Disney+’s ‘Uncle Samsik’: cast, plot, premiere date and all you need to know

SHINee singer Onew has opened up about his decision to leave long-time label SM Entertainment.In a new interview with (x)clusive Singapore, SHINee’s Onew spoke more about why he made the choice to leave SM Entertainment, after over 15 years with the K-pop agency. The singer left the company this March and signed to Griffin Entertainment earlier this month.“You could think of it as me taking on another challenge, as I aspire to be an artist who looks further ahead rather than being complacent,” Onew told the publication in a new interview, adding that “it was not easy to decide to start anew in a new place”.Elsewhere in the interview, the SHINee singer also spoke about how to keeps his passion for music after being in the industry for so long: “I have become flexible to different situations, and I think that’s the key.”Onew is the second member of SHINee to leave SM Entertainment, following Taemin, who has since signed with Big Planet Made.

EXCLUSIVE: US-Bangladeshi action movie MR-9: Do or Die, starring ABM Sumon, Michael Jai White and Frank Grillo, has been picked up by Quiver Distribution for a North American VOD/digital release this month.

SHINee singer Key has announced dates for his upcoming 2024 ‘Keyland On: And On’ tour, featuring concerts in Thailand, Indonesia and more.Today (April 17), SHINee’s Key revealed four new dates for his 2024 ‘Keyland On: And On’ tour. They come about three months after the singer originally kicked off the series of concerts with a two-night performance at the Olympic Handball Stadium in Seoul, South Korea.Key will bring his ‘Keyland On: And On’ tour to the cities of Bangkok, Jakarta and Macau in July 2024, all of which will take place on either a Saturday or Sunday.

Next year, we’ll witness a unique venture from Oscar-winning director Bong Joon-ho (known for his Best Picture-winning “Parasite”) as he returns to the sci-fi genre with his upcoming film “Mickey 17.” featuring the talented duo Robert Pattinson and Mark Ruffalo. But that’s not all the South Korean filmmaker is cooking up.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Disney has confirmed that Korean webtoon-to-screen adaptation “Low Life” is poised to begin production. When valuable treasure is discovered off the coast of Korea, the country’s biggest degenerates come crawling out of the woodwork in the hope of striking it big. Word spreads after a fisherman got lucky and kept a piece of the booty for himself.

Two months after revealing its Korean slate for 2024, Disney+ has unveiled another series from the country. Titled Low Life, the show will premiere on the platform next year and Hulu in the U.S.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief “Kung Fu Panda 4” took top spot at the South Korean box office becoming the film that finally pushed aside local champion “Exhuma,” which had dominated for seven consecutive weeks. But it was an understated victory, rather than a triumphant one, and the exhibition industry’s $5.6 million nationwide haul was among the lowest scoring weekends this year. “Kung Fu Panda 4” earned $2.81 million between Friday and Sunday with a 50.1% market share. Over its full five day run since a Wednesday opening, it enjoyed a $5.96 million total. “Exhuma” slipped to second place in its eight weekend of release.

Steven J. Horowitz Senior Music Writer Park Boram, a South Korean singer who has steadily built her career over the past decade, has unexpectedly died at the age of 30, according to her agency Xanadu Entertainment. “We are here to share sorrowful and heartbreaking news,” shared Xanadu in a statement.

Well Go USA has landed North American rights for Dutch action thriller Invasion about a daring military operation in the wake of a hostile attack on the Caribbean islands of Aruba and Curacao.

THE BOYZ have announced their upcoming 2024 ‘Zeneration II’ world tour, featuring concerts in Asia, the US, Europe and more.Today (April 8), THE BOYZ announced the first batch of dates for their upcoming 2024 ‘Zeneration II’ world tour. The trek will follow their 2023 ‘Zeneration’ world tour, which had featured 24 dates in Asia.‘Zeneration II’ will kick-off in July with a three-date show in South, South Korea, before the boyband head to the US for a solo tour the first time since 2022.

Minho and Key of K-pop boyband SHINee have renewed their contracts with long-time label SM Entertainment.SM Entertainment announced the contract renewals of both Minho and Key in a statement to South Korean news outlet Sports Chosun, saying that the SHINee duo had re-signed due to a “strong foundation of trust” with the K-pop agency, via Soompi.“We are happy to continue our valuable relationship with Minho and Key,” SM Entertainment added. “We will provide our full support in various ways for Minho and Key to shine not only as members of SHINee but also as solo artists.”In the same statement, Minho and Key also touched on their decision to re-sign with SM Entertainment, saying that the K-pop boyband have “spent every moment together [with the agency] from our beginning until now”.“I think we are who we are today because of the agency staff that we have worked together with for a long time,” the SHINee members added.

Goodbye Earth.Today (April 9), the streamer revealed though its Netflix K-Content account on X (formerly Twitter) that Goodbye Earth will premiere April 26. The announcement was accompanied by 10 stills from the upcoming K-drama, which will star Ahn Eun-jin, Jeon Sung-woo and more.Notably, none of the stills feature actor Yoo Ah-in, who has been embroiled in controversy regarding his alleged drug use since early-2023.

Alex Ritman Banijay has acquired the format rights to “Alumni Lovers,” the school reunion dating show from MBC that first launched in South Korea last December. In a deal to be formerly announced by its global head of acquisitions Helen Greaterox at an MIPTV panel later on Monday, the French TV giant will launch the format in Netherlands via its SimpelZodiak label and France through Endemol France.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Oscar-winning Japanese animation film “The Boy and the Heron” earned a chart-topping $34.9 million between Friday and Sunday at the mainland China box office. Over its full five-day opening run, it took an even more spectacular $73 million. China was the last major territory to play the Studio Ghibli-produced fantasy in cinemas – it released in its native Japan in July and is imminently headed to streaming in many other territories – but that did not stop Chinese audiences from lapping it up. While most films release in China on a Friday, “The Boy and the Heron” was given a Wednesday outing in order to capture momentum from the Thursday-to-Saturday Qingming public holiday. Consultancy firm Artisan reports that it earned RMB248 million ($34.9 million) over the conventional Friday-to-Sunday weekend.

TWICE member Chaeyoung is dating rapper Zion.T, her label JYP Entertainment has confirmed.In the early hours of today (April 5), South Korean news outlet SWAY claimed in a report that TWICE’s Chaeyoung and rapper Zion.T have been dating for 6 months after first meeting through an acquaintance.The publication also alleged that the duo have no intentions of hiding their relationship, claiming that the pair have often gone on dates publically in the Hannam-dong neighbourhood of Seoul, South Korea.In a statement to TenAsia, Chaeyoung’s agency JYP Entertainment confirmed that the pair are in a relationship. “The two of them are currently dating with positive feelings for one another.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent CAA has come on board to advise on the worldwide sales of “Pleasant Outcast,” the post-apocalyptic Korean thriller series from Lotte Cultureworks (“Along With the Gods: The Last 49 Days”) and Climax Studio. “Pleasant Outcast” is set to premiere at Canneseries, which kicks off April 5. The 10-part series is a companion piece to the Korean box office smash hit film “Concrete Utopia,” which was selected as South Korea’s Oscar contender and sold to 185 countries.

Highlight have regained the trademark rights to their original name, BEAST.Highlight’s label, Around Us Entertainment, announced today (April 2) that the boyband have reclaimed the trademark rights to their original name, BEAST. The group originally debuted in 2019 under the name BEAST, before changing it to Highlight in 2016 after leaving CUBE Entertainment.In a statement to South Korean news outlet eDaily, Around Us Entertainment said that it has “smoothly completed the mutual agreement regarding the use of the trademark for BEAST”, per Soompi. However, the quartet will continue their activities under the name Highlight.“Regardless of the group name they promote under, it feels new to be able to showcase the group name BEAST,” it added.

NME also previously spotted social media accounts for a potential Waterbomb Festival Singapore back in March.

Disney+ tentpole Uncle Samsik will debut on May 15 on the platform globally, and on Hulu. The streamer also announced that Korean crime thriller Nine Puzzles will premiere exclusively on the platform in 2025.

aespa singer Karina and South Korean actor Lee Jae-wook have broken up, their agencies have confirmed.Today (April 2), South Korean news outlet TenAsia reported that aespa’s Karina and Lee Jae-wook have broken up, just a little over a month after the pair went public with their relationship in late-February 2024.In response to the report, a representative from Lee’s agency C-JeS Studios confirmed that the pair have “decided on the breakup in order to focus on the project he is currently filming”, per Newsen via Soompi.“The two decided to remain as colleagues who support each other,” the entertainment agency added. “They will each greet [fans] through good activities from their respective positions going forward.