Park Chan-wook returns to Cannes with romance 'Decision to Leave'

CANNES -- South Korean auteur Park Chan-wook has said that his latest Cannes-competing feature "Decision to Leave" is a precocious romance that is not as intense as his previous revenge-themed works, like "Oldboy" (2003), but is one that he really wanted to make. "Decision to Leave," which premiered at the 75th Cannes Film Festival on Monday (French time) as one of the in-competition films of the festival, is about a police detective who falls in love with a woman s

May 24, 2022

’The Roundup’ sells more than 3.55m tickets within a week

“The Roundup,” the sequel to the hit crime film “The Outlaws” (2017), sold more than 3.55 million tickets in the first week of its release, according to the Korean Film Council. It surpassed Marvel’s “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness” (2022), which sold 3,497,393 tickets during the first seven days of the film’s release. The sequel to the 2017 hit Korean comedy topped the local box office over the weekend -- from Friday to Sunday --

May 23, 2022

Director Cha Bong-joo creates ‘Good Morning’ after watching documentary about hospice center

Director Cha Bong-joo said he created his debut feature “Good Morning” after he watched a documentary about patients at a hospice center. “As I was working on the script, I watched a documentary about a hospice center and there was one person who grabbed my attention,” Cha said at a press conference at CGV Yongsan on Thursday. “I found out that he did not have much time left, but he looked so bright and it made me shed tears. I wanted my character Soo-mi to feel

May 22, 2022

Kakao Entertainment presents ‘Thor’ webtoon

Kakao Entertainment unveiled a webtoon version of the upcoming American superhero film “Thor: Love and Thunder” Thursday. Celebrating the release of the film, the first four episodes are available free of charge. The webtoon, based on the Marvel Comics series of the same title published in 2019, revolves around the exciting journey of Thor, who seeks to solve the mystery behind Gorr the God Butcher and stop him from committing a massacre. The comic is widely recognized for Americ

May 20, 2022

[Box Office] Movies in theaters this week

The Roundup (Korea) Opened May 18 Crime Directed by Lee Sang-yong Cop Ma Seok-do heads to Vietnam to extradite a suspect. But soon after his arrival, he discovers murder cases and finds out that the vicious Korean killer (Son Sook-ku) has been committing crimes against Korean tourists for several years. Ma Seok-do decides to chase after the killer but it is not easy as Korean cops do not have investigative power in Vietnam.  Operation Mincemeat (US) Opened May 11 Drama Directed

May 20, 2022

From ‘Eternals’ to ‘Roundup,’ Don Lee dons a unique identity

“Ma Dong-seok is his own genre.” Korean moviegoers often say this in reference to the Korean-American movie star, also known as Don Lee, in recognition of his unique screen presence and charisma. A recent survey by online research firm PMI on Koreans aged 20-60 asked what word comes to mind when hearing his name. The answers were in the order of: “muscular/huge,” “tough/strong,” “Mavely (a combination of “Ma” and “lovely”),&rd

May 19, 2022

'The Roundup' off to record-setting start at box office

The action comedy "The Roundup" has set the best opening-day record among Korean films released during the COVID-19 pandemic, box-office data showed Thursday. The sequel to the 2017 hit comedy "The Outlaws" garnered about 467,000 viewers upon its debut Wednesday, accounting for 89 percent of the tickets sold on the day, according to the Korean Film Council (KOFIC). It marked the largest first-day score for a homegrown film since the new coronavirus broke out in early 2020, ou

May 19, 2022

‘Cassiopeia’ director focuses on father-daughter dynamic

Although “Cassiopeia” might seem like a woeful movie about a young lawyer in her 30s suffering from Alzheimer’s, the film’s director Shin Youn-shick said he focused more on portraying the father and daughter dynamic. “When I was working on the script. I watched the movie ‘The Intern’ to cool my head. That was also when I had a desire to work with (the actor) Ahn Sung-ki again,” the director said during a press conference held at Megabox theaters

May 18, 2022

[Feature] Major movie projects link foreign directors, Korean actors to draw global audiences

Famous Korean stars Song Kang-ho, Kang Dong-won, IU and Lee Joo-young entered the theater to take part in a press event held at Yongsan CGV on May 10. Just like every other press event with Korean reporters, the stars introduced their roles in the new film, shared their experiences from the set and posed for photos. However, there was one difference. Director Hirokazu Koreeda joined the event via video conference from Japan. There was also an interpreter for the director. The situation was s

May 17, 2022

S. Korean cinema chains still in red in Q1 but optimistic about possible rebound

South Korea's major cinema chains remained in the red in the first quarter of this year amid the protracted COVID-19 pandemic, but the lifting of distancing rules will likely provide them fresh momentum for a possible turnaround in the coming quarters, data showed Tuesday. CJ CGV, the No. 1 multiplex operator under the wing of entertainment giant CJ Group, said its operating loss reached 54.9 billion won ($42.9 million) for the first three months of 2022, narrowing from an operating deficit of 6

May 17, 2022

'Doctor Strange 2' tops 5m admissions

Hollywood blockbuster "Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness" surpassed 5 million admissions Tuesday, data showed. The latest Marvel Studios' flick hit the milestone at 7:20 a.m., on the 13th day of its theatrical release in South Korea, according to the official box-office data from the Korean Film Council (KOFIC). It became the fastest movie to top 5 million in the past three years, outmatching the country's biggest pandemic-era hit "Spider-Man: No Way Home," the film

May 17, 2022

Cho Kuk documentary ‘The Red Herring’ raises over W2b

“The Red Herring,” a documentary directed by Yi Seung-jun about the embattled ex-Justice Minister Cho Kuk, has raised a total of over 2.6 billion won ($2 million) from over 51,000 people on the crowdfunding platform Tumblbug as of Sunday, far exceeding its original goal of 50 million won. “I was very surprised by the Tumblbug funding result. I am moved by the support. Thank you,” Cho said in a video clip released on Tumblbug Monday. “I want to have a talk with t

May 16, 2022

[Box Office] Movies in theaters this week

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (US) Opened May 4 Action Directed by Sam Raim Set a few months after the events of “Spider-Man: No Way Home” (2021), Doctor Stephen Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) is a powerful sorcerer who must protect the earth from mystical menaces. He battles these unexpected enemies with a teenager America Chavez (Xochitl Gomez) with the power to travel across the alternate universe. In the process of doing this, he travels into the multiverse. I

May 13, 2022

Don Lee returns with crime film sequel ‘The Roundup’

Korean American actor Don Lee, better known as Ma Dong-seok in Korea, is returning as a beast-like cop called Ma Seok-do in “The Roundup,” a sequel to the hit crime film “The Outlaws” (2017). “What differentiates the film (from the first movie) is that it has a different villain. Also, the scale of the crime differs, as well as the process of how the cops catch them. The jokes and action in the film were also upgraded,” Lee said during a global press confer

May 12, 2022

Ex-Justice Minister Cho Kuk recommends political film ‘The Red Herring’ to conservatives

Ex-Justice Minister Cho Kuk made a surprise appearance via video to ask conservative Korean moviegoers to watch “The Red Herring” during a press conference held at CGV Yongsan on President Yoon Suk-yeol’s inauguration day, Tuesday. “What I want the people to know is that there are different perspectives on the situation and that there are different experiences and different testimonies,” Cho said in the video. “I hope this documentary will be watched by man

May 11, 2022

'He’s like the sun’: Director Koreeda praises veteran actor Song Kang-ho

Even for veteran director Hirokazu Koreeda, who won the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival in 2018 for “Shoplifters,” directing a movie in a foreign country was a challenge. During a press conference at CGV Yongsan in Seoul on Tuesday, the Japanese director said he got a lot of help from “Parasite” star Song Kang-ho while filming his movie, “Broker.” “Before shooting the film, I had a meeting with director Bong Joon-ho. We talked over a mea

May 11, 2022

'Doctor Strange 2' tops 3m admissions in first week

Hollywood blockbuster "Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness" has topped a cumulative 3 million admissions at the fastest pace in the pandemic era, box-office data showed Monday. The latest Marvel Studios' flick attracted 1.7 million people from Friday to Sunday, bringing its combined total to 3.5 million, according to the data by the Korea Film Council. It surpassed the 3 million threshold Saturday, the fourth day of its theatrical release, becoming the sixth film to achieve the

May 9, 2022

[Newsmaker] Iconic Korean movie star Kang Soo-youn dies at 55

Kang Soo-youn, the iconic Korean movie star who brought home the nation’s first acting award from the Venice film festival, died on Saturday at the age of 55. The tragic news came two days after she was taken to hospital on Thursday for a cardiac arrest. Kang died of a cerebral hemorrhage at 3 p.m. at a hospital in southern Seoul, her family said. Kang’s funeral committee is led by Kim Dong-ho, founder of the Busan International Film Festival and the current Gangneung Internatio

May 8, 2022

Two Korean female directors in 20s win top prizes at Jeonju IFF

Canadian nature documentary “Geographies of Solitude” has won the Grand Prize in the international competition section at this year’s Jeonju International Film Festival. The feature debut by Jacquelyn Mills was among the 20 winners announced by the 23rd Jeonju IFF organizing committee Thursday. The festival comes to an end Saturday after a 10-day run. “Geographies of Solitude” is about Zoe Lucas, an environmentalist who has been cataloging the flora and fauna of

May 6, 2022

[Newsmaker] Fans and film industry send prayers to actor Kang Soo-youn

Korean movie stars, directors and fans are praying for Kang Soo-youn’s recovery after the veteran actor was taken to a hospital with cardiac arrest on Thursday. According to a Gangnam Severance Hospital official, the actor remains unconscious while detailed information is yet to be announced. Director Yeon Sang-ho, who is scheduled to make his Netflix return with Kang in an upcoming sci-fi film “Jung_E,” was shocked to hear about the actor. “I was really surprised when

May 6, 2022