South Korea’s film industry saw its accumulative revenue this year surpass 1 trillion won ($767 million) for the first time after movie theaters struggled to survive the COVID-19 pandemic. According to data by Korean Film Council, total revenue from January to November recorded 1.26 trillion won, mostly buoyed by a slew of movies that were released targeting moviegoers during the summer and Chuseok holiday season. Such figure was up by 100.5 percent or 502.5 billion won compared to a year

Prey for the Devil (US) Opened Dec. 7 Mystery Directed by Daniel Stamm With a global rise in demonic possessions, the Roman Catholic Church decides to reopen schools to train priests to perform exorcisms. While nuns are not allowed to perform this ritual, Sister Ann’s gifts are noticed by a professor who decides to train her. Sister Ann soon finds herself in a battle for the soul of a young girl possessed by a demon. Even If This Love Disappears Tonight (Japan) Opened Nov. 30 Romance D

The short, but dramatic life of Korean independence fighter Ahn Jung-geun (1879-1910) has been adopted into various novels and musicals, but the musical “Hero” has been the best-known adaptation with veteran actor Jung Sung-hwa playing Ahn on stage for 14 years since its premiere in 2009. When megahit film director Youn Je-kyoon watched Jung performing on stage in 2012, it became obvious for Youn to bring the award-winning musical to the big screen. “If I were to create a film

In an attempt to bring it back to its former glory, the 58th Daejong Film Awards was held Friday in Seoul in a smaller scale with only a few actors in attendance. Film director Park Chan-wook’s Cannes-winning romance-thriller “Decision to Leave” won the most coveted best picture and scenario award at this year’s Daejong Film Awards, also known as the Grand Bell Awards. Park, who is currently working on his next project abroad, delivered his acceptance speech via a voice

Even If This Love Disappears Tonight (Japan) Opened Nov. 30 Romance Directed by Takahiro Miki The movie, based on the novel by the same title by the Japanese author Misaki Ichijo, tells a story of high school students Toru Kamiya (Shunsuke Michieda) and Maori Hino (Riko Fukumoto) who go on a date despite Maori suffering from a condition in which she loses all memory of the previous day upon waking up the next morning. Overcoming such a hurdle, Toru promises Maori as many happy memories as possib

The Korean Film Council will hold the Freedom of Expression Film Festival from Friday until Dec. 18, with local independent film theaters screening 20 films that were blacklisted during previous conservative administrations. The existence of the blacklist came to light in 2016. The 20 films include director Park Chan-wook’s “Joint Security Area” (2000), “The Handmaiden” (2016), director Chung Ji-young’s “National Security” (2012) and movies starrin

Following the dire, years-long pandemic-related difficulties, local theaters are hoping the box office records will get a year-end boost with a slew of new releases -- from the much-anticipated James Cameron blockbuster “Avatar: The Way of Water” to South Korea’s first ever musical-to-screen movie “Hero.” Will those films bring back to theaters people who have been streaming Netflix in the comfort of their homes? Or will they stay home, begrudging the ticket price

Italian luxury fashion house Gucci said Tuesday it will hold its Cruise 2024 collection show in Seoul on May 15, without revealing the specific venue. The brand said it had picked South Korea for being the center of dynamic heritage, culture and creativity, which is in line with Gucci’s core values. Just last month, Gucci had to call off its fashion show titled “Gucci Cosmogonie Collection Seoul” scheduled to take place at Gyeongbokgung Palace on Nov. 1, following the tragedy

Oscar-winning film director Bong Joon-ho’s next movie, “Mickey 17,” will hit theaters on March 29, 2024, Warner Bros. Pictures confirmed Tuesday. The movie is based on Edward Ashton’s 2022 sci-fi novel “Mickey7,” which tells the story of Mickey7, an expendable employee who is sent on a dangerous mission to colonize an ice world called Niflheim. “Twilight” series’ Robert Pattinson plays the lead role. The cast also includes Hollywood stars Nao

Veteran actor Youn Yuh-jung is leaving her agency Hook Entertainment following the expiration of her contract, according to the company on Tuesday. The Oscar-winning actor signed on with Hook Entertainment in March 2017. The company earlier denied news reports of Youn's departure, claiming that Youn was not leaving the company although their exclusive contract had expired. Youn is reportedly undecided on a new agency to represent her. Youn made history last year by winning the best supporti

The fourth annual Jongno Culture Diversity Film Festival will kick off Thursday to share the meaning and value of diversity through film, according to the Jongno Foundation for Arts & Culture on Monday. Established in 2019, the annual event will take place Dec. 8-20 at Emu Arts Space in Jongno under the slogan “Stories of Yours, Mine and Ours.” Eight films designated as "films of the year" by the foundation that look into diversity on the topics of generation, era, rela

Men of Plastic (Korea) Opened Nov. 30 Comedy Directed by Lim Jin-sun Born and raised in the posh, affluent Apgujeong-dong in southern Seoul, Dae-guk (Don Lee) is familiar with plastic surgery and skin care shops, as so many are located in Apgujeong-dong. To realize his business idea to start his own plastic surgery clinic, he meets the area’s most renowned plastic surgeon Ji-woo (Jung Kyung-ho), and together they begin to realize the dream of opening Asia’s most famous plastic surger

Ju Ji-hoon is returning to the screen for the first time in four years with the comedy film, “Gentleman,” alongside his close friend and fellow actor Park Sung-woong who gets to become a different type of villain. “At first, I refused because I have played so many similar bad guy roles before, but it was Ju Ji-hoon who persuaded me to team up for this film, rather than appearing in each other’s movie for brief cameo parts,” Park said during a press conference held a

South Korean steel giant Posco said Sunday its production plants in Pohang and Gwangyang have received the ResponsibleSteel accreditation, becoming the first Asian company to win the honor. ResponsibleSteel, a nonprofit organization set up in 2016, awards steel businesses with accreditation for fulfilling some 370 criteria, including enviornmental, social and governance efforts. The review process also includes a third-party evaluation. After nine months of evaluation and inspection, Posco&rsq

Plana, a South Korean startup dedicated to building vertical takeoff and landing aircraft powered by hybrid e-powertrains, said Friday that Dr. Kim Hyun-soon from Agency for Defense Development has joined the company as vice president. Kim, who is an R&D expert in developing unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) systems, spent over 25 years developing aerospace and UAV systems at the state-run agency. Kim will also head Plana’s research center. With Kim joining the team, the company would ac