast Asia (Purple Plan), Thailand (Neramitnung Film), Cis (Paradise Group) and inflight (Eagle).

Director Park is the filmmaker behind hit features The Witch: Part 1 and Part 2 and Venice title Night In Paradise as well as upcoming action feature The Childe, which is in post-production.

The Tyrant...

If 2017's “Steel Rain” was an idealistic, rather narrowed down look at the quest for Korean reunification and the forces that may come between that, then its sequel, “Steel Rain 2: Summit” is the broader, more refined version of the same vision. It may be entirely unrelated to its predecessor but it is hard to avoid making comparisons, especially given both share the same ambitious end goal. However, where the latest instalment thrives is in its dedication to acknowledging the rest of the cogs in the cluttered machine that is the strained inter-Korea relations, and the ways that all sides can manipulate each other in the quest for fiscal, and non-fiscal, power and gains.

“Steel Rain 2: Summit” is available from Echelon Studios

Central to proceedings are the leaders of three countries crucial to the quickly arriving peace summit: US President Smoot (Angus Macfadyen), South Korean President Han Kyeong-jae (Jung Woo-sung...

Thursday saw the world premiere of the French-made, Korea-set romantic thriller, “Vanishing” at the Busan International Film Festival. Its director Denis Dercourt said that the movie attempts to straddle both cultures.

Adapted from the Peter May novel, “The Killing Room,” the script was in the works for eleven years, according to Alexis Dantec, the film’s producer. Originally slated for launch in 2020, filming was delayed due to the pandemic.

The picture stars Olga Kurylenko, best known for her Bond girl performance in “Quantum of Solace,” and Korea’s Yoo Yeon Seok, whose most recent works include films “Steel Rain 2: Summit” and “New Year Blues,” and Ye Ji-won.

The story follows a forensic scientist (played by Kurylenko) who invented a technique for restoration of damaged corpses. She visits Korea for a conference and upon the request of a Korean police detective (played by Yoo), assists in an investigation. That leads...

If 2017’s “Steel Rain” was an idealistic, rather narrowed down look at the quest for Korean reunification and the forces that may come between that, then its sequel, “Steel Rain 2: Summit” is the broader, more refined version of the same vision. It may be entirely unrelated to its predecessor but it is hard to avoid making comparisons, especially given both share the same ambitious end goal. However, where the latest instalment thrives is in its dedication to acknowledging the rest of the cogs in the cluttered machine that is the strained inter-Korea relations, and the ways that all sides can manipulate each other in the quest for fiscal, and non-fiscal, power and gains.

“Steel Rain 2: Summit” is screening at the Florence Korea Film Fest

Central to proceedings are the leaders of three countries crucial to the quickly arriving peace summit: US President Smoot (Angus Macfadyen), South Korean President...

Four years after the time-travelling love story “Will You Be There?”, director Hong Ji-young is back with her newest project “New Year Blues”, a a feel-good holiday film that will probably mean most to regular watchers of K-Dramas.

Synopsis

“New Year Blues” is based on the romantic one week of four couples who overcome different fears before the new year.

“New Year Blues” stars a plethora of K-Drama stars, including Yoo Yeon-seok, who had a successful 2020 after starring in “Steel Rain 2: Summit” on the big screen and “Hospital Playlist” on tv, Kim Kang-woo, Yoo In-na, Lee Yeon-hee, Lee Dong-hwi, Chinese film and tv actress Chen Duling (“My Left Ear”) and Yum Hye-ran, among others. It is scheduled to be one of the final releases of the year, with a late-December 2020 release anticipated.

Released three years, ago, the geopolitical action-thriller Steel Rain was a solid success on the charts but one that was completely overshadowed by two films that hit theaters within a fortnight of its release, Along with the Gods: The Two Worlds and 1987: When the Day Comes. Given its closed narrative and what was a positive but muted reception, it hardly seemed a likely candidate for the sequel treatment, still a rarity in the Korean film industry. Yet, three years later that's exactly what we got, but what's even more surprising is that despite returning with the same director, stars and theme, Steel Rain 2: Summit completely reinvents itself and manages to surpass its predecessor in almost every way. Tensions are high in Fear East...

[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...

South Korea has selected political thriller “The Man Standing Next” as its national contender for the Oscars’ best international film award. The cast is headed by Lee Byung-hun, who is familiar to North American audiences for his previous roles in “R.E.D. 2” and the “G.I. Joe” franchise movies.

The film tells a previously little-known story of political maneuvering by the Korean Central Intelligence Agency in the 1970s, a time of military rule under President Park Chung-hee. Focus is placed on Park’s aides in the 40 days before one of them assassinates him in 1979.

Directed by Woo Min-ho, the film was released in January and became one of the top performers in the pre-coronavirus period, earning $36.6 million. Production was by Hive Media and Showbox.

The selection announcement was made by the Korean Film Council (Kofic), which had previously revealed that 13 films had put themselves forward. Others had included: “Deliver Us From Evil,...

Woo Min-ho’s political drama grossed $36.4m in South Korea in January.

Woo Min-ho’s The Man Standing Next will be South Korea’s submission to the 93rd Academy Awards’ best international feature film category, the Korean Film Council (Kofic) has confirmed.

The submission follows the sweep of this year’s Oscars by Bong Joon Ho’s Parasite for best picture, director, original screenplay and international feature film.

Oscars best international feature 2021: all the films submitted so far

The Man Standing Next is set in the 1970s when South Korea’s authoritarian regime controlled the country utilising political terror...

The 25th edition of the Busan International Film Festival will shrink by a third and be presented in a hybrid in-person and offline format, due to the challenges posed by the coronavirus.

Running with newly announced dates of Oct. 21-30, the festival will present foreign titles as both opening and closing films.

It will open with “Septet: The Story of Hong Kong,” an omnibus film by filmmakers from Hong Kong: Sammo Hung, Ann Hui, Patrick Tam, Yuen Wo Ping, Johnnie To, Ringo Lam, and Hark Tsui, which was previously official selection of the Cannes Film Festival. The festival will close with animated Japanese film “Josee, the Tiger and the Fish,” directed by Tamaru Kotaro.

The reduced format means that most events involving human contact have been canceled. These include the opening and closing ceremonies, red carpet, receptions, and parties. On-stage greetings, the ‘Open Talk’ fan meetings and other guest meetings...

Even as his last film “#Alive” hit Netflix a few days back, the promotion of the newer film starring Yoo Ah-in, “Voice of Silence” has gotten underway, with this first trailer for the crime thriller.

Synopsis

Two men work for a crime organization. Their job is to clean up the messes done by the crime organization. The two men find themselves in an unexpected case.

Starring alongside Yoo Ah-in, who plays Tae-in, is Yoo Jae-Myung, who plays Tae-in’s partner-in-crime Chang-bok. They are accompanied by Lee Hae-woon (“Intruder”), Yu Seong-ju (“Steel Rain 2: Summit”), Im Kang-sung and Kim Ja-young (“Bori”). Directed by newcomer Hong Eui-jung, “Voice of Silence” is expected to have an October, 2020 release.

As if reality hasn't been sufficiently harrowing, especially over the past few months, Steel Rain 2: Summit proposes that the leaders of North Korea and South Korea meet with the leader of the United States to hammer out a proposal for peace on a nuclear submarine. What a surprise: things go wrong! The film is a sequel to a film based on a webtoon by director Yang Woo-suk (The Attorney), as explained by our own Pierce Conran in his Steel Rain review, published in December 2017, which was generally favorable, noting: "For the right viewer, Yang's latest pushes all the right buttons and even the rest of the audience should find at least a few elements to keep them in their seats." The new film...

[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...

Asia’s stuttering film and TV production outlook stems in large measure from the relative caution with which the region’s governments have approached the coronavirus outbreak.

Calling on experience garnered with several recent bouts of epidemic disease, governments around the Asia-Pacific region quickly urged their populations to mask up. Then they locked the borders. Most of Asia has remained that way since March.

The more-developed territories in Asia have achieved far lower Covid-19 infection and death rates than countries in Europe and the U.S., and some local production behind mostly closed borders has resumed.

New Zealand’s decision to go “hard and early” against the virus quickly shut down the “Avatar” series, which was already shooting, Amazon Prime Video’s epic “The Lord of the Rings” series and Jane Campion’s Netflix-bound “Power of the Dog.” That they have all since returned is testament to self-isolation, quickly...

Korean cinemagoers came out to see “Tenet,” but their enthusiasm extended almost no further, as coronavirus cases resurge in the world’s number four box office market. And Korean cinema operators are retrenching.

“Tenet,” the much-anticipated time-looping spy thriller earned $2.90 million from 353,000 ticket sales over the Friday to Sunday weekend. It played on 2,216 screens, the majority of the country’s available sites.

Including previews from the previous weekend worth $719,000 and the takings from its midweek official debut, “Tenet” has accumulated $5.08 million to date in Korea, according to data from the Korean Film Council’s Kobis data system.

Dropping from first place to second, hitman thriller “Deliver Us From Evil” earned $411,000, down from its previous score of $1.41 million. Happily, it did most of its business, before the latest virus spike, and since its release on Aug. 5, the film has earned $31.8 million.

Korean-made comedy “Ok! Madam” did not fare so well. It earned just $167,000 from the weekend,...

Holdover title “Deliver Us From Evil” once again topped the Korean box office, over the weekend. It earned $6.74 million for a cumulative of $26.5 million after just 11 days on release.

The hitman on a last job thriller managed a strong hold, losing only 37% in its second weekend, compared with $10.6 million on its debut. It held on to a 51% market share. Its trajectory should see “Deliver” overtake “Peninsula,” until now the biggest post-coronavirus title, within a couple of days.

New release title, “Ok! Madam,” a comedy starring Uhm Jeong-hwa, opened in second place with a $4.57 million haul. It played on 1,288 screens and accounted for 35% of the weekend box office.

“Steel Rain: Summit” which had played as the top film three weeks ago, was a distant third. It managed $619,000, a drop of 58% compared with last weekend. Its cumulative is now $11.9 million.

Overall, the aggregate weekend score was little changed at $13 million, compared with $13.4 million the previous session.

‘Unhinged’ topped the box office in six countries, including new markets Russia and Austria.

South Korean box office rose 68% at the weekend, thanks to the arrival of strong local title Deliver Us From Evil, directed by Hong Won-Chan (2015’s Office).

Cj Entertainment’s action thriller grossed a handy $10.6m for the August 7-9 period, and $15m since its August 5 opening date. Admissions were 1.39m for the weekend period, and just over 2.03m since Wednesday – 78% of the total market. The film reunites Hwang Jung-min and Lee Jung-jae who appeared together in 2013’s New World.

Deliver Us From Evil’s numbers are...

Action thriller “Steel Rain 2: Summit” dominated the South Korean box office in its opening weekend. In doing so, it knocked “Peninsula” from the perch where it had been for the past two weeks.

Released on Wednesday by Lotte Entertainment, “Steel Rain 2” earned $4.92 million from 663,000 admissions over the weekend. Over its five days to date, it has accumulated $7.03 million from 1.02 million ticket sales.

Directed by Yang Woo-suk, the film imagines a three-way summit meeting between North Korea, South Korea and the U.S. to finally bring to an end the Korean War that played out between 1950-53.

The film sees Jung Woo-sung play the South Korean leader, Yoo Yeon-seok portray the North Korean leader and Angus MacFadyen play the U.S. president. While the three leaders are conferring they are kidnapped by a zealous North Korean general and spirited away on a nuclear submarine.

It is a sequel to...

Sunday Update: As expected, Warner Bros’ re-release of Christopher Nolan’s Interstellar had a blast in China on Sunday, grossing $2.85M. That gives the 2014 saga bragging rights to the Middle Kingdom’s biggest single day and highest ‘opening’ day gross since cinemas in low-risk areas resumed operations on July 20. At about $7.6M, Sunday was also the highest grossing day overall in the market post-covid closures and contributed to a three-day weekend that was worth $17.6M across all titles.

Interstellar’s original run in China grossed $122M, and the reception on the re-release is a good sign for Nolan’s Tenet which starts rolling out internationally on August 26. A China date has yet to be confirmed, though the timing could line up.

Like Tenet, Interstellar was shot with IMAX cameras and this weekend’s China tally includes $660K from the large format. The film played on 461 IMAX screens which also accounted...

Santiago Segura’s Father There Is Only One sequel is a major new opener in Spain.

South Korea, opening Wednesday July 29

In South Korea, where theatrical releases open on Wednesdays and Thursdays, the new films in cinemas this weekend with top ticket reservation rates, according to the Korean Film Council (Kofic), are led by Lotte Cultureworks’ Jung Woo-sung-starrer Steel Rain 2: Summit - director Yang Woo-suk’s sequel to his North-South Korea political action thriller.

The film opened Wednesday, July 29 and as of Thursday has clocked up $1.2m atop the box office chart.

Further new titles include Chinese shark...