City Mogadishu Showbiz Latest News and Updates

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Ryoo Seung-wan, the South Korean film director who was last month in Cannes with “I, The Executioner,” says that his next picture will be an espionage action movie. It is pitched as “depicting North and South Korean secret agents clashing while [also] uncovering crimes occurring at the border with Vladivostok, Russia.” Currently titled, “HUMINT,” a reference to espionage industry’s shorthand for collection of intelligence through humans, rather than signals or data, the new film is to be produced by his Filmmaker R&K company and distributed by NEW. Ryoo also says that throughout his career he has sought to change genres and that “HUMINT” will represent a “more mature espionage action” picture than some of his previous efforts. Ryoo will release “I, The Executioner” at an unspecified date in the second half of this year. He has already settled the casting of “HUMINT” and has scheduled full-scale production of the new movie to begin in October. The cast is headed by Zo In-sung, Park Jeong-min, Park Hae-joon and Nana.

With filming set to begin in October this year, Zo In-sung, Park Jeong-min, Park Hae-joon and Nana have been confirmed as cast for Ryoo Seung-wan‘s upcoming film, HUMINT.

Mo Harawe makes history this Cannes with debut feature The Village Next To Paradise which is world premiering in Un Certain Regard as the first Somalian title to make it into Official Selection across the festival’s 77 editions.

Christopher Vourlias After making waves on the festival circuit with a pair of heralded short films, Somali filmmaker Mo Harawe makes his auspicious feature debut at this year’s Cannes Film Festival with “The Village Next to Paradise,” which premieres May 21 in the French fest’s Un Certain Regard section — the first feature from the African nation ever to screen on the Croisette. An intimate family drama set in a windswept Somali fishing village, “Paradise” follows Mamargade (Ahmed Ali Farah), a single father working odd jobs to provide a better life for his son, Cigaal (Ahmed Mohamud Saleban). They’re joined by his sister, Araweelo (Anab Ahmed Ibrahim), who comes back to live with the duo after her divorce.

EXCLUSIVE: French sales and production company Totem Films has boarded international sales on Somalia-set drama The Village Next To Paradise by Mo Harawe.

Disney+ has announced that Moving, an adaptation of Kang Full’s popular webtoon, has become the most-watched Korean original on Disney+ globally and Hulu in the U.S. based on hours streamed after its first seven days.

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+.

EXCLUSIVE: Korea’s Lotte Cultureworks is teaming with Desert Bloom Pictures to produce a Korean-language adaptation of autism comedy drama On The Spectrum, which was originally produced by Israel’s Yes TV.

Hong Kong filmmaker Peter Ho-sun Chan has launched a production company to focus on streaming content, Changin’ Pictures, with a debut slate of five projects and talent including action star Donnie Yen and Chinese actress Zhang Ziyi.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefThe Far East Film Festival in Italy’s Udine has set Chinese-Italian co-production “The Italian Recipe” as the opening title of a revived, largely in-person event.The film, directed by Hou Zuxin, sees an unexpected series of events bring together a Chinese reality TV show contestant and a woman already resident in Italy. The collision of personalities, connections and chemistry between stars Liu Xun and Yao Huang resemble those of “Roman Holiday,” festival organizers suggest.

Naman Ramachandran Warner Bros.’ “The Batman” continued atop the U.K. and Ireland box office for the third weekend in a row with £3.3 million ($4.4 million), according to numbers released by Comscore. The film, starring Robert Pattinson and Zoë Kravitz now has a total of £32.6 million.

Escape From Mogadishu, Korea’s submission to this year’s International Feature Oscar race, tells the harrowing true story of North and South Koreans caught in the middle of a brutal civil war in Somalia in 1991, and how the divided nation worked together to survive the crisis in a foreign land.

Making large scale action films can be challenging for any production, but for “Escape From Mogadishu” producer Hyejung Kang, the challenge wasn’t the budget or even the scale of the film but not having access to the country the movie is based on.“The fact that we had to remake all of this in another country and it had to be based on past facts because we still cannot enter into Somalia,” Producer Hyejung Kang tells TheWrap’s Steve Pond.

The Spanish Film Academy has picked Fernando León de Aranoa’s comedy-drama The Good Boss as its entry for the International Oscar race this year.

Marta Balaga Finnish writer-director Khadar Ayderus Ahmed, born in Mogadishu, continues to enjoy his first feature’s successful festival run. Screening this week in Toronto, “The Gravedigger’s Wife” premiered at Cannes Critics’ Week in July.“We finished the shoot in 2019.

Korean box office hit Escape From Mogadishu has arrived in U.S. cinemas, and it’s gripping stuff. Propelled by a naturally cinematic true story, the thriller blends action with humor and heart to crowd-pleasing effect. Well Go USA handles domestic while the Lotte release recently topped $20M in its home market.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief“Escape From Mogadishu” held on to its place at the top of the South Korean box office for the second weekend. It comfortably overcame the challenge from newly released “The Suicide Squad.”“Mogadishu” earned $4.26 million in its second weekend of release, down only 14% compared with its first session, in which it took $4.96 million.

Richard Kuipers If North Korea and South Korea ever reunite and hold a celebratory film festival, “Escape from Mogadishu” is a sure thing for selection. Based on the amazing true story of embassy staff from both countries joining forces to escape probable death in the civil war-ravaged Somali capital in 1991, this propulsive and intelligently written South Korean adventure thriller casts partisan politics aside and celebrates what can be achieved when adversaries come together.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefKorean-made action film “Escape From Mogadishu” overcame new release “Jungle Cruise” and holdover “Boss Baby 2” to dominate the South Korean box office over the weekend.“Mogadishu,” directed by the consistently successful Ryoo Seung-wan, played on 1,688 screens nationwide and earned $4.93 million between Friday and Sunday.

Shalini Dore Features News EditorThe New York Asian Film Foundation and Film at Lincoln Center will unspool the 2021 edition Aug.

International and indie film distributor Well Go USA Entertainment has acquired North American rights to Korean film Escape From Mogadishu. It will open in theaters in the U.S. and Canada August 6 following a July 28 release in Korea.

Retired Army Ranger Larry Moores on Monday followed up on the newly released Fox Nation documentary “The Battle of Mogadishu: Battalion of Brothers” to give insight into the famous "Black Hawk Down" mission. “It’s good to let the American public know what these rangers and special operators do to carry large weight for our nation.

MINNEAPOLIS -- Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar's metamorphosis from refugee to the first Somali-American in Congress has been well-documented.