Big Hit responds to reports about BTS’ Jimin having his home seized

Cynthia Littleton Business EditorEndeavor swung wide to a profit in Q1, fueled by the sale of Endeavor Content and big year-over-year gains for its events and talent representation units.Endeavor posted net income of $517 million on revenue of $1.47 billion. The black ink was driven by a $463.6 million one-time gain stemming from the sale last year of the Endeavor Content division, which was acquired by South Korea’s CJ ENM for $775 million.Excluding the Endeavor Content gain, Endeavor’s adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization came in it about $129.2 million.The company raised its full-year 2022 revenue guidance slighty, predicting it will come in between $5.235 billion and $5.47 billion, up from the $5.2 billion to $5.45 billion forecast from last quarter, and adjusted EBITDA guidance of $1.1 billion to $1.15 billion.

Marta Balaga “Face Off” helmer John Woo will receive a Career Achievement Award during Montreal’s Fantasia International Film Festival, about to celebrate its 26th edition. The Hong Kong filmmaker is currently working on “Silent Night,” starring Joel Kinnaman and Kid Cudi.“I defy anyone to watch ‘Bullet in the Head,’ ‘Hard Boiled’ or ‘The Killer’ and not walk away wanting to break down the shots and make a movie.

Wheein recently took part in ELLE’s popular ‘Song Association’ series, where she sang hit songs from Big Bang, SEVENTEEN and WINNER, among others.During the segment, the MAMAMOO singer performed a number of tracks off her most-recent mini-album ‘WHEE’, including ‘Make Me Happy’ and ‘Pink Cloud’, along with a number of other songs from her own discography as a soloist and a member of MAMAMOO.Wheein also covered a handful of hits from Big Bang’s Taeyang and G-Dragon (‘I Need A Girl’), WINNER (‘Really Really’), Sik-K (‘Water’, featuring Jay Park, Woodie Gochild, pH-1 and Haon), SEVENTEEN (‘Very Nice’) and more.Sandwiched between the rounds of ‘Song Association’, Wheein shared that her 2017 collaboration with South Korean vocalist Jung Key had been the “most complex song [I had to sing] in my life”.“Jung Key wrote the song, and I was featured as a guest vocalist,” the MAMAMOO singer recalled, before going on to perform a snippet of the song’s chorus. “‘Anymore’ is a song with a very high pitch and requires advanced skills, [so] it was a bit challenging to record.”Speaking on ‘WHEE’ after it dropped in January this year, Wheein revealed that the mini-album drew inspiration from parts of her lifestyle and personality.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief“Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness” opened with a stunning $14.4 million debut weekend in South Korea, far in excess of any film this year at the Korean box office. Its five-day opening score was $29.1 million.Data from the Korean Film Council’s Kobis tracking service shows the film garnered an 87% market share over the weekend, as it lifted nationwide box office to pre-COVID levels for the first time in more than two years.

BTS’ Suga has praised Psy’s global megahit ‘Gangnam Style’, saying it “paved the way for K-Pop” around the world.Released in 2012, The K-pop icon became the highest-charting Korean pop act on the Billboard Hot 100 when ‘Gangnam Style’ peaked at Number Two. Since then, only BTS have gone on to best his record, hitting Number One six times since 2020.Earlier this month Psy released ‘That That’, the lead track from new album ‘Psy 9th’ which was produced by and features Suga.Now the pair have teamed back up for an interview on Psy’s YouTube channel.

As he prepares to leave office next week, South Korea’s outgoing Culture, Sports And Tourism Minister Hwang Hee has called on the country’s incoming new government to amend the law so to exempt BTS members – and other successful pop stars – from military service.“It’s time to create a system for [treating] popular culture-art figures as art personnel”, he said at a press conference in Seoul yesterday, according to Yonhap.The issue of BTS’s national service has been a hotly debated topic in South Korea for a number of years now. Under the country’s laws, all able-bodied men must begin serving around two years in the military at some point between the ages of eighteen and 28.

William Fichtner is set as a lead opposite Milo Ventimiglia and Catherine Haena Kim in ABC drama pilot The Company You Keep, from 20th Television.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief“Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore” topped the box office in South Korea over the May Day weekend, beating a handful of minor local titles which released in hope of catching a rising market.The latest Friday-Sunday period appeared to represent a turning point – a $4.86 million nationwide aggregate was the biggest weekend haul since January – but a slow and uncertain one. Theatrical box office in Korea has been severely depressed all year due to government-imposed COVID restrictions, audience caution and a paucity of new release local titles.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefThe South Korean streaming market is consolidating around five major players as it also emerges as a hub for premium local content.New research by consultancy firm Media Partners Asia and its AMPD Research platform show that the country boasted 14.1 million premium video streaming subscriptions at the end of 2021 and that usage of premium platforms accounted for a growing share of total viewing time.SVOD leaders Netflix, Wavve, TVing, Coupang Play and Disney+ captured an aggregate 85% share of SVOD subscriptions in Korea and 83% of SVOD streaming minutes.“Within Korea, nearly 70% of premium video consumption is driven by Korean dramas, movies and variety shows, while U.S. series and movies capture 14%,” said Vivek Couto, MPA’s executive director.

Selome Hailu Catherine Haena Kim has been cast as Emma in ‘The Company You Keep,’ an ABC drama pilot starring Milo Ventimiglia.Emma is described as the self-deprecating black sheep of an Asian American political dynasty who has never been afraid to carve her own path despite the objections of her impressive family. When she meets Charlie (Ventimiglia) by chance in a bar, sparks fly and the two wind up falling in love.

Catherine Haena Kim (FBI) has been cast as the female lead opposite This Is Us star Milo Ventimiglia in The Company You Keep, ABC’s drama pilot, which will be shot off-cycle to accomodate Ventimiglia’s commitment to the departing NBC family drama series.

Chanyeol is the subject of recent headlines, and his agency SM Entertainment is clearing up reports.

A new Japanese Korean restaurant serving everything from katsu curry to gyoza dumplings is set to open in Arndale’s new food quarter, Halle Place.

MLD Entertainment, the company behind K-pop girl group MOMOLAND, is gearing up to launch a brand-new group soon.Today (April 26), CEO Lee Hyung-jin spoke to South Korean news outlet Star News in new interview, where he revealed that the agency is preparing to debut a new girl group sometime in June. The upcoming act, named LAPILLUS, will include members who speak Spanish, English, Tagalog, Chinese and Japanese.Two members of the forthcoming group have since been revealed, and they are Japanese trainee Nonaka Shana, who recently appeared on Mnet’s reality TV competition show Girls Planet 999, along with Chantal Videla (known as Chanty), a Filipino-Argentinian model and actress.The duo have been active on MLD Entertainment’s YouTube ‘NADOL’ series, where they had introduced themselves as foreign trainees hoping to becoming K-pop idols in Korea.

Big Hit Music is clearing up reports.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefCinemas in South Korea received the good news last week that anti-COVID measures, including reduced seating capacity and bans on consumption of food and drink, were to end. But audiences reacted gingerly.“Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore” led the box office for a second weekend with $1.63 million, a drop of 44% from its opening weekend, and a 12-day cumulative of $6.55 million.

BTS’ Jimin and former Wanna One member Ha Sung-woon have shared the collaborative track ‘With You’ from the OST of the Korean drama Our Blues.The track, which was initially announced last month, marks the first time that Jimin has worked on a soundtrack release.All but one verse of ‘With You’ is sung in English, with Jimin and Ha Sung-woon swapping lines filled with dedication and love. “I wanna be with you / And I wanna stay with you,” Jimin sings in a low register in the first verse.

GOT7 are set to return as a full group with new music next month, according to new media reports.South Korean media outlet JoyNews24 reported today (April 22) that the K-pop boyband will be making a “full group comeback” this May. The news site also claimed that the group are currently in the “final stages of preparation” for a “new album”, citing unnamed music industry officials.JoyNews24 also reports that, as a result of the group’s impending comeback, solo activities for all members will be “suspended for the time being” in order for them to focus on the group’s upcoming return to music.None of the GOT7 members have officially confirmed comeback plans, as of writing, however, member BamBam did hint at the possibility on Twitter.