‘I, the Executioner,’ Cannes Midnight Screening Thriller, Picked Up by Korea’s CJ ENM

Jamie Lang International Emmy-winning French animation producer-distributor Dandelooo has closed a deal with Korea’s Dream Factory Studio for the latter’s new CG preschool series “PongPong Dino.” Targeted at 2-4-year-olds, “PongPong Dino” is a new IP produced by Dream Factory and directed by animator Tacken Chae. In the show, the audience is invited to a world where playing with your food is an important part of each meal.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Berlin-based sales agency Picture Tree Intl. has acquired the supernatural crime thriller “The Osha Rule,” and will start seeking distribution partner at the Cannes Film Market. The film will start principal photography in August 2024.

John Hopewell Chief International Correspondent Starring “3o Coins’” Miguel Angel Silvestre and “The Palace’s” Katia Fellin, “Weiss & Morales” has gone into production in the Canary Islands, boasting the credentials of a textbook procedural appealing to current market appetites. As co-production ramps up between free-to-air players in Europe, led very often by its state-backed networks, “Weiss & Morales” links two of the continents’ most powerful public broadcasters, Germany’s ZDF and Spain’s RTVE, which produce with ZDF Studios.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief “The Roundup: Punishment,” the fourth film in the Don Lee-starring crime action franchise, earned $20.8 million between Friday and Sunday and punched out all competition at the South Korean box office. “Challengers,” which headed the box office this weekend in North America, with $15 million, opened fourth in Korea a 0.5% market share. “Punishment” accounted for a crushing 94% market share and collected its weekend haul from 2.92 million ticket sales, according to data from Kobis, the tracking service operated by the Korean Film Council (Kofic). The film opened officially on Wednesday, when it scored $4.92 million, and followed that with a $3.25 million Thursday. Including the weekday takings and a smattering of previews from the previous weekend, the film finished Sunday with a cumulative of $29.3 million, earned from 4.25 million spectators. The stellar performance was the biggest opening this year, ahead of February’s “Exhuma,” a spooky drama that earned $14.5 million on its February first weekend and picked up pace in its second week. Giant screen systems provider, Imax reports that “Punishment” earned $770,000 of its Korean score from just 24 screens.

Almost a year after Kevin Spacey was found not guilty of sex crimes, Channel 4 and Max in the U.S. are set to air testimony from more men detailing their experiences with the double-Oscar winner.

John Hopewell Chief International Correspondent “Barren Land,” from Spain’s Albert Pintó, director of Netflix global blockbusters “Money Heist,” “Berlin” and “Nowhere,” have been snapped up by Spain’s Film Factory Entertainment. From an original idea by producer Alvaro Ariza, “Barren Land” (“Tierra de Nadie”) is penned by Fernando Navarro, one of Spain’s go-to screenwriters whose credits include Netflix hits “Below Zero” and “Veronica.” Film Factory will launch world sales on “Barren Land,” as it builds a powerful slate of upscale commercial packages.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief HYBE Corp., the biggest corporation in the South Korean pop music scene, has begun an audit into ADOR, the label responsible for K-pop act NewJeans. HYBE says that executives at the majority-owned subsidiary mya be attempting to break away from the conglomerate. “HYBE invoked the right to audit CEO Min Hee-Jin and top executives of its subsidiary label ADOR, called them to summon a shareholder meeting and sent an official letter to ask CEO Min to step down,” HYBE said in a statement emailed to Variety. Media sources in Korea have reported that the audit targets Min and one of her deputies and that computer assets have been seized and face-to-face statements already taken. They also report that HYBE suspects Min and her deputy to have circulated confidential information to outsiders in a possible bid to attract investors who would allow ADOR to gain its independence from the parent company. ADOR was founded in 2021 as a HYBE subsidiary and is currently 18% owned by Min, a renown hit-maker in the Korean music industry.

Rebecca Rubin Senior Film and Media Reporter A24‘s political thriller “Civil War” is resonating not just in red states and blue but overseas, too. Alex Garland’s film, starring Kirsten Dunst as a photojournalist who traverses a violently divided United States, has grossed $45.7 million in North America and $20 million internationally. Global ticket sales stand at $67.3 million through Monday, and it’s projected to cross $70 million on Tuesday.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief ‘Kung Fu Panda 4’ retained its lead at the top of the South Korean box office on what was the quietest cinema-going weekend in more than a year. The animated franchise movie held up reasonably. It maintained a nearly 44% market share, dropped only 32% week-on-week and was untroubled by competition from new releases. The film earned $1.91 million between Friday and Sunday, according to data from Kobis, the tracking service operated by the Korean Film Council (Kofic).

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.

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.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Korea’s second largest generalist film event the Jeonju International Film Festival has set eight fiction films by first or second-time feature directors, for its main competition. They are “Cu Li Never Cries,” by Pham Ngoc Lan; “Junkyard Dog,” by Jean-Baptiste Durand, “La Palisiada,” by Philip Sotnychenko; “My Endless Numbered Days,” by Shaun Neo; “Oxygen Station,” by Ivan Tymchenko; “Practice,” by Laurens Perol; “The Major Tones,” by Ingrid Pokropek; and “The Permanent Picture,” by Laura Ferres. Additionally, two documentary features also compete: “After the Snowmelt,” directed by Lo Yi-Shan and “Kix,” by Balint Revesz and David Mikulan. The COVID-pandemic continues to affect filmmaking and festival selection, organizers said. “Even films planned to be made beforehand had to extend their production period due to the pandemic, and many works highlighted the limitations of the production environments, such as smaller cast numbers and minimal locations,” said chief programmer Chun Jinsu. The festival runs May 1-10 in Jeonju, a major town on South Korea’s west coast.

Annika Pham Copenhagen-based REinvent International Sales has closed Spain and Portugal with AMC Networks International Southern Europe, on the Finnish suspense disaster drama “Seconds”, Variety has learned exclusively. One of REinvent’s MipTV highlights, “Seconds,” made a strong debut on Finnish pubcaster Yle this week, according to head of drama, Jarmo Lampela. “It will easily go over the average viewing target,” he said.

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.

Rafa Sales Ross Guest Contributor Germany’s Beta Film is bringing the love story between a Dutch prince and a beautiful Argentinian financier to the Croisette. The world premiere of “Máxima” screens out-of-competition at Canneseries on April 9 after being teased at the London TV Screenings in late February.

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.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Without significant new challengers, spooky Korean drama “Exhuma” held on at the top of the South Korea box office chart for the seventh consecutive weekend. Its cumulative passed the symbolic $80 million mark. The lack of strong new release titles also meant that aggregate weekend box office in Korea slipped to a lowly $5.59 million. The Choi Min-sik-starring “Exhuma” dropped roughly 50% week-on-week to record $1.59 million between Friday and Sunday, and a 28% market share, according to data from Kobis, the tracking service operated by the Korean Film Council (Kofic).

Emiliano De Pablos Spain’s film and TV industries are in their second wave as standout content providers for global streamers. Some of the country’s most intriguing titles will take the international stage this weekend at MipTV in Cannes. Built on a foundation of hits such as “The Red Band Society,” “Grand Hotel,” “Velvet” and “Locked Up,” a new era of internationally renowned content creation in Spain kicked off in 2018 with Alex Pina’s blockbuster series “Money Heist,” picked up by Netflix.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief The Critics Week section of the Cannes film festival has set Spanish director Rodrigo Sorogoyen as the president of the jury for its 63rd edition. Sorogoyen is known for films including “Stockholm” in 2013, “The Candidate” in 2018, and “The Beasts” from 2022.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor PBS Intl. will give a market debut to Season 2 of “Baby Animals: The Top 10” at MipTV. The show “celebrates the irresistible charm and wonder of baby animals from around the globe,” the distributor said.