‘KPOP’ Musical Featuring Korean Recording Star Luna Sets Broadway Opening

EXCLUSIVE: UTA has signed Korean filmmaker Kim Yong-hwa, one of the most important figures in the Korean screen industry.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefLee Jung-jae, the lead star of Netflix hit series “Squid Game” will be at the Cannes Film Festival this year with the world premiere of his feature directing debut “Hunt.”The film (aka “Namsun”) will be presented next month in the Cannes festival’s Midnight Screening section. Two other films will receive midnight screenings: “Fumer Fait Tousser,” by Quentin Dupieux and Moonage Daydream,” by Scott Morgen. The bulk of the festival’s Offical Selection was announced Thursday at a press event in Paris.“Hunt” is a 1980s-set Korean-language spy thriller that Lee got caught up in after buying the rights and rewriting the screenplay.

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.

In the Apple TV+ series Pachinko, Solomon (Jin Ha) speaks Korean, Japanese and English. The show, based on Min Jin Lee’s book, traces four generations of his family from Korea and Japan (as Zainichi Koreans), so all three languages are involved. Ha does not speak Japanese and studied the different dialects with vocal coach Yu-Mi Kang.

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.

Anna Cathcart), who believes she knows everything there is to know about love. But when she moves halfway across the world to reunite with her long-distance boyfriend, she'll soon realize that relationships are a lot more complicated when it’s your own heart on the line.Joining Cathcart in the upcoming spinoff is Choi Min-yeong, who plays Dae (Kitty's love interest introduced in 2021's ); Anthony Keyvan as Q; Gia Kim as Yuri; Sang Heon Lee as Min Ho; Peter Turnwald as Alex; and Regan Aliyah, who will portray Juliana.

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.

U-KISS and more are set to make their Broadway debut in the upcoming KPOP The Musicial.Yesterday (April 4), the producers of KPOP announced the cast of the forthcoming Broadway musicial. The casting details come shortly after it was revealed that f(x)‘s Luna will be starring in the musical, as announced late last month.

Additional casting for the upcoming Broadway premiere of KPOP, the new musical about the global K-pop phenomenon, was announced by producers today, with Julia Abueva, Will Brill, Major Curda, Joomin Hwang, Jinwoo Jung, Jiho Kang, Amy Keum, James Kho, Bo Hyung Kim, Eddy Lee, Jully Lee, Min Young Lee, Timothy H. Lee, Abraham Lim, Kate Mina Lin, Aubie Merrylees, Patrick Park, Kevin Woo, and John Yi joining the previously announced star Luna in the production.

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.

Luna, from the girl group f(x), is set to make her Broadway debut with a starring role in the musical KPOP.Deadline reported on March 30 that KPOP is set arrive on Broadway with previews on October 13 showing at Broadway’s Circle in the Square Theatre, before proceeding with opening night on November 20, according to producers Tim Forbes and Joey Parnes.Luna will be portraying MwE, a role originated by Emily In Paris’ Ashley Park during the musical’s off-Broadway run in 2017. A complete roster of the production’s cast has yet to be unveiled, but is expected in the coming months.“Anyone who has followed my career knows that musical theatre has always been a driving passion of mine,” Luna said at the press conference held at New York’s Korean Cultural Centre.

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.

Luna is making her broadway debut!