Korean Novel ‘Sad Tropic’ Being Adapted As U.S. TV Series by Seoul Street & Astro-Nomical Entertainment

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Last year, as the industry was looking to lift itself out the pandemic’s purgatory at the box office, SXSW lit the wick on A24’s Everything Everywhere All at Once, which wound up dynamiting the 18-34 hipster moviegoer set in what became the highest-grossing indie film of 2022, the best ever for the New York-based distributor, and now a potential Oscar Best Picture winner.

WINNER, has been booked for drunk driving in Seoul.According to South Korean media outlet Korea JoongAng Daily, Nam had reportedly opened the door of his parked car as a taxi was passing by, hitting the vehicle and breaking its side mirror in the process.Thereafter, Nam then allegedly drove his car for around seven metres before being pulled over by the police for a breathalyzer test. The test reportedly showed that the singer’s blood alcohol level was around 0.114 per cent, which is a high enough level for his license to be revoked – typically 0.08 per cent or higher.Nam was later returned home by the police after his identity was confirmed as he was reportedly too intoxicated for an investigation to be done at the time.

EXCLUSIVE: Lana Turner’s mobster boyfriend Johnny Stompanato was allegedly stabbed to death in her house by her daughter Cheryl Crane in 1958.

ABC is in negotiations with Ellie Kemper (Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt) to headline Motherland, a comedy pilot based on the British series. Karan Soni (Deadpool franchise) has been tapped for a lead in the project, from writer Julieanne Smolinski, Sharon Horgan and Clelia Mountford’s Merman Television, Paul Feig’s Feigco Entertainment, Lionsgate and ABC Signature. Michael Showalter (The Big Sick) has come on board to direct.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund Public Investment Fund (PIF) has increased its stake in Japanese film and TV studio Toei Company, from 5% to 6.03%, according to a report by the Reuters financial news agency. The move comes shortly after Toei published a ten-year plan for international expansion. Toei includes film and TV production operations, the T-Joy cinema chain and Toei Animation. Last month, it said that it had beaten its film revenue record, thanks to the success of titles including “The First Slam Dunk,” “The Legend of Butterfly” and “One Piece Film Red.” The stake increase also follows PIF’s February announcement that it had increased its stake in Japanese games and console maker Nintendo to 8.26% and that (along with the Singapore state fund GIC) was a buyer of a $966 million bond issue from Korean entertainment-tech firm Kakao Corp.

The K-Pop world is currently going through one of its biggest ever corporate dramas, with SM Entertainment, the label of BoA, Girls Generation, EXO and Super Junior, fighting off what its management is describing as a hostile takeover from its rival HYBE, home of BTS. 

BLACKPINK member Jisoo has finally announced a date for her long-awaited solo debut.At midnight KST today (March 6), the K-pop idol teased her upcoming solo debut on Instagram with an intriguing “Coming Soon” poster. The image confirms a release date of March 31, and features a bright red dress in the middle of a field.Jisoo’s post was accompanied by the caption “See you soon” in Korean.

EXCLUSIVE: MRC has made a deal to develop Pornsak Pichetshote’s Eisner Award-winning graphic novel bestseller The Good Asian into a series. James Wan, Michael Clear and Rob Hackett are producing for Atomic Monster. Will Rowbotham and Luke Maxwell are producing for 3 Arts. 

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief A court in Seoul on Friday blocked a proposed move to issue new shares in K-pop talent agency SM Entertainment to Korean tech giant Kakao Corp. and its Kakao Entertainment subsidiary. An injunction was sought by Lee Soo-man, one of the pioneers of the Korean contemporary music industry, but who is recently at the center of a storm of controversy. Lee, who has fallen out with his company’s current management team, announced at the beginning of February his plans to sell a 14.8% stake in SM to HYBE Corp., the firm behind hit group BTS and a rival to SM. It then emerged that SM’s management was proposing to issue new shares to the Kakao pair, giving them a 9.05% holding, and sign an exclusive distribution contract. The share stake would make Kakao the second biggest shareholder in the firm after HYBE and dilute its influence.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Netflix and Korean public broadcaster MBC on Thursday defeated a court application for an injunction to stop the airing of their documentary “In The Name of God: A Holy Betrayal.” The 8-part series began airing from Friday (March 3). It is a Netflix Original, meaning that the streamer has global rights, including in Korea. The show examines “the chilling true stories of four Korean leaders claiming to be prophets [and] exposes the dark side of unquestioning belief.” Among its subjects is Christian Gospel Mission, also known as Providence, and also known as Jesus Morning Star, or JMS. It shares those initials with its controversial leader Jeong Myeong-seok (aka Jung Myung-seok) who is currently awaiting trial in Korea for sexually assaulting some of his female followers.

Last year, Karina Longworth’s hit Hollywood podcast You Must Remember This looked at the Erotic ‘80s. Longworth is now delving into the same topic of sex in film and TV across the 1990s for the next season.

EXCLUSIVE: Grantham Coleman (Rustin) is the newest addition to the Paramount+ limited series Bass Reeves, exec produced by and starring David Oyelowo.

Queen of the Universe returns for a second season on Paramount+ with Graham Norton as host. The show is set to premiere on the streamer starting March 31 in the U.S. and Canada with the U.K., Latin America, Italy, France, Germany, Switzerland, Austria and Australia seeing it on April 1.

TWICE have shared snippets of a new single ‘Set Me Free’, due out next month.Earlier today (February 20), the girl group took to Twitter and TikTok to reveal their next single ‘Set Me Free’ from their forthcoming mini-album ‘Ready To Be’.

SM Entertainment CEO Chris Lee (also known as Lee Sung-soo) has claimed the label’s founder Lee Soo-man is the reason why aespa’s new music has been delayed.On February 16, Lee, who is one of the K-pop agency’s two current CEOs, released a 30-minute statement regarding the company. In the video, which is the first part of a series, Lee made several allegations about SM’s former chief producer Lee Soo-man.According to Chris Lee’s video, Lee Soo-man was the reason why aespa’s music has been delayed.

Charna Flam Veteran entertainment publicist Andrew Freedman died Feb. 8 in New York after being diagnosed with liver cancer in August. He was 67. Freedman worked with clients including Gayle King, Barbara Walters, Joan Collins, Margo Martindale, Christopher McDonald and Harry Shearer. Prior to his career as a publicist, Freedman served as communications specialist to Sen. Ted Kennedy during his 1980 presidential campaign, which was followed by his campaign work for Sen. George McGovern in South Dakota and Reps. Jim Howard and Andy Maguire in New Jersey. Following his campaigning involvement, from 1984-1991 Freedman worked at NBC and served as a spokesman for the network’s programming. Freedman oversaw the network’s press operation for the U.S.-Russian Reykjavík and Geneva summits, the 1988 Seoul Olympics, the network’s presidential election coverage and managed media relations for NBC Nightly News, “Meet the Press” and the “Today” show.

Andrew Freedman, the news and entertainment publicist who ran the New York-based Andrew E. Freedman Public Relations for more than three decades, died on February 8 following a cancer diagnosis last year. He was 67.

EXCLUSIVE: CNBC has ordered a new true-crime docuseries from Law & Order creator Dick Wolf.

Kristin Stewart said she was feeling the full weight of the responsibility of being jury president at the Berlin Film Festival at the opening jury press conference on Thursday.