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Like many entertainers during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, Japanese songwriter and musician Yoshiki wanted to find a way to use his artistry to lift people’s spirits, particularly fans who wrote to him about being in a dark place during that time.

“The intention was to spread love,” Yoshiki said during a taping of THR Presents, powered by Vision Media. “At that time there were so many amazing artists doing Zoom call-like stuff from the living room or something like that, but I wanted to do something bigger than life.”

The result is the film Yoshiki: Under the Sky, a music documentary three years in the making that features performances of the composer with acts from around the globe including American Edm-Pop duo The Chainsmokers, violinist Lindsey Stirling and singer Nicole Scherzinger.

“I’ve known her since before she joined Pussycat Dolls,” Yoshiki says of Scherzinger. “She came...

On August 30, Yoshiki made a donation of 10 million yen to the International Organization for Migration (Iom), which was announced during his appearance on the popular Japanese television program “24 Hour Television”.

This is the third time Yoshiki has donated to the organization, bringing the total amount to 30 million yen.

Yoshiki made the donation through his non-profit corporation Yoshiki Foundation America to support emergency relief operations in Ukraine and neighboring countries.

Iom is the Un organization specializing in migration. They provide emergency relief to people around the world who are suffering from the effects of disasters or wars, such as the survivors of the earthquakes in southern Türkiye or the war in Ukraine.

Yoshiki has performed on “24 Hour Television” four times so far this year, donating his appearance fee to charity each time. In his performance on August 27, Yoshiki performed a live piano rendition of “Let It Go” and “Endless Rain” at the Kokugikan Arena,...

Police in South Korea said today that 69 officials from theater chains including Cgv, Lotte and Megabox and from 24 film distributors have been referred without detention to the prosecutor on charges of obstruction of business, local media reports.

This follows an investigation that began in June into suspicious box office numbers. Police claim the accused were involved in fabricating figures to boost film rankings over the past five years.

Ticket sales for at least 323 movies screened in the market from March 2018 to June of this year allegedly were inflated, per the Korea Herald, citing police. Sbs reports the alleged falsely reported sales at certain shows were on local titles and resulted in 2.67 million overcounted viewers.

In June, police raided the major exhibitors and the offices of three film distributors on suspicion of box office manipulation and allegations they had obstructed the business of the Korean Film Council (Kofic) by falsely counting...

Woo Moo-chi was once the leader of a band of outlaws. He and his right-hand man, Kang Seob, must team up with a motley crew of pirates led by captain, Hae Rang, to embark on a treacherous ocean voyage searching for the lost treasure of the Goryeo royal family. The pirates find themselves fighting for the hidden treasure against rebel, Bu Heung-soo.

This swashbuckling period adventure, also known as The Pirates: Goblin Flag, is a spiritual sequel to the 2014 box-office hit The Pirates. Kim Jeong-hoon (The Accidental Detective) takes over as director with the story by Chun Sung-il, one of the screenwriters from the first movie. It also features a star-studded cast led by Kang Ha-neul (Waiting for Rain), Han Hyo-joo (The Sun Does Not Move), Lee Kwang-soo (Sinkhole), Kwon Sang-woo (Hitman: Agent Jun), Kim Sung-oh (Night of the Undead), Chae Soo-bin (Sweet & Sour) and K-pop idol Sehun from...

“F9” enjoyed a second weekend at the front of the South Korean box office. It was joined by “Cruella” in keeping the nationwide gross total over $6 million for a second week.

Action franchise movie, “F9” grossed $3.21 million between Friday and Sunday, according to data from the Korean Film Council’s Kobis tracking service. That was a 43% drop from its film opening lap a week earlier, but still good enough for first place and good enough for a 49.6% market share (down from 85%).

The nationwide aggregate over three days was almost unchanged at $6.47 million, compared with $6.52 million. These weekend totals are nearly double that average of the past few deeply depressed months, during which audiences have stayed away, cinemas have struggled and film releases have been delayed.

The strong performance of “F9” lifts its cumulative total to $15.1 million since its release on May 19. That makes it the third highest grossing film this year in Korea.