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South Korea’s Hive Filmworks has boarded sales of horror The Abandoned and hip-hop themed Hit Hit Hit and will debut both to international buyers here in Hong Kong.

The Abandoned marks the latest from filmmaker Kwak Jieong-duk, known as the director of 2023 action-adventure Night Of The Assassin and co-writer of 2019 blockbuster Ashfall.

The story revolves around friends of a thrill-seeking YouTuber who go looking for him after he disappears at one of Korea’s most-haunted places, only to discover disturbing footage of themselves while unravelling the mystery. Partially shot as a found-footage film, the cast includes Jung In-sun (Han Gong-ju), Lee Gyu-hyun,...

March is set to be a big month for Hulu, with a packed lineup of movies and shows heading to the streaming service. Things kick off on March 1 with a huge drop of over 50 films, including some major fan favorites.

Sci-fi lovers have plenty to look forward to as Hulu adds nearly the entire Alien franchise to its catalog. Viewers will be able to stream Alien, Aliens, Alien 3, Alien: Resurrection, Alien vs. Predator, Alien: Covenant, and Prometheus. Prey and Alien: Romulus are already available, so this update brings the full saga together in one place.

For those more interested in award-winning dramas, March 1 also brings several critically acclaimed films, including American Hustle, Brooklyn, Jojo Rabbit, Good Will Hunting, The Social Network, and Sideways.

The Oscars will also be a major event on Hulu this month. The streaming service will air the live broadcast of the Academy Awards on March...

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Hulu is ready with an entertainment-packed March this year. The upcoming month will see the release of the brilliant crime comedy-drama series Deli Boys and the streaming release of the award-winning film Anora. Just like every month, Hulu is ready to overload you with great content. So, we’re here to tell you about the 7 new movies and TV shows coming to Hulu in March 2025.

Deli Boys Season 1 (March 6) Credit – Hulu

Deli Boys is an upcoming crime dark comedy-drama series created by Abdullah Saeed. The Hulu series follows two Pakistani American brothers who are suddenly put in charge of the family-owned convenience store after their father suddenly dies. They soon realize that their father was mixed up in some dangerous criminal activities, and now they must take up his mantle to continue the family business. Deli Boys stars Asif Ali,...

Following the release of the critically acclaimed, Academy Award-winning monster epic Godzilla Minus One, writer, director, and visual effects supervisor Takashi Yamazaki will return to helm another outing featuring the iconic kaiju. The studio behind the Godzilla franchise, Toho, took to social media today to reveal an Emergency Announcement, which states that A New Godzilla Film is now in production, with Takashi Yamazaki once again writing, directing, and providing VFX for this next installment in the beloved series.

Godzilla Minus One was released theatrically in Japan to huge success back in November last year, with Toho's American subsidiary, Toho International, releasing the movie in the U.S. in December. The Godzilla outing is the 37th installment in the long-running franchise and finds the iconic beast tormenting post-war Japan. Already devastated by the war, a new crisis emerges in the form of the giant monster. It has not yet been confirmed...

Dwayne Johnson has a behemoth physique that many bodybuilding enthusiasts dream of possessing but he is not alone in the world. The actor once stumbled upon a picture of South Korean star, Ma Dong-seok aka Mavely, and The Rock could not help but challenge him to arm wrestle.

Dwayne Johnson in Rampage. Credit: New Line

Dong-seok rose to prominence and caught global attention following his 2016 zombie horror flick Train to Busan starring alongside Gong Yoo in the Yeon Sang-ho-directed movie. The actor made his Hollywood debut with Marvel Studios’ Eternals which stars Angelina Jolie and Salma Hayek.

Dwayne Johnson Challenged Ma Dong-seok to Arm Wrestle Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson as the Final Boss. Credit: WWE

Dwayne Johnson is a wrestling legend and has been associated with WWE for decades. The part-time wrestler and actor once challenged South Korean action star Ma Dong-seok after seeing a gym photo of him fleshing out his huge arms.

South Korea’s Contents Panda has sold omnibus horror thriller Tarot to a raft of distributors across Asia on the eve of the Cannes market.

The anthology feature has been picked up for Taiwan (Long Shong), Mongolia (Filmbridge), Indonesia (Pt Prima) and Vietnam (Cj Cgv Vietnam)

Parasite star Cho Yeo-jeong is among the cast of the film, in which people have sinister experiences after receiving tarot cards. Comprising seven short stories, it marks the feature directing debut of Choi Byong-gil, who previously worked with actress Cho on TV series High Class. The cast also includes Ko Kyu-pil of box-office hit...

“Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes” opened in second place at the South Korean weekend box office, a distance behind local holdover title “The Roundup: Punishment.”

“Punishment,” the fourth part of Don Lee’s “Roundup” action franchise, dominated proceedings for the third weekend in succession. It earned $5.53 million and advanced its cumulative total to $67.7 million, according to Kobis, the tracking service operated by the Korean Film Council (Kofic). Its earnings represented a still strong 58% share of the weekend theatrical market, but they were also down by 60% week-on-week, suggesting that “Punishment” may not reach the heights of the previous franchise elements.

In 2022, “The Roundup” earned $95.7 million (using current rates of currency exchange), while last year “The Roundup: No Way Out” earned $76.3 million.

“Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes” recorded $2.45 million between Friday and Sunday with a 26% market share. Over its full five-day opening in Korea, the film earned $3.10 million from 415,000 ticket sales.

Locally-produced crime action thriller “The Roundup: Punishment” dominated the South Korea box office for a second weekend. In contrast, Hollywood’s “The Fall Guy” opened softly in third place.

Data from Kobis, the tracking service operated by the Korean Film Council (Kofic), showed “The Roundup: Punishment” grossed $13.8 million between Friday and Sunday, earned from 1.92 million ticket sales.

That represented a huge 83% market share over the weekend, albeit down from 92% a week earlier. The second weekend score also represented a 33% week-on-week decline. The film has earned $55.8 million, including earnings from a smattering of previews a weekend earlier. The running total came from an aggregate 7.96 million spectators.

That makes “The Roundup Punishment” the second highest-scoring film this year and, after just 12 days play, it is already the seventh best performing film in Korea since the beginning for the pandemic era. Two of the titles currently ahead of “Punishment” are its franchise predecessors...

The Beast Cop, Ma Seok-do, punched his way onto the screen and into our hearts with 2017's “The Outlaws”. Since then, as the feature's popularity and the star of its leading man Man Dong-seok raised, the singular production became a franchise and Ma Seok-do has ended up becoming an iconic character for the actor, who now returns to our screens for his fourth case in “The Roundup: Punishment”.

“The Roundup: Punishment” is released by Capelight Pictures

It's 2018 and while investigating the death of an app developer in Philippines in connection to a drugs case, detective Ma Seok-do's and his team uncover a huge illegal online gambling organisation. The man behind the organisation is closer to home, the rich genius It CEO Chang Dong-chul, who plans on becoming even richer with the introduction of his new cryptocurrency. He needs, though, his partner, the ruthless knife-wielding killer Baek Chang-gi to keep a...

“The Roundup: Punishment,” the fourth film in the Don Lee-starring crime action franchise, earned $20.9 million between Friday and Sunday and punched out all competition at the South Korean box office.

“Challengers,” which headed the box office this weekend in North America, with $15 million, opened fourth in Korea a 0.5% market share.

Global cinema data service, Comscore reported that “Punishment” was the top-scoring film worldwide with $24.4 million earned from collections in six territories. It was narrowly ahead of “Challengers” which earned $24.0 million from 53 markets.

“Punishment” accounted for a crushing 94% market share in Korea and collected its weekend haul from 2.92 million ticket sales, according to data from Kobis, the tracking service operated by the Korean Film Council (Kofic).

The film opened officially on Wednesday, when it scored $4.92 million, and followed that with a $3.25 million Thursday. Including the weekday takings and a smattering of previews from the previous weekend, the film finished Sunday with a cumulative of $29.3 million,...

Korean comedy action film “The Roundup: Punishment” destroyed all competition in local theaters on its Wednesday opening day.

The film earned $4.92 million from 821,000 ticket sales, according to data from Kobis, the tracking service operated by the Korean Film Council (Kofic). That represented a crushing 97% share of the day’s theatrical market.

Including a smattering of previews over the latest weekend, the film finished Wednesday with a cumulative of $5.26 million earned from 862,000 spectators.

Earlier, it was reported that the film had broken the Korean record for advanced ticket sales. On the eve of its arrival in cinemas, the film had notched up 830,000 pre-sales for Wednesday and other subsequent days. That comfortably exceeded previous record-holder “Along With the Gods: The Last 49 Days,” which pre-sold 646,000 tickets in 2018, and last year’s “The Roundup: No Way Out,” which pre-sold 640,000 before arriving in cinemas.

The film, which sees a tough-guy cop go after gangsters involved in drugs,...

The Roundup: Punishment, the fourth film in the blockbuster Korean franchise, has set a new all-time opening day presales record in its home market. Releasing there today, the crime actioner that stars and is executive produced by Ma Dong-seok (aka Don Lee), had amassed over 834,000 ticket reservations as of Wednesday morning local time, accounting for 95.5% of all sales, according to local reports.

This tops the franchise’s own best presales of 640K for 2023’s The Roundup: No Way Out which went on to gross $76.4M in the market. It is also bigger than 2018’s Along with the Gods: The Last 49 Days’ 646K in presales; the previous record holder which also starred Lee, Abo Entertainment told local media citing figures from the Korean Film Council. It’s also well above the opening day presales of Hollywood titles in the market this year.

The latest installment in the series was in previews on Wednesday,...

Two months after revealing its Korean slate for 2024, Disney+ has unveiled another series from the country. Titled Low Life, the show will premiere on the platform next year and Hulu in the U.S.

The series will star veteran actor Ryu Seungryong (Moving) and Yang Sejong (Doona!). Set in 1970s Korea, the story follows a fisherman as he discovers a treasure lost for generations at the bottom of the ocean. Taking a small part of it home for himself, word soon begins to spread about the vast fortune waiting to be claimed by those brave enough to risk the depths. Desperate to escape his depressing life, Oh Heedong (Yang) partners with his uncle Oh Gwanseok (Ryu) in an attempt to reach the treasure before the rest of the world.

This title is part of Disney+ strategic push in Asia Pacific to develop original content in Korea. The streamer has been...

"I promise I'll catch them all." Blue Fox Ent. & Capelight Pictures have revealed the official US trailer for an action movie from Korea titled The Roundup: Punishment, which is the fourth movie in The Roundup series. It first launched with The Outlaws in 2017, continuing with The Roundup (2022) and The Roundup: No Way Out (2023) and now this one is ready to rock. As Detective Ma Seok-do pursues a drug trafficking app's elusive developer, he uncovers a deadly link to a vast online gambling syndicate (in the world of cyber crime), triggering an unprecedented alliance to take down the masterminds. The Roundup: Punishment was directed by Heo Myeong-haeng, a stunt choreographer who also worked on Don Lee's breakout hit Train to Busan. The Roundup 4 stars Korea's favorite Don Lee returning as Ma Seok-do, plus Kim Moo-yul, Park Ji-hwan, and Lee Dong-hwi. This has also received some positive reviews like the other three,...

Korean supernatural drama Exhuma is continuing to prove a box office smash in its home market and is now replicating that success in territories across Asia.

The film led the South Korea box office for a sixth consecutive weekend from March 29-31, taking $3.07m from 418,000 admissions, according to Kobis, the Korean Film Council’s box office tracking system.

As of today (April 2), the cumulative box office in the territory is $78.5m from just over 11 million admissions. It easily positions Exhuma as the biggest film of the year to date in South Korea, three times ahead of Wonka in second place with $25.1m from 3.5 million admissions.

South Korean supernatural thriller Exhuma has passed the 10 million admissions mark at the local box office, cementing its blockbuster status in the country.

The film led the South Korea box office for a fifth consecutive weekend, grossing $4.56m from 618,000 tickets from March 22-24, according to Kobis, the Korean Film Council’s box office tracking system.

It takes Exhuma’s total box office to date to $73.4m from 10.2 million admissions, comfortably positioning it as the most successful title in South Korea this year to date, ahead of Wonka in second place on $25.1m from 3.5 million admissions.

However, it still has some...

Locally-produced horror-drama “Exhuma” held on to top spot at the South Korea cinema box office for a fifth consecutive weekend.

Its complete dominance of the market kept “Exhuma” comfortably ahead of the holdover “Dune 2” and a couple of lower-powered new releases and allowed its running total to surpass 10 million ticket sales. That is the conventional measure of a blockbuster in Korea, a country with a population of roughly 50 million.

Over the latest weekend “Exhuma” sold 618,000 tickets for a gross revenue of $4.56 million and a market share of 56%, according to data from Kobis, the database operated by the Korean Film Council (Kofic).

The latest increment gives the film a total of $73.4 million earned from 10.2 million admissions. While that landmark was achieved by five films in 2019, it has only been passed four times since the beginning of the Covid pandemic. And while “Exhuma” still has a long way to catch “12.12: The Day...

Godzilla Minus One makes history by winning the first Oscar for visual effects in the franchise's 38 movies. The film was met with critical acclaim and box office success, grossing over $100 million worldwide and breaking records. Director Takashi Yamazaki's Godzilla outing has a "certified fresh" rating of 98% on Rotten Tomatoes.

Godzilla fans have taken to social media to celebrate the historical win of last year’s Godzilla Minus One, which took home Best Visual Effects at last night’s 96th Academy Awards. Godzilla Minus One is now the first Godzilla installment ever in the long-running franchise's 38 movies to win an Oscar, and fans of the legendary kaiju could not be more pleased for the visual effects team.

Many have also noted the incredible rise of Godzilla Minus One, with one fan saying the movie “went from, ‘wait this exists?,’ to, ‘wait this is awesome why isn’t it being promoted?...

“Exhuma,” a locally produced occult drama-thriller, expanded its domination of the South Korea box office on its second week of release. That left the newly-released “Dune 2” several sand dunes behind in second place.

“Exhuma,” about two shaman, a feng shui master and a mortician who attempt to undo the mysterious events happening to a U.S.-based Korean family, earned $17.2 million between Friday and Sunday, representing a 69% share of the overall box office market.

Unusually, its second weekend performance was also 19% higher than its opening score of $14.5 million a week earlier. That gave “Exhuma” a $43.5 million total since its debut in theaters on Feb. 22, according to data from Kobis, the tracking service operated by the Korean Film Council (Kofic).

Its 11-day total makes “Exhuma” the top-grossing Korean film of the year, overtaking “Wonka” on $23.8 million. In terms of admissions, which Korea uses to prepare film ranking charts, “Exhuma” sold...

The shortest distance between two points is popularly believed to be a straight line. But if one of those points is the chin, cheekbone or torso of some sneering and/or psychotic Korean gangster, the shortest route is actually the arc described by either one of Korean megastar Don Lee’s fists, here playing the fists of Detective Ma, protagonist of the ludicrously watchable “Roundup” series.

“The Roundup” and “The Roundup: No Way Out” the first two sequels to 2017’s “The Outlaws,” seemed to inch a little closer each time to the platonic ideal of star-driven action-franchise purity. Now, with Lee (aka Ma Dong-seok) and his fists directed by Heo Myeong-haeng, a stunt choreographer who worked on Lee’s breakout “Train to Busan,” the fourth episode gets closer still. “The Roundup: Punishment” minimizes unnecessary originality, while gloriously maximizing the opportunities for Lee to crack wise, or look aggrieved and a little bored,...

South Korean star Don Lee has revealed that four more films are being planned for the hit Roundup franchise and confirmed he is lined up to return to the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

The action star is in Berlin with The Roundup: Punishment, which will receive its world premiere tonight (February 23) as a Berlinale Special Gala.

It is the fourth instalment in a series that began with The Outlaws in 2017 before sequel The Roundup became the top grossing film at the Korean box office in 2022 with takings of nearly $100m (KRW131.3bn) – bringing audiences back to cinemas post-pandemic – and The Roundup: No Way Out...

South Korean action film The Roundup: Punishment has been sold to a string of key territories including the US by sales agent K-Movie Entertainment, ahead of its world premiere at the Berlinale.

Deals have been closed for North America and Germany (Capelight Pictures), the UK, Australia and New Zealand (Signal Pictures), Italy (Tucker Film), Japan (Happinet Phantom Studios), Hong Kong and Macau (Edko Films), Southeast Asia (Clover Films), Taiwan (Moviecloud), Vietnam (Lotte Vietnam), India (Indo Overseas Films), Mongolia (Filmbridge), Cis and Baltics (Mauris Film) and inflight (Kairos Distribution).

It marks the fourth in the blockbuster franchise starring Don Lee (aka...

Lotte Cultureworks will launch “Holy Night: Demon Hunters,” likely to be one of the biggest Korean movies of the year, at next month’s European Film Market in Berlin.

The occult-themed action movie stars Don Lee, the Korean-American superstar who also fronts “The Roundup” comedy-action franchise. The fourth instalment in that series “The Roundup: Punishment” will have its world premiere in the Berlin festival’s Berlinale Special section, with Lee expected to be in attendance, giving Lotte some additional momentum with the new title launch.

“Holy Night: Demon Hunters” sees Seoul descend into chaos as a devil-worshipping criminal network takes control. In a desperate plea for salvation, the police are forced to enlist Holy Night, a trio of demon hunters armed with supernatural powers.

The cast also includes Seohyun (real name Seo Ju-hyun) of K-pop sensation Girls Generation, who has acting credits in Netflix film “Love and Leashes” and TV series “Private Lives,...

Festival will play upcoming Netflix series Supersex about pornstar Rocco Siffredi.

South Korean action title The Roundup: Punishment and Rose Glass’ Love Lies Bleeding starring Kristen Stewart are among 12 additions to the Berlinale Special line-up, ahead of next month’s Berlin Film Festival (February 15-25).

Directed by Heo Myeong-haeng, Punishment will have its world premiere in Berlin. It is the fourth instalment in The Roundup action franchise, in which Don Lee plays detective Ma Seok-do.

Scroll down for the full list of new Special titles

Third title The Roundup: No Way Out took $69m in just three weeks at the...

Festival will play upcoming Netflix series Supersex about pornstar Rocco Siffredi.

South Korean action title The Roundup: Punishment and Rose Glass’ Love Lies Bleeding starring Kristen Stewart are among 12 additions to the Berlinale Special line-up, ahead of next month’s Berlin Film Festival (February 15-25).

Directed by Heo Myeong-haeng, Punishment will have its world premiere in Berlin. It is the fourth instalment in The Roundup action franchise, in which Don Lee plays detective Ma Seok-do.

Scroll down for the full list of new Special titles

Third title The Roundup: No Way Out took $69m in just three weeks at the...

Hit local titles include ’12.12: The Day’ and ‘The Roundup: No Way Out’.

South Korea’s box office admissions recorded a rise of 11% in 2023, boosted by two local hits, but saw 44.8% fewer cinemagoers than in pre-Covid 2019.

There was a total of 125.1 million admissions in 2023, according to the Korea Box-office Information System (Kobis), demonstrating steady growth year-on-year.

However, with audiences still not returning to cinemas at pre-pandemic levels, the number is a 44.8% decrease from 2019, which was year before the Covid-19 outbreak but also the all-time highest box office year on record in terms of admissions and gross.

Total box office gross...

A strong December for local films helped make up for an otherwise miserable 2023 at the South Korean box office – previously the fifth largest cinema territory worldwide.

And while theatrical markets in other major territories have recovered to reach at or near pre-pandemic levels, Korea finished 44% below 2019.

Data from the Korean Film Council’s Kobis tracking service showed annual gross revenues of KRW1.261 trillion ($964 million at Jan 2024 rates of exchange) in 2023. That represented a gain of 9% on 2022, but it was far below the KRW1.91 trillion ($1.46 billion) recorded in 2019, the last pre-covid year.

The bleak trend was mirrored in terms of attendance or ticket sales, which remains the country’s preferred performance measure. Cinema attendance reached 125 million in 2023, an 11% increase compared with the 113 million recorded in 2022, but 45% below 2019’s 227 million.

Kobis’ monthly data describe a year of peaks and troughs. Powered by holdover title “Avatar: The Way of Water,” 2023 started brightly enough,...

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,...

Fact-based action drama “12.12: The Day” won a fourth weekend at the South Korea box office and became the second highest grossing film of the year.

The political thriller incurred a steep week-on-week drop in takings, managing only $5.89 million in its fourth weekend, compared with $11.4 million in its third. But it still hogged a 72% market share, according to data from Kobis, the tracking service operated by the Korean Film Council (Kofic).

After releasing on Nov. 22, the film now has a cumulative box office of $62.9 million earned from 8.50 million ticket sales. That total means it has overtaken “Elemental” to become the number two film of the year in Korea. The year-to-dater table is still lead by behind summer hit “The Roundup: No Way Out,” with $80.3 million earned from 10.7 million spectators.

The reduced pace of the frontrunner brought the nationwide weekend box office total to a more humdrum $8.18 million, after three weekends above $10 million.

Although the Korean movie industry recently announced that the local box office recovered to 70% of Pre-pandemic Level, largely due to the success of “12.12: The Day” which was released on November 22nd and has earned 7,729,273 admissions by December 14, the situation with local cinema is not exactly hopeful, as a number of key figures and specialists mention. Particularly the fact that the majority of talent, including movie stars and filmmakers seem to move towards the rather more popular dramas, the gap left in the movie industry is felt more than ever. At the same time, though, not everything is all bad, since the mainstream movies still find ways out in festivals, streaming and distribution, while a number of intense social dramas remind of the second reason Korean cinema reached the heights it holds now (apart from crime thrillers).

In any case, here are the best South Korean films of 2023, in reverse order.

Political drama thriller “12.12: The Day” dominated the South Korean box office for a second weekend with a $13 million haul.

Its second weekend outing topped its first session, when it earned $11.2 million, according to data from Kobis, the tracking service operated by the Korean Film Council (Kofic). And the film (aka “Seoul Spring”) increased its share of the weekend’s total cinema market to a crushing 81%.

Separately, ComScore calculated that the film’s single country receipts made it the seventh highest grossing film in the world over the weekend.

After two weekends on release, “12.12: The Day” has garnered $34.2 million, making it already the sixth ranking film in Korea this year and the third biggest Korean-produced picture. On this track, it will overtake “Smugglers” before the next weekend.

In terms of admissions, “12.12: The Day” enjoyed 1.7 million ticket sales over the weekend, for a running total of 4.66 million. The traditional...

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...

Korean drama “12.12: The Day” brought life back to South Korean cinemas with a powerful $11 million opening weekend.

Directed by Kim Sung-soo and starring the reliable Hwang Jung-min and Jung Woo-sung, the film recounts a nine-hour period in 1979 in which a military coup was attempted. It is understood to be based on real events, but with a fictional telling.

It earned $11.2 million between Friday and Sunday accounting for four out of every five tickets sold in the country. Over its five-day opening run it earned $14.1 million.

That is the second highest opening by any film this year, behind only summer hit “The Roundup: No Way Out” and it is expected to achieve two million ticket sales on Monday.

The strong performance lifted the overall box office for the weekend back above $10 million for the first time since the Chuseok holiday in late September and only the second time since the summer.

Toho Studios releases the first trailer for Godzilla Minus One, which finds Japan struggling to survive and fight back against Godzilla after World War II. Godzilla Minus One is the beginning of Toho's plan to create a shared universe for the Godzilla series. Godzilla will continue to play a major role in Legendary Pictures' MonsterVerse, returning alongside King Kong in Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire.

Toho Studios unleash the legendary kaiju that is Godzilla once again in the first trailer for Godzilla Minus One, which you can check out below. Coming courtesy of Toho Studios and Robot, Godzilla Minus One is the 37th film in the Godzilla franchise (the fifth in the Reiwa era), and finds Japan dealing with the monster’s return amid the aftereffect if World War II. Will the devastated people be able to survive... let alone fight back?

“After the war, Japan's economic state has been reduced to zero,...

“Oppenheimer” remained the top performing film in South Korea for the third successive weekend. It earned $2.04 million for a 19-day cumulative total of $22.4 million.

The row of wins for “Oppenheimer” demonstrates again Korean audiences appreciation of top acting skills. But it also exposes the weakened selection of competing titles in the Korean market.

The top-ranked new release title was the drama thriller “Don’t Buy the Seller,” which landed in second position, according to weekend data from Kobis, the tracking service operated by the Korean Film Council (Kofic). It scored just $1.27 million over the weekend and $1.87 million over its opening five days.

That weakness pulled the nationwide cinema box office aggregate below trend and below $10 million for the second successive weekend. Takings across all cinemas between Friday and Sunday were just $7.21 million, down from $9.95 million a week earlier.

Previously, Korean cinemas had enjoyed weekend gross revenues of more than $10 million for the 16 weeks,...

Quebec festival wrapped on August 9.

Talk To Me, the horror hit from Danny and Michael Philippou which has grossed more than $31m in North America and close to $50m worldwide, has been named best international feature in the 2023 Fantasia audience awards.

In other key awards Lee Sang-yong’s South Korean title The Roundup: No Way Out was named best Asian feature, while Shigeyoshi Tsukahara’s Japanese entry Kurayukaba earned best animated feature, and

Satan Wants You from Steve J. Adams and Sean Horlor took the inaugural Dgc Audience Award for Best Canadian Film (narrative or documentary).

The full list of audience award winners appears below.

Ryu Seung-wan’s female-led crime caper “Smugglers” topped the South Korean box office for a second weekend, ahead of new release title “Ransomed.”

“Smugglers” enjoyed a strong hold in its second weekend of release and commanded 42% market share. It delivered $7.09 million, a drop of only 20% on its opening weekend, giving a 12-day cumulative of $26.2 million, according to data from Kobis, the tracking service operated by the Korean Film Council (Kofic).

“Ransomed,” a 1980s-set drama thriller set in Lebanon, follows the travails of a low-ranking Korean diplomat who performs heroics in an attempt to rescue a kidnapped official. The film opened in second place with $3.34 million over the weekend and $5.19 million over its full five-day opening run.

“Elemental,” the Pixar cartoon that has charmed Korea, continued in a strong third place. It earned $2.26 million over the weekend, for a cumulative of $47.5 million. That total means that it has overtaken Japanese animated...

Korea’s box office reached 70% of pre-pandemic levels of revenue in the first half of 2023, according to data released by the Korean Film Council (Kofic).

Korean action film The Roundup: No Way Out was the highest-grossing film of the period – pulling in $82M from 10.68 million admissions – followed by two Japanese animated features, Suzume and The First Slam Dunk, and U.S. titles Avatar: The Way Of Water and Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 3.

Total box office for the period reached $475M (KRW607.8Bn), equivalent to 72.5% of average box office during the January-June period in 2017-2019, before Covid-19 shuttered cinemas and played havoc with release schedules.

As in many other territories, the recovery was partly due to ticket price increases, as admissions totalled 58.39 million, which is only 57.8% of the pre-pandemic average in the same period during 2017-2019.

While the top-grossing film in the first half was Korean, local films achieved only 54% of their pre-pandemic average,...

Margot Robbie, America Ferrera and director Greta Gerwig visited South Korea early on the promotional tour for ‘Barbie’ (without Ryan Gosling). But their charm failed to translate into strong box office performance in the country and the film opened anonymously in fourth place over the weekend.

“Barbie” earned just $1.19 million between Friday and Sunday and $1.91 million over its opening five days, according to data from Kobis, the tracking service operated by the Korean Film Council (Kofic). Worth just 8% of the nationwide weekend total, “Barbie’s” scores were barely better than fellow new release title “Insidious: the Red Door.” That earned $1.17 million between Friday and Sunday and $1.90 million over five days.

Indeed, the weekend’s highest opener, landing in third ahead of “Barbie” and “Insidious,” was Japanese animation title “Detective Conan the Movie: Black Iron Submarine.” Releasing on Thursday, it earned $1.80 million over the weekend and $2.66 million over its opening four days.

Mixing genres as easily as aspect ratios, Killing Romance gives a whirlwind tour of the largely toxic side of Korean culture. Opening this year’s New York Asian Film Festival, the film blends K-pop, animation, reality TV, and Internet memes to show how celebrity Yeo-rae Hwang rescues herself from a loveless marriage to billionaire Jonathan Na.

Framed as a fairy tale, Killing Romance opens with a biography of Yeo-rae (played by singer Lee Hanee), from her days shilling soda and parkas to her ill-fated movie career. After brutal reviews of her performance in “the most expensive movie ever made,” she flees Korea for the South Pacific island of Qualla. There she falls for Na (Parasite star Lee Sun-kyun), a control freak who ends up imprisoning Yeo-rae in a lavish mansion back in Korea. Fortunately, superfan and failed student Bum-woo (Gong Myung) lives next door. He is more than eager to...

Stars: Ma Dong-seok aka Don Lee, Lee Jun-hyuk, Munetaka Aoki, Se-ho Ahn, Noo-Ri Bae, Kim Do-Geon, Ko Gun-Han, Go Gyu-pil, Shin Hyeon-Yong | Written by Kim Min-sung | Directed by Sang-yong Lee

The third film in the Crime City franchise, The Roundup: No Way Out certainly has its work cut out for it following 2017’s The Outlaws and last year’s The Roundup. Of course Ma Dong-seok or Don Lee, depending on where you’re watching, is back as “Beast Cop” Detective Ma Seok-do. Also returning is Sang-yong Lee who directed both of the previous films, with Kim Min-sung making his debut as a screenwriter.

Seven years after the events of the previous film our hero is working with a new unit and they have a problem on their hands. A drug called Hyper has hit the streets of Seoul, it’s described as more potent than cocaine or amphetamines and more toxic than heroin.

Tom Cruise has become a regular visitor to South Korea and, while his latest visit was more than a week ago, the impact of his efforts appeared to endure.

His ‘Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning’ got off to the second strongest start at the Korean box office of any Hollywood movie released this year.

The film grossed $9.75 million between Friday and Sunday, according to Kobis, the tracking service operated by the Korean Film Council (Kofic). That represented a 60% market share, earned from some 2,400 screens. In its full opening five days (plus previews), it earned $14.2 million.

The film’s weekend score is a fraction below “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 3,” which went on to earn $34.8 million. And only Korean blockbuster “The Roundup: No Way Out” is further ahead, with a $20 million debut.

“Elemental,” which had been gathering steam over the two previous weekends, earned a still impressive $4.79 million and maintained a...

Pixar animation film “Elemental” expanded further at the South Korean box office in its fourth weekend of release, giving the film its third weekend triumph in four weeks of release.

“Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One” took third place from preview screening ahead of its official release on Wednesday.

“Elemental” earned $6.11 million between Friday and Sunday, according to data from Kobis, the box office tracking service operated by the Korean Film Council (Kofic).

That represented a 14% increase on its previous weekend performance and was the best of its four weekends so far. It also increased its market share to 49%, also its strongest market position, despite only adding a handful of additional screens.

After 26 days on release, “Elemental” has amassed $25.8 million from 3.41 million spectators. That makes it the fifth highest-grossing film released this year and sixth overall when December-released “Avatar: The Way of Water” is included.

Korean smash hit, “The Roundup: No Way Out...

It all started back in 2017 with “The Outlaws” (known as “Crime City” locally), the South Korean crime film starring Ma Dong-seok (Don Lee) as detective Ma Seok-do. It took five years before its sequel, “The Roundup” (“Crime City 2”) came out and it went on to become the highest grossing film of 2022 in South Korea, taking in over US$101million. A third installment, another smash hit, “The Roundup: No Way Out” (“Crime City 3”) quickly followed a year later with Ma returning as the beast detective leading a new team fighting more crime again.

It has been seven years since the events of the previous film, and detective Ma, after his promotion, now works for the Metropolitan Investigation Unit. While investigating the death of a woman believed to be a suicide case, he learns from her autopsy that she has in fact died from an overdose and a new drug known as Hiper is the cause.

Cast also includes Ji Chang-wook and Lim Ji-yeon from Netflix’s ‘The Sound Of Magic’ and ‘The Glory’ respectively.

Cannes best actress winner Jeon Do-yeon has reunited with director Oh Seung-uk on the Korean filmmaker’s latest feature, Revolver, which began shooting in South Korea last month.

Jeon is known for roles in Lee Chang-dong’s Secret Sunshine, for which she won the best actress award at Cannes in 2007, director Oh’s The Shameless, which played in Un Certain Regard at Cannes in 2015, and more recently Netflix feature Kill Boksoon, which premiered at the Berlinale in February.

Oh’s upcoming Revolver,...

‘Lost In The Stars’ proved the top grossing film in June.

China’s box office jumped 52.9% in the first six months of 2023 with ticket sales of $3.7bn (RMB26.3bn), marking the first such year-on-year increase since the Covid-19 pandemic.

It does not mark a complete recovery as the figures remain 15.7% down on the same period in pre-pandemic 2019. But robust growth was seen in June with takings of $581.8m (Rmb 4.13bn), up 115% on 2022 and down a mere 0.8% on 2019. The results almost equalled pre-pandemic levels for the first time, according to data provided by Artisan Gateway.

The top grossing film in June was Lost In The Stars,...

‘Lost In The Stars’ proved the top grossing film in June.

China’s box office jumped 52.9% in the first six months of 2023 with ticket sales of $3.7bn (RMB26.3bn), marking the first such year-on-year increase since the Covid-19 pandemic.

It does not mark a complete recovery as the figures remain 15.7% down on the same period in pre-pandemic 2019. But robust growth was seen in June with takings of $581.8m (Rmb 4.13bn), up 115% on 2022 and down a mere 0.8% on 2019. The results almost equalled pre-pandemic levels for the first time, according to data provided by Artisan Gateway.

The top grossing film in June was Lost In The Stars,...

Korean production and distribution company Sll is riding high on the current box office success of “The Roundup: No Way Out,” the only local film this year to sell more than 10 million tickets.

In the larger TV production division, it is breathing a sigh of relief with the successes of “Doctor Cha” and “The Good Bad Mother,” shows which have achieved huge local ratings and placed in Netflix’s Global non-English Top 10 charts.

For the company, which rebranded last year from Jtbc Studio, and which acquired U.S. producer wiip, the renewed popularity of its shows represents something of a rebound after “the underperformance of Jtbc dramas in 2022.”

Now the challenge is to keep things fresh and original, while producing the high volumes of Korean content demanded by clients and frenemies that include Netflix, Prime Video and TVing — the Korean streaming platform in which Jtbc is a junior partner behind Cj Enm and Naver.

China’s controversial ‘nine-dash line’ shown in scene.

Vietnam has banned the local release of Warner Bros’s Barbie over a scene that depicts a map with the “nine-dash line”, used on Chinese maps to show its claims over areas of the South China Sea.

The tentpole feature, directed by Greta Gerwig and starring Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling, was due to be released in the country on July 21, the same date as the US.

However, Vietnam’s National Film Evaluation Council has not issued a release licence for the film due to the inclusion of the map in an as-yet-unknown scene.