Actor Lee Byung-hun is returning with a family-friendly comedy in the upcoming film “My World Only,” slated for a Jan. 17 release, the film’s distributor CJ Entertainment announced Monday.The film, helmed by director Choi Sung-hyun and produced by JK Film, stars Lee as Jo-ha, a former boxer who relies only on his fists to get by in the world.Up-and-coming actor Park Jung-min will play Jo-ha’s brother Jin-tae, an autistic genius who has Savant syndrome.  "My World Only" (CJ Entertainment)The film

Upcoming political thriller paints both realistic, idealistic picture of inter-Korean relations

Domestic crime film "The Swindlers" topped the box office for the third straight weekend, data showed on Monday.The film starring Hyunbin and Yoo Ji-tae led all films, selling 417,534 tickets from Friday to Sunday, according to estimates from the Korean Film Council. It has been on top of the daily box office charts since it opened on Nov. 22 and is expected to surpass the 4 million mark in cumulative attendance this week. The tally was 3.722 million as of Sunday.The movie revolves around a team

Mystery thriller “Forgotten,” starring Kang Ha-neul and Kim Moo-yeol as brothers, drew over 1 million cinemagoers in the 12 days since its release. “Forgotten” revolves around the two brothers who doubt each other. Kim Moo-yeol plays the older brother who loses his memory and becomes a completely different person after an abduction. Kang Ha-neul plays the younger brother who grows suspicious of his changed brother and subsequently begins to doubt his own memories. Official poster for “Forgotten”

American Assassin (US)Opened Dec. 7Action, thriller. Directed by Michael CuestaAfter losing his fiancee to a violent group which wreaks random violence, Mitch Rapp (Dylan O‘Brien) trains himself everyday vowing revenge. The CIA, impressed by his efforts, scouts him as a new member, and Mitch is taken under the wing of former US Navy SEAL Stan Hurley (Michael Keaton) for training. The two spot a pattern of violence and team up with a deadly Turkish agent in a counterterrorist attack, seeking to p

Kim Ki-duk, an internationally famed filmmaker, will likely face a fine for hitting and insulting a female actress during a film shoot in 2012, according to prosecutors on Thursday. The Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office said it has indicted Kim on a summary offense with a penalty of 5 million won ($4,570). The actress, whose identity was withheld, filed a complaint with the prosecution in August seeking a probe against Kim. She claimed that while they were filming his new movie, Kim sla

Hong Sang-soo’s “The Day After” has been selected as one of the top 10 films of the year by Cahiers du Cinema, a prominent French movie magazine.　The film is the sole Korean film to make the list this year. 　Other films by Hong, including “Our Sunhi” and “In Another Country” have in the past been named in the annual top-ten list. 　The film stars Kim Min-hee as Areum, a new employee at a small publishing company, who discovers that her married boss Bong-wan (Kwon Hae-hyo) has been having an affai

Actress Lee Young-ae made a donation to support the Seoul Independent Film Festival.According to the festival’s organizer on Tuesday, Lee has donated to the fest her entire salary from her appearance on JTBC reality show “Suitable for General Viewing,” which features independent filmmakers working on a short film.Lee appeared in the reality show as an actress for a short film directed by Lee Kyung-mi. Actress Lee Young-ae (SIFF)The actress is well known for her charitable works. Earlier this yea

PETA Asia, the Asian affiliate of international animal rights organization People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, has selected director Bong Joon-ho as 2017’s Person of the Year, the group announced Monday. 　Bong’s latest film “Okja,” released on Netflix and in select theaters in June, draws on the tale of mountainside girl Mija and her best friend, the genetically-modified, docile super-pig Okja. 　The film competed at the 70th Cannes International Film Festival in May. 　 Director Bong Joo

Film humorously depicts clumsy couple’s life, family, marriage

Forgotten(Korea)Opened Nov. 29Mystery, thriller. Directed by Jang Hang-jun　On the night two brothers move into a new home, the older sibling Yoo-seok (Kim Moo-yeol) is kidnapped by a group of unidentified criminals. Younger brother Jin-seok (Kang Ha-neul) is haunted by hallucinations, both visual and auditory, since that day on. Yoo-seok miraculously resurfaces 19 days later with no memory of his disappearance or capture, but seems different. While tailing his returned brother, who disappears wi

Korean film director Kim Ki-duk has recently been investigated for allegations of assaulting an actress, the prosecution said Thursday.Seoul Central District Prosecutor summoned Kim on Monday and questioned him on a complaint filed in August. In the complaint, a 41-year-old actress accused him of slapping and coercing her to shoot an unscripted sex scene while filming the 2013 movie “Moebius.” The actress left the production after the said quarrel.  Kim Ki-duk (Yonhap)Kim admitted to having slap

The domestic crime flick "The Swindlers" will be released in 10 foreign regions, its local distributor said Thursday.Beginning with Australia and New Zealand on Thursday, the film starring Hyunbin and Yoo Ji-tae will open in North America on Friday, Hong Kong and Macao next Thursday, and Taiwan on Dec. 22, Showbox said.The film is also scheduled to open in Japan early next year, while discussions are under way for its release in the Philippines and Britain. Hyun Bin (left), Yoo Ji-tae star in "T

The Seoul Independent Film Festival is set to spotlight films by female directors and debut features by promising indie filmmakers this year.The 43rd edition of the nine-day festival -- Korea’s only competition film festival for indie films -- takes place from Thursday to Dec. 8. This year’s opening film is “Cinema With You,” a 36-minute omnibus film by Yoo Ji-young, Jeong Ga-young and Kim Tae-jin. The film begins by tracing the life of Sun-mi, an office worker who has been dispatched to a remot

Ryu Jun-yeol is in the last stages of accepting an offer to star in the upcoming police film “Hit and Run Unit (Bbaengban),” his agency C-Jes Entertainment said Monday.If confirmed, the actor will be teaming up with Gong Hyo-jin in a film dealing with a group of idiosyncratic police detectives in the hit-and-run unit of a police station.   Ryu Jun-yeol (Herald Pop)The film is set to hit theaters next year.It will be helmed by director Han Jun-hee, who previously helmed the female-driven crime th