BtoB reach agreement with CUBE Entertainment over use of the group’s name

Veteran producers Cora Yim and Benjamin Lin are launching a production company, S11 Partners, with an equity investment from Hong Kong-listed Medialink Group.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief “Dune 2” added $2.63 million in its second weekend in South Korea, but the sci-fi fantasy remained a long may short of the year’s runaway winner, “Exhuma,” which has dominated and dynamized box office for three weeks. “Exhuma,” about two shaman, a feng shui master and a mortician who attempt to undo the mysterious events happening to a U.S.-based Korean family, earned $6.52 million between Friday and Sunday, representing a 67% share of the overall box office market, according to data from tracking service Kobis, operated by the Korean Film Council (Kofic). It was the third weekend in a row that “Exhuma” took two-thirds of Korean box office weekend total. After nearly three weeks on release the film has earned a powerful $58.7 million from eight million admissions.

Noah Centineo has officially embarked on another dangerous adventure as Owen Hendricks in The Recruit, and the cast has been unveiled.

Pyramid Game has been dubbed the new Squid Game in some circles, and it isn’t just because of its similar name.Based on the South Korean webtoon of the same name, Pyramid Game is a psychological thriller survival series set in an all-girls high school where students are ranked based on their popularity – which leads to violence against the lower ranks.The series is created by Lee Jae-gyun and stars Kim Ji-yeon, who is best known as a member of the South Korean girl group WJSN. Other cast members include Jang Da-ah, Ryu Da-in, Shin Seul-ki and Kang Na-eon.Pyramid Game will have its European premiere at Series Mania in March, following its debut in Korea on TVING last month.Along with the similarities in title, Pyramid Game and Squid Game are both Korean dramas which share similar survival themes – with the former set in the hierachy of a school, while the latter serves as commentary on capitalist society at large.The huge success of Squid Game has also led to a chase to replicate its success, with the existence of Pyramid Game likely being a byproduct of its popularity.The series has also received some positive early buzz.

SHINee member Taemin has confirmed that he will be leaving SM Entertainment after 16 years at the K-pop agency.SHINee’s Taemin recently addressed his status as an artist with SM Entertainment in a message posted on fan community app Bubble, where he confirmed that he would be “embarking on a new journey soon”, per Korea JoongAng Daily.“I made the decision to leave the company last year,” the K-pop idol explained, adding that he has also “talked with the other members [of SHINee]” regarding his decision to leave his long-time label.Taemin also spoke about how he had “wanted to break the news carefully to not cause any unnecessary concern”, while also thanking “everyone who has helped me so far” as well as “those who have faith in my decision and support me”.“I believe better things are coming and I will make sure they do,” the singer added. “I ask for your continued support in the future, both as a member of SHINee and as Taemin.”Taemin’s confirmation comes shortly after South Korean media reported that the singer would be leaving SM Entertainment this month after his current contract expires.

SHINee member Taemin and Onew will reportedly leave SM Entertainment sometime this year after their contracts with the K-pop agency expire.Yesterday (March 5), South Korean news outlets SpoTV News and YTN reported in separate stories that SHINee members Taemin and Onew would be leaving SM Entertainment following the expiration of their contracts. The duo have been with the K-pop agency since 2008, when they debuted as members of SHINee.SM Entertainment has since responded to the reports, saying that while “future plans remain unconfirmed” for the pair, they are “actively considering various options”, per The Korea Times.

IU aka Lee Ji-eun is scheduled to headline six huge concerts at arenas all over the U.S. as part of her “HER World Tour.”The sprawling tour, which officially got underway in IU’s home country South Korea on March 2, will mark the first time that the “LILAC” singer will perform in North America.In fact, as of now, she’s never performed outside of Asia.Once she arrives stateside, IU will kick off the tour at Newark, NJ’s Prudential Center on Monday, July 15.After that, she’ll drop into Atlanta’s State Farm Arena (July 19), Washington, D.C.’s Capital One Arena (July 22), Rosemont’s Allstate Arena (July 25), Oakland’s Oakland Arena (July 30) and Los Angeles’ Kia Forum (Aug.

TWICE is achieving new heights!

BTS rapper J-hope has released the tracklist for his upcoming ‘Hope on the Street Vol.1’ album, featuring collaborations with Jungkook, LE SSERAFIM‘s Huh Yunjin and more.Today (February 27), J-hope announced the tracklist for his upcoming ‘Hope on the Street Vol.1’ album. The record will feature six songs, four of which are brand-new and feature star-studded collaborators.Notably, the BTS member will team up with bandmate Jungkook on the song ‘i wonder…’, as well as fellow HYBE labelmate Huh Yunjin of K-pop girl group LE SSERAFIM on ‘i don’t know’.In addition, J-hope has also enlisted hitmaking producer Benny Blanco and Chic‘s Nile Rodgers for the song ‘lock / unlock’. Meanwhile, South Korean rappers Gaeko and Yoon Mirae will join the BTS star on closing track ‘NEURON’.Elsewhere on the tracklist on ‘Hope on the Street Vol.1’ are a solo version of ‘On the Street’, which the rapper first released in 2023 with J.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor The Match Factory has revealed multiple distribution deals for two Berlinale competition titles: German director Matthias Glasner‘s “Dying,” which won the festival’s Silver Bear for best screenplay, and Russian director Victor Kossakovsky‘s documentary “Architecton.” “Dying,” which stars Lars Eidinger, Lilith Stangenberg and Corinna Harfouch, also picked up the Guild of German Arthouse Cinemas and the Berliner Morgenpost Readers’ Jury Award. Variety‘s review describes the film as “a profoundly affecting exploration of life and loss.” The Match Factory closed deals for the film in France (Bodega Film), Italy (Satine Film), Benelux (September Film Distribution), Norway (Selmer Media), Poland (Aurora), CIS (Provzglyad), Ex-Yugoslavia (MCF MegaCom Film), Hungary (Cirko Films), Greece (Cinobo), Romania (Freealize), Taiwan (Andrews Film) and South Korea (Pancinema).

The Match Factory has locked multi-territory deals on Berlinale titles Architecton by Victor Kossakovsky and Dying by Matthias Glasner, which picked up the festival’s Silver Bear for Best Screenplay.

posed Thursday at the much-anticipated franchise film’s premiere in Seoul, South Korea, the trio didn’t offer up your standard, simmering red-carpet moves. Instead, the performers each cupped one of their hands to the side of their smiling faces in a half-heart shape as photographers captured the unified gesture.Some confused baby boomers and Gen Xers were likely left pondering, “What are they doing?”Other fans also clamored about another gesture in which Chalamet crossed his thumbs and index fingers, with one X user asking in all caps: “WHY IS TIMOTHEE DOING AEGYO????” It turns out Gen Zers Chalamet, 28, and Zendaya, 27, joined millennial Butler, 32, in embracing forms of the Asian country’s cultural mainstay aegyo (pronounced “ay-gyo”).WHY IS TIMOTHEE DOING AEGYO???? https://t.co/orYbeJNf4sThe gestures are popular ways of posing — or, in another form, speaking — to convey love or to signify something cute or adorable, reportedly with roots in the Joseon dynasty reaching back to the late 1300s, according to Rolling Stone.

Krystal Jung, best known as a member of girl group f(x), has seemingly signalled her return to music.Today (February 22), Krystal Jung took to Instagram with a new post to announce her new cover of Lalah Hathaway’s 1990 song ‘I’m Coming Back’. Her cover was released on her new Soundcloud page, which also features a cover of Toto’s 1979 song ‘Georgy Porgy’.Notably, the singer’s post was a collaboration with South Korean label Beasts And Natives Alike (BANA), which was founded by Kim Ki-hyun, formerly of SM Entertainment’s A&R team.

Marry My Husband actress Song Ha-yoon has revealed why she isolated herself on the set of the hit Prime Video K-drama series.Marry My Husband follows ordinary office worker Kang Ji-won (Park Min-young), who gets a second chance at life after she dies at the hands of her cheating husband Park Min-hwan (Lee Yi-kyung) and treacherous best friend Jung Soo-min (Song Ha-yoon).In a new interview with South Korean media, Song Ha-yoon says that because of the villainous nature of her role, she “usually kept to myself while on set”, per SBS Star. The actress explained that it “didn’t feel right to form close relationships with other actors while playing the character”.“It was necessary because when actors are close to each other, it is noticeable in a scene.

Emma Stone and Yorgos Lanthimos are a winning team and they will be continuing their collaborations!

Well, that certainly didn’t take long. Yesterday, it was announced that Greek weird wave filmmaker Yorgos Lanthimos would be directing a remake of the South Korean sci-fi black comedy “Save The Green Planet.” And we speculated within, based on comments that the filmmaker and actress had already made, that Emma Stone could star, and well, yep, she is.

Emma Stone, who just won a BAFTA for her performance in “Poor Things” and is nominated for an Oscar, is in talks to reunite with Yorgos Lanthimos on his remake of South Korean fantasy comedy “Save the Green Planet.” The project, which is expected to start shooting in the summer in the U.K. and New York, has been in the works for several years. Jang Joon-hwan, who directed the original South Korean movie, was previously attached to helm the English-language remake, based on a screenplay by Will Tracy, whose credits include HBO’s “Succession” and Searchlight’s “The Menu.” An eccentric black comedy, the story of “Save the Green Planet” revolves around a disillusioned young man who captures and tortures a businessman whom he believes to be part of an alien invasion.

“This might sound very irresponsible, but I don’t know what I’m doing,” South Korean filmmaker Hong Sangsoo told a Berlinale presser this afternoon when quizzed on his unique directing style. 

Poor Things” director Yorgos Lanthimos will reteam with Element Pictures on a remake of South Korean fantasy comedy “Save the Green Planet,” Variety has learned. Lanthimos — whose latest film, “Poor Things,” is nominated for 11 Oscars and just won five BAFTAs (including best actress for Emma Stone) — is expected to start shooting the movie in the U.K. and New York this summer.

NCT Dream, SEVENTEEN and more taking home the biggest prizes – view the full list of winners below.The 2024 Hanteo Music Awards took place over the past weekend from February 17 to 18 at the Dongdaemun Design Plaza (DDP) in Seoul, South Korea. The two-day affair was hosted by TVXQ’s Changmin, and saw the presentation of the ceremony’s four Daesangs (grand prizes).The Hanteo Music Awards are presented primarily based on the global Hanteo Charts from January 1 to December 31, 2023, accounting for up to 50% of the criteria, while global voting scores and judging scores also contributed to the determination of winners.The four biggest trophies of the ceremony were presented on the ceremony’s second day, which saw NCT Dream take home the award for Best Artist, while the Best Album and Best Performance trophies were given to SEVENTEEN and Stray Kids respectively.The fourth grand prize for Best Song was awarded to IVE, for ‘I AM’.