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The story of Big Deal builds itself upon a moment of national economic trauma, a setting that immediately provides a fertile ground for drama. It is 1997, and the Asian financial crisis is sending shockwaves through South Korea, shaking even the most established institutions.

Among them is Gukbo, the country’s leading soju producer, a company whose ubiquitous green bottles are deeply woven into the nation’s social fabric. Its potential collapse is more than a line item on a balance sheet; it represents a crisis of cultural identity. Into this precarious environment steps Choi In-beom (Lee Je-hoon), a young, sharp, Korean-born associate from a formidable global investment firm.

He returns to his homeland after a decade away, embodying a new, ruthless form of global capitalism. He arrives armed with a complex plan and a reassuring smile, positioning himself as a savior. His direct counterpart is Pyo Jong-rok (Yoo Hae-jin), a...

South Korea is well-known for its crime thrillers but like a lot of Asian countries, it too doesn’t like to admit they have a drug problem, particularly in its films. Most depictions come in the form of slick action thrillers or gangster pictures. Supporting actor turned occasional director Hwang Byeong-gug‘s third directorial effort, his first in over fourteen years, is another such production that takes the drugs business as the backdrop to tell its tale.

Yadang: The Snitch is released by WellGo USA

Imprisoned on false charges, Lee Kang-su is thrown a lifeline by struggling prosecutor Goo Gwan-hee when he offers him to work as a yadang, a snitch, for him and land the prosecutor a drug supplying chain. After the successful collaboration, the two decide to join hands for their personal progression, becoming friends in the process. Kang-su facilitates as a broker between the drug dealers and the law enforcement,...

Crime thriller Yadang: The Snitch, led by Kang Ha-neul, opened in first place at the South Korean box office over the weekend of April 18–20, drawing $4.1 million from 608,149 admissions. The film was released on April 16 and played across 1,832 screens, taking 69.8 percent of weekend revenue, according to data from Kobis, the Korean Film Council’s tracking service. Its cumulative total reached $5.26 million from 786,077 admissions by the end of the weekend.

Directed by Hwang Byung-gook, the film follows a paid informant, or “yadang,” who becomes entangled in a criminal conspiracy following a drug raid involving wealthy individuals. Kang is joined by Yoo Hae-jin as a prosecutor and Park Hae-joon as a detective. Both actors have been featured in recent box office titles, including Exhuma and 12.12: The Day.

The strong launch contributed to a lift in total weekend revenue for the top 10 films, which reached $5.4 million, up from $3.4 million the previous weekend.

The Match...

South Korean crime thriller Yadang: The Snitch took the top spot at the South Korea box office on its opening weekend (April 18-20), ending The Match’s short reign and accounting for nearly 70% of all tickets sold.

Released on April 16, Yadang: The Snitch took $4.11m from 608,149 admissions across 1,832 screens, according to Kobis, the Korean Film Council’s box office tracking service. Its cumulative gross stands at $5.26m from 786,077 total admissions.

Directed by Hwang Byung-gook, the story revolves around the intertwined ambitions of a drug broker played Kang Ha-neul of Netflix hit Squid Game, a prosecutor played by Yoo Hae-jin from box office hit Exhuma,...

The South Korean box office welcomed a new leader as crime thriller “Yadang: the Snitch” opened in first place with $4.1 million, commanding 69.8% of weekend revenues.

Directed by Hwang Byeng-Gug and starring “Squid Game 2″ actor Kang Ha-neul, “Yadang: the Snitch,” is from the producers behind record-breaking hit “12:12 The Day” and “Inside Men.” It follows a professional informant called “yadang” who provides covert information about the drug world to prosecutors and police. When a drug bust at a party attended by high-profile second-generation VIPs leads to a dangerous conspiracy, the yadang must fight to survive. The film pairs Kang with “Exhuma” star Yoo Hai-jin and “The World of the Married” actor Park Hae-joon.

The April 16 release drew 608,104 admissions from April 18 to 20 across 1,832 screens, according to Kobis, the tracking service operated by the Korean Film Council. The film’s cumulative total already stands at $5.2 million with 786,032 total admissions, marking one of the...

Here’s A Look At Kang Ha-Neul’s Role In Yadang: The Snitch (Photo Credit – Instagram)

Kang Ha-Neul is one of the most talented actors from South Korea. Over the years, the actor has delivered stunning performances with Forgotten, Midnight Runners, When the Camellia Blooms, and the latest Squid Game Season 2.

Kang Ha-Neul will be soon seen in not one but two new avatars in the movies Yadang: The Snitch and Streamers. Let’s take a look at his transformation for Yadang: The Snitch.

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Kang Ha-Neul Is The Snitch In Upcoming Korean Thriller Yadang

The plot of Yadang: The Snitch is fairly straightforward. Kang Ha-Neul plays the titular snitch named Lee Kang-soo, who goes by the name Yadang. He controls the drug trade but also delivers news from the drug underworld to the police. When a new...

Hollywood has long dominated the crime genre, but some of the best detective films of the past decade have come from unexpected places. While South Korean cinema has gained worldwide recognition in recent years, certain films still manage to slip under the radar—despite delivering everything fans of the genre could ask for. One such film is Veteran, a 2015 action-thriller about a determined cop taking on a corrupt and untouchable heir.

Veteran’s success in South Korea made it one of the country’s highest-grossing films, but internationally, it never received the same level of attention as hits like Train to Busan or Parasite. Even more overlooked is its 2024 sequel, I, the Executioner, which raises the stakes with a darker mystery. Together, these two films form one of the most compelling detective sagas in recent memory – yet remain largely undiscovered by audiences outside South Korea. For crime thriller fans, they...

There are a ton of highly anticipated TV shows coming to Rakuten Viki!

The streaming service has unveiled their slate of programming for the month of November, including several K-dramas, as well as series hailing from Japan and Thailand.

From heart-racing romances to crime-solving mysteries to moving tear-jerkers, there’s something for everyone.

Plus, there are a bunch of fan-favorite actors set to appear in the shows. You might recognize a few from your most beloved dramas!

Find out which TV shows are coming to Rakuten Viki in November 2024…

Brewing Love

Korea

Premiere date: November 4

Plot summary: Former special forces member turned liquor salesperson Chae Yong Ju (Kim Se Jeong) is her company’s top seller. But when her company branch is at risk of closing down, Yong Ju is willing to do whatever it takes to keep it open. She decides to recruit Yun Min Ju (Lee Jong Won), an up-and-coming brewmaster,...

Killer Collectibles highlights five of the most exciting new horror products announced each and every week, from toys and apparel to artwork, records, and much more.

Here are the coolest horror collectibles unveiled this week!

Sewer Slashers Figures from Toy Snobs

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles become iconic horror villains with Toy Snobs’ Sewer Slashers mashup figures. They’re $50 each or $190 for the set of four.

The line includes Raph Voorhees (with machete), Leatherface Leo (with chainsaw), Mikey Meyers (with knife), and Donny Krueger (with claw glove).

Each 5.5″ toy is packaged on a retro-inspired cardback. Pre-orders are open through October 4 and are expected to ship in Spring 2025.

Howling II: Your Sister Is a Werewolf 4K Uhd from Vinegar Syndrome

Howling II: Your Sister Is a Werewolf transforms on 4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray on October 29 via Vinegar Syndrome. The 1985 werewolf sequel has been newly restored in 4K from the 35mm original camera negative with Dolby Vision Hdr.

Lee Do-hyun starred in one of the best horror movies of 2024, and I cannot wait to see which roles he will tackle next following his Sweet Home success. Despite only appearing in the latter half of the third season, Lee Do-yuns Eun-hyeok stole the show in Sweet Home 3. Now a cold neohuman with memories but no feelings, Eun-hyeok was almost a different character and allowed Lee Do-hyun to do something different from season 1. Sweet Home 3 was not his only major screen role in 2024, though, as Lee Do-hyun was also in the horror movie Exhuma.

Between supporting roles in Netflix originals and popular broadcast shows where he played the lead, Lee Do-hyuns K-drama career has been very impressive. The 29-year-old actor broke big with Hotel de Luna in 2019, after which he was cast as the lead in 18 Again in 2020. In that same year, Lee Do-hyun played Eun-hyeok in Sweet Home,...

For anyone craving an eerie, slow-burn horror movie, check outJang Jae-hyuns 2024Exhuma. Thehighest-grossing South Korean movie of 2024 so far,Exhuma has seen unanimous praise for blending supernatural mystery with classic horror. The film chronicles a prolonged haunting, all rooted back to one spiritually toxic grave. Shaman Hwa-rim (Kim Go-eun) and Bong-gil (Lee Do-hyun) are flown into LA to help a haunted infant. When the two realize the paranormal activity is due to an angry ancestor buried back in South Korea, they bring in geomancer Kim Sang Deok (Choi Min-sik) and Ko Young Gen (Yoo Hae-jin). The grave of the ancestor is full of dark secrets, however, and the four find themselves in a race against time to save the newborn baby and themselves.

Quick Links The Sinister Presence in Exhuma Exhuma Unleashes Its Evil on a Massive Scale Choi Min-Sik: The Good Guy This Time

Be careful what you dig for. Well, that's not exactly how the expression goes, but a new supernatural horror film out of South Korea proves there could be plenty to fear below the dirt and not just what's in sight. From writer-director Jang Jae-Hyun (Svaha: The Sixth Finger), Exhuma just uttering the title might send an off-kilter chill down your spine enlists an impressive cast to round out a stellar ensemble piece that, once it finds its groove in the second act, becomes addictively thrilling until the climactic and otherworldly third act.

Veteran actor Choi Min-Sik, who stole the show in both the revenge classic I Saw the Devil (2010) and the timeless Oldboy (2003), leads the charge as a famed geomancer, or earth shaman. He and his team...

South Korean film studio N.E.W. reports that period thriller “The Night Owl” has been licensed for remake in China.

It claims that its deal is the highest price ever paid for rights to remake Korean IP in China, but it declined to disclose either the value of the deal or the identity of the buyer.

South Korea and China maintain frosty diplomatic relations and, despite Korean content being hugely popular worldwide, film industry relations have been frozen as a consequence. No Korean film has had a theatrical release in China for nearly a decade.

But remakes are a way around the problem. Chinese companies have adopted the practice of licensing and remaking Korean films and TV shows in order to play down the origins of the story and to be able to legitimately claim that their titles now have Chinese nationality.

The 2022 film was directed by Ahn Tae-jin and scripted by Ahn,...

Korean horror film Exhuma has become the highest-grossing Korean film ever in Vietnam, its distributor Showbox Co said.

Exhuma has recorded more than 2.23 million moviegoers in Vietnam as of March 31, surpassing the previous mark of 2.15 million held by comedy film 6/45 (2022), which starred Go Kyung-pyo and Lee Yi-kyung.

Directed by Jang Jae-hyun, Exhuma stars Choi Min-sik, Kim Go-eun, Yoo Hae-jin and Lee Do-hyun. Exhuma recorded US$660,000 at the box office just on its first day of release in Vietnam, on March 15, which also set a new record for the highest opening gross, for a Korean film. On the film’s first weekend in the country, sales reached $3.02 million.

Exhuma has also become the most successful Korean film in Indonesia, notching 2.3 million admissions, which is a record for a Korean film in the country.

As of April 1, Exhuma has brought in more than 11 million admissions at the Korean box office and...

Horror, long a staple and favoured genre for Asian filmmakers, has seen dwindling returns in Korea of late. Sure, there's a number of works in the genre that come out each year, but none have made quite the positive impact on the audience, critics or the box office since “The Wailing” all the way back in 2016. Director Jang Jae-hyun seems to have made it his mission to keep horror alive and kicking, debuting with “The Priests”, a well-made tale that explored Christian exorcisms, before following it up with “Svaha: The Sixth Finger”, which explored new religions and cults in the guise of horror. While both those features saw mixed reactions from the audience, Jang continues to produce scary stories with “Exhuma”, his latest work which debuted at the Berlin Film Festival before a wide release. Received with much enthusiasm from the audience, the release quickly became the highest grossing Korean film of 2024 so far.

South Korea’s current box office champion multiple weeks in a row, Exhuma, offers an unexpected and entertaining take on folk horror. While dense in lore and spiritual worldbuilding, the latest horror offering from writer/director Jae-hyun Jang (Svaha: The Sixth Finger, The Priests) balances its grim, sometimes bloody folkloric terror with levity and heart. Anchored by four “ghostbusters” of sorts, with charismatic actors behind them, the intricately woven Exhuma delivers one of the year’s biggest surprises in horror so far.

Exhuma hits the ground running with an introduction to Shaman Hwa-rim (Kim Go-eun) and her close protégé Bong-gil, arriving on a flight to Los Angeles. They have been summoned by the ultra-rich Park Ji-yong (Kim Jae-cheol) for a well-paying gig helping him rid his infant son of a supernatural curse. Hwa-rim traces the curse back to South Korea, where they enlist colleague and geomancer Sang-deok and mortician Young-geun...

Exhuma (Korean title: Pa-myo) has taken $67.8 million at the Korean box office, having notched more than 9.3 million admissions.

The film stars Choi Min-sik, Kim Go-eun, Yoo Hae-jin and Lee Do-hyun and is directed by Jang Jae-hyun. Exhuma follows two shamans, a feng shui expert and an undertaker as they seek to help a Korean-American family haunted by a generational curse.

Box office data from Kofic shows the movie has taken 24 days for Exhuma to cross reach the nine million admissions mark, which is three days faster than last year’s most-viewed Korean feature, 12.12: The Day, a historical film set during the country’s military coup in 1979.

Exhuma has also topped the box office and admissions charts every week since its release, sitting above Dune: Part Two for the last three weeks.

Produced by Showbox Entertainment, Exhuma first premiered in the Forum section of the Berlin International Film Festival on...