Korean Box Office Recovers To 70% Of Pre-Pandemic Business In 2023 H1; Quartet Of Local Films Could Boost Summer Further

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief South Korean police said on Wednesday that they had found evidence that the box office performance of 323 films over the past five years had been inflated. Seoul Metropolitan Police said that, as a result, they had referred 69 people from major exhibition chains and 24 film distribution companies to prosecutors.

Police in South Korea today said that 69 officials from theater chains including CGV, Lotte and Megabox, and from 24 film distributors, have been referred without detention to the prosecutor on charges of obstruction of business, local media reports. This follows an investigation that began in June into suspicious box office numbers. Police claim the accused were involved in fabricating figures to boost film rankings over the past five years.

The Toronto International Film Festival has unveiled its Primetime programme for 2023 which includes the world premieres of Bad Boy and All the Light We Cannot See.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Lee Byung-hun-starring disaster movie “Concrete Utopia” topped the South Korean box office over the latest weekend, replacing female led crime caper “Smugglers.” Directed by Um Tae-hwa, “Concrete Utopia” is set in a Seoul that has been largely destroyed by a massive earthquake. One building stands tall among the wreckage and becomes a refuge for those already inside, but the inhabitants must fend of the unwanted attentions of outsiders. It opened on Wednesday, earning $8.40 million between Friday and Sunday and fully $11.3 million over its full opening five days, according to data from Kobis, the tracking service operated by the Korean Film Council (Kofic).

Refresh for latest…: It’s still a Barbie world this weekend as the Greta Gerwig-directed charmer reached a global cume of $1.184B. Last session, Margot Robbie’s living doll crossed the $1B threshold, and in this 4th frame added $45.1M in 75 offshore markets (a 47% dip) to bring the international box office cume to $657.6M. 

Peter Debruge Chief Film Critic Back in the 1970s, when Korea was closed to the outside world, locals relied on black market dealers to get their hands on everything from American cigarettes to Ritz crackers. Though this illicit import racket was run mostly by men, it wouldn’t have been possible without half a dozen uniquely talented women — skilled divers known as haenyeo who fished the loot from the sea.

Good afternoon Insiders, it’s been another sleepy yet somehow simultaneously eventful August week here at Deadline International Towers. Read on for investigations, headlines, scoops and anaylsis, as Max Goldbart steers you through the past few days.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Amazon-owned Prime Video has launched “The Killing Vote,” a hardboiled crime drama series from Korea. The 12-part show uses the premise that a text message is sent to ordinary citizens who get to vote for or against the application of the death penalty in individual criminal cases. If more than 50% vote in favor, the criminal is killed by a mysterious character called Dog Mask.

Sideshow and Janus Films have acquired all North American rights to Academy Award-winning Japanese director Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s Evil Does Not Exist ahead of its world premiere in Competition at the Venice Film Festival next month.

Official nominations for the for the Annual British Restaurant Awards have been announced with a number of Manchester eateries in the running to be named some of the best in the country.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Hybe, the Korean music and entertainment firm, achieved record revenues in the first half of the year as album sales climbed and live performances took off. This was achieved despite the hiatus being forced on BTS, the company’s most famous K-pop act, by its band members’ military enlistment. On Tuesday, Suga, who had his first solo music tour earlier this year, became the third member of BTS to begin his compulsory military service.

Morrissey has announced new 2023 tour dates in Asia and Australia – see the full list of dates below.The former Smiths frontman has just finished a UK and Ireland headline tour, and will head back out on the road in November.The gigs will begin on November 9 in Singapore, with gigs then taking place in Thailand, Japan and more.Morrissey will then hit Australia and New Zealand for seven gigs, ending up in Auckland in mid-December.See the full list of gigs below. Ticket details can be found here.NOVEMBER 20239 – Singapore, Star Theater16 – Chek Lap Kok, Asia World Expo18 – Bangkok, Samyan Hall22 – Jakarta, Istora Senayan28 – Tokyo, Toyosu PitDECEMBER 20231 – Perth, Concert Hall4 – Melbourne, Palais Theater5 – Melbourne, Palais Theater8 – Fortitude Valley, Fortitude Music Hall10 – Sydney, State Theater11 – Sydney, State Theater14 – Auckland, The CivicLast month, Morrissey cancelled his scheduled sold-out gig in Nottingham at the last minute.“Due to unforeseen circumstances, Morrissey’s show at Nottingham Royal Concert Hall will not be going ahead tonight,” read a tweet from Gigs And Tours, the official website of promoters SJM Concerts.“Ticket holders are asked to hold onto their tickets and a further announcement will be made in due course.”Elsewhere, the singer wrote a scathing critique of the music industry’s response to the death of Sinead O’Connor.In a blog post titled ‘You Know I Couldn’t Last’, Morrissey criticised the wider industry’s response to her death, arguing that it was hypocritical when they “hadn’t the guts to support her when she was alive and she was looking for you”.“She had only so much ‘self’ to give,” he began.

If you’ve been on TikTok lately, you’ll have seen that Korean skincare has been exploding in popularity.The skincare regime, also known as K-beauty, is lauded for giving you hydrated glass-like skin, and has also been known to help treat acne, with videos emerging all across the social media platform showing the fantastic results people have had after switching to a Korean skincare routine. Although K-beauty isn’t new – it’s been popular in Western culture for almost a decade – it seems a whole new generation of skincare fanatics are discovering its incredible results, and they can’t wait to share it.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Ryu Seung-wan’s female-led crime caper “Smugglers” topped the South Korean box office for a second weekend, ahead of new release title “Ransomed.” “Smugglers” enjoyed a strong hold in its second weekend of release and commanded 42% market share. It delivered $7.09 million, a drop of only 20% on its opening weekend, giving a 12-day cumulative of $26.2 million, according to data from Kobis, the tracking service operated by the Korean Film Council (Kofic).

Jisoo and Ahn Bo-hyun are dating!

Beck and Phoenix have officially kicked off their 2023 co-headlining Summer Odyssey Tour and you can check out the full set list right here!

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Upcoming female-led mystery-thriller series “Mask Girl” sees an unassuming office worker secretly rise the heights as a popular, masked online model and, in a downward spiral, become Prisoner #1047. Seemingly repentant, she secretly plots her escape. The Korean-produced show employs three different actors Ko Hyun-jang, Nana and a yet-to-be-revealed newcomer to represent the Kim Mo-mi character in her different evolutions.Netflix will Thursday drop a trailer and three separate posters intended to create intrigue as to Kim’s real nature, ahead of the series’ Aug.

EXCLUSIVE: On August 9, Disney will drop the first seven episodes of its adaptation of Korean artist Kang Full’s Moving webtoon worldwide on Hulu and Disney+.

Just one glass of alcohol consumed every day could lead to an increase in blood pressure, scientists have found.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief There is female empowerment in Korean cinemas, but it is coming more from local characters, than global hit “Barbie.” Female-led crime action film “Smugglers” dominated the weekend at the South Korean box office and pushed aside “Mission: impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One” which had headed the chart for the previous two sessions. “Smugglers” earned $9.31 million between Friday and Sunday, according to data from Kobis, the tracking service operated by the Korean Film Council (Kofic), giving it a nearly 54% market share. Over its full five opening days, the film has built up a cumulative total of $13.1 million.