Korean K-Pop Superstars BTS Announce Split But Pledge “To Return Someday”

Cha Eun-woo has reportedly been offered the lead role in the upcoming Hollywood film, K-Pop: Lost In America. Yesterday (June 30), Deadline first reported that Australia actress Rebel Wilson (Senior Year) and Riverdale actor Charles Melton have been cast in an upcoming film to be titled K-Pop: Lost In America, with filming said to kickstart sometime this fall.South Korean news outlet StarNews later reported today (July 1) that ASTRO member Cha Eun-woo has also been offered a role in the upcoming film. The publication claims that the singer is “in talks to play the lead”, as translated by Soompi, and that Cha has also “cleared part of his schedule for the second half of 2022 in order to prepare for filming”.K-Pop: Lost In America was first announced in August 2021 by South Korean media company CJ ENM.

EXCLUSIVE: Another star-studded package looks to have hit the market right before the holiday weekend. Sources tell Deadline that Rebel Wilson and Charles Melton are attached to star in K-Pop: Lost in America for producers Lynda Obst and CJ Entertainment’s Miky Lee. South Korean filmmaker JK Youn is directing and was written by Jeff Kaplan & Ian Springer, with a current draft by Karen McCullah & Kirsten “Kiwi” Smith.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefCJ ENM Hong Kong has secured the first and exclusive Pay TV, pay-per-view, video-on-demand and over-the-top (OTT) rights in key Southeast Asia markets to a slate of current and upcoming South Korean films. These are to play on the tvN Movies channel in Southeast Asia.

Money Heist: Korea – Joint Economic Area has topped Netflix’s Global Top 10 list of most-watched non-English shows for the week.According to data from the streaming platform, Money Heist: Korea – Joint Economic Area was the most-viewed non-English show for the week of June 20 to 26, logging 33.7million hours viewed.That figure also places the brand-new K-drama series as the third most-watched show on the streaming platform overall, only bested by the fourth season of Stranger Things (76.9million hours viewed) and the newly released third season of The Umbrella Academy.Elsewhere on this week’s rankings of the most-watched Netflix shows, K-drama Our Blues ranked eighth on the non-English list with 9.2million hours viewed. It is the series’ ninth week on the list since its premiere in April.Money Heist: Korea – Joint Economic Area is a South Korean remake of the Spanish series of the same name, and premiered on Netflix on June 24.

EXCLUSIVE: Paramount Pictures is set to remake critically acclaimed South Korean crime thriller The Gangster, The Cop, The Devil with original star Don Lee (aka Ma Dong-seok) reprising his lead role as a gang boss looking for redemption in the studio’s U.S. version.

J-Hope has announced his debut solo album, ‘Jack In The Box’.Announced on Saturday (June 25) via Big Hit Music and HYBE, the album has been confirmed for a July 15 release. The first preview of ‘Jack In The Box’ is due to arrive this Friday (July 1).Per Big Hit’s release via the Weverse, ‘Jack In The Box’ will serve as a way for the BTS member to “break the mould and grow further”.j-hope 'Jack In The Box'#jhope #제이홉 #JackInTheBox pic.twitter.com/aVVBwH3QbT— BIGHIT MUSIC (@BIGHIT_MUSIC) June 25, 2022The news came after BTS announced a temporary hiatus from group activities to focus on solo endeavours.However, Big Hit Music has since walked back the group’s statements, instead saying that the septet will “harmoniously carry out their group and individual activities”.With the upcoming single and album, J-Hope will be the first member from the record-breaking K-pop group to release solo material following the start of BTS’ break.In a recent interview with Weverse Magazine, J-Hope opened up about the group’s state of mind while preparing for their Grammys 2022 performance in April.

Few K-pop girl groups are conquering the globe quite like TWICE.

EXCLUSIVE: Well Go USA Entertainment has expanded its slate of Korean films, acquiring North American rights to titles including Alienoid, Hansan: Rising Dragon, Gangnam Zombie, The Ghost Station and The Assassin. While the international and indie distributor has set theatrical releases in place for Alienoid and Hansan, plans for the other three films have not yet been finalized. 

Believer will be produced as a Netflix original.On June 20, Netflix shared that it has greenlit the production of Believer 2, the sequel to 2018’s Believer starring veteran actors Cho Jin-woong (Signal) and Our Blues’ Cha Seung-won.The streaming giant has since confirmed its casting for the forthcoming film, with Cho and Cha, along with Kim Dong-young, returning in their original roles. They will be joined by newcomers Han Hyo-joo (Happiness), Oh Seung-hoon (Bloody Heart) and Lee Joo-young (Voice).A post shared by Netflix Korea (@netflixkr)Believer (2018) revolves around a detective named Won-ho (played by Cho), who fights to bring down the leader of a multinational drug ring in Asia.

The worldwide fascination with all things Korean has been proven by Best Picture Oscar-winner Parasite, Netflix smash Squid Game, and the record-setting popularity of music group BTS,to name just three exports that have made a powerful impact.

BTS are “going through a rough patch right now” and, as a result, are “going on a hiatus” in order to allow the group’s members to develop as solo artists and “find our identity”. But, they promise, they will definitely “return someday even more mature”.All very interesting statements, but none of which should be taken to mean that BTS are now on hiatus or aren’t working together.

After nine long years together, K-Pop sensation BTS is DONE!

Popular K-pop boy band BTS have announced that they are going their separate ways for now. The South Korean band told fans that they are on hiatus to pursue solo careers.

Goodbye for now. BTS announced that while they aren’t going through a breakup, they are going to take a hiatus to focus on their solo careers.

K-pop group BTS announced Tuesday they would be taking a hiatus period to focus on their solo careers after nearly 10 years together.  The announcement was made during the group's annual Festa dinner.The 7 members -- Jin, Suga, J-Hope, RM, V, Jimin and Jung Kook -- celebrated the band's 9-year-anniversary at this year's Festa. "I think we should spend some time apart to learn how to be one again," said J-Hope during the video announcement.  The group stressed the difficulty in making the decision and emphasized the need for their members to grow and mature as individuals.  Suga, Jin, Jungkook, RM, Jimin and J-Hope of BTS attend the 64th Annual GRAMMY Awards at MGM Grand Garden Arena on April 03, 2022, in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Squid Game breakout star Jung Hoyeon and Killing Eve actress Sandra Oh recently came together to discuss what it’s like being at the forefront of Korean-American representation.In a new instalment of Variety’s Actors on Actors conversation series, the two the actresses sat down to chat about the growing amount of Korean-American and Asian-American representation in the media during the past few years.“I think that we both feel like being here together, having this conversation and being shot together is very special – and I’m curious about your point of view,” said Oh, who was born to Korean immigrants in Canada. “This is a real change for us as Korean-Americans, and I’ve been always interested in the native Korean perspective.”The South Korean model-turned-actress the shared her view on what it’s like being a native Korean in media, specially following the success of Squid Game.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief“Broker,” the unconventional family drama which appeared in competition at last month’s Cannes Film Festival, topped the box office in South Korea on Wednesday, its opening day.“Broker” grossed $1.10 million, enough to depose crime actioner “The Roundup” from the top spot that it had enjoyed for the past three weeks and which had made it the highest performing film this year.According to data from the Kobis tracking service operated by the Korean Film Council, “Broker” played on 1,590 screens and sold 145,000 tickets for Wednesday screenings. Its cumulative total of $1.15 million includes some $44,000 of previews earned on 14 screens.The feat by a local art-house film gives further support to the notion that cinema attendance is rebounding in Korea.

BTS have announced a new live event to mark their 9th anniversary and the release of their new anthology album ‘Proof’.The Korean group will share the three-disc release, which collates some of their biggest tracks alongside new songs and previously unreleased demos, on Friday (June 10).Earlier today (June 6), a poster for the ‘Proof’ Live event was shared on the band’s social media channels, confirming the performance will take place on Monday (June 13) at 9pm KST (1pm BST). It is currently unclear how long BTS will perform on the stream, how long it will last and what format it will take.A tweet from the BTS Twitter account suggests the event will be available to stream on the group’s YouTube channel, while the poster adds that a “special guest” will also appear at the event.