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 comfo...

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...

Veteran actor's departure follows singer-actor Lee Seung-gi's bolt from agency mired in controversy

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 t...

Netflix confirmed Friday the production of a new documentary film, with the working title, “Yellow Door: Looking for Director Bong’s Unreleased Short Film.” The upcoming film will take the audience on a journey to uncover Bong Joon-ho's first film as told through the stories of others around him during his younger directing days. Prior to the 18-minute short film “White Man” (1994), a film wide...

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-...

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 ...

The film is directed by Kim Sung-soo, the director behind season 1 of the thriller series “Save Me” (2017) and the action thriller film “Running Wild” (2006). “When I first read the story, I thought about people who are marginalized and unprotected in our society, like Il-woo and Wol-woo. Il-woo has a face of overflowing uncontrollable anger, and (Wol-woo) has that smile of someone who doesn’t w...

Presenting Walt Disney Co.’s first princess again, "Snow White" will get the live-action treatment, starring American actor Rachel Zegler. Israeli model and actor Gal Gadot plays opposite her as the evil queen. Previously untold tales of Simba's father Mufasa are set to be delivered by English actor Aaron Pierre as well. “Snow White” and “Mufasa: The Lion King” will premiere in 2024. Meanwhile...

The lineups for Faces of Relationship and Life by Art, Art by Life present four and three films, respectively. The selection for Faces of Relationship includes the coming-of-age drama “Close,” directed by Lukas Dhont; Ursula Meier’s mother-daughter drama “The Line”; Russian-Belarusian war drama “Persian Lessons,” directed by Vadim Perelman; and American period drama “Call Jane” starring Elizabet...

Actor Lee Jung-jae wins best new director for his directorial debut 'Hunt'

The Night Owl (Korea) Opened Nov. 23 Drama Directed by An Tae-jin Set in the Joseon era (1392-1910), Kyeong-soo (Ryu Jun-yeol) is a day-blind acupuncturist working in the palace. He is unable to see anything during daytime, but, strangely, he can see fine at night. One evening, Kyeong-soo happens to witness the death of Crown Prince Sohyeon. This death leads the prince's father, King Injo (Y...

Lee, marking a return to the big screen 10 years after last appearing in “Wonderful Radio” in 2012, said she was happy to be part of the family movie. “I love movies so I always sought an opportunity to do one,” she said. “I personally love heartwarming films and ‘Switch’ is just that.” “Switch" hits local theaters in January.

“When I was filming short films, I saw actors struggle to talk about their opinions. At the end of the day, it is the actor that the audiences get to see and I think they should be able to add their ideas to the story, so I gave So-hyeon that kind of direction during shooting,” the director explained. During the conference, Kwon Da-ham talked about winning the best actor of the year award for hi...

First time after the school bullying scandal broke out in March last year, Korean actor Shim Eun-woo is returning to the big screen with the horror film "Seire" directed by Park Kang. During the press conference for the new film held at CGV Yongsan on Thursday, Shim talked about making her return. “All of us, including the director, actors, and staff had focused on this project while shooting. ...