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Quick Links Stealing Antiques Under Seoul in 'Collectors' Possible Sequel for 'Collectors'?

The landscape of Netflix was forever changed in September 2019 by a single decision. In an effort to strengthen its international offerings, the red and black streaming service decided to pick up director, producer, and screenwriter Hwang Dong-hyuk’s dystopian story about a secret and deadly contest. Squid Game was the name and the nine-episode first season made its premiere two years later to an outstanding ovation from both audiences and critics alike.

The story of a downtrodden man who thrusts himself into a deadly version of a children’s game (and conspiracy) quickly garnered immense public response and all sorts of official awards, including Primetime Emmys and Golden Globes. Even with Netflix having a reputation for canceling the fondest of shows, it was pretty clear this thriller wasn’t going anywhere anytime soon. Just as the first did,...

Craft in America returns for its 16th season with a double-header that explores the surprisingly intertwined worlds of craft and science, and the often-overlooked importance of collectors. The first episode, “Science,” examines the intersection of craft with disciplines not typically associated with artistic expression: technology, engineering, biology, and even climate change. It’s a testament to […]

Craft in America “Science” and “Collectors”...

Yes Studios has unveiled the first international clip from the Korean adaptation of its hit global scripted format “Your Honor,” which launches this week.

The first two episodes of the 10-part series just dropped on the KT Genie TV platform and will next roll out on the Korean network Ena later on Monday.

“Your Honor” has already been adapted in 10 international markets, including the U.S., France, Germany, Spain, Italy, Turkey, India, Croatia and Russia. Yes Studios is currently negotiating several more format deals for “Your Honor,” including another in Asia.

Produced by Monster Company (“Han River Police” for Disney+), the Korean adaptation was written by Kim Jae-Hwan and was produced by Kim Yong-Gi. The series’ award-winning directors are Pyo Min-Soo and Yoo Jong-Sun.

The Korean adaptation of “Your Honor” stars Son Hyun-Joo, who plays the leading part as the judge opposite Kim Myung-Min (“Law School”), Kim Do-Hoon (“The Escape of the Seven...

Dune and Star Wars have long been the icons of science fiction in pop culture, though author Frank Herbert believed George Lucas took a lot of inspiration from Dune and blatantly incorporated them in Star Wars.

Dune (2021)

It’s not difficult to see why Herbert would think so because, between the two franchises, there are a lot of similarities. He did not get too specific about which parts he thought were outright copies though it was obvious the resemblances did not fare well with him.

The Parallels Of Star Wars And Dune

A fan from Reddit provided a list of the items that Star Wars supposedly copied from Dune, following Frank Herbert’s speculation.

Princess Leia / Princess Alia Villain is the hero’s father / Villain is the hero’s grandfather Tatooine / Arrakis as desert planets The Sandcrawlers Moisture farmers / Dew collectors Spice Mines of Kessel / Spice as the most prized...

The Busan festival has experienced its share of fandom in previous editions, with everything from frenetic crowds at guest visits in Haeundae, an overflowing Biff Square in Nampodong, through to star-struck teenagers camping in the entrance to the Grand Hotel. None of these are particularly appropriate in the age of Covid and social distancing.

With that in mind, the festival has built what it calls an ‘Actors House,’ a slightly more respectful and arms-length series of encounters between on-screen stars and their public. The series consists of six, more in-depth conversations with successful, younger talent.

They will be sharing stories that have never been heard before, including their acting philosophy and their most memorable scenes, organizers say. The sessions are moderated by Una Beck, the head of Una Labo Actorology.

Highest profile participants are actress Uhm Junghwa and actor Cho Jinwoong, who have established their filmographies across the silver screen and television.

Set to a wonderfully colourful, culturally rich backdrop of Korean heritage sites, “Collectors” should have the tools to be a uniquely interesting, original adventure film. It will certainly be a hit with festival goers, but despite boasting a flashy, showy script and charismatic cast, Park Jung-bae’s directorial debut fails in standing out from a clustered crowd of similar genre flicks, and veers too close to western counterparts such as “Raiders of the Lost Ark” in how it is packaged.

“Collectors” is screening at Fantasia Film Festival

At the heart of the movie is Kang Dong-gu (Lee Je-hoon), an expert in tomb raiding and money hungry individual. Harbouring the surprising skill of being able to track an artefact’s location through tasting soil, he finds himself a wanted man by both the authorities and shady businessmen after stealing a rare golden Buddha statue. Mainly, though, he finds himself the target...

Montreal’s Fantasia International Film Festival got an early 25th birthday present in the form of James Gunn’s “Suicide Squad,” which will receive a special screening on Aug. 4, the day before Fantasia officially kicks off with the world premiere of Julien Knafo’s zombie thriller “Brain Freeze.” Gunn is a long-time friend of the fest, having first attended in 1997 before later returning for the Canadian premiere of his Marvel blockbuster “Guardians of the Galaxy.”

Fantasia also unveiled its second wave of features participating at this year’s festival, joining a raft of titles announced in May, and will announce the rest of its slate in late July along with details on several virtual events and this year’s juries.

New world premieres, joining the a six-pack announced last month, include Ruth Platt’s “Martyrs Lane,” Anna Zaytseva’s feature debut “#Blue_Whale,” Jonathan Rhys Meyers-starrer “Yakuza Princes” from filmmaker Vicente Amorim,...

The sci-fi genre gets a comedic twist in Choi Eun-jong’s film “There is an Alien Here”.

Synopsis

A science-fiction film about the discovery of the existence of a yellow alien who invaded the Earth in a bunker

“There is an Alien Here” is the sophomore feature by Choi Eun-jong, who has previously served as Assistant Director on thrillers like “The Villainess” and “Confession of Murder”. It stars Jo Byeong-gyu (“Idol”), Bae Noo-ri (“Unstoppable”), Lee Hyun-woong (“Collectors”), Tae Hang-ho (“Innocence”), Yoon Jin-young (“Black Money”) and Jeon Jae-hyung (“Unalterable”). It will be releasing in South Korea on February 3rd, 2021.

Cinemas in Korea are trying to adapt to new straitened circumstances as the autumn box office recovery peters out. The Korean market, in normal years the world’s fourth largest theatrical territory, saw aggregate revenues of just $1.44 million over the weekend, according to data from the Korean Film Council’s Kobis service.

The top of the chart was a rerun of the previous weekend, with Korean “Best Friend” taking top place, ahead of local adventure drama “Collectors” and U.S. mystery thriller “Run.” But numbers were down in each case. “Best Friend” grossed $526,000, down from $1.03 million in its opening, for a $2.60 million cumulative. “Collectors” earned just $221,000 for a cumulative of $12.0 million. “Run” has $1.99 million earned since Nov. 20.

Weekend numbers dropped for the fourth frame in succession as audiences react to Korea’s coronavirus undulations and film releases dry up. Previous weekends had been worth $2.29 million, $3.77 million and $4.98 million.

Nationwide grosses in November fell to $29.7 million,...