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Netflix has dropped a teaser for Korean thriller series The Frog, which is launching August 23.

Directed by Mo Wan-il (The World of The Married), The Frog is billed by Netflix as a story that “revolves around ordinary people whose peaceful lives are thrown into turmoil by the arrival of a mysterious guest in the middle of summer.”

The teaser opens with the arrival of mysterious guest Seong-a (played by Ko) at a tranquil pension home in the middle of the woods. She quickly unsettles the pension’s owner, Young-ha (played by Kim), who tries to uncover her motives and identity. It then poses a familiar question: “If a tree falls in the forest, and no one is around to hear it, does it still make a sound?”

The Frog stars Kim Yun-seok,, Yoon Kye-sang (The Outlaws), Lee Jung-eun and...

The 28th Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival unveiled its official poster on May 13th. Bifan is anticipated to become an even richer festival this year, building on 27 years of experience of programming a wide variety of films and public events. It has stablished itself as Asia's premier genre film festival.

Everything Sensational! A unique genre film festival that ‘Stays Strange'

Combines AI with traditional elements! Unveiling the unconventional and renewed poster!

▲ Official poster of the 28th Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival

With new and unconventional images and various interpretations, the new official poster adds fresh stimulation and raises the expectations of an audience eagerly awaiting the festival. While maintaining its identity expressed through the slogan “Stay Strange”, which has attracted interest and love from audiences and citizens over the years, the festival will address the hot topic of the mega trend AI and its impact on filmmaking this year.

The poster's art director,...

Filipino director Sheron Dayoc’s The Gospel Of The Beast won the top Golden Star Award for best Southeast Asian film at the first Ho Chi Minh City International Film Festival (Hiff) in Vietnam, which also saw several titles dropped from the final programme due to censorship by local authorities.

The Gospel Of The Beast marks the first feature in seven years from Dayoc and tells the story of a teenage boy who accidentally kills his classmate and runs away with an older man he barely knows, forming a unique father-son relationship. It premiered at Tokyo in October.

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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.

“Citizen of a Kind,” a comedy-drama about a woman who takes matters into her own hands after becoming the victim of a scam, fulfilled its promise from an earlier week of previews. “Citizen” topped the South Korean box office on its opening weekend, accounting for a more than 40% market share. But, with few other fresh titles reaching cinemas, overall theatrical revenues were at their lowest for several months.

“Citizen” earned $2.59 million between Friday and Sunday, according to figures from Kobis, the data service operated by the Korean Film Council (Kofic). Over five days since release on Wednesday, and with the addition of its earlier previews, “Citizen” finished its opening weekend with a cumulative of $3.58 million.

Directed by Park Young-ju, “Citizen” tells the tale of woman whose business has gone up in flames and takes a hefty loan in an attempt to restart it. When she discovers that the loan is...

Time traveling-fantasy-adventure movie “Alienoid 2” was a comfortable winner at the South Korea box office over the weekend. But with few fresh films on release the cinema-going market slowed.

“Alienoid 2” earned $2.06 million between Friday and Sunday, according to data from Kobis, the tracking service operated by the Korean Film Council (Kofic). That was down by 42% compared with its opening session a week earlier and leaves it with a total of $7.96 million after 12 days on release.

The first instalment of “Alienoid” was one of the biggest flops of 2022. It opened brightly with a $5.19 million weekend in July that year. But it suffered terrible reviews and finished with just $12.2 million.

Whether the second part does better than the first may be a matter of market timing and competition. January is usually a quiet month in Korean cinemas and the lack of blockbuster titles competing for screen space may help “Alienoid 2.”

The overall market...

As we once again find ourselves in the midst of another year at the movies, we eagerly look forward to the films scheduled for release in the coming year. There is probably something coming out that should be over interest to everyone (at least that’s probably the hope of most filmmakers). As always, there will be the usual sequels and big blockbusters, as well as a plethora of additional titles in multiple genres to choose from. We hope you find this list of the upcoming films of 2024 and their release dates useful and that it helps you plan what you’re going to look forward to over the next twelve months.

The list below gathers all of the titles we know (right now at least) that are coming in 2024 by their current release date. Remember, these dates are subject to change. So, as dates change (and time permits) we...

Disney animation film, “Wish” topped the South Korean box office on its opening weekend. It toppled local epic “Noryang: Deadly Sea,” which had dominated over Christmas and New Year.

“Wish,” which has slowly been rolling out worldwide since a late November start in North America, made a respectable $3.29 million debut between Friday and Sunday according to data from Kobis, the tracking service operated by the Korean Film Council (Kofic). After five days on release in Korea, it has garnered $4.57 million.

“Noryang,” which released on Dec. 20, took a steep decline of 66% in its third weekend but still retained second place in the weekend chart. It earned $2.03 million, for a cumulative total of $31.3 million.

“12.12: The Day,” the political thriller that finished 2023 as the year’s top-grossing title, earned another $1.99 million in third place over the latest weekend. Since releasing on Nov. 23, it has amassed a total of $93.1 million and been seen by 12.5 million people.

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...

“Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom” led the worldwide box office with a $108 million debut weekend, according to numbers released by Comscore.

Warner Bros. and DC Studio’s “Aquaman 2” also topped the U.S. box office over the weekend.

In second place, “Wonka” continued its stellar run with a worldwide weekend of $50.9 million and now has a total of $247 million.

Indian action epic “Salaar Part 1 – Ceasefire,” led by “Baahubali” star Prabhas and directed by “K.G.F.” filmmaker Prashant Neel, debuted in third position with $39 million. This included $5.5 million in North America, where it also bowed in third place.

Another Indian film, immigration drama-comedy “Dunki,” headlined by Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan and directed by hitmaker Rajkumar Hirani, was in fourth position with $22.9 million over the weekend. The film has a total of $23.8 million as it opened on Thursday, Dec. 21.

Monday, Christmas Day, is a public holiday in India, but as the festival...

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.

Major U.S. acquisitions of Asian film titles have been scarce at the American Film Market so far this year, but business within the region nonetheless has been humming. The much-anticipated Korean period action tentpole Noryang: Deadly Sea has scored a deal at AFM for Japan distribution with Tokyo-based Twin Co. Ltd.

Seoul-based sales agent Acemaker Movieworks is repping the title to international buyers.

The film is the third and final title in director Kim Han-min’s trilogy about battles led by the famed Korean admiral Yi Sun-shin that started with The Admiral: Roaring Currents in 2014 and was followed by Hansan: Rising Dragon in 2022. The first film earned $138 million worldwide, which was the most ever by a Korean film at the time.

The new installment depicts the historical Battle of Noryang, the last major battle of the Japanese invasions of Korea (1592–1598). The new film stars Kim Yun-seok as Yi Sun-sin,...

Popular K-drama actor Lee Je Hoon has been hospitalised after he was diagnosed with ischemic colitis. Due to severe abdominal pains, the ‘Taxi Driver’ actor was rushed to the emergency ward.

The actor’s managing agency Company issued a statement: “Lee Je Hoon went to the hospital on the night of October 1 due to severe abdominal pain, and he was diagnosed with ischemic colitis. He received emergency surgery early on October 2.”

The agency added: “Thankfully the surgery was successful, and he is currently recovering at the hospital. We will have to watch the progress of his recovery, but he will probably have to hospitalised for about a week.”

The ‘Move to Heaven’ actor was set to host the Opening Ceremony at the Busan International Film Festival 2023 along with fellow actor Park Eun Bin. While the surgery was a success and Hoon is now out of danger, due to his hospitalisation...

Popular K-drama actor Lee Je Hoon has been hospitalised after he was diagnosed with ischemic colitis. Due to severe abdominal pains, the ‘Taxi Driver’ actor was rushed to the emergency ward.

The actor’s managing agency Company issued a statement: “Lee Je Hoon went to the hospital on the night of October 1 due to severe abdominal pain, and he was diagnosed with ischemic colitis. He received emergency surgery early on October 2.”

The agency added: “Thankfully the surgery was successful, and he is currently recovering at the hospital. We will have to watch the progress of his recovery, but he will probably have to hospitalised for about a week.”

The ‘Move to Heaven’ actor was set to host the Opening Ceremony at the Busan International Film Festival 2023 along with fellow actor Park Eun Bin. While the surgery was a success and Hoon is now out of danger, due to his hospitalisation...