Korean box office dominated by blockbuster sequels in 2022 Posters for “The Roundup” and “Top Gun: Maverick” / Courtesy of ABO Entertainment and Lotte EntertainmentBlockbuster sequels have dominated the Korean box office in 2022 as the film industry struggles to move past the yearslong COVID-19 pandemic.Released in May, the Korean action comedy "The Roundup," a sequel to the 2017 hit "The Outlaws," is the biggest box-office hit of 2022 so far. The crime cop movie drew a total of 12.7 million viewers, becoming the 13th most-watched film of all time in Korea.The American action drama film "Top Gun: Maverick," a follow-up to the 1986 film "Top Gun," has remained at the box office for more than two months since its theatrical release on June 22.Its total admissions reached 7.9 million to become the No. 1 foreign film in 2022 and the second most popular overall.The third most-watched film is the Korean historical war film "Hansan: Rising Dragon," which marked a total of 6.8 million admissions. It is a sequel to the 2014 smash-hit film "Roaring Currents," the most-viewed film ever in the country.A scene from the film, &ldquAug 25, 2022
1980s-set action film 'Seoul Vibe' boasts huge cast, big thrills Director Moon Hyun-sung, left, and the cast of “Seoul Vibe” pose during a press conference for the film at a hotel in Seoul, Tuesday. Courtesy of NetflixBy Kwak Yeon-sooSet in the 1980s, “Seoul Vibe,” features plenty of spectacular driving sequences, retro-style vehicles and a hip-hop-infused soundtrack. “Seoul Vibe” revolves around a group of drivers and mechanics called Sanggye-dong Supreme Team that are recruited to be spies for the prosecution during the 1988 Seoul Olympics.The team consists of a star-studded cast: Yoo Ah-in as a skilled driver, Ko Kyoung-pyo as a DJ, Lee Kyoo-hyung as the team's navigator, Park Ju-hyun as the leader of a Seoul bike crew and Ong Seong-wu as a genius mechanic, are hired to infiltrate into the money laundering scheme of Chairwoman Kang (Moon So-ri), who wields enormous influence over the incumbent president.Packed with spectacular car chases and old-school hip-hop music, the film is directed by Moon Hyun-sung, whose previous works include the sports drama “As One” and the comedy film “The King'sAug 23, 2022By Kwak Yeon-soo
Slice-of-life film 'Rolling' explores tiny pleasures amid pandemic A scene from the film, "Rolling" / Courtesy of Indie StoryBy Kwak Yeon-sooShim Dal-gi, who has portrayed vulnerable or rebellious teens in a slate of films and TV series such as “Snowball” (2021) and “Juvenile Justice” (2022), shows off her own understated charms in the slice-of-life film “Rolling.” Directed by Kwak Min-seung, the film revolves around 25-year-old Ju-ri (Shim), a college dropout who avoids socializing and stays at home during the COVID-19 pandemic. Her mother, Young-shim, struggles to keep her gimbap (rice rolls wrapped with seaweed) store open as consumer spending halts amid pandemic measures. One day, Young-shim leaves to take care of her sick mother and asks Ju-ri to take charge of the restaurant. Ju-ri, who is dependent on delivery food and hesitant about leaving home, slowly rebuilds her life with the help of friendly neighbors and regular customers.“Rolling” exudes a familiar indie drama aesthetic by proceeding at a slow, unhurried pace that allows the audience to focus on Ju-ri's journey instead of her destinationAug 22, 2022By Kwak Yeon-soo
Lee Jung-jae's directorial debut 'Hunt' tops box office for 2 straight weekends This image shows a scene from "Hunt." Courtesy of Megabox Plus M"Hunt," the directorial debut of Lee Jung-jae of "Squid Game," has topped the local box office for the second consecutive weekend, data showed Monday.The espionage film, released on Aug. 10, drew 714,000 viewers from Friday to Sunday, taking the No. 1 spot at the South Korean box office on its second weekend, according to the data by the Korean Film Council.Its cumulative total reached 3.04 million admissions as of Sunday, becoming the third most-watched Korean movie in 2022, following the action comedy "The Roundup" and the historical war film "Hansan: Rising Dragon.""Hunt" is "Squid Game" star Lee's first feature, revolving around two rival intelligence agents in South Korea, Park Pyong-ho (Lee) and Lee Jung-do (Jung Woo-sung), who separately chase after a North Korean spy leaking top secret information that could jeopardize national security."Hansan," about a famous naval battle by Adm. Yi Sun-sin, came in second with 343,000 viewers over the weekend, followed by the American horror "Nope" with 157,000 and "Top Gun: MAug 22, 2022
Brad Pitt says 'Bullet Train' is explosive action-packed summer blockbuster Actors Brad Pitt, right and Aaron Taylor-Johnson pose during a press conference for the film “Bullet Train.” Yonhap By Kwak Yeon-sooHollywood star Brad Pitt made his fourth visit to Korea, this time to promote his latest movie “Bullet Train” with co-star Aaron Taylor-Johnson, enjoying time with fans on the red carpet and pre-release screening events.“It's great to be back. I'm not here for the movie, I'm here for the food. 'Bullet Train' is a great summer action adventure film that we shot during the COVID-19 pandemic,” Pitt said during a press conference held at Conrad Seoul in Seoul, Friday. Directed by David Leitch, the film is a fast-paced thriller packed with action and humor. Pitt plays a former assassin named Ladybug who is on a mission to collect a briefcase from a high-speed passenger train in Japan. But he realizes that the train is packed with other elite assassins, including Lemon (Brian Tyree Henry), Tangerine (Taylor-Johnson) and Prince (Joey King), alAug 19, 2022By Kwak Yeon-soo
Lee Jung-jae's directorial debut 'Hunt' tops 2 mil. admissions A scene from the film, "Hunt" / Courtesy of Megabox Plus M"Hunt," the directorial debut of Lee Jung-jae of "Squid Game," has topped 2 million admissions, box-office data showed Wednesday.The espionage film drew 146,000 people the previous day, bringing its combined total to 2.1 million, according to the data by the Korea Film Council.Released Aug. 10, it took seven days to reach the 2 million level, becoming the fourth most-viewed Korean film in 2022 after "The Roundup," "Hansan: Rising Dragon" and "The Witch: Part 2. The Other One.""Hunt" is "Squid Game" star Lee's first feature, revolving around two rival intelligence agents in South Korea, Park Pyong-ho (Lee) and Lee Jung-do (Jung Woo-sung), who separately chase after a North Korean spy leaking top secret information that could jeopardize national security."Hansan," the historical war film about a famous naval battle of Adm. Yi Sun-sin against the Japanese during the Joseon Dynasty, came in second with 88,000 people on the day to post a cumulative 6.2 million admissions.The homegrown disaster movie "Emergency Declaration" placed tAug 17, 2022
'Confidential Assignment 2' has even more action, humor Actor Hyun Bin in a scene from the film “Confidential Assignment 2: International” / Courtesy of CJ ENM By Kwak Yeon-sooActor Hyun Bin, who is reprising his role as a North Korean agent in the upcoming movie, “Confidential Assignment 2: International,” promised the sequel will be jam-packed with more hard-hitting action ― and humor ― than its predecessor. “There's more action in this film. Coming back to it felt very natural because I had a great time with my co-stars and the previous film received immensely favorable response from audiences,” he said during a press conference for the film, Tuesday. “Confidential Assignment,” which was released in January 2017, racked up 7.81 million ticket sales.The 39-year-old actor recalled the emotional moment on set when he reunited with Daniel Henney after 17 years. The two starred in the 2005 hit series, “My Lovely Sam-soon.” “It was an absolute pleasure to reunite with Henney. I'm really proud of how far we've come,” he saidAug 16, 2022By Kwak Yeon-soo
INTERVIEW Actor Ko Kyoung-pyo explains why he doesn't obsess over lead roles Actor Ko Kyoung-pyo in a scene from the film, “6/45” / Courtesy of Sidus By Kwak Yeon-sooPerforming comedy is hard because everybody has a different sense of humor and jokes often don't translate the same way for other people. Actor Ko Kyoung-pyo is among very few powerful comedy actors who can parlay such a unique brand of humor into a film with his funny and flexible facial expressions.However, this didn't happen overnight. He used to be a regular cast member of Saturday Night Live Korea and starred in the 2013 horror comedy film “Horror Stories II,” which taught him how to make viewers roll with laughter.“I learned from my previous experiences that humor builds on an emotional connection with audiences and it needs to be delivered in the most authentic way possible. It's usually the given situations where a character suffers misfortunes that generate laughter,” he said during an interview with The Korea Times on Friday. The 32-year-old actor also revealed why he Aug 14, 2022By Kwak Yeon-soo
'Decision to Leave' selected as Korea's Oscar entry This image provided by CJ ENM shows a scene from "Decision to Leave." Courtesy of CJ ENMPark Chan-wook's Cannes-winning romance "Decision to Leave" will represent South Korea in next year's Oscars.The Korean Film Council (KOFIC) said Friday it has chosen the film as the country's entry for the best international feature film category of the upcoming 95th Academy Awards.The Oscar's non-English movie section requires each country to submit a single film as their official representative.At the 92nd Academy, South Korea's "Parasite" won the category, as well as three others, including best picture, becoming the first Korean-made film to win an Oscar."Decision to Leave" is director Park's latest work after the period thriller "The Handmaiden" (2016).It is about a detective who suspects a mysterious Chinese widow is the culprit of a murder case and later falls in love with her after days of a stakeout and interrogations. It brought home the Best Director prize at this year's Cannes Film Festival.The 95th Academy Awards is slated for March next year. (Yonhap)Aug 12, 2022
'Carter' director revamps opening scene to hook viewers Director-writer Jung Byung-gil / Courtesy of NetflixNetflix's latest Korean original film "Carter" starts with a 20-minute single-take action scene where Carter (Joo Won), an amnesiac agent on a hostage rescue mission, has a bloody dogfight ― almost naked ― with a hundred faceless people in a public bath. The agent is ordered to bring a girl to North Korea to serve as an antidote for a pandemic that hit the Korean Peninsula.Its director-writer Jung Byung-gil said Wednesday he created the heart-pounding opening scene filled with astounding hand-to-hand combat and shootouts to hook capricious viewers of the streaming service from the beginning."The film's initial script had a different opener. As 'Carter' is not a film for theatrical release, I wanted to capture the eyes of viewers with stronger visual images from the start," Jung said in an online media interview. "People would watch this show via smartphones or laptops. I wanted to give them a far more powerful impression from the beginning to stay tuned," said the director, well-known for a motorcycle fight scene shot from a first-pAug 10, 2022
