News

Veteran Korean filmmaker Park Chan-wook has wrapped production on No Other Choice, which stars Lee Byung-hun (Squid Game) and Son Ye-jin (Crash Landing on You).

The five-month shoot kicked off in August 2024, with Moho Film attached as the production company and Cj Enm as distributor. Above is a first-look image released by Cj.

Based on the 1997 novel “The Ax” by Donald Westlake, the film follows Man Soo (played by Lee), a man who is suddenly fired from a paper company. He is determined to find a new job and deals with those standing in his way.

Park Hee-soon (Moving), Lee Sung-min (The Spy Gone North), Yeom Hye-ran (The Glory), Cha Seung-won (Uprising) and Yoo Yeon-seok (Hospital Playlist) are also part of the cast for No Other Choice.

Park first talked about his plans to adapt Westlake’s novel during the Busan International Film Festival in 2009.

Park won Best Director at...

Premiering on December 4, Light Shop was marked as one of Disney+’s tentpole Korean series for 2024 when the streamer’s slate was first announced earlier this year.

Created and written by Kangfull, the mastermind behind Disney+ hit series Moving, Light Shop tells the story of a light shop, its shopkeeper, and a group of strangers who are mysteriously drawn into the shop.

Light Shop is based on a webtoon that Kangfull published in 2011.

Ju Ji-hoon, who plays shopkeeper Jung Won-young, said that finding the right tone for his seemingly aloof, brooding character was the key challenge for him while filming Light Shop.

“The easy part was, I don’t have to use emotions,” Ju told Deadline. “But the difficult part to express is that there’s a reason why I don’t have these emotions. Later on in the series, I have to show why I’m so unexpressive.

Director Kim Sung-su’s historical drama “12.12: The Day,” South Korea’s entry for the 2024 international feature Oscar race, chronicles a pivotal moment in the country’s history. The film depicts the military coup of Dec. 12, 1979, which led to an eight-year military junta.

The tense action drama features an ensemble cast including Hwang Jung-min (“Deliver Us from Evil”), Jung Woo-sung (“Asura: The City of Madness”), Lee Sung-min (“The Spy Gone North”), Park Hae-joon (“Believer”), Kang Gil-woo (Netflix’s “The Glory”), and Jung Hae-in (Netflix’s “D.P.”).

For Kim, the events depicted in the film left an indelible mark on his teenage years. “That night left a very clear memory. I was getting ready to apply for colleges that winter night when I saw in my own neighborhood an armored military vehicle passing down the street,” Kim tells Variety. “I climbed to the rooftop of my friend’s house and watched...

Korean film maestro Park Chan-wook is keeping in motion. The internationally acclaimed auteur, 60, will begin production on Saturday on his 12th feature, an adaptation of American novelist Donald Westlake’s 1996 novel The Ax. The movie, which is currently going by the working title I Can’t Help It, will star Korean screen royalty Lee Byung-hun and Son Ye-jin, with financing and distribution coming from local studio heavyweight Cj Enm.

Westlake’s novel was previously adapted into French by Costa Gavras as the 2005 film Le Couperet (The Axe). Like its predecessor, Park’s adaptation follows a man — named Man-soo this time and played by Lee — who is abruptly laid off by the paper company where he worked tirelessly for many years. The man grows increasingly desperate in his hunt for new work, eventually resolving to kill his job competitors. Son will play the man’s wife, the warm-hearted Mi-ri.

I Can...

Park Chan-wook has kicked off production on his next feature, tentatively titled “The Ax” (literaly Korean title “I Can't Help It”) with megastars Lee Byung-hun and Son Ye-jin in the lead.

Based on “The Ax” by Donald E. Westlake, which has also had a French film adaptation so far, the tragic-comic thriller will follow Yoo Man-soo, a salaried man who loses his job under an envious boss and goes to extreme measure to provide for his family. Lee will play Man-soo while Son Ye-jin will portray his devoted wife Mi-ri, who must step up for her husband and her family.

This will of course be the third collaboration between Park and Lee, with the actor having previously worked in the prolific director's breakout early feature “Jsa: Joint Securiry Area” as well as his segment “Box” in the horror anthology “Three… Extremes”. While this will be the first time Son Ye-jin...

Stars: Lee Je Hoon, Hong Xa Bin, Koo Kyo-Hwan, Esom, Song Kang | Written by Kwon Sung Hui | Directed by Lee Jong-Pil

The Dmz is a lethal no man’s land that divides the Korean Peninsula. For South Korea, it’s a first line of defence against an invasion from the North. For North Korea, it’s a last measure to stop its citizens who try to escape from the country. Sergeant Lim Kyu Nam is stationed on the north side of it, but not for much longer. His ten-year enlistment is almost up. But he isn’t going home, he’s planned out an escape to the South, where he at least has a chance to live the life he dreams of.

Unfortunately, Dong-hyuk discovers his plans and tries to make his own escape. When he tries to stop him, they both get caught and accused of desertion. The only...

Rights to “I, The Executioner,” which will premiere as a Midnight Screening at the Cannes Film Festival this year, have been picked up by South Korea’s Cj Enm.

The crime-action film directed by Ryu Seung-wan (also written Ryoo Seung-wan) is a sequel to Ryu’s 2015 hit “Veteran” and in Korea goes by the title “Veteran 2.”

Few details of the story have yet been disclosed, but Cj describes the film as “combining Ryu’s trademark action with observations and messages about social change.” Ryu last year enjoyed major box office success with crime comedy “Smugglers.”

Hwang Jung-min, who recently enjoyed box office success in “12.12: The Day,” reprises his role from “Veteran.” He is joined in the sequel by Jung Hae-in (“Tune in for Love”) as a new member of the film’s Violent Crime Investigation Squad.

“I, The Executioner” was produced by Filmmaker R & K, the production shingle owned...

Echelon Studios, in collaboration with 815 Pictures, has officially picked up US distribution rights to Kim Sung-su's latest feature and box office hit, 12:12 The Day.

The historical action drama broke records last year, grossing $90m to become Korea's biggest film of 2023. Since its release, the box office sensation has received rave reviews from critics and left a lasting impression with audiences, and currently leads nominations at this year's Asian Film Awards, including Best Film, Best Director, and Best Actor.

Based on true events, 12:12 The Day is set against the backdrop of the real-life military coup that took place on 12 December 1979, which resulted in an eight-year military junta in South Korea. The film stars Hwang Jung-min (Deliver Us from Evil), Jung Woo-sung (Asura: The City of Madness), Lee Sung-min (The Spy Gone North), Park Hae-joon (Believer), Kang Gil-woo (Netflix Original The Glory), and Jung Hae-in (Netflix Original D.

North American Digital Release

North American digital distributor Echelon Studios has come on board “12.12: The Day,” the highest grossing film from Korea last year.

The film has been on theatrical release in North America, through 815 Pictures since last year and grossed over $1 million. Echelon said that the film will have a streaming release later this year. It will also be available to pre-order to own on iTunes, Apple TV, Google Play, YouTube Movies, Vudu, Vimeo OnDemand and OnDemand Korea shortly.

Directed by Kim Sung-su and with a Korean gross exceeding $90 million, the action drama is based on true events in December 1979, which resulted in an eight-year military junta in South Korea.

The film stars Hwang Jung-min (“Deliver Us from Evil”), Jung Woo-sung (“Asura: The City of Madness”), Lee Sung-min (“The Spy Gone North”), Park Hae-joon (“Believer”), Kang Gil-woo (Netflix series “The Glory”), and Jung Hae-in (Netflix’s “D.P.”).

Treasure Island...

Two Taiwan-based production companies with features in this week’s Berlin Film Festival have joined forces to launch new venture, Long Hu Bao × An Attitude.

Taiwan’s Yi Tiao Long Hu Bao International Entertainment, is one of eight co-producers on main competition film “Shambhala,” from Nepal’s Min Bahadur Bham.

Yi Tiao Long Hu Bao is also one of three co-producers on Brazilian title “Sleep With Your Eyes Open” (aka “Dormir de olhos abertos”) directed by Nele Wohlatz, which debuts in Berlin’s Encounters section.

While the two companies will remain legally separate, the collaboration also brings together Lee Lieh, Roger Huang, and Justine O., three of Taiwan’s most experienced producers. They aim to continue their expansion into international co-productions and span both film and TV.

“We see it as three generations of producers becoming a strong alliance that joins together the resources of Asia – Edward Yang’s Taiwanese new wave,...

Parasite producer Barunson E&a has a new CEO.

Yoonhee Choi has stepped in to take over from Gene Hong (Brian) Park and Kwak Sin Ae. She has been with Barunson E&a since 2021, when she was hired as Managing Director and was upped to COO in April last year.

Choi was previously at Cj Enm, serving as head of international sales for films such as the Barunson E&a-produced Oscar winner Parasite and The Spy Gone North and producer of titles such as Seobok, Hard Hit and Nothing Serious.

Barunson E&a’s upcoming slate also includes the next two features from Parasite director Bong Joon-ho and as well as projects from directors Kim Sung-hoon and Um Tae-hwa.

Since October 2022, it has been expanding its global footprint by launching International sales and production / financing arms, securing sales rights to its first non-Korean film, Giddens Ko’s Miss Shampoo, and investing in Indonesian thriller 13 Bombs,...

Yoonhee Choi has been named CEO at Barunson E&a, the South Korean sales and production outfit that is heading to this week’s European Film Market with major international expansion ambitions.

Choi joined the company in 2021 as managing director, overseeing domestic and international operations, and was promoted to COO in April 2023. She was previously head of international sales at Cj Enm, where she worked for eight years, leading overseas distribution of films such as Parasite, The Handmaiden and The Spy Gone North.

She takes over the role from Gene Hong (Brian) Park and Kwak Sin Ae.

Barunson E&a is...

Japanese filmmaker Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s latest feature, Evil Does Not Exist, and the period action pic 12.12: The Day, from Korea, lead the nominations at this year’s Asian Film Awards.

Both films received six nominations, including Best Film and Best Director. Directed by Kim Sung-soo, whose credits include Asura: The City Of Madness and The Flu, 12.12: The Day is set against the backdrop of the real-life military coup of 1979, which resulted in an eight-year military junta in South Korea. The cast includes Hwang Jung-min (The Wailing), Jung Woo-sung (Asura: The City Of Madness), and Lee Sung-min (The Spy Gone North). Released on November 22, the film sailed past the 12 million admissions mark at the Korean box office over the Christmas holiday period, becoming the highest-grossing film of 2023 in the market.

Hamaguchi’s Evil Does Not Exist — which debuted out of Venice — follows Takumi and his daughter Hana, who live...

Korean historical action drama 12.12: The Day has grossed $90.5M and sailed past the 12 million admissions mark at the Korean box office over the Christmas holiday period to become the highest grossing film of 2023.

Released on November 22, the film overtook The Roundup: No Way Out in both admissions and revenue terms on Christmas Day. It marks the first time in four years since the release of Oscar-winning drama Parasite that a non franchise local title has crossed 12 million admissions.

Disney’s Elemental is the third highest grossing film of 2023 in Korea, grossing $54M from 7.2 million admissions following its June 2023 release.

Directed by Kim Sung-soo, whose credits include Asura: The City Of Madness and The Flu, 12.12: The Day is set against the backdrop of the real-life military coup of 1979, which resulted in an eight-year military junta in South Korea. The cast includes Hwang Jung-min (The Wailing), Jung Woo-sung (Asura: The City Of Madness...

The historial action drama has become the biggest film of 2023 at the local box office.

Historical action drama 12.12: The Day has surpassed 12 million admissions and $90m at the South Korea box office as of today (January 2), according to the Korea Box-office Information System (Kobis).

The Korean film has been revitalising the local box office, where the only stand-out hit of 2023 had been Don Lee’s crime action franchise film The Roundup: No Way Out, with 10.6 million admissions and $79.8m.

12.12: The Day, released by Plus M Entertainment on November 22, ended the year with more than 11.8 million admissions and $88m,...

Box office in South Korea has faced a challenging 2023.

Korean drama 12.12: The Day has taken a strong $11.2m on its opening weekend in South Korea, delivering a shot of optimism to the local box office in the wake of a challenging year.

The film, distributed by Plus M Entertainment, comfortably claimed the number one slot and has taken $14.1m since its release on November 22. It has recorded nearly 1.9 million admissions to date and accounted for 80% of all tickets sold across its opening period.

Based on events that took place in the chaotic time after dictator Park Chung-hee was assassinated...

Right from his debut feature “Runaway” in 1995, Kim Sung-su has established two things vehemently: he can work with big stars and he can work on a big budget quite effectively. Starting with a then-young but nonetheless impressive Lee Byung-hun, he has since gone on to work with the likes of Lee Jung-jae, Jung Woo-sung, Hwang Jung-min and even Zhang Ziyi in a rare Korean production appearance. Since his last two works, he has also established that he is also adept at working with an ensemble cast, with both “The Flu” and the highly impressive “Asura: The City of Madness” having an extensive and impressive cast-list. Seven years since “Asura: The City of Madness”, Kim returns to the big screen and with a couple actors he has worked with for “12.12: The Day”, a political thriller based on recent Korean history.

Synopsis

On December 1979, Seoul had been enduring a harsh winter before the upcoming spring.

Horror comedy is directed by Nam Dong-hyub.

Korean sales company Contents Panda is to launch sales on horror comedy Handsome Guys at the Asian Contents & Film Market (Acfm) in Busan.

The film stars Lee Sung-min and Lee Hee-jun, who both starred in Woo Min-ho’s The Man Standing Next – South Korea’s entry to the Oscars in 2021. Lee Sung-min is also known for his role in Yoon Jong-bin’s Cannes 2018 title The Spy Gone North. The cast also includes Gong Seung-yeon (Aloners).

A first look at the feature can be seen above.

It marks the feature directorial debut of Korea’s Nam Dong-hyub,...

Kim Chang-hoon’s feature directorial debut plays in Un Certain Regard.

Korea’s Plus M Entertainment has sold Cannes Un Certain Regard title Hopeless to a raft of territories led by Japan (Happinet) and France (Bac Films).

The first feature from director Kim Chang-hoon stars top Korean actor Song Joong-ki of TV’s Reborn Rich and rising actor Hong Xa-bin. The latter plays a teenager who is sucked into the violent world of a local thug.

The film has also sold to Taiwan (MovieCloud), Hong Kong (Edko Films), India (Mvp Entertainment), the Philippines (Viva Communications), Thailand (Sahamongkolfilm International), Vietnam (Lotte Entertainment Vietnam), Singapore,...

South Korea’s K-Movie Entertainment has closed a slew of deals on basketball comeback drama Rebound led by Signal Pictures for the UK, Australia and New Zealand.

The film also sold to Taiwan (Movie Cloud), Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam and Thailand (Clover Films), Philippines (888 Films International), in-flight (Encore), Cis (Kinologistika), Mongolia (The Filmbridge) and Hong Kong (Disney Hong Kong).

Written by Kwon Sung-hui (The Spy Gone North) and Kim Eun-hee (Netflix’s Kingdom), the film is based on a true story of the miraculous comeback by Busan’s Jung-Ang High School basketball team.

Directed by Chang Hang-jun (Forgotten), it...

Warning! This article contains Spoilers for Operation Fortune.Operation Fortune has just been released after several delays, and while delays may negatively impact the film's success, it was ultimately a smart decision. The 2023 movie is the new Guy Ritchie-directed release, and it's typically full of outrageous one-liners, eccentric characters, and over-the-top violence. It follows an elite spy, Orson Fortune (Jason Statham), who attempts to intercept a deadly weapons trade involving a billionaire arms broker (Hugh Grant). Unfortunately, though it sees Ritchie returning to what he does best, the film has a "rotten" 52 percent on Rotten Tomatoes and hasn't performed that well worldwide either (via Box Office Mojo).

The new spy movie was released in Europe before its domestic release, and it only made $30 million. Of all of Guy Ritchie's exciting upcoming shows and movies, the Operation Fortune movie simply couldn't find an audience. However, that might not have been...

Jamie Lee Curtis referred to herself as a “nepo baby” as she revealed the show that she was once fired from during this year’s SAG Awards.

On Sunday, the awards ceremony began with celebrities giving brief monologues to introduce themselves, also referred to as “I am an actor” speeches. Curtis began her speech by reflecting on the first programme she worked on, after she got her “card” as a member of the Screen Actors Guilds, at the age of 19.

“I signed a seven-year contract to Universal Studios and starred in an ABC TV series called Operation Petticoat,” she said. “Which was based on a movie that my father, Tony Curtis (nepo baby) starred in.”

“I was fired from that TV show, a year later, and I thought my life was over,” she continued.

However, Curtis then acknowledged the silver lining in that situation, adding: “If I hadn’t been fired from Operation Petticoat,...

This weekend, Netflix is adding a documentary series, the third season of a popular action mystery TV series, and a comedy horror movie. Last weekend, Netflix brought the Koren drama series Mr. Queen, the Malaysian action movie Possessed/Rasuk, the action thriller movie 2 Guns, the horror movies 47 Meters Down: Uncaged and Ouija, the Bollywood movie Cirkus, and the historical drama The Woman King, along with the Mexican comedy-drama movie All The Places, the documentary series Full Swing, the British horror drama TV series Red Rose, and the Polish sci-fi romance TV series A Girl and an Astronaut.

This weekend, the streaming giant will see the arrival of the World War II drama Operation Finale, season 1 of the Korean romantic drama Summer Strike, the Filipino rom-com An Inconvenient Love, season 2 of Nickelodeon’s That Girl Lay Lay, season 13 of The Real World, and a special look at the making of...

Ahead of the film’s market premiere at Berlin’s European Film Market, Beta Cinema has announced first deals for “Operation Napoleon” to France (Mediawan), Spain (Twelve Oaks), Poland (Hagi Film), Former Yugoslavia (MegaCom), Japan (Tohokushinsha) and Taiwan (Av-Jet).

The English-language thriller is based on the eponymous best-selling novel by Icelandic crime author Arnaldur Indriðason and stars Icelandic newcomer Vivian Ólafsdóttir (“It Hatched”) and Iain Glen, best known for his role as Dr. Alexander Isaacs in the “Resident Evil” film series and as Ser Jorah Mormont in “Game of Thrones.”

The sweeping story takes us from modern Iceland to America and Nazi Germany at the end of World War II. It centers on young Icelandic lawyer Kristin, who gets drawn into the vortex of an international conspiracy when she receives grainy footage of an old airplane wreck, recently revealed by the melting of one of Iceland’s largest glaciers.

The...

The elite Inferno Squad is making its return, as Darth Vader is calling it back into action. The Star Wars: Bounty Hunters comic series will bring back the fan-favorite Battlefront II team with a new mission, showing how Star Wars' bounty hunters always find a way to get into bigger and bigger trouble.

StarWars.com has shared solicits for comics that will be released this April, including some new details about the threats Beilert Valance and his companions of deadly Star Wars bounty hunters will be up against. Star Wars: Bounty Hunters #33 will have the creative team of Ethan Sacks and Paolo Villanelli. The cover is illustrated by Giuseppe Camuncoli, with a Lucasfilm Anniversary variant illustrated by Chris Sprouse.

Related: Star Wars' Ultimate Sith Armor Redefines Anakin's Corruption

Darth Vader Wants the Job Done Right

Valance, Bossk, 4-lom, and Zuckuss will be the targets of Inferno Squad, at the order of Darth Vader himself.

Click here to read the full article.

The government of Suriname is considering taking legal action against the producers of Netflix’s new Korean original series Narco-Saints over the way the country is portrayed in the show.

Released globally last week, Narco-Saints is loosely based on real-life events from the early 2000s. The show, titled Suriname in Korea, tells the story of an ordinary entrepreneur who risks his life to join a secret mission to capture a Korean drug lord operating in the Latin American country. The show was created by acclaimed filmmaker Yoon Jong-bin (The Spy Gone North) and stars Ha Jung-woo (Ashfall, Entourage).

But the government of Suriname says Netflix has gone too far in portraying the country as a “narco-state,” with story elements that highlight outdated “crime and cross-border activities” that the people of Suriname have worked hard to expunge.

“Suriname no longer has the image that...

It’s an occassion when a prominent director does a tv series project, in this case Yoon Jong-bin, who brought us hard-hitting hits like ”Nameless Gangster: Rules of the Time” and ”The Spy Gone North”. But it’s another massive occassion when he brings together for the first time two of the biggest Chungmuro actors.

Synopsis

Based on an incresible true story, this is the life-threatening journey of Kang In-gu, a civilian businessman who has no choice but to cooperate with the secret operation of the National Intelligence Service to catch Jeon Yo-hwan, the Korean drug lord who has taken control of Suriname.

Yoon Jong-bin has managed quite a casting coup for this Netflix series, bringing together Ha Jung-woo (who he worked with on ”Nameless Gangster: Rules of the Time”) and Hwang Jung-min (his star in “The Spy Gone North”), two of the most bankable Korean superstars and members of elite 100 Million Viewers Club,...

A protester who was snatched off the street by camouflaged government agents and shoved into an unmarked minivan during the federal crackdown on Black Lives Matter demonstrations in Portland has filed a lawsuit claiming her core constitutional rights were violated.

In mid-July 2020, Evelyn Bassi got swept up in one of the darkest episodes of the Trump administration when she was grabbed by armed federal agents, detained in a van against her will, and frisked before ultimately being let go. Her new lawsuit claims that her “illegal abduction” was feature of...

Colin Firth as Ewen Montagu and Matthew Macfadyen as Charles Cholmondeley, in Operation Mincemeat. Photo Credit: Giles Keyte/See-Saw Films, Courtesy of Netflix

“Truth is stranger than fiction” stories are often the best, and the true story behind the British WWII tale Operation Mincemeat is plenty strange, and surprisingly impressive in its audacity and brilliant execution. Colin Firth (The King’S Speech) and Matthew Macfadyen star as a pair of WWII British intelligence agents with an odd idea for a ruse to plant false information, aimed at Hitler, about a planned Allied invasion of Nazi-occupied Europe, using a most unlikely spy: a dead man. Director John Madden’s thriller Operation Mincemeat inevitably has the potential for gallows humor, given that outrageous idea, but it is also a tale about an impressive intelligence operation that actually took place and, moreover, played a pivotal role in the war. Add in the fact that...

Divorce is difficult, even when it's pretend. At least according to Claire Foy and Paul Bettany, who play the Duke and Duchess of Argyll as they go through their explosive divorce in Prime Video and BBC's A Very British Scandal. In an exclusive chat with E! News, the performers revealed that several scenes in the series—which is a follow-up to 2018's A Very English Scandal starring Hugh Grant and Ben Whishaw—were hard to undertake. "There was lots that was hard to film, actually, because there was quite a lot of navigating the right tone to get," Foy explained. "It's quite difficult when you're filming an entire relationship." A Very British...

Espionage action film marks directorial debut of ‘Squid Game’ star Lee Jung-jae.

South Korea’s Megabox Plus M is launching its Cannes sales slate led by Midnight Screenings title Hunt, directed by Squid Game star Lee Jung-jae in his directorial debut.

Having starred in numerous TV and film titles such as Im Sang-soo’s The Housemaid, selected for Cannes in 2010, the actor will now be eligible for the festival’s Camera d’or with his first feature as a director.

His period espionage action film stars Lee with Jung Woo-sung as two unit chiefs in the Korean Central Intelligence Agency.

Bridgerton‘s second season may have just dropped on Netflix, but the show’s already been picked up for Seasons 3 and 4, which has us wondering, who will be the focus of the next chapter? Season 1 told the love story of Daphne Bridgerton (Phoebe Dynevor) and Duke of Hastings, Simon Basset (Regé-Jean Page), while Season 2 shifted focus to the eldest Bridgerton sibling, Anthony (Jonathan Bailey) and Kate Sharma (Simone Ashley), but who could be next? So far, the Shondaland show has followed the blueprint of Julia Quinn’s novels upon which the show is based, at least when it comes to the love stories. (Credit: Liam Daniel/Netflix) Season 1 covered Quinn’s first book, The Duke and I, and Season 2 was based on Quinn’s second book in the series titled The Viscount Who Loved Me. If Netflix continues to follow suit, the next book on Bridgerton‘s list is Quinn’s third entry,...

Warning: The following contains spoilers for “Bridgerton” Season 2.

When you just can’t find the right words, sometimes it’s best to let the music do the talking and that is certainly the case with “Bridgerton” Season 2, which once again gives us a slew of romantic and even some heartbreaking moments with string covers of hit pop songs.

Season 1 delighted fans by a luxurious escape from the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic when its eight episodes dropped in December 2020, the next month’s news of the show’s renewal was music to the ears of many. Season 2 is set to drop on Netflix March 25, 2022.

Based on Julia Quinn’s romance novel series of the same name, the first season of “Bridgerton” follows Daphne Bridgerton (Phoebe Dynevor), the eldest daughter of the powerful Bridgerton family, as she makes her debut onto Regency London’s competitive marriage market. Hoping to follow in her parents...

Paul Bettany and Claire Foy are sparring as the Duke and Duchess of Argyll in the first trailer for Prime Video’s “A Very British Scandal.”

The drama series, which hails from the creators of “A Very English Scandal,” follows the couple’s divorce in the 1960s, which proved to be one of the most notorious, extraordinary, and brutal legal cases of the 20th century.

Foy plays Margaret, the Duchess of Argyll, who was famed for her beauty and charisma before the Duke (Bettany) exposed her to the press with accusations of forgery, theft, violence, drug-taking, secret recording, bribery, and an explicit Polaroid picture.

The trailer begins with a rather tense interaction between the two in which Bettany’s Duke greets his Duchess with “Hello, Satan.”

“You bastard,” she replies, before the video cuts to their first meeting, where they quickly become enamored of each other. It isn’t long...

It’s 2022 and except for a few films like Candyman, Blacula, Bones, and Us, there is still a frustrating lack of Black horror villains. Jason Voorhees, Freddy Krueger, and Ghostface all have their own successful franchises, but genre film clearly still has a lot of work to do as far as representation and diversity. Filmmaker Bill Posley (Culty) is not only putting in the work, but he also created a unique slasher film with the potential to be the first Black horror franchise. Written by Posley and Jonathan Colomb, and directed by Posley, Bitch Ass, features the first Black masked serial killer, as well as an entirely Black cast, and is having its World Premiere at this year’s SXSW Film Festival.

In Bitch Ass, horror legend Tony Todd (Candyman) is the host of a show called Hood Horror Stories, where he introduces the story of a kid named Cecil,...

Invoking an oft-overlooked canon, actor turned director Bill Posley fabricates a highly entertaining homage to the Black horror of decades past with “Bitch Ass,” a slasher picture set in 1999 aiming to become the heir of cult classics the likes of “Blacula” or “Bones.” Posley’s genuine fondness for his predecessors in the genre is first visible in the perfect casting of Tony Todd, who played the title part in the original 1992 “Candyman,” as a TV horror host — think the famed Elvira, the Cryptkeeper from “Tales from the Crypt,” or Mr. Simms from “Tales from the Hood” — to introduce his

Reveling in an appropriately malevolent laugh, Todd describes Bitch Ass as “the first Black serial killer to don a mask” and then immerses us into his world through an old television set and a VHS tape. Right off the bat, Posley announces his murderous protagonist’s fascination with games of all...

Exclusive: Candyman star Tony Todd wants the world to know he’s not retiring.

Not only is he too busy working on a multitude of projects at any given time, but he also wants to spend more time with his growing family and supporting up-and-coming Black talent like writer Bill Posley. The pair recently collaborated on Posley’s directorial film debut, Bitch Ass, featuring one of the only masked Black serial killers to appear in film.

Deadline has an exclusive clip of Todd as the character Titus Blaq in Bitch Ass above.

Described as Think Don’t Breathe meets Squid Game—but Black, the film is an homage to 90s horror films like Tales From The Hood and People Under the Stairs. It will celebrate its world premiere at SXSW tonight at Alamo Lamar D at 10 p.m.

The film tells the story of Cecil (Tunde Laleye), a normal teenager...

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Baby Yoda might be the cutest little alien in the entire galaxy. If you’ve found yourself falling in love with this tiny green character, you’re certainly not alone. Since his debut on “The Mandalorian” Grogu has emerged as a pop-culture icon. As if the massive balloon at this year’s Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade and countless internet memes weren’t proof enough: Baby Yoda is here to stay.

Because we’re well into the holiday season, we figured it would be a good time to round up some of the Baby Yoda merchandise floating around the web. Below, find a list of the best Baby Yoda toys, sleepwear, dinnerware, and other...

Warning: Contains spoilers for Doctor Who: Flux Episode 3 ‘Once, Upon Time’

Any little pig will tell you that straw is no basis on which to build. Keep that in mind when, in a little bit, it’s put to you that a new mysterious character in Doctor Who might actually be an old mysterious character from Doctor Who on the basis of a straw hat. Fair warning given.

The really silly part of all this is that the straw hat in question is by far the least memorable headwear worn by Doctor Who character The White Guardian. Yes, that’s what he wears in his first on-screen appearance in 1978’s ‘The Ribos Operation’, but by 1983’s ‘Enlightenment’ he’d upgraded quite significantly to a hat made out of bird. Or perhaps it’s more of a wig made out of bird. Or perhaps it’s a pet. Either way, there...

BBC1 And Amazon Round Off ‘Very British Scandal’ Cast

BBC1 and Amazon Studios have rounded off the cast for Sarah Phelps’ upcoming drama A Very British Scandal. The likes of Poldark’s Richard McCabe, Fortitude’s Phoebe Nicholls and Trial of Christine Keeler’s Amanda Drew will join Claire Foy, Paul Bettany and Julia Davis in Blueprint Pictures’ three-part series, which tells of the scandal of the Duke and Duchess of Argyll. It follows 2018’s A Very English Scandal from the same networks and producer, which won multiple awards, was penned by Russell T Davies and starred Hugh Grant and Ben Whishaw. Sony Pictures Television is international distributor of A Very British Scandal.

Film And TV Charity Launches Wellbeing Hub

The Film and TV Charity has launched a wellbeing hub as part of its 12-month mental health campaign. The hub includes a ‘directory of common industry risk factors’ for freelancers,...

”His body of work represents exactly what many British filmmakers aspire to.”

Friends and collaborators in the international film industry reacted with shock and sadness to the sudden death of UK director Roger Michell, who died on Wednesday at the age of 65.

“It is a shock. He was my oldest professional friend,” said UK producer Kevin Loader, who produced six of Michell’s feature films including 2004’s Enduring Love, 2012’s Hyde Park on Hudson and 2013’s Le Week-end, through the duo’s London-based Free Range Films, founded in 1996. “I’d known him for over 30 years. We spoke several times a...

Ever since “Nine Days” filmmaker Edson Oda won the Sundance Film Festival’s Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award in January 2020, the prize has been a great boost of confidence whenever a little imposter syndrome kicks in.

“I keep it on another table so I can see it,” Edson tells Variety over Zoom, pointing at the trophy, which is just off camera. “When I’m writing, and I feel like, ‘Oh, this page sucks,’ I can just look at it and, at least, I have some recognition for writing that keeps me motivated to keep going.”

It makes sense that the budding filmmaker is using every talisman he can get, especially since the last 18 months have been a major test of confidence and patience. Sony Pictures Classics held onto “Nine Days” for more than a year due to the pandemic, waiting until audiences could experience the movie in its full theatrical wonder.

Exclusive: Chuck Labella, former talent executive at NBC, who worked on Donald Trump reality series The Apprentice, has joined Irish producer ShinAwiL as it looks to break into the U.S.

Labella has joined the company as its LA-based executive producer and has been tasked with packaging new shows for U.S. broadcasters and platforms as well as building partnerships with producers and talent.

ShinAwiL is best known for producing Irish versions of international formats such as The Voice, MasterChef, Dragon’s Den and The Apprentice and recently moved in to scripted, overseeing Miss Scarlett and the Duke.

Labella, who exec produced by the Republican National Convention in 2020, spent six years at NBCUniversal, working on shows such as Hollywood Game Night, The Voice, America’s Got Talent and Running Wild with Bear Grylls. After leaving in 2017, he worked on shows such as ABC’s Holey Moley and Fox’s The Masked Singer and before NBC,...

International and indie film distributor Well Go USA Entertainment has acquired North American rights to Korean film Escape From Mogadishu. It will open in theaters in the U.S. and Canada August 6 following a July 28 release in Korea.

The film is based on true events and chronicles the harrowing experience of bitterly opposed North and South Korean diplomats trapped in the city of Mogadishu at the advent of the Somalian civil war in 1991. The dramatic years-long conflict, which exploded following the rebel-led ouster of dictator Mohamed Siad Barre, was introduced to American audiences through blockbuster film Black Hawk Down, which picks up the narrative in war-torn Mogadishu in 1993.

“The film portrays this almost unfathomable event that throws the horrors of war into sharp relief,” said Well Go CEO Doris Pfardrescher. She noted the production team’s careful study of surviving embassy records and historical accounts to create the most realistic possible depiction.

Tense and gripping, “The Man Standing Next” is a powerful political thriller from director Woo Min-ho (“The Drug King”) and starring Lee Byung-hun, which charts one of the most shocking incidents in South Korea’s turbulent history.

It is 1979, and South Korea has been under the absolute domination of President Park’s dictatorship for 18 long years. Kim Gyu-pyeong (Lee Byung-hun), the director of the Korean Central Intelligence Agency (Kcia), has asserted his loyalty to the president despite having his doubts about the leader’s intentions. When the former director of the Kcia flees to America with a time-bomb of government secrets, Kim is sent on a mission to stop the truth in its tracks.

As the government’s web of lies continues to be spun, tensions build, alliances crumble, and the once impenetrable leadership must face the fact that all men, no matter how powerful, must die…

The South Korean nomination for the 2021 Academy Awards,...

The Fantasia International Film Festival is proud to announce the first wave of programming for its upcoming 25th edition, set again to take place as a virtual event accessible to audiences across Canada. The festival will run from August 5 – 25, 2021 and will include scheduled screenings and premieres, panels, and workshops, with films once again hosted on the leading-edge platform created by Festival Scope and Shift72. As the summer approaches, Fantasia organizers will be following advice from local health authorities in Montreal with respect to the possibility of adding a limited range of physical events as well. In celebration of the key role that Japan’s culture has played across Fantasia’s history, the festival’s 25th edition will be featuring an enhanced focus on Japanese cinema.

Following the earlier news of the festival’s opening film, the world premiere of Julien Knafo’s Quebec-set zomcom Brain Freeze starring Roy Dupuis and Iani Bédard,...

Image Source: Getty / Pa Images

Prince Harry and Oprah Winfrey have partnered up as cocreators and executive producers on a new mental health series titled The Me You Can't See. The series will be a "multi-part documentary series focusing on mental illness and mental wellness" and is set to premiere on Apple TV+ on May 21. The aim is to inspire people to be open and honest in conversations surrounding mental health, in an effort to continue ending stigma and helping those work through challenges they may face. Harry is committed to the initiatives and charities he works with to advocate and support those with mental health issues, often sharing his personal experiences. It's no secret that Oprah is also committed to making the world a better place with her charity work.

"We are born into different lives, brought up in different environments, and as a result are exposed to different experiences.

This My Hero Academia review contains spoilers.

My Hero Academia Season 5 Episode 5

“We’re birds of a feather.”

Battles are chaotic and it can be easy to focus on only the immediate danger within them. Survival can give the illusion of strength, but sooner or later this facade crumbles away without the right preparation. “Operation New Improv Moves” is an exciting My Hero Academia episode that presents another grueling fight between the students of Class 1-a and 1-b, but it also speaks to how essential it is to adopt a bird’s eye view perspective. This vantage point, which considers the whole situation and doesn’t get lost in the specifics, proves to be fundamental in not just battle, but also life. Hawks emphasizes this to Fumikage Tokoyami during his internship and it’s a pivotal lesson for his current clash against Class 1-b.

“Operation New Improv Moves” does primarily...

On April 2, Bridgerton fans reacted with dismay when news broke of Regé-Jean Page’s exit from the series—and now, the series’ executive producer Shonda Rhimes has weighed in.

In a Vanity Fair piece on Tuesday, she joined fellow executive producer Betsy Beers in conversation, noting that the reaction isn’t one she would have anticipated. “I was really shocked, because usually that happens when I’ve killed off somebody that’s been around for a while. Like, we didn’t kill him, he’s still alive!” she said. “Every season, our job is finding the right people and putting together this incredible, world-shifting romance. I don’t know that I expected this much of an explosion, given that every book [in the Bridgerton series] is a different romance.”

The reaction left Rhimes wondering: What would the actor’s character, Duke of Hastings Simon Bassett do, if he were to return for Season 2, alongside his romantic interest,...

Regé-Jean Page’s departure from Netflix’s hit series Bridgerton still confounds fans, but Carey Mulligan found the truth, or at least what she thinks is the truth, behind his exit in the latest Saturday Night Live.

Mulligan, who made her SNL hosting debut on Saturday, joined Chris Redd, Aidy Bryant and Kenan Thompson for a trivia-game sketch. Thompson’s half-vaccinated emcee hosted “What’s Wrong With This Picture,” a game where contestants figure what’s off about a number of displayed images.

In the first round, contestants needed to identify that the clock in the featured image displayed letters instead of numbers. However, to the host’s dismay, contestants found incorrect wrong problems with the picture. After two other rounds, the contestants all seemed hopeless – that was until Mulligan’s contestant Sandra finally gave Thompson’s host something to work with.

The final image showed a woman receiving a haircut.