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Premiere Picks

The 30th Busan International Film Festival has unveiled five selections for its Korean Cinema Today – Special Premiere program, showcasing notable contemporary Korean commercial cinema.

Among the four films having their world premieres at the festival is Kim Byung-woo’s disaster thriller “The Great Flood,” starring Kim Da-mi and Park Hae-soo. The Netflix film follows survivors of a catastrophic flood disaster. Ra Hee-chan’s action comedy “Boss” features Jo Woo-jin, Jung Kyung-ho, Park Jihwan, and Lee Kyoo-hyung in a story about gang members vying for leadership positions. Ha Jung-woo directs and stars in “The People Upstairs,” exploring tensions between neighboring couples. “Audition 109,” the sequel to 2009’s “Wish,” marks Jung Woo’s directorial debut alongside co-director Oh Seong-ho.

Lee Hwan’s “Project Y” stars Han So-hee and Jun Jong-seo as women entangled in dangerous crime. The film will have its world premiere at Toronto and its Asian premiere at Busan.

Ryu Seung-ryong, the veteran Korean star whose lead performance in Disney+’s Moving helped make it the platform’s most-watched Asian original to date, returns to the streamer next month in Low Life, a colorful period crime drama set against the backdrop of 1970s South Korea’s murky underworld. The 11-part series will premiere July 16 with a three-episode debut, followed by weekly releases leading up to a two-part finale on August 13. Low Life will launch internationally on Disney+ and domestically on Hulu as a Hulu Original.

Written and directed by Kang Yun-seong, the screenwriter behind Disney+’s Big Bet and director of Korean blockbuster The Outlaws, Low Life follows a ragtag pair of small-time schemers — an uncle and nephew— who stumble across a tantalizing rumor: a sunken treasure ship laden with riches has been found just off the Korean coast. With dreams of finally striking it rich, the duo plunges...

Ryu Seungryong is diving back into Disney+ waters with “Low Life,” a treasure-hunting crime drama set in 1970s Korea.

The 11-part series stars the “Moving” and “Chicken Nugget” actor as Oh Gwanseok, an opportunistic chancer who teams up with his nephew Oh Heedong (Yang Sejong) to chase get-rich-quick schemes. When word spreads about an ancient treasure ship discovered off the Korean coast, the uncle-nephew duo races against time and rival treasure hunters to claim their fortune.

“Low Life” comes from writer-director Kang Yunsung, who previously created the Disney+ hit “Big Bet” and helmed “The Outlaws.” The series also features Lim Soojung as Yang Jungsook.

Yang Sejong, known for “Doona!” and “Temperature of Love,” plays the nephew caught up in the high-stakes treasure hunt alongside his uncle’s schemes.

The treasure-hunting premise of “Low Life” taps into the popular Korean cinema tradition of heist and crime capers, with the 1970s setting...

Hyun Bin Dons Classic Black Suit In Drama ( Photo Credit – Instagram )

It’s been years since we saw Hyun Bin in a K-drama. He was last seen in Crash Landing On You alongside his now-wife, Son Ye-Jin. Now, the first look of Made In Korea is out and creating ripples online. After his marriage in 2022, even though the actor featured in a film, Harbin, which grossed quite well at the box office, he was missing from the television industry. But he is back at it with the political drama, Made In Korea, and his fans are going gaga about it.

What Is Made In Korea Really About?

Made In Korea is going to be a political drama driven by a power struggle. Set against the 1970s Korea, the storyline will revolve around two men who get stuck in a razor-thin line of power, struggle, ambition, politics, and justice. The first...

Soccer Streaming

Disney+ has landed exclusive live streaming rights to the UEFA Women’s Champions League soccer tournament across Europe in a five-year pact covering the 2025/26 through 2029/30 seasons.

The deal makes Disney+ the sole destination for all 75 matches in the competition, with coverage launching in October alongside the tournament’s new 18-team League phase format. All matches will stream live at no additional cost to subscribers through the 2026 final at Ullevaal Stadion in Oslo.

ESPN will handle production duties for Disney+, providing multi-language commentary and pre- and post-game programming. The sports network brings four-and-a-half decades of broadcasting experience to the project, having recently added UEFA Europa League and UEFA Conference League coverage to Disney+ in Denmark and Sweden.

The announcement builds on Disney’s existing partnership with UEFA through the Playmakers program, which has introduced over 132,000 girls aged 5-8 to soccer across 6,300 centers in 46 countries since 2020. The initiative, recently extended through 2027, employs nearly 8,000 coaches.

Exclusive: Jameela Jamil (The Good Place) and Won Ji-an (Squid Game) have been tapped for key roles in Pyongyang Home Video, a new drama inspired by true events, which centers on two North Korean sisters reenacting Hollywood movies to escape the perils of their young lives.

Hailing from Imagine Entertainment and South Korea’s Desert Bloom Pictures, the film will be directed by award-winning Korean filmmaker Yoon Sung-hyun (Bleak Night).

The story follows sisters Nari (Ji-an) and Hana, who have grown up watching illegal Hollywood films. Following their forced escape from North Korea, when their neighbor tips off the police about their father’s black market VHS business, the sisters use their imagination to escape into fantastical reenactments of their favorite films, in order to survive the journey. Five years later, older sister Nari finds an unlikely ally in American talk show host, Serena (Jamil), who promises to reunite the siblings on live television.

Won Ji An Confirms Lead Role With Park Seo Joon (Photo Credit – Instagram)

Get ready, fans, because your favorite Se-mi from Squid Game 2 is returning. Well, as a different character this time. Won Ji An garnered widespread recognition after her role as Player 380 in the smash-hit survival series. Now, she has confirmed her next big role in Waiting for Gyeongdo (literal title). In this rom-com drama, she will be co-starring Park Seo Joon, showcasing a new charm and chemistry.

On February 18, Jtbc confirmed that Won Ji An will lead the upcoming drama Waiting for Gyeongdo. Previously, it was announced that Park Seo Joon would be taking on the male lead role. This drama is a romantic comedy revolving around two former lovers, Lee Gyeong Do and Seo Ji Woo. When they were 20, they fell in love and then again rekindled their romance at 28 before breaking up once again.

Many years later,...

Woo Do Hwan To Play Hyun Bin’s Brother In Made In Korea? ( Photo Credit – Instagram )

Woo Do Hwan, best known for his role in Bloodhounds, is gearing up for his highly anticipated Ott comeback. According to the latest reports, he has been cast in the upcoming series Made in Korea, set in the 1970s. Do Hwan will share a special connection with Hyun Bin in this upcoming work, joining actor Jung Woo Sung and director Woo Min Ho.

On February 13, Korean media outlet Jtbc News reported that Woo Do Hwan is joining the cast lineup of Made in Korea. According to the report, he is already filming for the series. The actor will reportedly play Hyun Bin’s brother. More details about his character will be revealed soon.

Woo Do Hwan is known for taking on versatile and challenging roles, so his addition to the cast lineup of this...

From the highly-anticipated third and final season of Netflix’s industry-defining Squid Game series, to the sequels for thought-provoking breakout shows like Taiwan’s The World Between Us and Indonesia’s Santri Pilihan Bunda, here are the shows out of Asia to look out for in 2025. Add your own thoughts and suggestions in the comments below.

‘Squid Game’ Season 3 (Netflix)

Korea

Even before the second season of Netflix’s most successful series premiered on December 26, the streamer announced that a third and final season of the Korean series is already in the works and will release in 2025. The second season of the drama sees Seong Gi-hun (played by Lee Jung-jae), who was Player 456 in the first season, searching for the people behind the brutal survival game, three years after winning the ₩45.6 billion prize bounty. Who knows what Season 3 might entail. Though reviews have been mixed, another run so close behind is an exciting prospect.

Disney+ unveiled its upcoming Korean slate, including new titles The Murky Stream and The Manipulated.

Korean historical drama The Murky Stream will star Rowoon, Shin Yeeun and Park Seoham, the streamer announced at the Disney Apac Showcase in Singapore.

The Murky Stream will be directed by Choo Changmin (Masquerade) and written by Cheon Sungil (Netflix’s All Of Us Are Dead).

The Manipulated follows mild-mannered Taejung (played by Ji Changwook), who is wrongfully imprisoned for a heinous crime. He soon discovers that a mysterious figure named Yohan (played by Doh Kyungsoo) orchestrated his downfall. Fueled by vengeance, Taejung sets out to make Yohan pay.

The streamer said that among the top 15 best performing international original titles released on its platform last year, nine of them were Korean titles, based on views.

This year, Korean action drama A Shop For Killers became the most viewed series on Disney+ in Apac.

Other...

A second season of Korean sci-fi fantasy series Moving is in the works at Disney+, Disney confirmed on day two of its Asia Pacific Content Showcase in Singapore.

The announcement was made by Carol Choi, Disney’s executive vp original content strategy for Apac, although no details on dates and cast on Moving season two were provided. Series creator, the influential Korean artist Kang Full, will be involved in the second season.

The series, which launched in August 2023, has been a huge hit for Disney+ and Hulu, with the company saying that Moving ranked as the number one local original title globally on Disney+ last year.

Moving is an adaptation of a popular webtoon created by Kang, whose works have been adapted into several local films. The show, that’s also written by Kang, stars some of the biggest names in Korean film and television, including Ryu Seung-ryong, Han Hyo-joo and Zo In-sung.

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Korean cinema returns to the Toronto International Film Festival with director Woo Min-ho's latest effort Harbin, starring Hyun Bin as the Korean independence activist Ahn Jung-geun. The period piece, which is told as a spy thriller, follows Jeung-geun's planned assassination of It Hirobumi, the first Japanese Resident-General of Korea. Aside from the gorgeous visuals, the story rests on the tenacity of Korea's Righteous Army in the face of their oppressor's onslaught of colonization.

Hyun Bin leads an all-star cast in Harbin, including Decision To Leave's Park Jeong-min, Jo Woo-jin, Vincenzo's Jeon Yeo-been, Yoo Jae-myung, and the perennially popular Lee Dong-wook in a memorable special appearance. Hyun himself has been at the top of the Korean entertainment industry for two decades, ever since he first skyrocketed to fame with the Bridget Jones' Diary-esque drama My Lovely Sam Soon. More recently, he made...