‘Confidential Assignment 2’ Reaches $35 Million on Second Weekend at Korea Box Office

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Korean indie production house, IMTV is developing and will produce a drama series based on the New York Times best-selling novel, “The Island of Sea Women” by Lisa See.  The story is set largely on the remote Korean island of Jeju, among the community of ‘haenyo,’ women who earn a living by free diving for mollusks, seaweed and other sea life from the depths of the ocean. Representatives of a rare semi matriarchal society, the women work while the menfolk typically stay at home, though property is passed down along male lines. Celebrated activist and Nobel Prize-winner Malala recently boarded a documentary project about the haenyo of Jeju that is set up at the A24 U.S. indie studio.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Japan’s Toei Animation and Korea’s CJ ENM unveiled a volley of new projects on Saturday flowing from their previously-established cooperation pact. The new shows include: a series that will be produced in both live action and animated formats; a live action series; and a third animation series. “The genesis of this co-operation was the notion that we should play to the strengths of Korean content and Japanese animation,” said Yi Jongmin, the CJ executive who heads the joint venture’s shared control unit. “That was before we factor in language barriers and cultural differences and suffered the disruptions of the COVID pandemic.”

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Korean sales agent Finecut has added “Secret: Untold Melody” and “The Dinner” to its burgeoning Asian Contents & Film Market slate. Both titles are sourced from a deal with Hive Media Corp. (“Inside Men,” “The Man Standing Next”). An adaptation of 2007 Taiwan hit “Secret,” “Secret: Untold Melody” is a romance film about pianist and a student. While the original film starred Jay Chou and Gwei Lun-mei, the Korean retread stars Doh Kyung-soo (a.k.a D.O. from celebrated K-pop group EXO) who has acting credits including “Swing Kids” and the “Along With The Gods” franchise, and rising star Won Jin-a (“Netflix’s “Hellbound”). Now in post-production, the film is directed by Seo You-min (“Recalled”).

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Japanese director Miike Takashi, who is known for slasher film “Ichi The Killer” and stomach-churning “Audition,” Friday claimed that he does not like bloody horror scenes. “I’m not a fan of bloody scenes. But that’s what I’m known for. And it is what I get offered. It’s what I was offered by [Korean TV studio] Studio Dragon,” said Miike at a press event in Busan to launch his new genre series “Connect.” The show premieres in the Busan International Film Festival’s series section and will release as a Star Original on the Disney+ streaming service.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Korean sales firm, Finecut is using the Asian Contents & Film Market on the sidelines of the Busan International Film Festival to launch comic action film “Brave Citizen.” The film, now in post-production, is an adaptation of a webtoon which ranked first in popularity when it was serialized on the platform Comico. It was later serialized on another Korean platform Naver Webtoon and recorded 2.27 million views on its Line Webtoon platform in Taiwan. It tells the tale of female former boxing champion who has become a substitute high school teacher. Having witnessed intolerable violence, she dons a mask and throws her first punch for justice.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Manta Comics is to release a webcomic adaptation of “A Hard Day,” a Korean action thriller film from 2014 originally directed by Kim Seong-hun. In Manta’s adaptation, the protagonist Ko Gunsoo has been recreated as a female detective, and the story begins when she accidentally hits a homeless person with her car shortly after her mother’s death. Unwilling to catch a manslaughter charge, Gunsoo hides the body in her mother’s casket. A mysterious stranger soon arrives, claiming knowledge of the hit-and-run, and Gunsoo finds herself embroiled in a shady police corruption scandal.  The 2014 movie was produced by AD406 and distributed internationally by Showbox / Mediaplex.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Hong Kong multi-hyphenate Peter Chan Ho-sun is far too intellectual to call himself an “arms dealer,” as Sony Pictures has in casting itself as an unattached supplier to streaming platforms. But politeness and Bob Dylan references aside, Chan’s new company, Changin’ Pictures, aims to become a major independent purveyor of premium Asian TV content for the streamers. The company is using this week’s Busan International Film Festival as its launchpad and will unveil the first five series of its 20-title pan-Asian slate.  Chan’s thesis is that global audiences are hungry for Asian content but have not been able to access it easily under legacy film and TV distribution systems. With streaming making everything accessible everywhere, and audiences no longer balking at subtitles, quality Asian drama can and will travel.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Next month’s London Korean Film Festival cloaks itself in a panoply of the country’s recent cinema, with a mix of commercial blockbusters, festival titles and documentaries. The long-running event also pays tribute to Kang Soo-youn, the performer who was the first Korean to win a best acting award in Venice and who died in May this year. The event runs from Nov. 3 – 17, 2022 in venues across London and comprises 35 films. It opens with a previously announced screening of “Alienoid.” The Cinema Now section includes: Jeong Ji-yeon’s psychological thriller “The Anchor”; Davy Chou’s “Return To Seoul,” which premiered in Cannes’ Un Certain Regard; Byun Sung-hyun’s “Kingmaker”; “Hot Blooded,” the long-awaited directorial debut by acclaimed novelist and screenwriter Cheon Myeong-kwan; nostalgic road chase movie “Stellar: A Magical Ride”; “Director’s Intention,” by Kim Min-geun.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Comedy action film “Confidential Assignment 2: International” remained at the top of the South Korean box office for the fourth consecutive weekend. Its enduring success came despite a slew of new releases intended to catch the National Foundation Day holiday weekend traffic. Between Friday and Sunday “Confidential Assignment 2” garnered $2.19 million from 304,000 ticket sales, and a market share of 29%. The weekend earnings lift it to a $43.3 million cumulative since release on Sept. 7, 2022. It is only the fourth film this year to have passed the six million spectators mark and the third Korean film to do so, following “The Roundup” (12.7 million) and “Hansan: Rising Dragon” (7.26 million).

Brent Lang Executive Editor Paramount’s “Smile” debuted to a sizzling $22 million, easily topping the domestic box office. The horror film beat out the weekend’s other new wide release, Universal’s LGBTQ romantic comedy “Bros,” which landed in fourth with a paltry $4.8 million debut. “Smile” ranks as one of the better original horror debuts of the year, beating out 20th Century Studios’ “Barbarian” ($10 million) and Sony’s “The Invitation” ($7 million). As the box office enters October, the horror genre will continue to take center stage with Universal’s “Halloween Ends” releasing in two weeks and hoping to cash in on the excitement for thrills and chills. The box office result for “Smile” is a frighteningly good haul, seeing as it cost Paramount a measly $17 million to produce. The company used some clever marketing tactics this week by strategically placing paid actors, with huge, creepy smiles plastered on their faces, behind home plate during televised Major League Baseball games. Social media users quickly noticed the unsettling fans, who wore “Smile” t-shirts, when the cameras zoomed in on batters stepping up to the plate.

according to IMDB’s Box Office Mojo.The feature film debut from writer and director Parker Finn was called a film with a “highly effective creep factor,” by Variety.It is predicted to be grinning all the way to a $19 million dollar opening weekend,” according to Deadline.Moving down a notch to second place from the top slot last week was “Don’t Worry Darling,” with $2.4 million in sales. The firm, which cost $35 million to make, according to Forbes, has netted $27.9 million domestically and $11 million internationally.Directed by Olivia Wilde, the 1950s-set thriller was “mid to poorly reviewed,” and is forecast to bring in just $7.2 million on its second weekend in theaters, according to Collider.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media Reporter Hold onto your bucket hats: Sony’s action-thriller “Bullet Train” crossed $100 million at the domestic box office. It’s an impressive milestone (in post-COVID times) for an original movie that doesn’t involve marquee comic book heroes or intergalactic adventures. It helps, of course, that a bankable actor like Brad Pitt stars in the film, as a heavily therapized assassin named Ladybug. “Bullet Train” reached $101 million in domestic ticket sales on Friday, making it only the 14th release this year to hit that benchmark. With another $130 million at the international box office, the film has now earned $231 million in global ticket sales to date.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief KC Global Media, which operates a string of channels across Asia including AXN, anime channel Animax, South Korea’s ONE and Japanese entertainment channel GEM, has unveiled its first script development of a sci-fi live action series, “Jonesy.” The show is a sci-fi fantasy thriller action-comedy series set in the year 2029, with eight episodes of 15-20 minutes each. Production will be with Singapore-based production agency, Monochromatic Pictures, while development is supported through the Capability Partnership Programme (CPP) operated by the country’s Infocomm Media Development Authority. The show sees an internet crazy shut-in man driven to extremes by violent weather systems which carry with them supernatural beasts intent on devouring humankind. With his imaginary friend, the man learns to navigate the new world alone, confront his fears, battle colorful foes, and become humanity’s new hope when he kills one of the monsters during a livestream.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Online video is taking up the role of growth engine for the Asia Pacific video industry as free-TV in the region moves into long-term decline, says a new report. The video sector is forecast to remain robust this year, but recession could deal a blow to sector performance in 2023. Video sector revenues – defined as subscription fees and advertising generated by free TV, pay-TV and online video platforms – in 14 Asia-Pacific markets are forecast to will grow by 6.4% in the current year to reach $143 billion, according to Media Partners Asia.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief South Korean entertainment leader CJ ENM has invested in U.S.-based virtual reality concert platform AmazeVR. The move is intended to enhance the group’s presence in the metaverse and expand opportunities for K-Pop and unscripted content. AmazeVR claims to be the first and only company using its exclusive and proprietary technology, to capture hyper-real 9K+ live-action footage of artists performing. This gives fans front-row seats in 3D stage environments, making VR concerts easily scalable and faster to produce. AmazeVR has previously put on concerts with Megan Thee Stallion and worked with Korean girl group Aespa on real world and virtual concerts. It recently formalized a joint venture with Korean talent agency SM Entertainment to produce upcoming VR concerts for other K-Pop artists.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Full and proper confirmation of a second season of mystery horror series “Hellbound” was high on the agenda of Netflix’s consumer-oriented Tudum presentation. Korean shows have repeatedly achieved top ratings among the streamer’s non-English roster, and last November’s release of “Hellbound” was the show that finally edged aside “Squid Game” after several weeks of breakthrough success. (The Tudum presentation offered “Squid Game” fans some extra footage that confirmed the identity of the mysterious ‘front man’. Take a look here.) “Hellbound” is derived from a webtoon created by series director Yeon Sang-ho, who previously directed “Train to Busan” and “Peninsula.” It featured otherworldly angels who emerged to condemn individuals to hell at a specific future time, minutes or years away.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Korean film producer Baek Jaeho has been named as the inaugural recipient of the Choon-yun Award, a prize set up in honor of Lee Choon-yun, the late chairman of the Korean Association of Film Art & Industry. The award, worth KRW10 million ($7,100), will be presented on the sidelines of the Busan International Film Festival on Oct. 6 in conjunction with IOK Company. Baek participated in the production of 2021 title “Snowball” and was previously involved in indie films “Jane” in 2016 and last year’s “Role.” He also acts and directs. Veteran director Kang Je-kyu praised Baek as ”a filmmaker who maintains his values and outspreads his potential in the insufficient independent film environment.”

Julia Roberts and George Clooney landed at the top of the international box office chart this weekend as Universal/Working Title’s Ticket to Paradise expanded its offshore rollout. Adding 39 markets for a $12.1M session in 46 lifted the overseas cume to $14.8M with several majors still to come; domestic begins on October 21. Collectively, the new markets this session performed above Last Christmas and Yesterday, and in line with The Lost City and Bridget Jones’s Baby. 

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Make no mistake: CJ ENM is on the move. The South Korean conglomerate that has done as much as any company to build out the nation’s entertainment ecosystem is actively looking to expand its “production capability and competency.” That’s the word from Kang Ho-sung, CEO of the cluster of film, TV and music companies that now share the CJ ENM banner. Kang gave a rare, extensive interview to Variety on Aug. 21 in downtown Los Angeles on the sidelines of CJ ENM’s KCON LA pop culture convention, which brought in close to 100,000 fans from across the U.S.