f(x)’s Krystal Jung signs with new agency, signals return to music

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

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

aespa have teased a brand-new song titled ‘Get Goin”, for the upcoming second season of Apple TV+’s Fraggle Rock: Back to the Rock.The upcoming aespa song is described as “Fraggle-pop” by the official Apple TV account on X (formerly Twitter). In its post, the streaming platform also release a teaser video for the song, feature members of the K-pop girl group singing the new track with Fraggle Rock character Uncle Traveling Matt.aespa’s ‘Get Goin” will be released on March 29, alongside season two of Fraggle Rock: Back to the Rock.

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.

V of BTS will be releasing a brand-new digital single titled ‘Fri(end)s next Friday, Big Hit Music has announced.V made the announcement earlier today (March 4) at midnight KST thought BTS’ social media platforms. The label described the upcoming track as a “love song in the pop soul R&B genre”, and included the first teaser for the upcoming song.

TWICE is achieving new heights!

released the first trailer for an upcoming comedy series in which a woman is accidentally turned into a chicken nugget. “A woman steps into an odd machine and becomes… a chicken nugget,” reads the South Korea-produced show’s synopsis on Netflix’s site. “Now, it’s up to her father and admirer to embark on a zany quest to bring her back.” The show, which is expected to hit the streaming site on March 15, stars Ryu Seung-ryong, Ahn Jae-hong and Kim You-jung.Netflix’s protein-packed comedy is directed by Lee Byeong-Heon, whose 2019 film “Extreme Job” also focused on chicken.

It’s tough being a K-pop stan.

NCT WISH have made their official debut with the release of their new single, ‘Wish’, released in both Japanese and Korean.The six-member NCT sub-group released the song as part of their debut single album of the same name. The project also includes one other B-side track, titled ‘Sail Away’.

CRAVITY have released the music video for their new single ‘Love or Die’.According to a press release for the new song, the music video for ‘Love or Die’ is a look at the CRAVITY’s “journey for love”, and shows the boyband’s “heightened confidence and dedication to their love”.“I can’t stop this feeling / I keep falling / I only have this excruciating nightmare / But you are my only dream, love or die,” the K-pop idols sing on the chorus of ‘Love or Die’.‘Love or Die’ is the title track of CRAVITY’s seventh mini-album, ‘Evershine’. The project is their first release of 2024, and follows their September 2023 mini-album, ‘Sun Seeker’.CRAVITY are schedule to perform on Day 2 of We Bridge 2024, which will be held at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center and Michelob ULTRA Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada this April.Other artists on the line-up include K-pop girl group NMIXX, co-ed quartet KARD, boyband AMPERS&ONE and more.

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).

NCT’s Taeyong has released his sophomore solo mini-album, ‘Tap’, along with a music video for its title track of the same name.In the whimsical music video for ‘Tap’, Taeyong, dressed in an oversized business suit, wakes up in the closet of an empty ryokan, which kick starts his exploration of Japan, as he searches for Japanese delicacies such as dango, omurice and more.“Tap, tap, tap, tap, tapping on me / Awkward stare and then slinkin’ away / Looks different now, you got that right / Then I’mma stare back like I know nothing,” the NCT leader raps on the song’s funky chorus.‘Tap’ was co-written by Taeyong, while the album’s five remaining B-sides – ‘Moon Tour’, ‘Run Away’, ‘APE’, ‘Ups & Downs’ and ‘404 Loading’ – also credit Taeyong as a co-lyricist. Most of the tracks on the ‘Tap’ record were co-composed and produced by SQUAR, who also worked with Taeyong on his previous solo work.Taeyong first debuted as a solo artist last June with the mini-album ‘SHALALA’, led by a title track of the same name.

Lucas Wong, a former member of boybands NCT and WayV, has addressed his past controversies in a brand-new documentary titled Freeze. Lucas Wong released part one of Freeze on February 24 to his newly opened YouTube channel, who appears to be making his return to the music industry as an artist under SM Entertainment.

BtoB have reached an agreement with their former K-pop agency CUBE Entertainment over the use of the group’s name.BtoB members Eunkwang, Minhyuk, Hyunsik and Peniel have launched their own label, called BTOB Company. It will be a subsidiary of DOD, which the four K-pop idols previously signed with in December 2023.BTOB Company has “reached an agreement” with CUBE Entertainment over the trademark right for the group’s name in order to continue using the moniker for future activities, DOD told South Korean news outlet News1, via Soompi. “[We] will spare no effort to support Eunkwang, Minhyuk, Hyunsik and Peniel as well as BtoB’s future activities so that they can be more active in various fields,” a representative fo BTOB Company added.All six members of BtoB – completed by Yook Sung-jae and Changsub – left their longtime label CUBE Entertainment in November last year following the expiration of their exclusive contracts.Changsub has since signed to Fantagio, which also manages K-pop acts such as ASTRO, Weki Meki and more.

Warner Bros has dated Mickey 17 for Jan. 31, 2025 — a very odd date for a highly anticipated follow-up from Oscar and Cannes Palme d’Or winning Parasite filmmaker Bong Joon-ho.

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.

“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.