News

Park Hoon-jung, director of hit Korean franchise The Witch and Disney+ series The Tyrant, is set to begin shooting revenge thriller Tristes Tropiques this month. Finecut has secured international sales rights and will introduce the project to buyers in Toronto.

The story follows a group of young assassins affiliated with an organisation known as Tristes Tropiques, who are trained by the tropical rainforest’s absolute ruler called ‘Master’. As they grapple with mutual distrust, they vow to exact bloody revenge.

The film is set to begin shooting in Thailand this September and is expected to wrap by December. Cast has...

Park Hoon-jung, an in-demand director of action-noir films, will begin production this month on “Tristes Tropiques.” The picture will be launched to distributors on the sidelines of the Toronto International Film Festival by Finecut, which is to handle sales rights.

The film follows a group of young assassins affiliated with the Tristes Tropiques organization, which specializes in jungle warfare and is under the absolute rule of Master.

The production will be located in Thailand and run from September to December. Finecut reports that it will boast an international cast adept at diverse styles of action, but it offers no details of either the Korean or foreign elements.

“Tristes Tropiques” is produced by director Park’s own production company, Gold Moon Film and is co-produced by Mindmark, a content IP company owned by the Shinsegae department stores and duty-free shopping group. Its recent slate also includes “A Normal Family,” “Victory,” “Love Reset” and “Honey Sweet.

Disney+ is adding another series to its fast-growing Korean drama library, picking up the action spy show The Tyrant.

The series tells the thrilling story of the race to find a bioweapon that is stolen during a secret handover between Korean and US intelligence agencies. The logline reads: “After years of toiling away on a secret project designed to drastically enhance human abilities, the Korean government’s plan is exposed by U.S. intelligence agencies. Furious about being kept in the dark, the U.S. demands all samples be handed over and the project be immediately shut down. But when the covert handover is attacked by an unknown party, agents from both sides will have to work together to avoid the dangerous new formula falling into the wrong hands.”

The series stars Jo Yoon-soo (True Beauty, Juvenile Justice) as skilled infiltrator Chae Jagyeong; Cha Seung-won (Our Blues, A Korean Odyssey...

Acemaker Movieworks, the young Korean studio behind 2023 hit “Noryang: Deadly Sea” and “A Man of Reason,” is using the Berlin Film Festival’s European Film Market to launch crime drama “Troll Factory,” its next big budget movie.

Film’s plot revolves around an investigative journalist who, while probing a story about the manipulation of public sentiment, uncovers the existence of a so-called “troll factory” and is confronted with an unbelievable truth.

The movie is in post-production and recently set March 27 for its theatrical release in Korea. Acemaker is unveiling first images now.

The movie is directed by Ahn Gooc-jin, whose debut feature, 2015 crime film “Alice in Earnestland,” won the Grand Prize at the leading Korean film festival in Jeonju, the best new talent award at the Hong Kong Asian Film Festival and the Directors’ Cut award at the Director’s Cut Film Festival. It was also invited to the Stockholm film festival.

In a desperate attempt to secure funds for his mother’s surgery, an amateur boxer searches for the wealthy estranged father he’s never met. But after a lead takes him from the Philippines to Korea, he is relentlessly pursued by a quirky yet highly dangerous man. As additional entities join in his pursuit and cause chaos, he will be forced to confront a shocking truth that may cost him his life.

The Childe is available on DVD and Digital on January 16.

Enter for your chance to win a DVD of The Childe, courtesy of Well Go USA. Five (5) winners will be selected at random.

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Wellgo USA is releasing “The Childe” on Blu-ray, Digital & DVD January 16 and on the occasion, we are offering 3 of our readers in the US the opportunity to win a Blu-Ray of what Rhythm Zaveri describes as “a superior action feature within the modern South Korean cinema landscape“.

All you have to do is subscribe to our YouTube Channel and leave a comment with your name in the following video. The competition will run until December 25th.

Chicago – Season 17 of Chicago’s Asian Pop-Up Cinema’s (APUC17) wraps up with a South Korean Cinema Showcase on October 6th-7th, 2023, featuring a special in-person appearance by actor Lee Sun-Kyun of the Oscar Best Picture “Parasite,” representing his new film “Killing Romance.” For appearance details and ticket info, click Lee Sun-Kyun.

The additional films and details for the weekend are (click titles) New Normal and The Childe on Friday, October 6th. On Saturday the 7th the day begins with Drive and an appearance by director Park Dong-Hee and culminates with “Killing Romance,” with director Lee Won Suk also in attendance.

APUC17 South Korean Closing Night, October 7th, 2023

Photo credit: AsianPopUpCinema.org

Apuc will honor Lee Sun-Kyun with their second ever Apuc Excellent Achievement in Film Award as part of the Season 17 Closing Night.

Trailer, APUC17 South Korean Showcase …

Season 17 of the Asian Pop-Up Cinema presents South Korean Closing Weekend on October 6th-7th,...

It seems like the turn towards the crime thriller, which was actually one of the driving forces behind the current popularity Korean cinema enjoys, is back for good, as titles like “The Childe”, “Hopeless” etc eloquently highlight this year. Kim Jae-hoon also moves in the same direction for his feature debut, by coming up with a movie that channels John Woo's “Face Off” significantly, but definitely going much further.

Devils screened at Fantasia International Film Festival

Having lost his colleague who was also his brother-in-law to a serial murderer two years ago, homicide detective Jae-hwan is unable to contain his hatred toward the murderer and dives headfirst into hunting the brutal killer, in a way that blurs the lines of who is the criminal and who is the lawman. Eventually, he comes face to face with the murderer Jin-hyeok, actually getting him exactly where he wanted, but at that exact moment,...

Period feature stars Jacky Heung and Andy On.

Well Go USA Entertainment has acquired North America distribution rights to 100 Yards, a period martial arts drama directed by Xu Haofeng and Xu Junfeng.

The deal was negotiated directly with producer Rainbow Fong on behalf of the filmmakers. Well Go plans to release the feature in 2024, following a festival run that began with its world premiere at Shanghai International Film Festival in June.

Hong Kong-based My Way Film Company is handling sales for Asean countries, with Fortissimo Films managing all other international sales excluding North America and Southeast Asia.

Xu Haofeng is director of The Sword Identity,...

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...

Stars: Kang Tae-Ju, Kim Seon-Ho, Justin John Harvey, Go Ara, Kang-woo Kim | Written and Directed by Park Hoon-jung

The Childe is the latest film from Korean writer/director Park Hoon-jung which means it comes with some pretty big expectations. Hoon-jung started his career as the writer of I Saw the Devil before going on to write and direct an impressive list of films including The New World, The Witch: Part 1 – The Subversion, and The Witch: Part 2 – The Other One.

The Childe sees him stepping away from the telekinetic madness of The Witch and its sequel and returning to somewhat more realistic subject matter involving Marco (Kang Tae-Ju). Marco is a boxer, fighting in various illegal matches in Manilla and using the money to care for his seriously ill mother. His situation is complicated by the fact he’s what is disparagingly referred to as a Kopino, half Korean, half Filipino,...

Pixar animation film “Elemental” expanded at the South Korean box office in its third weekend of release and easily bested new release title “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny.”

“Elemental” earned $5.27 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 38% increase on its previous weekend performance and was the best of its three weekends so far. It also increased its market share to 39%, also its strongest market position, despite only adding a handful of additional screens. After 19 days on release, “Elemental” has amassed $16.9 million from 2.25 million spectators.

The film’s third week holdover performance compared favorably with new release “Indiana Jones,” which had a $2.86 million weekend session. Over its full five-day opening period, “Indiana Jones” whipped up $3.98 million. The film’s slightly disappointing numbers were matched elsewhere in the world. It earned $60 million...

Park Hoon-jung is a name best known for strong, stylised fast-paced thrillers. Starting from his writing credits, which include such greats as “I Saw the Devil” and “The Unjust”, to his directorial debut “The Showdown” and his last work “The Witch Part 2: The Other One”, he is known for his tense writing and direction on thrillers. Over time, these thrillers have also been known to evolve into including fabulously crafted action sequences. His latest work “The Childe” is another such work in a similar vein.

The Childe is available from Wellgo USA

Marco Han is a half-Korean half-Filipino kid, or a Kopino as such individuals are derogatorily called, who lives somewhere in Philippines with his very sick mother, trying to earn money for her medicines and operations by boxing and gambling. In a bid to see if he can get help for her operation, he tries to find his long-absent father,...

Pixar animation “Elemental” rose to the top of the South Korean box office over the latest weekend. It overtook “The Roundup: No Way Out” and kept new release “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” at bay, in third place.

Released a week earlier, “Elemental” rose from second place to first and grew its revenue by 19% in its second frame. According to data from Kobis, the tracking service operated by the Korean Film Council, “Elemental” earned $3.86 million between Friday and Sunday for a 12-day cumulative of $9.47 million.

“The Roundup: No Way Out,” which had dominated the sector for the previous three weekends, slipped to second position. It earned $3.34 million over the weekend, a 34% week-on-week decline. Since releasing on May 31, it has amassed $73.2 million, from 9.67 million ticket sales, by far the biggest haul of any film released this calendar year.

“Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” opened in third place with $2.01 million over the weekend proper...

‘The Tyrant’ director Park Hoon-jung is behind ‘The Witch’ films.

South Korea’s Acemaker movieworks has sealed deals on Park Hoon-jung’s upcoming action film The Tyrant (working title) and actor Jung Woo-sung’s directorial debut A Man Of Reason to a slew of territories.

The Tyrant has pre-sold to Germany (Splendid), Taiwan (MovieCloud), Southeast Asia (Purple Plan), Thailand (Neramitnung Film), Cis (Paradise Group) and inflight (Eagle).

Director Park is the filmmaker behind hit features The Witch: Part 1 and Part 2 and Venice title Night In Paradise as well as upcoming action feature The Childe, which is in post-production.

The Tyrant...

Park Hoon-jung is about to play a big role in Kim Seon-ho's comeback. The actor, who was embroiled in controversy following public allegations from an ex-girlfriend, will be seen in not one but two features by the prolific genre writer/director, the first of which is called “The Childe” and is gearing up for release next month.

Synopsis

“The Childe” will focus on a man born to a Korean father and a Filipino mother who aspires to be a boxer. He travels to the Philippines in the hopes of tracking down his father, and in the process, he gets mixed up with some bad people.

Co-starring with Kim Seon-ho, who looks to be playing the feature's antagonist, are Kang Tae-ju, Kim Kang-woo and Go Ara. The confirmed Korean release date for “The Childe” (previously titled “Sad Tropics”) stands at June 21st, with a wider international release likely to follow.

Action feature is from the director of ‘The Witch’ films.

Korean sales company Contents Panda have pre-sold action film The Childe, directed by Park Hoon-jung (The Witch: Part 1 & 2), to a slew of territories led by North America (Well Go USA).

Further territories include Taiwan (MovieCloud), Thailand (Sahamongkolfilm International), the Philippines (Laon Company+) and in-flight (Encore Inflight) as well as Singapore, Malaysia, Brunei, Indonesia, East Timor, Hong Kong and Macau (Clover Films).

The film stars Kim Seon-ho (TV’s Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha) and Kang Tae-joo. It follows a Kopino (of mixed Filipino and Korean descent) illegal boxer, who goes in search of...