Netflix announces ‘Super Rich in Korea’, hosted by GOT7’s BamBam

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Hollywood fantasy film “Wonka” held strongly at the top of the South Korean box office on a weekend boosted by the Lunar New Year holidays. But Hollywood spy comedy “Argylle” opened disappointingly in seventh position. Korea allocates three days of public holiday to the Lunar New Year and took them this time from Friday to Sunday.

joked on X, formerly Twitter. “Y’all are out of ideas,” another Netflix critic commented. “Why does Netflix keep funding this s – – t?” one fan complained.

What’s next on Netflix in 2024? First and foremost, Season 2 of “Squid Game,” the Korean TV series that went viral in 2021. One of the streamer’s most-watched series ever returns later this year, and it’s safe to assume the hype hasn’t let up in the 2.5 years since the first season’s premiere.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief “Citizen of a Kind,” a comedy-drama about a woman who takes matters into her own hands after becoming the victim of a scam, fulfilled its promise from an earlier week of previews. “Citizen” topped the South Korean box office on its opening weekend, accounting for a more than 40% market share.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief “Concrete Utopia,” the highly regarded drama-thriller that was South Korea’s Oscars contender and one of the biggest box office hits of 2023, has scored a streaming release in North America. Rakuten Viki, which specializes in Asian content, has licensed exclusive rights to the film in the U.S. and Canada and will begin streaming it to North American audiences from Friday.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Lotte Cultureworks will launch “Holy Night: Demon Hunters,” likely to be one of the biggest Korean movies of the year, at next month’s European Film Market in Berlin. The occult-themed action movie stars Don Lee, the Korean-American superstar who also fronts “The Roundup” comedy-action franchise. The fourth instalment in that series “The Roundup: Punishment” will have its world premiere in the Berlin festival’s Berlinale Special section, with Lee expected to be in attendance, giving Lotte some additional momentum with the new title launch.

Noah Centineo has officially embarked on another dangerous adventure as Owen Hendricks in The Recruit, and the cast has been unveiled.

Netflix has rounded out its recurring cast for Season 2 of The Recruit, which has begun production in Vancouver. Filming will also take place in Seoul, South Korea on the series from Alexi Hawley.

BreAnna Bell Felix Solis, Brooke Smith, Omar Maskati, Alana Hawley Purvis, Devika Bhise, James Purefoy, Do Hyun Shin, Young-Ah Kim, and Sanghee Lee have joined the cast of Netflix‘s “The Recruit” for Season 2, which is currently in production in Vancouver, Canada. The streamer also announced that filming will additionally take place in Seoul, South Korea. Solis (“Ozark”), who’s joined among the cast by his “The Rookie: Feds” castmate Bhise, plays Tom Wallace, a senior diplomat in the State Department tasked with bringing American hostages home, he will talk to anyone to get our people back – even the worst of America’s enemies.

ITZY have announced the dates and venues for their upcoming 2024 ‘Born to Be’ world tour, featuring concerts in North America, Europe, Asia and more.Today (January 25), ITZY revealed the dates and venues for their upcoming 29-date world tour, titled ‘Born to Be’ after their new studio album of the same name.ITZY’s new tour will kick-off with a two-night concert at the Jamsil Indoor Stadium in Seoul, South Korea. The following month, the K-pop girl group play three shows in Oceania, as well as one in Bangkok Thailand.April and May 2024, ITZY play a one-night-only concert in Singapore, before starting the Latin America, Europe and Japan legs of their tour.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Iconic Hollywood musical film “La La Land” is to re-release (again) in South Korean theaters from Wednesday. Distributed by Pancinema, it will play at the country’s Imax cinemas for a one-week limited run with tickets costing upwards of KRW15,000 ($11.25) for adults. The film was directed by Damien Chazelle and stars Ryan Gosling (newly Oscar-nominated for his role as Ken in “Barbie”) and Emma Stone, and holds the box office record for movie musicals with global box office of $470 million. It recently re-released in cinemas in China in time for the Christmas peak season.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Webtoons, the digital comics that have been the source material for scores of Korean films and TV series, are to receive a major boost from the South Korean government. Yu In-chon, minister for culture, sports and tourism, on Tuesday said that the government will foster webtoon platform development, launch a major webtoon festival in the autumn of this year and by 2027 open a school dedicated to the emerging genre. Webtoons emerged in the early years of the 21st century shortly after the mass market a acceptance of smart phones – a technology sector where Korea’s Samsung Electronics is a major manufacturer – and are vertically-scrolling comics designed for consumption on a small screen. As a relatively new medium webtoons have escaped some of the strictures of Japan’s manga business or the cartoon industry in other countries. Instead, they have diverse story genres, are cheap to produce, which allows creators from non-professional backgrounds to participate, and have been quickly internationalized through multi-lingual translations and overseas platforms.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer The long-awaited “Squid Game” Season 2 is set to premiere later this year. Netflix announced the-second season debut plans in a letter to shareholders Tuesday, writing: “Looking ahead, despite last year’s strikes pushing back the launch of some titles, we have a big, boldslate for 2024.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Time traveling-fantasy-adventure movie “Alienoid 2” was a comfortable winner at the South Korea box office over the weekend. But with few fresh films on release the cinema-going market slowed. “Alienoid 2” earned $2.06 million between Friday and Sunday, according to data from Kobis, the tracking service operated by the Korean Film Council (Kofic). That was down by 42% compared with its opening session a week earlier and leaves it with a total of $7.96 million after 12 days on release. The first instalment of “Alienoid” was one of the biggest flops of 2022.

The thriller premiered its first season in December 2022 and was renewed for another season in early 2023.

Marta Balaga Veni, vidi, vici: “I came, I saw, I conquered,” reportedly said Julius Caesar after an especially swift victory. Now, his words echo in Daniel Hoesl and Julia Niemann’s satire about a family so powerful it can get away with murder. Literally.

IU has announced her 2024 ‘H.E.R.’ world tour, featuring dates in Asia, Europe and the US.IU’s newly announced 2024 ‘H.E.R.’ world tour will kick off on March 2 at the KSPO Dome in Seoul, South Korea, where she will play four shows over two weekends. During the same month, the singer will also perform two shows at the Yokohama Arena in Japan.The K-pop idol’s upcoming world tour will then head to other countries and regions across Asia, including two shows in Taipei, Singapore and Jakarta in April, followed by two Hong Kong shows in May.In June, IU will host one concert in the Filipino capital of Manila, alongside two concerts in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Ellise Shafer “Love Lies Bleeding” starring Kristen Stewart and Netflix’s “Supersex” series have been added to Berlin Film Festival‘s Special lineup. A romantic thriller centered on a bodybuilder and gym manager, “Love Lies Bleeding” is directed by “Saint Maud” helmer Rose Glass and will have its world premiere at Sundance this month.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Sci-fi fantasy comedy “Alienoid 2” opened on top of the South Korean box office with $3.57 million on a weekend that otherwise saw five animation titles and a political documentary in the top ten. The big-budget, time-traveling “Alienoid 2” earned $3.57 million between Friday and Sunday with a market share of 39% and $4.77 million over its opening five days, according to data from Kobis, the tracking service operated by the Korean Film Council. Imax reports that some $370,000 of the film’s total was earned from 24 Imax screens. The film was made as a two-parter.

John Hopewell Chief International Correspondent Fresh off the selection of “La Mesías” as the only European series at this year’s Sundance, “Veneno” creators Javier Ambrossi and Javier Calvo – Los Javis – are set to produce Netflix original series “Superestar,” created by Spain’s Nacho Vigalondo, writer-director of 2016’s Anna Hathaway starrer “Colossal,” Neon’s first pick up for the U.S. The six-episode series is directed by Vigalondo and Claudia Costafreda, co-creator of “Cardo,” an uninhibited portrait of Spain’s young generation eager for a quick fix of sex or drugs for want of a larger sense of direction in life which was chosen by Variety, as “Veneno” as one of the best international TV shows of the year.