Korea Box Office: ‘Demon Slayer’ Rises to Top, Shutting out ‘Tom and Jerry’

Game Of Talents’ launch on Fox last week marked an important milestone for a format that is hoping to follow in the footsteps of The Masked Singer. Like its Korean counterpart, the entertainment show hails from a country not exactly known for being a formidable exporter of formats (Spain), and like The Masked Singer, distributor Fremantle hopes success on Fox can propel the show into an elite band of global hits.

Antonio Ferme editorSouth Korean band BTS made history on Sunday night as it became the first K-pop group to perform one of its own songs at the Grammy Awards.Jumping across (what appeared to be) the Grammy stage at the Los Angeles Staples Center the groups lead the audience on a chase backstage, up the utility stairs and ending their electric performance on a rooftop surrounded by spotlights.

Manchester Evening News looks at recent cases of once reputable men who were leading double lives.Quiet student Doyun Kim was consumed by a secret obsession.The 20-year-old engineering student was a voyeur who used his iPhone to film up female students' skirts for sexual gratification.He positioned his phone so he could record his victims around Manchester - on a bus, in shops and in university buildings.But the London-raised Korean national was caught when a young woman spotted him recording

When Youn Yuh-jung was asked how she felt about being called the "Meryl Streep of South Korea" in a recent interview, she said she’s flattered by the comparison. But she had her own introduction.

Big Hit Entertainment, the backer of K-pop uber-group BTS, is in the process of changing its company name to HYBE Corporation, it told Variety Thursday.The company has already registered the new name with Korean company regulatory authorities, although the change has not been approved by shareholders. Nor has it been announced to Korea’s stock market regulator.

Viacom International Studios has inked a first-look deal with South Korean production studio Something Special.

Matt Donnelly Senior Film WriterSony Pictures Animation is developing a new movie about a pack of female K-Pop stars who slay evil spirits in between gigs.“K-Pop: Demon Hunters” is underway at the Oscar-winning studio behind “Spider-Man: Into the Spiderverse,” from directors Maggie Kang and Chris Appelhans.Kang, whose credits include “The Lego Ninjago Movie,” is mounting the project as an homage to her Korean pride and the wildly popular K-Pop music she grew up with.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefA notable launch for “Minari” lifted the South Korea box office to its second highest weekend of 2021. The Korean-language American-made drama performed 80% higher than the weekend’s other significant new release Disney’s “Raya and the Last Dragon.”Opening in first place, “Minari” clocked up $1.68 million over the weekend, according to data from the Korean Film Council’s KOBIS box office tracking service.

starring Andra Day as the jazz singer, was named best picture, while the Korean American family drama “Minari” got best intergenerational film. Spike Lee’s Vietnam-themed “Da 5 Bloods” picked up best buddy picture and Regina King’s “One Night in Miami…,” about the fictional meeting of Malcolm X, Sam Cooke, Cassius Clay and Jim Brown, got best ensemble.“We focus on films made by and for grownups,” said Tim Appelo, the film and television critic for AARP.

BTS have been named as 2020's IFPI Global Recording Artist of the Year, an annual honour that recognises the most popular act in the world based on streaming and sales, including vinyl, CDs and downloads. 

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefLeading Korean entertainment conglomerate CJ ENM is to break the theatrical window in the world’s fourth largest movie market with a simultaneous cinema and streaming release for “Seobok,” one of the year’s hottest Korean movies.The group said that it will distribute the sci-fi actioner in theaters on April 15 and also make it available on its own streaming service, Tving.While Hollywood studio Disney has chosen to release titles such as “Mulan” with simultaneous

Diane Min, head of format sales at CJ ENM; Bonggyu "River" Kang, executive producer and showrunner for KBS Media’s The Return of Superman; and Jongwoo Kim, producer of MBC documentary Meeting You sat down with Rebecca Sun of The Hollywood Reporter to discuss their unscripted shows and the expanding international market for Korean entertainment in a THRPresents Q&A powered by Vision Media.

Netflix says its spending in Korea will top $500M in 2021 as the streamer doubles down on local content production after hits including #Alive.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefTop Thai director Banjong Pisanthanakun and Korean director-turned-producer Na Hong-jin (“The Chaser”) have teamed to create new Thai horror film “The Medium.”Now in post-production, “The Medium” is a horrifying story of a shaman’s inheritance in the Isan region of Thailand.

Rebecca Davis editorChina’s state broadcaster China Central Television (CCTV) announced late Monday evening that it has signed a strategic partnership in program development and online video with South Korean public broadcaster KBS.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefKorean theatrical box office slipped back into its rangebound new normal over the weekend, with nationwide gross takings of just $3.32 million between Friday and Sunday.