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Korean crime comedy action film “I The Executioner” has amassed more than $30 million of gross revenues on its sixth day of release, making it one of the fastest movies in local history to reach that mark.

Kobis, the cinema data service operated by the Korean Film Council, reported that the film had reached 3.71 million admissions and a gross haul of $27.2 million by the evening of Tuesday, its fifth full day in cinemas.

On Wednesday morning, the film’s distributor Cj Enm said that the film’s ticket sales total had surpassed 4 million by 9am local time. That would give an estimated box office total of $30 million, that will be confirmed by independent data later in the day.

Cj Enm has not disclosed a production budget for the title, but it said that with this level of business the film has now broken even. It is not clear whether that calculation...

Exclusive: Matt Brolly’s thriller novel The Alliance is getting the small screen treatment. A mixed Korean/English language television adaptation is in development at Universal International Studios, a division of Universal Studio Group, with Kim Bo-tong, attached to write.

Based on Brolly’s book published in April by Thomas & Mercer, The Alliance is a spellbinding global thriller set off by four simultaneous murders in different cities that are broadcasted on the web, puzzling authorities and sending shockwaves across the world, per the official logine. The key might be in the blindfolded witness that each crime left behind. Inexplicably, these witnesses are returned to their respective lives, unharmed, but with a dark mission they can’t refuse. Through them, the Alliance sets off a dangerous and provocative game that will ensnare an audience around the world. All hope rests on Shannon, who will lead the most...

A sequel to Marvel’s live-action "Eternals" feature, has been nixed by the studio, despite a brilliant concept based on the Jack Kirby-created comic book series, that somehow devolved into a multi-million dollar ‘woke’ feature, that would be banned in Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Kuwait, because one of the characters is ‘gay’:

"...for millions of years, one hundred 'Eternals' have roamed the Earth, as the secret protectors of humanity.

"Without them, we'd be smears between the teeth of the demon-like 'Deviants'.

"Their war has waged for all time, echoing in our myths and nightmares.

“But today, Eternals face something new: change. Can they — or anyone — survive their discovery?..."

"Marvel Studios' 'Eternals' introduces an exciting new team of superheroes in the 'Marvel Cinematic Universe': ancient aliens who have been living on Earth in secret for thousands of years.

"Following the events of 'Avengers: Endgame',...

MCU sequels used to be a regular occurrence, but Marvel Studios/Disney haven't been as quick to green-light direct follow-ups of late - and with good reason.

Several recent sequels/threequels - including Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania and The Marvels - underperformed, and with Eternals not only having the dubious honor of being the first Marvel Studios movie to drop to "rotten" status on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, but also finishing up its U.S. run with a disappointing $164.9 million to give it the lowest domestic haul of any McU-set movie aside from 2008's The Incredible Hulk ($134M), a sequel always seemed like a long shot.

Even so, it was difficult to imagine that Kevin Feige would simply decide to forget about these characters, and rumors have persisted that a sequel was in the early planning stages.

We're still not sure how accurate these reports were, but if Eternals 2 ever was in development,...

Eternals was a big departure from anything Marvel had done, and this is a franchise which had already introduced a talking raccoon and actual magic. Still, the story of a group of superpowered individuals who had been on earth for 5000 years proved to be divisive, with the film becoming the worst-reviewed project of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. It also struggled at the box office, although it should be noted that the film was released during the height of the pandemic. It’s been nearly three years since the release of the film, but there’s still no movement on Eternals 2, and Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige has dropped a disappointing update.

“There are no immediate plans for Eternals 2,” Feige said while speaking with Inverse. “There are, and I think you’ve seen maybe in a trailer we’ve released recently, an acknowledgment of some of those events. Certain...

We say it every year, but that’s only because it’s true every year: The New York Asian Film Festival is the most fun you could have at the movies this summer. And that’s especially true this summer, as the festival — which proudly brings American crowds into “the trenches” of Asian cinema — is expanding its mission statement with a blockbuster slate that incudes an ass-kicking Don Lee sequel (“The Roundup: Punishment”), the world premiere of a new “Baby Assassins” movie, a Louis Koo/Sammo Hung crime epic fresh from Cannes (“Twilight of the Warriors: Walled In”), and more can’t-miss spectacles that demand major international attention.

But Nyaff isn’t just growing bigger and wider; it’s growing deeper as well. The festival’s 2024 edition offers one of the richest and most inclusive slates that Nyaff has ever assembled (no mean feat), with programming that ranges from hard-hitting Taiwanese social dramas,...

Marvel Studios still hasn't officially announced a sequel to Eternals, but rumors persist that a second film is in development - though, understandably, it may not be a priority for the studio right now.

MCU sequels are a regular occurrence, of course, but Eternals is the only Marvel Studios movie to drop to "rotten" status on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, and the divisive superhero epic finished up its U.S. run with a disappointing $164.9 million, giving it the lowest domestic haul of any McU-set movie aside from 2008's The Incredible Hulk ($134M).

Even so, the first film left quite a few dangling plot threads that still haven't been addressed, and it's difficult to imagine Kevin Feige would simply decide to forget about these characters.

Now, Alex Perez from My Cosmic Circus is reporting that the Eternals sequel is still in the works, but has been put on the "back burner" for the time being.

I am not sure how successful the first entry was, but nevertheless, a sequel to “King of Prison” titled “The Prison War” did come two years later, and with an evidently bigger budget. Lee Sol-gu who played the King in the first movie gave his stead to the even more impressive physically Shin Yoo-ram, while the cast is almost completely different, with the exceptions of Lee Hyun-woong who reprises his role as Wai-wai and Kim Min-v as Ktx.

King of Prison 2: The Prison War is available from Echelon Studios

This time the action is much more intense and actually starts from the beginning, as Kang Tae-ho creates an explosive mixture. King Beom-teol is here once more and is still the King, but his dominance is more challenged than ever. First from the Mess Sergeant, who works in the kitchen and thus has access to knives, and secondly from a...

“Bad Boys: Ride or Die,” a hit in multiple other markets worldwide, crashed on its first lap at the South Korean box office. It failed to make even $1 million in on its opening weekend.

Instead, “Wonderland,” a sci-fi fantasy about Artificial Intelligence, took the top spot over the weekend.

Opening in fifth place, “Bad Boys 4” earned just $520,000 or 8% of the Korean market over the Friday to Sunday weekend, according to data from Kobis, the tracking service operated by the Korean Film Council (Kofic). Over the five days since its Wednesday theatrical opening, it earned just $803,000.

At this pace, it is unlikely to catch the $3.54 million Korean total of “Bad Boys for Life,” which opened in January 2020.

Competition over the latest weekend was not exactly fierce. Korean-produced “Wonderland” earned a modest $1.66 million in top spot, with a market share of 25%. That was the second weakest first-placed opening of the year.

To celebrate the release of Train to Busan & Train to Busan Presents: Peninsula both making their debut on 4K Uhd Blu-ray from 27th May, we have a both 4K UHDs to give away!

Experience a double bill of genre-defining South Korean horror this May with the critically acclaimed Train To Busan and its follow-up Train To Busan Presents: Peninsula, both making their long-awaited debut on 4K Uhd Blu-ray from 27th May.

Celebrated as a “genre-transcending masterpiece” by Kingsman writer Jane Goldman, Yeon Sang-ho’s horror about a zombie virus spreading aboard a high-speed train received critical acclaim due to its mix of intense action and emotional bite, with iconic filmmaker Edgar Wright (Shaun of the Dead) naming Train To Busan the “best zombie movie I’ve seen in forever”. The film was a box office sensation, transforming break-out star Ma Dong-seok (also known as Don Lee) into one of South...

Local blockbuster, “The Roundup: Punishment” extended its dominance of the South Korea theatrical box office for a fourth weekend. That lifted its cumulative total to a powerful $75 million.

“Punishment,” the fourth part of a brutal action comedy film franchise produced by and starring Don Lee (aka Ma Dong-seok), earned $3.05 million between Friday and Sunday, according to data from Kobis, the tracking service operated by the Korean Film Council (Kofic). While the film’s week-on-week performance was a 46% decrease, “Punishment” still enjoyed a 36% share of the Korean theatrical market.

After nearly four weeks on release, it has accumulated a total of $75.2 million from 10.7 million admissions. The year’s biggest title to date remains “Exhuma” with $84.8 million earned from 11.9 million ticket sales.

Those two films have dominated proceedings at the Korean box office this year and helped Korea stage a belated recovery in theatrical trends. Both March and April were recent records.

“Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes” opened in second place at the South Korean weekend box office, a distance behind local holdover title “The Roundup: Punishment.”

“Punishment,” the fourth part of Don Lee’s “Roundup” action franchise, dominated proceedings for the third weekend in succession. It earned $5.53 million and advanced its cumulative total to $67.7 million, according to Kobis, the tracking service operated by the Korean Film Council (Kofic). Its earnings represented a still strong 58% share of the weekend theatrical market, but they were also down by 60% week-on-week, suggesting that “Punishment” may not reach the heights of the previous franchise elements.

In 2022, “The Roundup” earned $95.7 million (using current rates of currency exchange), while last year “The Roundup: No Way Out” earned $76.3 million.

“Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes” recorded $2.45 million between Friday and Sunday with a 26% market share. Over its full five-day opening in Korea, the film earned $3.10 million from 415,000 ticket sales.

Worldwide box office April 26-28 RankFilm (distributor)3-day (world) Cume (world)3-day (int’l)Cume (int’l)Territories 1. The Roundup: Punishment (various) $24.4m $24.6m $24.4m $24.6m 6 2. Challengers (Warner Bros) $24m $25m $9m $10m 53 3. Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire (Warner Bros) $15.2m $503.5m $11.7m $318.6m 83 4. Kung Fu Panda 4 (Universal) $15.2m $15.2m $5m $5m 63 5. Civil War (A24) $15.1m $86.2m $8.1m $30m 46 6. The Fall Guy (Universal) $8.7m $8.7m $8.7m $8.7m 38 7. Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire (Sony) $8.3m $188m $5m $8m 61 8. Abigail (Universal) $7.9m $28.6m $2.6m $9.9m 75 9. Detective Conan: The Million Dollar Pentagram (Toho)

$7.9m $55.7m $7.9m $55.7m 105 10. Unsung Hero (Lionsgate) $7.8m $7.8m N/A N/A 1

Credit: Comscore.

“The Roundup: Punishment,” the fourth film in the Don Lee-starring crime action franchise, earned $20.9 million between Friday and Sunday and punched out all competition at the South Korean box office.

“Challengers,” which headed the box office this weekend in North America, with $15 million, opened fourth in Korea a 0.5% market share.

Global cinema data service, Comscore reported that “Punishment” was the top-scoring film worldwide with $24.4 million earned from collections in six territories. It was narrowly ahead of “Challengers” which earned $24.0 million from 53 markets.

“Punishment” accounted for a crushing 94% market share in Korea and collected its weekend haul from 2.92 million ticket sales, according to data from Kobis, the tracking service operated by the Korean Film Council (Kofic).

The film opened officially on Wednesday, when it scored $4.92 million, and followed that with a $3.25 million Thursday. Including the weekday takings and a smattering of previews from the previous weekend, the film finished Sunday with a cumulative of $29.3 million,...

Korean comedy action film “The Roundup: Punishment” destroyed all competition in local theaters on its Wednesday opening day.

The film earned $4.92 million from 821,000 ticket sales, according to data from Kobis, the tracking service operated by the Korean Film Council (Kofic). That represented a crushing 97% share of the day’s theatrical market.

Including a smattering of previews over the latest weekend, the film finished Wednesday with a cumulative of $5.26 million earned from 862,000 spectators.

Earlier, it was reported that the film had broken the Korean record for advanced ticket sales. On the eve of its arrival in cinemas, the film had notched up 830,000 pre-sales for Wednesday and other subsequent days. That comfortably exceeded previous record-holder “Along With the Gods: The Last 49 Days,” which pre-sold 646,000 tickets in 2018, and last year’s “The Roundup: No Way Out,” which pre-sold 640,000 before arriving in cinemas.

The film, which sees a tough-guy cop go after gangsters involved in drugs,...

Ma Dong-seok is a South Korean-born actor, who came into prominence with his role in the acclaimed movie Train to Busan (2016). Born as Lee Dong-seok, the actor who is known for his action films, made his Hollywood debut with Eternals (2021). His latest movie is The Roundup: Punishment, the fourth movie in the series, which was recently released in South Korea, and will be in theaters in the USA from May 3.

2021’s Eternals | Marvel Studios

Being a part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, he played one of the Eternals, Gilgamesh, in the 2021 feature. Don Lee, as he is known in the American industry, also got to work with some of the most prolific actors in the industry in the MCU movie. But there was one actor he was absolutely elated to work with.

The Bond Between Gilgamesh and Thena Translated Beyond The Screen

Don Lee played the strongest Eternal, Gilgamesh opposite Angelina Jolie‘s Thena.

The Roundup: Punishment, the fourth film in the blockbuster Korean franchise, has set a new all-time opening day presales record in its home market. Releasing there today, the crime actioner that stars and is executive produced by Ma Dong-seok (aka Don Lee), had amassed over 834,000 ticket reservations as of Wednesday morning local time, accounting for 95.5% of all sales, according to local reports.

This tops the franchise’s own best presales of 640K for 2023’s The Roundup: No Way Out which went on to gross $76.4M in the market. It is also bigger than 2018’s Along with the Gods: The Last 49 Days’ 646K in presales; the previous record holder which also starred Lee, Abo Entertainment told local media citing figures from the Korean Film Council. It’s also well above the opening day presales of Hollywood titles in the market this year.

The latest installment in the series was in previews on Wednesday,...

‘Kung Fu Panda 4’ retained its lead at the top of the South Korean box office on what was the quietest cinema-going weekend in more than a year.

The animated franchise movie held up reasonably. It maintained a nearly 44% market share, dropped only 32% week-on-week and was untroubled by competition from new releases. The film earned $1.91 million between Friday and Sunday, according to data from Kobis, the tracking service operated by the Korean Film Council (Kofic). After 12 days on release, “Kung Fu Panda 4” has a cumulative total of $8.48 million.

“Exhuma,” which had held the top spot for six weeks before losing it a week ago, remained in second spot. It earned $772,000 with a nearly 18% market share. Since releasing on Feb. 22, it has amassed a cumulative $82.7 million, earned from 11.8 million spectators.

While the top two films showed endurance, the overall box office market looked sickly. Across the nation’s roughly 2,500 cinemas,...

"I promise I'll catch them all." Blue Fox Ent. & Capelight Pictures have revealed the official US trailer for an action movie from Korea titled The Roundup: Punishment, which is the fourth movie in The Roundup series. It first launched with The Outlaws in 2017, continuing with The Roundup (2022) and The Roundup: No Way Out (2023) and now this one is ready to rock. As Detective Ma Seok-do pursues a drug trafficking app's elusive developer, he uncovers a deadly link to a vast online gambling syndicate (in the world of cyber crime), triggering an unprecedented alliance to take down the masterminds. The Roundup: Punishment was directed by Heo Myeong-haeng, a stunt choreographer who also worked on Don Lee's breakout hit Train to Busan. The Roundup 4 stars Korea's favorite Don Lee returning as Ma Seok-do, plus Kim Moo-yul, Park Ji-hwan, and Lee Dong-hwi. This has also received some positive reviews like the other three,...

Asian Cinema Celebration

Veteran Chinese director Zhang Yimou will be presented with a lifetime achievement award at the upcoming edition of the Festival of Far East Film in Italy’s Udine (April 24 – May 2). The lineup will include three films by Zhang: his 2023 political thriller “Under the Light” in its competition section; as well as “To Live” and “Raise the Red Lantern” in its restored classics section.

The festival’s total lineup includes 74 films in total – 47 in competition and 28 out of competition) from 11 countries. Events will kick off with a double bill of smash hit mainland Chinese movie “Yolo” and Korean action comedy “Citizen of a Kind.”

Other highlights include “13 Bombs” by Indonesia’s Angga Dwimas Sasongko; “The Goldfinger” by Hong Kong’s Felix Chong; investigative journalism drama “In Broad Daylight,” by Hong Kong’s Lawrence Kan; Ning Hao’s “The Movie Emperor”; a ten-strong Japanese selection that includes “(Ab)normal Desire,...

The Far East Film Festival (Feff) in Italy’s Udine has unveiled the full line-up for its 26th edition, which will honour Chinese filmmaker Zhang Yimou with an honorary award and world premiere restored versions of his Raise The Red Lantern and To Live.

Running April 24 to May 2, the festival will open with a double bill: Chinese box office hit Yolo and South Korean action-comedy Citizen Of A Kind.

Yolo dominated this year’s Lunar New Year releases, grossing $484m in China, and is directed by Jia Ling, who stars as an unemployed woman in her 30s whose life is...

Exclusive: Justin Calen-Chenn, a staff writer on Netflix’s recent crime action series The Brothers Sun from creators Brad Falchuk and Byron Wu, has signed with M88 for management.

Starring Oscar winner Michelle Yeoh, Justin Chien and Sam Song Li, the show watched as Charles Sun (Chien), a Taipei gangster who’d settled into his life as a ruthless killer, headed to L.A. to protect his mother and younger brother after his father was shot by a mysterious assassin.

Calen-Chenn drew on much of his own personal life experience in the writers’ room, having been homeless as a teenager and fallen into a life of crime before departing that life many years later after a severe tragedy occurred.

Previously serving as an executive story editor on the second season of Peacock’s Bel-Air, from EPs including Will Smith and Malcolm Spellman, the Taiwanese-American creative is a writer and co-producer on the forthcoming third season.

“Pleasant Outcast,” a 10-part Korean series that is set to appear at Canneseries next month, is a companion piece to “Concrete Utopia,” the hit film from last year that was selected as South Korea’s Oscar contender.

Both the Lotte Cultureworks series and “Concrete Utopia,” a dystopian drama-thriller set in a post-apocalyptic Seoul, are adapted from best-selling webtoon “Cheerful Outcast,” by Kim Soong Nyung. The film was frequently compared to William Golding’s seminal novel from the 1954 “Lord of the Flies” and its 1964 film adaptation.

Using the first part of the webtoon, the series follows Dong-hyun, a high school junior, who barely survives his day-to-day bullying at school. “When he wishes all were dead, an unexplained powerful earthquake destroys his school. Trapped in isolated circumstances, the hierarchy and power reshuffle as students struggle to survive, while continuous collapses and accidents kill more students. In this collapsed and extreme world, the...

South Korean sales company Finecut has picked up international sales rights to upcoming action-comedy Boss and will introduce the film to buyers at Hong Kong Filmart this week.

The feature is produced by Hive Media Corp, the company behind South Korea’s biggest box office hit of 2023, 12.12: The Day.

The story follows members of a gang amid the search to appoint a new boss. But rather than fight for the title, the gangsters dream of escaping to a normal life.

The cast is led by Jo Woo-jin of Netflix series Narco-Saints, whose character wants to run his family’s...

Festival

The South Asian House initiative is back at SXSW with the festival’s first-ever South Asian music showcase. Featured acts include Jay Dhami, Bodur, Simar, Avara, Meetu Chilana, The Tabla Queen, DJ Anupi, Bollyflow and The Diversity Band. In addition, South Asian co-founder and film producer, Jitin Hingorani (“Zende”), will highlight the Telugu-language film industry becoming a healthy disruptor in the business of global cinema along with producers and directors Deepak Reddy and Sachin Dheeraj, actor Pooja Kumar, and Enowate’s Anil Shankaramanchi, who markets Telugu films in the U.S.

Following the SXSW U.S. premiere of South Asian-themed “The Queen of My Dreams,” which bowed at Toronto 2023, South Asian House will co-host the film’s premiere party in partnership with Canada House, Agliff, Isf, and the film’s producers Baby Daal Production, Spark Features, and Shut Up & Colour. South Asian House is also hosting a mixer to...

The shortest distance between two points is popularly believed to be a straight line. But if one of those points is the chin, cheekbone or torso of some sneering and/or psychotic Korean gangster, the shortest route is actually the arc described by either one of Korean megastar Don Lee’s fists, here playing the fists of Detective Ma, protagonist of the ludicrously watchable “Roundup” series.

“The Roundup” and “The Roundup: No Way Out” the first two sequels to 2017’s “The Outlaws,” seemed to inch a little closer each time to the platonic ideal of star-driven action-franchise purity. Now, with Lee (aka Ma Dong-seok) and his fists directed by Heo Myeong-haeng, a stunt choreographer who worked on Lee’s breakout “Train to Busan,” the fourth episode gets closer still. “The Roundup: Punishment” minimizes unnecessary originality, while gloriously maximizing the opportunities for Lee to crack wise, or look aggrieved and a little bored,...

South Korean star Don Lee has revealed that four more films are being planned for the hit Roundup franchise and confirmed he is lined up to return to the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

The action star is in Berlin with The Roundup: Punishment, which will receive its world premiere tonight (February 23) as a Berlinale Special Gala.

It is the fourth instalment in a series that began with The Outlaws in 2017 before sequel The Roundup became the top grossing film at the Korean box office in 2022 with takings of nearly $100m (KRW131.3bn) – bringing audiences back to cinemas post-pandemic – and The Roundup: No Way Out...

In Berlin with “The Roundup: Punishment,” part four of the action movie series that he created and stars in, the larger-than-life Korean American Don Lee finds himself simultaneously in multiple timely and lucrative businesses.

These include the Marvel superhero business, the Korea-to-Hollywood remake business, “The Roundup” franchise and its multiple spinoff possibilities. Lee may even be in the business of saving Korean cinema, which is currently having one of its periodic wobbles.

“What we have to do is make really, really fun entertaining movies. Put them in cinemas, so that everyone will come back to the theaters. One of my goals is to entertain more people,” Lee told Variety on the fringes of the Berlin Film Festival, where “Punishment” has its world premiere as an out-of-competition gala screening.

The second element of the franchise, “The Roundup,” earned $99 million in 2022, making it Korea’s highest grossing movie that year, while last...

South Korean action film The Roundup: Punishment has been sold to a string of key territories including the US by sales agent K-Movie Entertainment, ahead of its world premiere at the Berlinale.

Deals have been closed for North America and Germany (Capelight Pictures), the UK, Australia and New Zealand (Signal Pictures), Italy (Tucker Film), Japan (Happinet Phantom Studios), Hong Kong and Macau (Edko Films), Southeast Asia (Clover Films), Taiwan (Moviecloud), Vietnam (Lotte Vietnam), India (Indo Overseas Films), Mongolia (Filmbridge), Cis and Baltics (Mauris Film) and inflight (Kairos Distribution).

It marks the fourth in the blockbuster franchise starring Don Lee (aka...

Kumail Nanjiani is recalling the release of Marvel’s Eternals and revealing he had to go to counseling following the negative reviews the Chloé Zhao film received.

“I had the best time doing that movie, and I realized this is how work should feel like,” Nanjiani said during an appearance on the Inside of You with Michael Rosenbaum podcast. “However, when that movie came out and the reviews weren’t good, that was very, very tough for me and I realized that too much of how I’m evaluating what I want to do is based on the result of what other people think of it.”

Eternals was released in 2021, and it starred Angelina Jolie, Salma Hayek, Gemma Chan, Richard Madden, Lia McHugh, Brian Tyree Henry, Lauren Ridloff, Barry Keoghan, Don Lee, Kit Harington, among others. The film currently has a 47% score on Rotten Tomatoes.

“It was really, really hard...

Kumail Nanjiani is opening up about how the critically panned MCU installment “Eternals” affected his mental health.

The “Big Sick” star revealed that after the Marvel movie bombed in 2021, he sought counseling. The film, directed by Oscar winner Chloé Zhao, currently has a 47 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes and is one of the worst-reviewed Marvel movies of all-time.

“The reviews were bad, and I was too aware of it,” Nanjiani said during an episode of the “Inside of You with Michael Rosenbaum” podcast. “I was reading every review and checking too much.”

Nanjiani continued of the actors’ press tour, “It was really, really hard because Marvel thought that movie was going to be really, really well reviewed, so they lifted the embargo early and put it in some fancy movie festivals and they sent us on a big global tour to promote the movie right as the embargo lifted. I...

Pakistani-American actor Kumail Nanjiani revealed that the negative reviews for ‘Eternals’ took a toll on his mental health. “The reviews were bad, and I was too aware of it,” said Nanjiani, who played Kingo in the 2021 Marvel film during an appearance on the “Inside of You With Michael Rosenbaum” podcast.

He added: “I was reading every review and checking too much.”

‘Eternals’ hails from Oscar-winning director Chloe Zhao and features a star-studded ensemble including Nanjiani, Gemma Chan, Richard Madden, Barry Keoghan, Lia McHugh, Brian Tyree Henry, Lauren Ridloff, Don Lee, Kit Harrington, Salma Hayek and Angelina Jolie.

The superhero epic is one of Marvel’s worst-reviewed films to date, with a 47 per cent on Rotten Tomatoes, reports variety.com.

“It was really, really hard because Marvel thought that movie was going to be really, really well reviewed, so they lifted the embargo early and put it in some fancy movie...

Kumail Nanjiani revealed during an appearance on the “Inside of You With Michael Rosenbaum” podcast that the negative reviews for “Eternals” took a toll on his mental health.

“The reviews were bad, and I was too aware of it,” said Nanjiani, who played Kingo in the 2021 Marvel film. “I was reading every review and checking too much.”

“Eternals” hails from Oscar-winning director Chloé Zhao and features a star-studded ensemble including Nanjiani, Gemma Chan, Richard Madden, Barry Keoghan, Lia McHugh, Brian Tyree Henry, Lauren Ridloff, Don Lee, Kit Harrington, Salma Hayek and Angelina Jolie. The superhero epic is one of Marvel’s worst-reviewed films to date, with a 47% on Rotten Tomatoes.

“It was really, really hard because Marvel thought that movie was going to be really, really well reviewed, so they lifted the embargo early and put it in some fancy movie festivals and they sent us on a big global...

Currently revelling in the success of recently-uploaded Don Lee-starring film “Badland Hunters” and already teasing the second season of “Squid Game,” Netflix has unveiled a major slate of Korean films and series for 2024.

In August last year, Netflix publicly committed to investing $2.5 billion on Korean content over the next four years. That reflected both Netflix’s position as the country’s leading streamer, with an estimated 6.5 million subscribers, and its adopted role as one of the biggest exporters of Korean film and TV content.

“We were able to make this [investment] decision because we have great confidence that the Korean creative industry will continue to tell great stories,” said the streamer’s co-chief Ted Sarandos at the time of the spending commitment.

The Tuesday reveal is a mix of: first-look images and updates for previously announced projects (including the retitled Park Chan-wook-produced film “Uprising” and the second season...

Netflix has unveiled a bumper slate of Korean films and series for the year ahead including a historical feature from Park Chan-wook and the return of the streamer’s biggest ever series, Squid Game.

Fresh details on more than 30 titles were revealed as part of Netflix’s ongoing showcase of what is to come in 2024, which has included upcoming slates from the US and Southeast Asia among others over the past week.

Leading the shows from South Korea is season two of Squid Game, the highly-anticipated follow up to the 2021 series that remains the platform’s most popular series of...

An earthquake has destroyed Seoul, leaving nothing but rubble in its wake. The survivors live in dire straits, fighting each other for scraps of food and fleeting essentials. There’s only one doctor left in town… but not just any doctor. This one’s gone bad, and no one can stop him. When he kidnaps a teen girl to use as yet another test subject to experiment on, a kindhearted but ruthless hunter will do anything — and fight anyone — to get her home safe.

Badland Hunters is the feature directorial debut of martial arts choreographer Heo Myeong-haeng and was co-written by D.P. creator Kim Bo-tong and Kwak Jae-min (Amanza). Action flick darling Don Lee, aka Ma Dong-seok, stars in the film — his Netflix debut — alongside Lee Hee-jun and K-pop singer Lee Jun-young.

When will Badland Hunters be released?

Stream it now.

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There is a way to make apocalyptic or dystopian movies that can be fun. Filmmakers add a bit too much gravity to the scenario, but Badland Hunters is cool for being adventurous and humorous about it. It does so in the way the characters react to the situation, always having room for levity. But there is an emotional core, especially with regards to Nam San’s character, that shines through, even after the mayhem created by the action scenes dominates the movie. This movie can be seen as the fight between a good father and a bad one, and it is fun to watch unfold even though it’s too obvious. The movie is set three years after the events shown in Concrete Utopia. The people who were fortunate enough to survive the great earthquake had set up their own society and were trying to get through life. But nearby,...

For some reason, the sequel to Concrete Utopia is a Netflix original and was released on the platform before most of the globe had a chance to watch the first part. I suppose Badland Hunters isn’t really a sequel so much as a film that exists in the same universe as Concrete Utopia. The film stars Ma Dong-Seok (Don Lee) in his first Netflix original in the leading role of a huntsman in the dystopian ruins of South Korea after a devastating earthquake. Badland Hunters is the story of his search for a little girl, who is under his protection but gets taken away under the pretense of her being offered clean water and protection. In this lawless badland, though, there are many enemies, so will our huntsman be able to save the girl? Or will he end up losing to the dark side? Before we get into the nitty-gritty details of the film,...

Lotte Cultureworks will launch “Holy Night: Demon Hunters,” likely to be one of the biggest Korean movies of the year, at next month’s European Film Market in Berlin.

The occult-themed action movie stars Don Lee, the Korean-American superstar who also fronts “The Roundup” comedy-action franchise. The fourth instalment in that series “The Roundup: Punishment” will have its world premiere in the Berlin festival’s Berlinale Special section, with Lee expected to be in attendance, giving Lotte some additional momentum with the new title launch.

“Holy Night: Demon Hunters” sees Seoul descend into chaos as a devil-worshipping criminal network takes control. In a desperate plea for salvation, the police are forced to enlist Holy Night, a trio of demon hunters armed with supernatural powers.

The cast also includes Seohyun (real name Seo Ju-hyun) of K-pop sensation Girls Generation, who has acting credits in Netflix film “Love and Leashes” and TV series “Private Lives,...

Badland Hunters is Netflix’s latest entry into the world of Korean cinema, and it makes for a gritty post-apocalyptic actioner featuring one of Korea’s biggest stars, Don Lee. However, there’s some confusion about whether it’s a sequel or not. Last year, one of Korea’s biggest blockbusters was Concrete Utopia. Critically acclaimed for its dystopian vision, that film was a tour de force for veteran lead actor Lee Byung-hun. It also won numerous Korean film awards and was South Korea’s entry for the Best International Feature Film category for this year’s Academy Awards. However, it did not make the shortlist.

Concrete Utopia is about a devastating earthquake that reduces Seoul to rubble. Everything is in ruins except the Imperial Palace Apartments. The apartment dwellers covet their resources and keep outsiders out, building a utopia lead by Yeong-tak (Lee). The film was lauded for its keen observations on power,...

The 2024Berlin Film Festival has added Brandt Andersen’s refugee drama The Strangers’ Case, featuring French superstar Omar Sy (Lupin) to its official lineup. The drama, about a tragedy that strikes a Syrian family in Aleppo, triggering a chain reaction of events that impact five different families across four countries, will screen in the Berlinale Special sidebar at this year’s festival, which runs Feb. 15-25. Jason Beghe and Yasmine Al Massri co-star in the film’s ensemble cast.

Berlin on Thursday also added two mid-length Japanese films to its Berlinale Specials lineup: Chime by Kiyoshi Kurosawa (Tokyo Sonata) and August My Heaven by Riho Kudo (Orphan’s Blues). Chime follows a student at a culinary school who begins to hear voices and becomes convinced half of his brain has been replaced by a machine. August My Heaven centers on Joe, a professional stand-in actor who is hired by clients to play their friend,...

Festival will play upcoming Netflix series Supersex about pornstar Rocco Siffredi.

South Korean action title The Roundup: Punishment and Rose Glass’ Love Lies Bleeding starring Kristen Stewart are among 12 additions to the Berlinale Special line-up, ahead of next month’s Berlin Film Festival (February 15-25).

Directed by Heo Myeong-haeng, Punishment will have its world premiere in Berlin. It is the fourth instalment in The Roundup action franchise, in which Don Lee plays detective Ma Seok-do.

Scroll down for the full list of new Special titles

Third title The Roundup: No Way Out took $69m in just three weeks at the...

Festival will play upcoming Netflix series Supersex about pornstar Rocco Siffredi.

South Korean action title The Roundup: Punishment and Rose Glass’ Love Lies Bleeding starring Kristen Stewart are among 12 additions to the Berlinale Special line-up, ahead of next month’s Berlin Film Festival (February 15-25).

Directed by Heo Myeong-haeng, Punishment will have its world premiere in Berlin. It is the fourth instalment in The Roundup action franchise, in which Don Lee plays detective Ma Seok-do.

Scroll down for the full list of new Special titles

Third title The Roundup: No Way Out took $69m in just three weeks at the...

This year’s Berlinale Specials program, the out-of-competition gala section of the Berlin Film Festival, will include a pair of high-octane action movies: Rose Glass’ crime actioner Love Lies Bleeding starring Kristen Stewart, and Korean thriller The Roundup: Punishment from director Heo Myeong-haeng.

Love Lies Bleeding, which co-stars Anna Baryshnikov, Dave Franco, Katy M. O’Brian, Ed Harris and Jena Malone, will have its international premiere in Berlin after its bow in Sundance later this month. The Roundup: Punishment, starring Train to Busan breakout Don Lee, will have its world premiere in Berlin.

Other Berlinale Special highlights, unveiled Monday, include Shikun, the latest drama from Israeli filmmaker Amos Gitai (Kadosh); the documentary project Turn in the Wound, from acclaimed New York auteur Abel Ferrara (Bad Lieutenant), about life in Kyiv since the start of the war in Ukraine; and Supersex, an Italian Netflix drama based on the life of notorious porn star Rocco Siffredi,...

The Berlin Film Festival today unveiled further titles for the 2024 edition of its Berlinale Special Presentations sidebar section alongside its classics program. Scroll down for the full list of titles announced today.

Highlights from the latest drop of Specials titles include Made in England: The Films of Powell and Pressburger, a feature documentary about influential British filmmakers Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger narrated by Killers of the Flower Moon filmmaker Martin Scorsese. The feature is directed by David Hinton and features rare archival material from the personal collections of Powell, Pressburger, and Scorsese.

Love Lies Bleeding, the latest feature from British filmmaker Rose Glass will debut in the Specials program. The feature stars Kristen Stewart alongside Katy O’Brian. A short synopsis describes the pic as “a romance fueled by ego, desire, and the American Dream.” The film will arrive at Berlin following it’s debut at Sundance.

Abel Ferrara is...

"Hey, get a grip. These things aren't human." Another undead action movie. Netflix has revealed the main official trailer for a Korean post-apocalyptic action movie called Badland Hunters, arriving for streaming later in January. "One last hunt to save us all." Years after Seoul turns into an apocalyptic wasteland, a tough huntsman takes matters into his own hands when a teenager he’s close to is abducted by a mad doctor who conducts experiments on humans. Nam San battles formidable foes in the wilderness with an array of weapons, from bare fists to rifles, with the intense action choreography that is a hallmark of Director Heo Myeong-haeng's stunt work. Don Lee stars as Nam San, with Lee Hee Jun, plus Lee Jun-young as his trusted partner, Choi ji-wan. Alas there's no big 'gator in this trailer, as seen in the first teaser trailer, but this still looks like a good time.

Hit local titles include ’12.12: The Day’ and ‘The Roundup: No Way Out’.

South Korea’s box office admissions recorded a rise of 11% in 2023, boosted by two local hits, but saw 44.8% fewer cinemagoers than in pre-Covid 2019.

There was a total of 125.1 million admissions in 2023, according to the Korea Box-office Information System (Kobis), demonstrating steady growth year-on-year.

However, with audiences still not returning to cinemas at pre-pandemic levels, the number is a 44.8% decrease from 2019, which was year before the Covid-19 outbreak but also the all-time highest box office year on record in terms of admissions and gross.

Total box office gross...

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...

The historial action drama has become the biggest film of 2023 at the local box office.

Historical action drama 12.12: The Day has surpassed 12 million admissions and $90m at the South Korea box office as of today (January 2), according to the Korea Box-office Information System (Kobis).

The Korean film has been revitalising the local box office, where the only stand-out hit of 2023 had been Don Lee’s crime action franchise film The Roundup: No Way Out, with 10.6 million admissions and $79.8m.

12.12: The Day, released by Plus M Entertainment on November 22, ended the year with more than 11.8 million admissions and $88m,...

"The world has come to an end. The world calls upon the hunter." Netflix has launched a teaser trailer for a Korean post-apocalyptic action movie called Badland Hunters, arriving for streaming (worldwide) later in January. "Ready, Set, Hunt." This looks badass! Years after Seoul turns into an apocalyptic wasteland, a tough huntsman takes matters into his own hands when a teenager he’s close to is abducted by a mad doctor who conducts experiments on humans. Nam San battles formidable foes in the wilderness with an array of weapons, from bare fists to rifles, with the intense action choreography that is a hallmark of Director Heo Myeong-haeng's stunt work. Don Lee stars as Nam San, with Lee Hee Jun, plus Lee Jun-young as his trusted partner, Choi ji-wan. Looks gnarly! Another film for Don Lee to punch everything, including a big alligator. // Continue Reading ›...