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Korean Cultural Center New York & The New York Asian Film Festival Announce

A Merry Zombie Xmas

December 24, 2020 – January 7, 2021

In a world where the 3 Bs are edging towards massive mainstream success, and an age when all things “K” are synonymous with “crazy, sexy, cool”, another phenomenon has been going viral and global: the zombie movie “made in Korea”.

Filmmakers from the peninsula have injected new life in the undead genre, bringing both a bit of a Midas and Lazarus touch to a mythology that has been exploited almost to death. Original storylines spanning wildly diverse settings, from the Joseon era to our troubled times and even dark Mad Max-style dystopian futures, in-depth character development, and a clear-eyed look at today’s societal fears have raised the biters back from the realm of putrid pop fiction.

As the holiday season approaches, it’s time to celebrate the reinvigorated genre, powered by the...

To mark the release of Train to Busan presents: Peninsula we’ve been given a prize bundle including a Train to Busan presents: Peninsula t-shirt, pin badge, car air freshener, plus a copy of Seoul Station and Train to Busan to give away. Peninsula will be out on digital download on the 23rd and it will then be available on all formats from the 30th. To check if your local cinema will be open, or for more info, click here: www.peninsulamovie.co.uk

Following on from Train To Busan, one of the most successful Korean films ever made, writer/ director Yeon Sang-ho presents the final instalment of his zombie trilogy with Train To Busan Presents: Peninsula — an all action, all thrills sequel, boasting an all-star ensemble cast of some of Asia’s finest acting talent including Gang Dong-won (1987: When The Day Comes), Lee Jung-hyun (Battleship Island), Kwon Hae-hyo...

The mystery thriller will star Tang Wei and Park Hae-il.

South Korea’s Cj Entertainment has announced that The Handmaiden director Park Chan-wook is set to start shooting his latest feature this month.

The film, which is titled Decision To Leave, will star Tang Wei and Park Hae-il (The Host), alongside Lee Jung-hyun (Peninsula), Go Kyoung-pyo (Seven Years Of Night) and Park Yong-woo (Spiritwalker).

It’s the first feature film directed by Park since his 2016 Cannes Competition title The Handmaiden. His most recent project as a director was the Bafta-winning TV series The Little Drummer Girl (2018), an Ink Factory production for the BBC and AMC.

Exclusive Update, 10/14/20 02:00Am: Korean major Cj’s in-house sales arm, which previously handled international rights on Parasite, has boarded sales on Park Chan-Wook’s next movie Decision To Leave, Deadline has learned. As per our earlier story, the film, a mystery romance, begins shooting this month.

Previously, 10/13/20 10:30Am: South Korean filmmaker Park Chan-Wook is set to roll cameras on mystery romance pic Decision To Leave this month.

Tang Wei and Park Hye-il (The Host) will star as the protagonists, with Lee Jung-hyun, Go Kyung-pyo and Park Yong-woo also in the cast, according to a report in The Korea Herald.

The movie centers on an honest police officer looking into a suspicious death that occurs on a mountain, and he begins to suspect the dead man’s wife.

The script was co-written with Jeong Seo-kyeong, who also wrote on Park Chan-wook’s The Handmaiden. Producers are Moho Film...

As we have also started to deal with Asian music in Asian Movie Pulse lately, a list that features movie soundtracks was a must. In the entries that follow, we have collected 50 films’ scores that have stayed in our minds and have made us happy, sad, or simply to enjoy ourselves while listening to them. From anime to musicals, from cult to art-house and from dramas to comedies, here is a list with 50 works that define the movies they were included at least as much as their visuals.

*Some movies never had their soundtracks released but we felt that the songs included deserve a mention here. By clicking on the titles you can read our reviews of the films, by clicking on the song titles you can listen the tracks from YouTube.

1. 9 Souls

Dip create intense background music that follows rock and alternative paths, with each of the tracks pointing...

When Yeon Sang-ho wrote “Train to Busan,” zombie movies were simply unheard of among South Korean audiences. Skeptical of the subgenre’s commercial appeal, the director went along with his producers at Next Entertainment World on promoting it as “a survival story of Koreans infected by a human virus of sort.”

“When filming it, I had ideas of other stories in that world, in the post-apocalypse, but I didn’t think I’d have another opportunity to make such a specific genre film, especially not at this scale,” Yeon told Variety.

To Yeon’s surprise, “Train to Busan” was both a critical and commercial success. It grossed $98.5 million, $2.1 million of that from the U.S. and Canada, and became among the first Korean films picked up by VOD and streaming services including Netflix and Shudder. In South Korea, more than 11 million people watched the movie in theaters.

The long-awaited sequel,...

South Korea managed the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic unusually well, which is basically the opposite of how Yeon Sang-ho’s 2016 “Train to Busan” predicted the country might react to such a disaster. In a genre of mostly forgettable flesh-eating thrillers, Yeon’s cult zombie hit stood out as one of the more entertaining, coupling local paranoia — about corrupt leaders and overzealous military, in an indirect critique of the scandalously mismanaged 2014 Sewol ferry accident — with a kooky yet effective “Snakes on a Plane”-style conceit: What if an outbreak occurred on a contained, fast-moving train? (Something similar happened — minus the zombies — when the coronavirus struck multiple international cruise ships earlier this year.)

Before, that “Can they get to Busan before the zombies get them?” dynamic focused Yeon on delivering a kinetic, character-driven action movie. But the franchise’s subsequent installments (starting with the nasty feature-length animated prequel “Seoul Station...

As the old adage goes, “in this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.” But Kim Sung-ho is a man who just cannot die in director Sin Jeong-won’s comedy thriller “The Night of the Undead”.

Synopsis

In this sci-fi comedy thriller, So-hee married the perfect man but while she looks into the secret of his everlasting stamina, she finds out she’s about to be killed by him and joins powers with her friends in order to kill him first.

“The Night of the Undead” is led by Lee Jung-hyun, who has only just hit cinemas the world over (or at least in the countries with open cinemas) with “Peninsula”. She is joined by Kim Sung-ho (“Door Lock”), whose rise to prominence after years of small but important supporting roles continues, with this being his first major leading role. Also featuring Seo Young-hee (“Bedevilled...

South Korean zombie action film “Peninsula” made a blistering start in cinemas across Asia. It is the highest-profile, first-run summer tentpole to have released since the coronavirus forced many cinemas in the region to close.

Directed by Yeon Sang-ho, “Peninsula” is a survival story that takes place four years after the zombie apocalypse events recounted in Yeon’s 2016 film “Train to Busan.” It stars Gang Dong-won and Lee Jung-hyun.

The film earned $2.4 million from 353,000 admissions on Wednesday in its home territory, where its release is handled by Next Entertainment World.

In Taiwan, where it is released by MovieCloud, it earned $799,000 from 94,100 ticket sales. And in Singapore, where the release is through Clover Films, it earned $106,000 from 15,200 patrons.

Those scores were the highest ever opening day for a Korean film in Singapore. In Taiwan, the figures were bigger than the forerunner “Busan” which was released in 2016 at a time when social...

Taiwan, Hong Kong and Malaysia will release the film around the same time as South Korea in July.

South Korea’s Contents Panda has announced it has now wrapped deals for a total of 185 countries for upcoming Train To Busan follow-up Peninsula.

One of the Cannes 2020 Official Selection, director Yeon Sang-ho’s highly-anticipated zombie action thriller, starring Gang Dong-won and Lee Jung-hyun, is set for July 15 release locally, with July and August theatrical releases in territories where the Covid-19 pandemic and other circumstances allow.

“Taiwan, Hong Kong and Malaysia are going to open the film in July, almost at the...

When Train to Busan premiered at the Cannes Film Festival as part of its midnight selection, it delighted and surprised as a South Korean zombie movie that kept things kinetic yet simultaneously claustrophobic on a train. The movie went on to be a darling among aficionados of action and chiller hybrids. Let’s just say its anticipated sequel, Train to Busan Presents: Peninsula, is aiming to broaden the scope a bit.

Set four years later and in a post-apocalyptic hellscape where all of South Korea has been abandoned as a wasteland for the walking dead, Peninsula has turned a whole nation into a long-running train of death—somehow we suspect Snowpiercer director Bong Joon-ho would approve. With that said, Peninsula is not just going to be taking place in the wide-open spaces if its Mad Max-like remnants of “society” are any indication in the below trailer.

The official synopsis for...

"Hop in if you want to live." Well Go USA has revealed the first full-length official trailer for zombie movie Peninsula, the sequel to the Korean smash hit zombie action thriller Train to Busan from 2016. This is directed again by the same filmmaker who made the first one – Yeon Sang-ho – and follows the survivor Jung-seok, who was able to safely escape the diseased wasteland. In this new post-apocalyptic sequel, "when his team unexpectedly stumbles upon survivors, their lives will depend on whether the best—or worst—of human nature prevails in the direst of circumstances." Yeah, we all know it'll be bad. Starring Gang Dong-won and Lee Jung-hyun. We debuted the teaser a few months ago, and the film was announced as in the Cannes 2020 line-up, but there's still no Us release date set yet. Still exciting to see more footage from this! So much badass action - and fun...

As countries around the world decide when they believe it is safe to reopen theaters, there will no doubt be a staggered rollout. In South Korea, where they did an excellent job of containing the virus, though there’s been a slight spike recently, they are still hopeful they can reopen theaters by July. Leading the pack of major new releases whenever theaters are able to open are new additions to the Train to Busan universe.

There is, of course, the sequel to the South Korean horror-thriller titled Peninsula, which was selected to premiere at Cannes Film Festival. Along with that, an extended version of Yeon Sang-Ho’s original hit will be released in theaters in select territories just before the sequel lands. With a hat tip to Screen Anarchy, it’s not revealed yet if this extended edition will make its way to U.S. shores.

As for the sequel,...

Attempting to bring up a real point in history, the central points surrounding Ryoo Seung-wan’s action/adventure effort Gunhamdo, which was retitled to “The Battleship Island” for international release, are based in reality despite being mostly fictional.

“The Battleship Island” is screening at Florence Korean Film Festival 2020

During the Japanese takeover of Korea in WWII, a group of Korean prisoners, including famous gangster Choi Chil-sung, (So Ji-sub) grad student Oh Jang-woo, (Jang Sung-bum) escaped comfort woman Mal-nyon, (Lee Jung-hyun) and a nine-piece band led by Lee Gang-ok (Hwang Jung-min) that includes his pre-teen daughter So-hee (Kim Soo-ahn) are taken to the ruthless Nishima Island to work the coal mine inside as forced laborers. Tasked with working under the grueling conditions by Daisuke Shimazaki (Kim In-woo) and with no hope of an escape, they soon get word that Korean Liberation Army leader Yoon Hak-chul (Lee Kyoung-young) is among the miners...

Well Go USA Entertainment have finally followed up its first look images for Yeon Sang-ho’s ‘Train to Busan Presents: Peninsula’ with a trailer.

Whilst not really a sequel to ‘Train To Busan’, the film is set in the same universe but four years later. Jung-seok, a soldier who previously escaped the diseased wasteland, relives the horror when assigned to a covert operation with two simple objectives: retrieve and survive. When his team unexpectedly stumbles upon survivors, their lives will depend on whether the best—or worst—of human nature prevails in the direst of circumstances.

Gang Dong-won, Lee Jung-hyun, Lee Re, Kwon Hae-hyo, Kim Min-jae, Koo Kyo-hwan and Lee Ye Won all star.

Also in trailers – Rafe Spall and Esther Smith star in trailer for AppleTV+ series ‘Trying’

A release date hasn’t been announced.

The post Trailer chugs in for ‘Train to Busan Presents: Peninsula’ appeared first on HeyUGuys.

Train To Busan Presents: Peninsula Coming Soon to Theaters Director: Yeon Sang-Ho (Train to Busan) Starring: Gang Dong-won, Lee Jung-hyun Four years after South Korea’s total decimation in Train To Busan, the zombie thriller that captivated audiences worldwide, acclaimed director Yeon Sang-ho brings us Peninsula, the next nail-biting chapter in his post-apocalyptic world. Jung-seok, a …

The post Train To Busan Presents: Peninsula – Teaser Now Available – Coming Soon to Theaters appeared first on Hnn | Horrornews.net.

Peninsula, from Yeon Sang-Ho , the director of Train To Busan, will be coming soon to theaters. Check Out this terrifying trailer:

Four years after South Korea’s total decimation in Train To Busan, the zombie thriller that captivated audiences worldwide, acclaimed director Yeon Sang-ho brings us Peninsula, the next nail-biting chapter in his post-apocalyptic world. Jung-seok, a soldier who previously escaped the diseased wasteland, relives the horror when assigned to a covert operation with two simple objectives: retrieve and survive. When his team unexpectedly stumbles upon survivors, their lives will depend on whether the best—or worst—of human nature prevails in the direst of circumstances.

Peninsula stars Gang Dong-won and Lee Jung-hyun

The post The Director of Train To Busan Presents: Peninsula – Check Out the Terrifying New Trailer appeared first on We Are Movie Geeks.

Highly acclaimed and fan favourite Korean horror Train to Busan is getting a sequel, written by Park Joo-Suk and directed by Yeon Sang-Ho – Peninsula – and we have the first trailer and poster for the film, check them out below:

Four years after South Korea’s total decimation in Train To Busan, the zombie thriller that captivated audiences worldwide, acclaimed director Yeon Sang-ho brings us Peninsula, the next nail-biting chapter in his post-apocalyptic world. Jung-seok, a soldier who previously escaped the diseased wasteland, relives the horror when assigned to a covert operation with two simple objectives: retrieve and survive. When his team unexpectedly stumbles upon survivors, their lives will depend on whether the best-or worst-of human nature prevails in the direst of circumstances.

Peninsula stars Kang Dong-Won as Jung-Seok, Lee Jung-Hyun as Min-Jung, Lee Re as Joon, Kwon Hae-Hyo as Kim Noh, Kim Min-Jae, Go Kyo-Hwan, Kim Do-Yoon, and Lee Ye-Won.

"Were you scared?" No way! Right? Well Go USA has unveiled the first official teaser trailer for the zombie movie Peninsula, the sequel to the Korean smash hit zombie action thriller Train to Busan from 2016. This sequel is directed again by the same filmmaker who made the first one – Yeon Sang-ho – and follows the survivor Jung-seok, who was able to safely escape the diseased wasteland. In this next post-apocalyptic thriller, "when his team unexpectedly stumbles upon survivors, their lives will depend on whether the best—or worst—of human nature prevails in the direst of circumstances." Yeah, we all know it'll be bad. Starring Gang Dong-won and Lee Jung-hyun. In addition to the poster, this is the first look reveal and packs a punch despite being only a 90-second teaser. This looks just as epic and intense as the first one, if not even more so. Mixing in some Mad Max with the zombie apocalypse,...

For anyone going outside for a quick walk to get some fresh air in-between the days of isolation, it can feel like you are in some sort of strange zombie movie, keeping your distance from those around you. All that to say, the thought of actually watching a movie may either be terrifying or cathartic–or a mix of both. One of the most successful examples in the genre the last few years is Train to Busan, the South Korean horror-thriller that earned about ten times its $8.5 million budget.

Director Yeon Sang-Ho is now back with a sequel, returning to the post-apocalyptic world. Starring Gang Dong-won and Lee Jung-hyun, Train to Busan: Peninsula is set to arrive in South Korea this July, followed by a U.S. release. The epic first trailer has now arrived, set four years after the original as a soldier is tasked with a mission...

Four years after South Korea’s total decimation in “Train To Busan”, director Yeon Sng-ho continues his zombie saga with “Peninsula”, the next nail-biting chapter in his post-apocalyptic world. This highly anticipated film has released its first trailer today and as expected, it promised a lot of action and nail-biting moments.

Synopsis

Jung-seok, a soldier who previously escaped the diseased wasteland, relives the horror when assigned to a covert operation with two simple objectives: retrieve and survive. When his team unexpectedly stumbles upon survivors, their lives will depend on whether the best—or worst—of human nature prevails in the direst of circumstances.

Though none of the actors from “Train to Busan” return, “Peninsula” is nonetheless filled with stars as well. Gang Dong-won (“Secret Reunion”) takes the lead role of Jung-seok. He is joined by Lee Jung-hyun (“The Running Actress”), Kwon Hae-hyo (“Hotel by the River”), Kim Min-jae (“Money”) and...

Whether you’re just a casual fan of zombies or a real gore hound, Yeon Sang-ho’s 2016 horror pic Train To Busan is definitely worth your time.

A mix of 28 Days Later and World War Z, with a bit of Shaun Of The Dead sprinkled in, the critically acclaimed flick brought us some truly horrific action at a breakneck pace. But it was also a zombie movie with a beating heart hidden within its rotting core and a pretty clever script that boasted strong characterization and roles that were terrifically acted. In other words, it was a real gem in the genre.

Thankfully, a sequel entitled Train To Busan 2: Peninsula is now en route, and we finally have our very first look at it thanks to the trailer up above, which teases more zombie action, some real terrifying moments and a film that, on the whole, looks like...

In the last decade, one of the more popular smaller Korean entertainment agencies was Banana Culture. Currently, the home for K-pop boy group Trei, soloist Shin Zisu, and actresses Ava (Lee Jung-Hyun) and Ha Seung-Ri, the agency is best known for being the home for Exceed in Dreaming, better known by their acronym Exid. Presently, however, the future of Banana...

Peninsula, the undead follow-up to Train to Busan, is about to leave the station.

With a U.S. theatrical release already on the cards, Yeon Sang-ho’s horror sequel will deep dive into a world torn apart by a zombie outbreak. So far, so familiar. But the 2016 original was a thrillingly unique, and remarkably well-crafted, zombie flick, so we have high hopes that Peninsula will deliver more of the same… in a good way.

Set to pick things up four years after Train to Busan, Peninsula isn’t a sequel in the strictest sense – at least not according to director Yeon Sang-ho – given the different cast of characters. That paves the way for a totally fresh story, but based on these photos from Screen Daily, it’ll retain the same style and ferocious pace as its predecessor.

It takes place four years after Train To Busan, in the same universe,...

By 2020, we’ve seen just about every permutation of the living dead – Nazi zombies, infected crazies and of course, the rom-zom-com. Here’s looking at you, Shaun of the Dead.

But that’s not to say the sub-genre of zombie films is completely exhausted; if anything, carefully crafted movies in the vein of Yeon Sang-ho’s Train to Busan (2016) prove that there is still, in fact, plenty of room for innovation.

Sang-ho’s modern masterpiece is a genuine thrill ride from start to finish, and it didn’t come as much of a surprise when the Powers That Be announced plans to push forward with a sequel – a sequel we now know to be titled Penisula. There’s just one problem: Penisula isn’t really a sequel at all.

That’s according to Yeon Sang-ho himself, who spoke to Screen Daily shortly after he wrapped production on Train to Busan:...

The titles are Yu Ha’s heist film Pipeline (working title), Shin Jung-won’s comedy thriller Night Of The Undead and mystery thriller The Anchor.

South Korea’s Finecut has picked up international sales rights for a trio of upcoming genre films - A Dirty Carnival director Yu Ha’s heist film Pipeline (working title), Chaw director Shin Jung-won’s comedy thriller Night Of The Undead and mystery thriller The Anchor, starring Chun Woo-hee (The Wailing).

Pipeline is about an underworld prodigy who is hired to illegally and dangerously drill into a pipeline known as “the artery” of the country to siphon oil.

The project, budgeted at roughly twice Train To Busan’s $8m, is heading to North America and France.

South Korea’s Contents Panda has announced a raft of deals on Train To Busan director Yeon Sang-ho’s follow-up to the zombie hit, titled Peninsula, led by deals to North America (Well Go USA) and France (Arp Sas).

Although it is already being billed in some places as a “sequel to Train To Busan”, the director says, “Peninsula is not a sequel to Train To Busan because it’s not a continuation of the story, but it happens in the same universe.

The project, budgeted at roughly twice Train To Busan’s $8m, is heading to North America and France.

South Korea’s Contents Panda has announced a raft of deals on Train To Busan director Yeon Sang-ho’s follow-up to the zombie hit, titled Peninsula, led by deals to North America (Well Go USA) and France (Arp Sas).

Although it is already being billed in some places as a “sequel to Train To Busan”, the director says, “Peninsula is not a sequel to Train To Busan because it’s not a continuation of the story, but it happens in the same universe.

First titles on the slate include drama ‘Shades Of The Heart’ and mystery ‘The Confession’.

Information and communications technology-based contents and commerce provider kth (Korea Telecom Hitel), a subsidiary of Korea Telecom (KT), is launching its international sales team at Busan’s Asian Film Market with a slate of new projects.

The company owns a slate of original IP-based film content and more than 100 distribution channels including Iptv, mobile, VOD and home entertainment. It has previously been doing acquisitions and distribution as well as partial financing of films. Starting last year, kth also stepped up as main financier on some feature projects,...

Ever since director Yeon Sang-ho announced that he is working on “Peninsula”, a sequel to his 2016 hit “Train to Busan“, fans have been waiting anxiously for any news on the upcoming project. Today, the confirmed star-cast has been announced, while we also have some plot details for you in addition to the first look at the concept art for the film.

The film, titled “Peninsula”, will be set 4 years after the event of “Train to Busan”, in which time the entire Korean Peninsula has become uninhabitable wasteland. However, Small groups of humans have survived, still trapped and without any certainty of any rescue or respite.

Concept artwork for “Peninsula”

Superstar Kang Dong-won will take Gong Yoo’s place as the lead in the sequel, starring as Jung-suk, alongside actress/singer Lee Jung-hyun, who plays Min-jung, a strong-willed survivor equipped with both unending hope and leadership. Young actress Lee Re, who...