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When most people think of South Korean zombie movies, they likely think of Train to Busan, one of the first global hits to establish the country as a powerhouse in the genre. But South Korea has actually produced a trove of horror-thrillers over the years, like the zombie-filled #Alive and All of Us Are Dead.

If suspenseful horror often finds a home in your queue, we’ve selected a range of dark and moody South Korean thrillers, featuring zombies, monsters and psychologically creepy-crawly vibes that might just be what you’re looking for next.

Be warned: It gets scary and gory.

This summer has been packed with horror on the big screen, with films including Insidious: The Red Door, Talk to Me, Haunted Mansion and Meg 2: The Trench currently playing in theaters nationwide. This week, one of horror’s classic icons joins them at the box office.

Here’s all the new horror releasing August 8– August 13, 2023!

For daily reminders about new horror releases, be sure to follow @HorrorCalendar.

First up from Dread is the horror movie Island Escape, the latest feature film from prolific indie creature feature director Bruce Wemple (Monstrous, Dawn of the Beast).

Island Escape is available On Demand today, and it’s hitting Blu-ray on September 12.

In the film, “After a mysterious accident at a research camp on the Isle of Gran Manan, a CEO hires a team of blue – collar mercenaries to extract his daughter, a scientist working at the camp. Upon arrival, the team soon...

The ultimate quest for survival begins this summer in Netflix’s “Zombieverse,” a first-of-its-kind horror reality series that unleashes the ravenous undead in Seoul, South Korea.

The Korean horror reality series debuts on August 8, 2023, and the official teaser trailer has been debuted by Netflix this week. Take a bite out of Netflix’s “Zombieverse” below.

Netflix previews, “Since Korea is famous for our zombies, we decided to take the genre to the next level with Zombieverse, where contestants are fighting for survival as Seoul comes under a zombie attack. To make the set more realistic, we involved the art team from All of Us Are Dead while the zombies were trained by the choreographers of Kingdom.”

“We’re committed to creating must-watch entertainment for a variety of audiences in Korea and around the world, and we’re thrilled to see our growing lineup of unscripted titles find new fans everywhere,...

While Netflix has ventured heavily into K-dramas and K-content, they have also struck gold with original Korean movies. Over the past few years, fans have gotten Seoul Vibes, the zombie thriller #Alive, and others that have become widely popular. From the teen romance 20th Century Love to a killer mother assassin, Netflix has given fans plenty to watch.

Jeon Do-yeon stars as Gil Bok-soon in the Korean movie ‘Kill Boksoon’ | via Netflix 6. ‘Time to Hunt’ has a group of thieves being hunted by an assassin

For the 2020 dystopian action thriller, not only was the storyline gold but so was its leading cast. Time to Hunt is a perfect watch for fans of heist films with a dramatic twist. The Netflix Korean movie starred Taxi Driver actor Lee Je-hoon, Ahn Jae-hong, Parasite actor Choi Woo-shik, Park Jung-min, and Squid Game actor Park Hae-soo.

The movie is set in a dystopian South Korea,...

Leading South Korean actor Yoo Ah-in, star of “Burning,” “The Throne” and Netflix series “Hellbound,” must report to the police on Friday in connection with the alleged use of a variety of drugs.

Allegations of Yoo’s drug use emerged a month ago and he has previously spoken with authorities. The Yonhap news agency now specifies that he will be considered as a criminal suspect when he presents himself to the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency on Friday. It is unclear whether Yoo will be formally arrested at that time.

Yoo became a person of interest in early February after the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety revealed that he had bought suspicious quantities of the sedative Propofol in a series of purchases starting in 2021. Propofol is a strong sedative that can also be used as an anesthetic. The authorities have looked into several doctors’ offices and clinics in Seoul that may have administered the drug.

South Korean actor Yoo Ah-in is being investigated for alleged illegal use of an anesthetic drug and has been banned from overseas travel, local media is reporting. This has led to some speculation regarding the status of his upcoming projects including Netflix drama The Match and the second season of dark fantasy series Hellbound.

Contacted by Deadline, a Netflix spokesperson said, “We have heard from media reports that the investigation is currently underway, and are currently looking into the situation.”

Per The Korea Times, Yoo is suspected of having used propofol, a sleep-inducing drug, for non-medical purposes on a habitual basis, something that constitutes a violation of the Narcotics Control Act. Yonhap reported that the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency’s drug investigation unit questioned the actor on Monday.

In the wake of the news, Yoo’s management company, United Arts Agency, released a statement to local press saying the actor...

We're currently living through a renaissance of zombie cinema, and it's all due to brilliant creatives coming out of South Korea. Yeon Sang-ho's "Train to Busan" is largely considered to be one of the newest zombie masterpieces, sparking a slew of other great Korean zombie films like "#Alive," "Peninsula," "Rampant," "The Odd Family," and "The Wailing." Well, the Korean zombie takeover isn't slowing down anytime soon, and Netflix has got the goods. Based on the popular webtoon "Now at Our School" by Joo Dong-geun the upcoming series "All Of Us Are Dead" sees students at a Korean...

The post All Of Us Are Dead Trailer: Netflix Doubles Down on Korean Zombies, This Time in High School appeared first on /Film.

It’s the year 2022, and since 2021 evidently still isn’t done with us yet, why not welcome a zombie apocalypse into your home with Netflix’s latest Korean horror series? “All of Us Are Dead,” which is based on the webtoon “Now at Our School” by Joo Dong-geun, hits the streaming platform on January 28. Watch the first, blood-and-guts-infested trailer below.

Here’s the succinct official synopsis, courtesy of Netflix: “A group of students trapped in a high school and find themselves in dire situations as they seek to be rescued from a zombie invasion of their school.”

The 12-episode series is directed by Lee Jae-Kyu, director of the films “Intimate Strangers,” “The Fatal Encounter,” and “The Influence,” as well as on series including “The King 2 Hearts,” “Beethoven Virus,” and “Fashion 70s.” Kim Nam-soo also serves as a director on the series, which is written by Chun Sung-il. The series stars Yoon Chan-young,...

Hellbound has a stellar script and gorgeous directorial execution from creator Yeon Sang-ho, but those elements would only go so far without a good cast to support the dramatic story. Luckily, the six-part Netflix series has an impressive ensemble to ground its supernatural narrative. Let’s talk about who all of these actors are, and where you might have seen them before—or where you should watch them next…

Yoo Ah-in as Jeong Jin-soo

Hellbound character: Yoo Ah-in plays New Truth cult leader Jeong Jin-soo with disturbing charisma, constantly keeping the characters and viewers on edge as to what his true motives might be. For me, Yoo was the standout performer in a stellar cast.

What to watch next: Yoo Ah-in is a 35-year-old actor who has appeared in a variety of roles prior to his unsettling turn on Hellbound. If you’re looking to see him in another role,...

On this episode of Daily Dead's official podcast, Corpse Club co-hosts Bryan Christopher, Derek Anderson, and Jonathan James celebrate the beginning of fall (and the start of the spooky Halloween season) by sharing their recent horror and sci-fi movie, video game, book, and TV recommendations, including Cho Il-hyung's zombie film #Alive, the family-friendly scares of Nightbooks, Grady Hendrix's new novel The Final Girl Support Group, the action-packed video game Deathloop, the always eerie Riverdale, and much more!

You can listen to the new episode of Corpse Club right now on iTunes, Google Play, Spotify, iHeartRadio, Stitcher, TuneIn, YouTube, Pandora, and SoundCloud.

Looking for more scary good Corpse Club content? Be sure to check out our Corpse Club website and memberships. Not only can you view past episodes, but you can also sign up to be an official Corpse Club member to enjoy a wide range of rewards, including a...

Compared with the U.S. or European countries, South Korea’s infection and death toll from Covid-19 was small. But the disease has had an outsize impact transforming the entertainment industry.

Film producers and distributors are currently seeing some light at the end of the tunnel, and are busily repopulating the late summer distribution calendar. But the virus has hastened the systemic shift to a more digital future.

In pre-covid times, film-mad fans meant Korea had one of the world’s highest per-capita cinema attendance rates and the mid-sized country the world’s fourth-largest box office. And after “Parasite” and Korean-language, U.S.-made “Minari” scored at Oscars and resonated with audiences worldwide, there has been renewed interest in Korean movies, at levels not seen since the naughties.

At first, Korea seemed to be handling the pandemic well, through isolation and testing, and in summer 2020, cinemas were able to welcome back major commercial movies.

Netflix has spoken a fair bit about the rise in demand for international content during the pandemic (viewing was up 50% to non-English language titles in 2020), and now the streamer has revealed the top 10 destinations its U.S. subscribers visited most through their screens in the past year.

Now, this being Netlflix, it disclosed little in the way of hard viewing numbers. Instead, the findings are drawn from country of origin appearances in Netflix’s daily Top 10 lists of most-viewed shows and films. Netflix collected the data, which is not ranked, from February 2020.

So, the so-called “most traveled to” destinations were:

Canada

Canada gave Netflix shows including Rust Valley Restorers.

France

Omar Sy series Lupin was a surprise hit for Netflix and was projected to be watched by 70 million households. Netflix did not disclose its actual audience. Other French hits included documentary film Cuties.

Germany

German series Barbarians, a historical drama...

Slate includes Bdsm romance ‘Moral Sense’ and space drama series ’The Silent Sea’.

Netflix has unveiled plans to spend nearly $500m on Korean films and TV series in 2021.

In a virtual press event on Thursday (February 25), the streaming giant revealed the significant investment alongside a slate of content led by two new original features, Bdsm romance Moral Sense and action film Carter, from the director The Villainess, Jung Byung-gil.

The slate also includes series Hellbound, from Train To Busan director Yeon Sang-ho, and space drama series The Silent Sea.

“Over the last two years, we’ve seen the world falling...

Netflix says its spending in Korea will top $500M in 2021 as the streamer doubles down on local content production after hits including #Alive.

During an event today to tout its upcoming slate, Minyoung Kim, VP of Content for Korea, Southeast Asia, Australia and New Zealand, revealed that the service passed 3.8 million paid memberships in Korea as of the end of 2020. It has north of 200 million subs globally.

During the showcase, two new Korean original films were revealed:

Moral Sense, from Park Hyun-jin, who previously helmed the 2016 rom-com Like For Likes. His new movie follows a seemingly clean cut office worker who keeps his Bdsm taste to himself, until his female co-worker accidentally opens his mail and finds a leash.

Carter is being directed by Jung Byung-gil (The Villainess). The one-scene, one-cut action pic will follow a man after he wakes up in a motel room with no recollection of who he is,...

Despite the fact that J-horror is long since dead, for the most part, the genre was always one of the most predominant ones in S/Se Asian, and particularly in the Asean countries, where horror was always quite popular. Recently, S. Korean genre cinema also seems to have made a turn towards the category, probably instigated by the huge success of “Train to Busan“, the sequel of which is also included in the list. Lastly, the trend that started in Indonesia with Joko Anwar‘s remake of “Satan’s Slaves” continued this year, with Kimo Staboel‘s “Queen of Black Magic” while the other member of Mo Brothers, Timo Tjahjanto also presented in an effort in the genre.

Without further ado, here are the best horror films of 2020, in reverse order. Some films may have premiered in 2019, but since they mostly circulated in 2020, we decided to include them.

*By clicking on the title,...

South Korea cinema had, by several accounts, a far better year than several other countries. It began the year well, with films like “The Man Standing Next” and “Beasts Clawing at Straws” releasing early on. But the onslaught of the Coronavirus pandemic in March forced cinemas to close down promptly and several important planned releases to be postponed. Yet, South Korea was also among the first countries to throw open the doors of its cinemas back to the public and the releases began coming in slowly but steadily. Where some large productions decided to postpone their releases to next year or even indefinitely, others still cut big-money deals with the likes of Netflix, giving audiences around the world early access to some big films. This approach also benefitted the country’s indie cinema scene, which took advantage of the lack of tentpole releases in the theatres to promote and release...

Overall the South Korean industry has shrunk by 63.6% according to a report by the Korean Film Council.

South Korea’s film industry is on course to have shrunk 63.6% by year’s end, according to a Korean Film Council (Kofic) report on the impact of Covid-19 published today.

The government-funded organisation estimates that, firstly, overall box office is on track to have gone down by 73.7% by year’s end, with approximately 60 million admissions for the year accounting for $467.5m (KW510bn).

Secondly, digital online sales are estimated to have gone down from $466.9m (KW509.3bn) last year to $333.28m (KW363.5bn) this year.

It’s only fitting that in 2020 — the year of the coronavirus — Netflix’s top titles include stand-up comedies, “sad movies” and “home baking shows.”

The streaming giant released year-end viewing trends on Thursday that also showed that October was the biggest month for comedy consumption, with audiences seeking to quell pre-election anxiety. “Hubie Halloween,” “The Wrong Missy,” “Space Force,” “Holidate” and “Kevin Hart: Zero Fucks Given” were the most popular comedy titles of the year.

In the three weeks following George Floyd’s death at the hands of Minneapolis police, viewing soared for titles that reflected the Black experience: “13th” saw the most growth, with viewing up more than 5,000%. “LA 92,” “Dear White People,” “Time: The Kalief Browder Story” and “American Son” views also skyrocketed.

Netflix users also gravitated toward twice as much romance in 2020 as the year prior, with films “The Kissing Booth 2,” “Princess Switch: Switched Again” and...

Netflix has revealed its most popular non-English language films and TV series in the U.S., with the list containing an interesting mix of titles from Europe, Asia and South America, plus a few surprises.

Spanish-language genre pic The Platform, set in a nightmarish vertical-style prison, tops the list of most-watched movies after being released in March this year, when lockdowns first hit America. Netflix does not tend to reveal specific viewing statistics, and these charts do not include solid numbers, but the company did previously note this one was watched by 56 million households in its first four weeks of release, making the title one of its most watched original movies ever.

The most-watched series was German show Barbarians, a historical drama about Germanic warriors fighting the Roman Empire in 9 Ad. The show is arguably...

US viewers consumed 50% more foreign-language content in 2020, with The Platform from Spain, Barbarians from Germany and Rogue City from France the most popular choices.

While the streaming service provided no hard data on viewership of individual films and shows in its What We Watched 2020 briefing released on Thursday (December 10), the information at least offered guidance on trends.

K-drama viewing almost tripled in viewership compared to 2019 with Kingdom S2 and The King: Eternal Monarch proving the most popular, while consumption of anime doubled in the US led by Pokémon: Mewtwo Strikes Back – Evolution and Blood Of Zeus.

Money Heist: Part 4 from...

Comedy drama “Samjin Company English Class” tickled up enough laughs to score $2.1 million over its opening weekend. But the wider Korean box office remains range-bound at destructively low levels.

“Samjin,” which tells a tale of three young women determined to improve themselves, and who along the way stumble across the nefarious activities of the company they are working at, accounted for half of the nationwide total. Released on Wednesday, the film finished the weekend with a five-day cumulative of $2.72 million.

Last week’s top film “Voice of Silence” tumbled by 70% to fourth place, earning just $438,000 in its second weekend. Its 11-day cumulative is $2.7 million. Earlier winner, “Pawn” had a $512,000 weekend, enough to bounce up to second place, and to increase its cumulative to $12.0 million after a month on release.

But with the Chuseok holidays fading into the past, the Korean cinema business has now been stuck in the $3-4 million range for three successive weeks.

What would Halloween be without zombies? Nothing, that’s what, so thankfully, Netflix has got you covered this October with a whole bunch of movies and TV shows that serve up a range of takes on the genre. The streaming service is looking to offer some of the most iconic entries in the world of zombie fiction that are always good for a watch, but also some underrated gems that you should definitely check out if you haven’t already.

In total, there are 23 zombie titles currently available on Netflix – 12 films and 11 TV series – and you can browse the full list below:

Movies

#Alive (2020) Cargo (2018) Day of the Dead: Bloodline (2018) Doom Annihilation (2019) Kl Zombi (2013) Ladromas De Almas (2015) Mad Ron’s Prevues From Hell (1987) Ravenous (2017) Rise of the Zombie (2013) Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island (1998) The Evil Dead (1981) The Girl with All the Gifts (2016)

TV Shows

Ash vs. Evil Dead (3 Seasons) Black Summer...

For the portion of Western audiences previously stuck behind the one-inch barrier of subtitles, the multi-Oscar haul by Bong Joon Ho’s dark and provocative “Parasite” was a revelation. But for savvy viewers who had long ago moved past a perceived language barrier, Bong’s win is instead the latest splash in a succession of South Korean milestones that span film, music and television.

Thanks to vibrant talent and years of industrial-scale preparation, the rich Korean entertainment scene has solid foundations. Smartphones, YouTube and Netflix are now carrying the Korean wave, known as “Hallyu,” farther and faster.

In August alone, boy band BTS’ latest confection, “Dynamite,” racked up a record number of plays on YouTube and topped the Billboard music charts, while Korean zombie movie “Peninsula” smashed the Asian box office, and another zombie offering, “#Alive,” briefly was the most-watched item planetwide on Netflix.

“The current boom enjoyed by Korean...

The Halloween season typically sees Netflix add a lot of new horror content, which has recently been branded under the tagline “Netflix and Chills.” The streaming service will be boosting its library yet again this year with a large number of original movies and shows arriving in September and October, including several international titles to round out a solid collection of options for horror fans. What, then, can we expect from “Netflix and Chills” this year?

Particular highlights for viewers include the Netflix original film The Babysitter: Killer Queen, a sequel to 2017’s The Babysitter. This one features Judah Lewis’ Cole dealing with his enemies as he struggles to deal with the trauma of the first picture, and promises more of the horror and comedy mixture of its predecessor. Killer Queen appeared on the platform back on September 10th, and has already been doing pretty well with audiences.

Other Netflix...

“Mulan” (Disney) likely had the greatest revenues of any feature films available in homes this weekend. At $29.99, five times or more costly than alternatives and only in its second week of availability, the big-budget remake more than ever needs PVOD to bolster its chances to recoup its cost. With disappointing initial theatrical results in China ($23 million for its initial weekend), one of the countries where it is not streaming, Disney+ interest becomes even more important.

Perhaps the Chinese fiasco could lead to Disney replicating what Universal did with “Trolls World Tour” after its second weekend of home sales. It was an earnings call (not due for several weeks now though), but that is the one time the studio has released specific numbers on one of its releases ($95 million to that point).

After a weekend where much of the media finally noticed that “Tenet” had its initial domestic gross success overstated...

(Welcome to Pop Culture Imports, a column that compiles the best foreign movies and TV streaming right now.) In this week’s Pop Culture Imports, we have quite a collection of international movies, from the critically acclaimed to the wildly controversial. The latter of which was a controversy that I was reluctant to wade into, but this […]

The post Pop Culture Imports: ‘#Alive,’ ‘Bacurau,’ ‘Cuties,’ and More appeared first on /Film.

On the September 11, 2020 episode of /Film Daily, /Film editor-in-chief Peter Sciretta is joined by /Film managing editor Jacob Hall, senior writer Ben Pearson and writers Hoai-Tran Bui and Chris Evangelista to discuss what they’ve been up to at the Water Cooler. At The Water Cooler: What we’ve been Doing: Peter went to Las […]

The post Water Cooler: Tenet, Mulan, The Vow, Cuties, You Can Not Kill David Arquette, The Nice Guys, #Alive, The Devil All the Time, The Trip to Greece, Avengers Station, Star Trek, Doctor Who appeared first on /Film.

Organizers of the Busan International Film Festival have opted to delay the major Asian festival by two weeks due to ongoing Covid-19 related concerns.

The festival will now run October 21-30. This gives it an extra buffer of time after the Chuseok holiday (Korean Thanksgiving), which takes place September 30 – October 2; there is a concern that those holiday dates could provoke a spike in virus cases.

South Korea was commended for its early virus response, which included widespread testing, but a recent spike at the end of August led to fears of a second wave. In response, the government put in place tighter restrictions, which led to a downturn in box office after a promising post-lockdown summer that saw hits including zombie movie #Alive.

Busan has also said its 25th edition was be downsized, including the cancellation of all outdoor events such as the opening and closing ceremonies, to avoid crowds gathering.

Even as his last film “#Alive” hit Netflix a few days back, the promotion of the newer film starring Yoo Ah-in, “Voice of Silence” has gotten underway, with this first trailer for the crime thriller.

Synopsis

Two men work for a crime organization. Their job is to clean up the messes done by the crime organization. The two men find themselves in an unexpected case.

Starring alongside Yoo Ah-in, who plays Tae-in, is Yoo Jae-Myung, who plays Tae-in’s partner-in-crime Chang-bok. They are accompanied by Lee Hae-woon (“Intruder”), Yu Seong-ju (“Steel Rain 2: Summit”), Im Kang-sung and Kim Ja-young (“Bori”). Directed by newcomer Hong Eui-jung, “Voice of Silence” is expected to have an October, 2020 release.

Asia’s stuttering film and TV production outlook stems in large measure from the relative caution with which the region’s governments have approached the coronavirus outbreak.

Calling on experience garnered with several recent bouts of epidemic disease, governments around the Asia-Pacific region quickly urged their populations to mask up. Then they locked the borders. Most of Asia has remained that way since March.

The more-developed territories in Asia have achieved far lower Covid-19 infection and death rates than countries in Europe and the U.S., and some local production behind mostly closed borders has resumed.

New Zealand’s decision to go “hard and early” against the virus quickly shut down the “Avatar” series, which was already shooting, Amazon Prime Video’s epic “The Lord of the Rings” series and Jane Campion’s Netflix-bound “Power of the Dog.” That they have all since returned is testament to self-isolation, quickly...

Smell that crisp chill in the air? That, my friends, is the upcoming arrival of spooky season. Halloween may be nearly two excruciating months away, but that’s no reason not to get an early start on your horror needs.

To that end, Netflix has unveiled its lineup for “Netflix and Chills,” its lineup of horror movies, TV series, and other content for September and October.

Things get started early this year with The Babysitter: Killer Queen premiering on Sept. 10. Directed by McG, this sequel to the original 2017 thriller finds hero Cole adapting to a hellish high school life after surviving a satanic blood cult. Also arriving in September are Spanish-language thriller The Paramedic and the Sarah Paulson-starring Nurse Ratched origin story, Ratched.

But of course it’s October where the spookiest offerings lie. The jewel of Netflix’s Netflix and Chill season and arguably the TV horror season...

Netflix added six new titles this Tuesday, September 8th. Four movies were added to the streaming giant’s library, along with a couple of new TV shows. There are a duo of Netflix originals in the mix, while it’s also a good day for overseas content.

You can check out the full list below and then scroll down for a breakdown of the titles:

Movies

#Alive (2020) Netflix Original Capital in the Twenty-First Century (2019) Cargo (2019) From Paris with Love (2010)

TV Series

Record of Youth (Chungchungirok) (Season 1) Netflix Original StarBeam (Season 2) Netflix Original

As far as movies go, we’ve got Capital in the Twenty-First Century, an acclaimed documentary exploring corrupt businesses and contemporary capitalism, and Cargo, a 2019 Indian sci-fi flick about a future where the dead are recycled. You may also want to check out #Alive, a Korean zombie horror about a gamer’s struggle to survive the apocalypse as...

Theaters are starting to actually reopen this month with purpose, but that doesn’t mean they’re going to be populated with the same amount of new, first-run films like they would have pre-covid. Just count the number of Netflix titles below to see how tiny things have shifted. With the predictions of a rough fall on the pandemic front, venues may be shutting down again very soon. So hedging bets is the way to go.

And it’s not like there aren’t some quality titles to choose from via streamers and VOD. Besides Tenet (September 4) doing its damnedest to retain its tent-pole blockbuster status, the little guy is king of September 2020.

Isolation

To prove as much, here’s a quartet of sheets highlighting a lead or pair of leads hell-bent on showing who’s king of their film.

First up is #Alive and its fantastic set-up with a...

Korea’s recent coronavirus resurgence has already taken a toll on the box office over the past two weekends, and exhibitors are now feeling a further pinch. According to the Yonhap news agency, Lotte Cultureworks, which includes multiplex chain Lotte Cinema, said it will offer voluntary retirement to employees who have been with the company for at least five years.

This follows a similar move by Cgv which offered an early retirement deal in March. The company has also opted to close its cinema at Incheon International Airport indefinitely, beginning tomorrow.

Korea had been a beacon of light in July and early August with such local hits as #Alive, Peninsula and Deliver Us From Evil. However, case spikes have seen turnstiles slow — last weekend they were down about 70% versus the previous frame. Tenet had a decent opening this session, though it came in lower than hoped due to increased restrictions and a health-conscious public.

Korean cinemagoers came out to see “Tenet,” but their enthusiasm extended almost no further, as coronavirus cases resurge in the world’s number four box office market. And Korean cinema operators are retrenching.

“Tenet,” the much-anticipated time-looping spy thriller earned $2.90 million from 353,000 ticket sales over the Friday to Sunday weekend. It played on 2,216 screens, the majority of the country’s available sites.

Including previews from the previous weekend worth $719,000 and the takings from its midweek official debut, “Tenet” has accumulated $5.08 million to date in Korea, according to data from the Korean Film Council’s Kobis data system.

Dropping from first place to second, hitman thriller “Deliver Us From Evil” earned $411,000, down from its previous score of $1.41 million. Happily, it did most of its business, before the latest virus spike, and since its release on Aug. 5, the film has earned $31.8 million.

Korean-made comedy “Ok! Madam” did not fare so well. It earned just $167,000 from the weekend,...

Song Kang-ho, the star of Oscar sensation Parasite and the 2013 feature Snowpiercer, will lead the cast of Korean feature Broker.

The film marks the Korean directing debut of Japanese filmmaker Hirokazu Kore-eda, whose previous credits include the Palme d’Or-winning and Oscar-nomianted 2018 drama Shoplifters.

Also starring in Broker will be Gang Dong-won and Bae Doona. Pic tells the story of individuals whose lives become intertwined around a mysterious ‘Baby Box’, which is a box designed to allow people who are unable to raise children to deposit their babies anonymously.

Project comes from Zip Cinema, a subsidiary of Spackman Entertainment Group, which was behind the recent Korean box office hit #Alive. Korean major Cj Enm is backing the film and will distribute it nationally. Filming is scheduled to take place in 2021.

Production of films and TV series across South Korea is being halted as the country undergoes a resurgence of the coronavirus. Companies including industry leaders Cj Enm, Jtbc and Netflix have all confirmed disruptions to their series shooting schedules.

The country had seemingly been successful in controlling earlier waves of the Covid-19 outbreak through strict border controls, rapid testing and rigorous contact testing. But since the beginning of August, the number of new confirmed cases has shot up. There has been a seven-fold increase in the past week, and over 300 cases were reported on both Saturday and Sunday. Some 288 new cases were reported on Tuesday.

These have caused authorities in capital city Seoul, where the latest outbreak is centered, to increase restrictions. They have warned that they are considering upgrading the city’s alert status to level 3, the highest level on a scale of 1 to 3.

Many TV production companies have already suspended production,...

Exclusive: Peninsula, the hit sequel to 2016 Korean zombie smash Train To Busan became a runaway success when it bowed locally in mid-July, at the time setting an opening day record for the year. It has now grossed about $28M at home, where it is the No. 3 movie of 2020, and has done significant numbers in other Asian markets. It releases today in the U.S. via Well Go USA on 125 screens including multiple sites each in Chicago, Dallas and Atlanta as well as some California drive-ins. Well Go previously released Peninsula in Canada on August 7 where it has grossed $336K. In his first interview in English, star Gang Dong-won recently chatted with Deadline about the film and the thriving Korean industry even as he seeks out more international projects.

Gang has been acting since 2003, and has made a name for himself in such titles as Temptation Of Wolves, Duelist, M, Woo-Chi: The Taoist Wizard,...

The cast for “Train to Busan” director Yeon Sang-ho’s new project “Hell”, a horror-series for Netflix, has been confirmed and it is a star-studded affair. The project, which started as a film before turning into a Netflix Original series and is based on a webtoon by Yeon, has successfully roped in Yoo Ah-in, Park Jung-min, Kim Hyun-joo, Won Jin-ah and actor/director Yang Ik-june in key roles.

“Hell” revolves around a supernatural phenomenon in which the angels of hell ascend to the human world, appear before people without them realising it and condemn them to die. With the uncertainty of whether this is a blessing or a curse, a new religion arises that proclaims itself an interpreter of God’s intentions.

Following his role as the survivor of a zombie outbreak in this year’s “#Alive”, Yoo Ah-in takes on the role of Chairman Jung Jin-soo, the head of the New Truth Society,...

Zombie action thriller, “Peninsula” dominated the South Korean box office for the second weekend. I beat competition that comprised a mix of reruns and smaller local titles.

“Peninsula,” a sequel to the 2016 hit “Train to Busan,” earned $4.49 million between Friday and Sunday. Earned from 2,100 screens, that was a respectable drop of 52% compared with its opening weekend score of $9.92 million. It propels the film’s cumulative score in its home market to $21.0 million since its July 15 release through distributor Next Entertainment World.

“Peninsula” alone accounted for 81% of the nationwide box office in Korea, down from 93% the previous weekend. But with no other strong new release title in the market, the overall weekend total dropped.

Aggregate box office for the top 10 films was $5.32 million, compared with $9.77 million in the previous weekend. That down trend could be reversed next weekend with the release of political-military thriller “Steel Rain 2: Summit,” which arrives in Korean theaters on Wednesday.

Box office declined to its lowest level since 2005, but started showing signs of recovery in May and June.

South Korean box office saw its lowest first half since 2005, according to an analysis report the Korean Film Council (Kofic) published today (July 21). Public concerns over the Covid-19 pandemic knocked admissions down 70% year-on-year to a total of 32.4 million entries from January 1 to June 30, 2020.

Box office gross also decreased 70% to $228.56m (KW273.8bn). Local films’ box office take went down 64% while foreign films’ went down 77%.

With major releases postponed and admissions down, theatres downsized operations after the pandemic hit its stride in February,...

Update: Korean smash zombie thriller Peninsula has come in slightly higher than estimated on Sunday, with sales agent Contents Panda reporting a $20.82M take in five Asian markets. The clear No. 1 in Korea, Taiwan, Vietnam, Malaysia and Singapore, this is a terrific boost to the international box office which hasn’t seen these kinds of numbers from a single title since the early days of the coronavirus pandemic. In mid-March, for example, the Top 5 movies overseas did a combined $30.7M.

Peninsula, Yeon Sang-ho’s follow-up to his 2016 hit Train To Busan, continues to demonstrate audience hunger for new blood, particularly such an anticipated sequel. It did a confirmed $13.2M in Korea. It set a 2020 opening day high on Wednesday, and through Sunday overtook another recent Korean breakout, #Alive, which has now cumed $13M there. In Taiwan, Peninsula grossed $4.7M with 76% market share and approximately 2,300~2,400 shows per day. Vietnam, where the movie was in sneaks,...

The much-awaited release of “Peninsula” in South Korea lived up to the hype, despite capacity limitations and other social distancing measures imposed across the nation’s cinemas.

With number one openings in four other Asian territories, it finished the weekend with a $20.8 million cumulative score.

In Korea, the “Train to Busan” sequel earned a thumping $9.20 million over the weekend from 2,575 screens, giving it an unapproachable 93% market share. Including revenues earned in the first days after its Wednesday release, “Peninsula” completed its first five days in Korean theaters with a cumulative of $13.2 million for distributor Next Entertainment World. It sold 1.23 million tickets over the weekend and 1.80 million over five days.

“Peninsula” easily pushed aside older titles that had been playing in Korea since cinemas reopened. “Bombshell,” which opened on July 8, added $158,000 for a cumulative of $984,000 after three weekends. Korean hit, “#Alive” earned $150,000 in its fifth weekend on release, for a cumulative score of $13.0 million.

Peninsula, Yeon Sang-ho’s follow-up to his 2016 zombie smash, Train To Busan, is off to a thrilling start at the international box office where it kicked off in three markets beginning yesterday. In the home hub of Korea, Peninsula (aka Train To Busan Presents: Peninsula) had a Wednesday take of $2.4M on 2,338 screens to log the biggest opening score of the year. It sold 353K tickets on Day One, more than the entire number of admissions for all titles from the previous frame. Through today, based on Kobiz estimates, Peninsula has clocked $4M in the market so far. Next Entertainment World has Korean distribution.

These numbers are naturally lower than 2016’s Train To Busan, back when the world was a very different place and moviegoing was not hobbled by the coronavirus situation. Korean box office this past weekend was 87% down from last year’s comparable frame, for example. Still, it...

As cinemas begin to reopen again in many territories, Screen is tracking which films are released across the globe each week.

As cinemas begin to reopen again in many territories, Screen is tracking which films are being released in key territories each week.

France, opening Wednesday July 8

The French box office, which runs Wednesday to Wednesday, entered its third full week of activity on July 8, following the reopening of cinemas on June 22 after their 14-week Covid-19 hiatus. Programming for the first 10 days of reopening consisted mainly of re-released films, the theatrical careers of which were put on hold mid-March due to the lockdown,...

Korean hit #Alive kicked up another $2.2M this weekend, holding well throughout the mid-weeks, but with an overall 63% Friday-Saturday-Sunday dip from the comparable weekend days last session. The timely thriller that’s set against the backdrop of a city in lockdown due to a virus has now grossed $11M. It’s a continued indication that moviegoers want something new, and in cases of a strong local industry, they’re also enjoying homegrown fare. Still, not much is going to rock the international box office until Hollywood starts releasing fresh titles.

A question has been raised as to whether the studios could release big new movies overseas without the biggest domestic cities given the situation in the U.S. is still dire. While international makes up the lion’s share of receipts (73% in 2019), a finance source explains that an event picture generally goes out on more than 30,000 screens worldwide — those screens are hardly available at present.

The international box office this weekend was again led by Korea, with major local release #Alive taking a 70% share of the market. The zombie horror thriller from Spackman Entertainment’s Zip Cinema sold 1.06M tickets in its first five days for a gross of $7.4M through Sunday, again demonstrating the strength of new offerings, particularly in Korea which has been at the forefront of comebacks. The movie, directed by Cho Il-hyeong, instantly becomes one of the most successful releases amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic and is the first title in Korea to break the 1M admissions threshold since February.

#Alive, co-produced by Perspective Pictures, is based on an original screenplay by Hollywood writer Matt Taylor. It tells the timely story of two isolated survivors in a city under lockdown that gets out of control as a consequence of a sudden spread of an unknown infection. Yoo Ah-in and Park Shin-hye star.

For the first time since coronavirus struck South Korea in January, theatrical box office in the keenly cinema-going nation showed a significant sign of recovery. Weekend ticket sales numbers reached 402,000, a figure that is less than half the score of a weekend in normal times, but was a week-on-week gain of 112%.

Two elements were responsible for the upswing: discount vouchers provided by the Korean Film Council (Kofic) worth Krw 6,000 ($5) to spectators purchasing theatrical tickets; and the return of mainstream Korean films to cinemas.

Local mystery thriller “Intruder,” which opened Thursday, the same day as Kofic’s voucher scheme, was the first major Korean film to receive a theatrical release since the coronavirus wreaked havoc on Korean box office. The film earned $2.23 from 289,000 admissions over its first four days. And its $1.87 million scored between Friday and Sunday, accounted for 63% of the nationwide weekend total.

Under its three-week campaign, launched to restart...

Major local film titles are beginning to appear on the Korean releasing schedule as Covid-19 retreats and the peak summer season approaches.

Since Korean cinemas began reopening earlier this month, cinemas schedules have relied heavily on re-runs, mixed with a handful of foreign, smaller new releases. That is about to change.

Since the coronavirus ran rampant from February, local distribution giants Cj Entertainment, Lotte and Showbox canceled or postponed dozens of theatrical outings. “Time to Hunt” was rescheduled multiple times and then switched to a straight to streaming release via Netflix. The pattern was repeated in May.

What has changed is the retreat of the virus threat, effective social distancing measure sin cinemas and the arrival of the summer season, which is traditionally a peak period, especially for genre and horror. That’s because school is out and audiences retreat into theaters to escape the heat.

Acemaker Movieworks’ mystery thriller “Intruder,...

After starring in director Lee Chang-Dong’s international hit Burning in 2018, actor Yoo Ah-in starred in a Korean financial thriller called Default, but his next movie may well be another crossover success. He’s the star of a new genre thriller called #Alive, in which he plays a guy who finds himself seemingly trapped in a […]

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