Korean Dramas Most Popular as Southeast Asia Adds 16 Million New Streaming Subscribers

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefThe release of “Sonic the Hedgehog 2” and “Ambulance” gave Hollywood a rare one-two-three at the South Korean box office over the weekend. But neither newcomer managed to earn $1 million in another deeply depressed session.“Sonic 2” earned $843,000 over the weekend and $979,000 over its opening five days, according to data from Kobis, the theatrical tracking service operated by the Korean Film Council (Kofic).“Ambulance” earned $450,000 between Friday and Sunday and a total of $674,000 over its five days since release on Wednesday.

Tiffany Young sang an a cappella, bilingual rendition of the song ‘For Good’, from the popular stage musical Wicked.In a new video interview with Elle Korea, the Girls’ Generation member opened up about the stage musical roles she would like to play after her successful run as Roxie Hart in the South Korean production of Chicago. The singer named Glinda the Good Witch from Wicked (originated by Kristin Chenoweth) as the role that she hoped to tackle next.Young then launched into an impromptu, partial rendition of ‘For Good’, in both English and Korean, from the long-running musical, before recalling her emotional experience watching the production.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefKorean-made series have continued to dominate viewership on Netflix, following on from the breakout successes of “Squid Game” and “Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha” in 2021.For ten of the 13 weeks in the first quarter so far this year, Korean shows have held top spot in Netflix’s global non-English series ranking. Romantic comedy “Business Proposal” is currently the top non-English series for the third week in a row (March 28-April 3, 2022), and is Netflix’s third-ranking series of all origins, behind only “Bridgerton” (seasons 1 and season 2) with over 32 million watch hours.“Business Proposal” has played particularly strongly in Asia, ranking as the top series in Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, and Vietnam and in second place in India and Sri Lanka in the last week.

Rebecca Souw Korean media conglomerate, CJ ENM Tuesday announced the launch of a new production arm. It is expected to focus on producing content for exclusively streaming platforms in Korea and overseas.The unit, named CJ ENM Studios, will be the group’s third TV production hub after drama production powerhouse Studio Dragon (“Crash Landing on You,” “Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha,” and “Sweet Home”) and U.S.-based premium global content firm, Endeavor Content, acquired earlier this year.CJ ENM also controls the Tving streaming platform that sees itself as a challenger to Netflix within Korea and which also has ambitions to ride the Korean wave and build a significant overseas presence.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefProduction has wrapped on the long-gestating “Ajoomma,” a feature film that delves into the fascination that Korean pop culture holds for middle-aged women in Asia. The story, said to be based on the mother of director He Shuming, involves a K-drama-obsessed widow from Singapore who tries to find new purpose in life and instead ends up getting lost in Korea. The script was co-written by He and Kris Ong.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefBanijay has picked up multi-territory format rights to two Korean reality shows which it will begin pitching this week at the MipTV market in Cannes.From Korean broadcaster and producer MBC, Banijay has picked up format rights to competition show “Bloody Game” in France, Germany, Italy, Denmark, Finland, Sweden, Norway, Belgium, and the Netherlands. From CJ ENM, it has acquired rights in the Nordics, Spain, Portugal, Germany and Australia to relationship format, “EXchange.”“Bloody Game” launched in Korea in November last year, helping draw subscribers to Wavve, a joint venture streaming platform, in which MBC is a partner. The show is nominated for a C21 Format Award, with the winner revealed during MipTV.

Naman Ramachandran Seven of the nine features selected for the Korean competition at the Jeonju International Film Festival (Apr. 28-May 7) are directed by women.

NEW YORK -- Korean pop star Luna is ready to make her Broadway debut this fall in the musical "KPOP" and she's already dreaming of who might be there on opening night — like BTS.“I would be thankful if they showed up on opening night,” Luna told The Associated Press through her translator.She also wants fans and other stars to show up, too.“This is New York City, it’s got its own celebrities and also audiences who would enjoy this. So, I would love to see New York celebrities, as well as Hollywood celebrities,” Luna said.Luna was introduced at a press event for the musical Wednesday at the Korean Cultural Center in New York.Luna began her musical career as a member of the popular K-pop group f(x) before becoming a solo artist.

EXCLUSIVE: Vivian Bang, the co-writer and star of the Sundance Film Festival debut White Rabbit, has boarded the New Line ensemble comedy The Parenting for HBO Max.

reported Deadline. “KPOP” will feature Korean superstar Luna, 28, who has been in the Korean productions of “Mamma Mia” and “In the Heights,” as well as several movies and TV shows.

KPOP, a new musical about the global K-pop phenomenon starring Korea’s recording superstar Luna, will arrive on Broadway this fall, producers announced today.

“When I really love someone, I don’t notice others,” utters Anais (Anais Demoustier) to her affair partner while laying in bed together. It’s ominous wording for what’s to come for the protagonist in writer/director Charline Bourgeois-Tacquet’s new romantic comedy Anais In Love. It is similar to Jochum Trier’s The Worst Person in the World, but while that film feels grounded, Anais has its head in the clouds. However, that isn’t a massive ding on the movie as the over-optimism is used to its advantage as the character breaks numerous boundaries and hearts in her quest to find the one person who will become her everything. 

Netflix’s upcoming original South Korean film Yaksha: Ruthless Operations has arrived.The brand-new visual opens with a shot of the neon-lit Chinese city of Shenyang, as a voiceover briefs special inspector Ji-hoon (played by Squid Game‘s Park Hae-soo) for an assignment that requires him to shadow a secret black ops team.We then dive into the action-packed predicaments of the black ops team, led by Ji Kang-in (Sol Kyung-gu), also known as the Yaksha. The team butt heads with antagonist “D7” Ozawa (Hiroyuki Ikeuchi), a Japanese spy disguised as a lobbyist who has a particularly bad history with the Yaksha.Also starring GOT7‘s Jinyoung (Yumi’s Cells), Yang Dong-geun (Lost), Lee El (Love And Leashes) and Song Jae-rim (Work Later, Drink Now), Yaksha: Ruthless Operations follows the team and their unwilling inspector in search of a high-ranking North Korean official who has gone missing.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefSuperstar Korean actor and producer Gang Dong-won has signed up with Creative Artists Agency (CAA) for representation outside Korea.Gang joins a string of Korean on-screen talent securing international representation as the country’s creative sector is propelled to the fore by films such as “Parasite” and “Peninsula” and by TV shows such as “Squid Game.”He continues to be represented in Korea and Japan by Lee Gi Wook at YG Entertainment. Gang, who has a mechanical engineering degree and was initially scouted as a model, transitioned to acting in 2004 with “Too Beautiful to Lie” and “Temptation of Wolves,” the latter of which earned him the best new actor award at the 24th Korean Association Critics Choice Awards.

Nominations are in for the Virgin Media Must See Moment prize which will be handed out at the BAFTA TV Awards on May 8 in London. The field of six nominees includes moments from 2021 installments of Squid Game, I’m A Celebrity…Get Me Out Of Here and RuPaul’s Drag Race UK.

A Business Proposal has topped Netflix’s Global Top 10 list of the most-watched non-English shows.According to data from the streaming service, A Business Proposal logged 23.4million hours viewed for the week of March 14 to 20, a noted increase from the 15.9million hours from the week prior. In addition, the show is also the seventh most-watched series for the week across all categories.This week’s list of the most-watched non-English shows also features five other K-drama series, including Zombie apocalypse series All Of Us Are Dead, which is currently the third most popular non-English Netflix original ever.