‘Shang-Chi’ Tops Muted Korea Box Office Weekend

Jennifer Yuma editorNetflix announced “The Raincoat Killer: Chasing a Predator in Korea” will premiere Oct. 22.The three-part docuseries follows Yoo Young-chul, a notorious serial killer who came to light as a psychopath to the Korean public in 2004.

by local Korean War veteran Adam Mackenzie.

EXCLUSIVE: Award-winning actor John Cho (Searching, Star Trek) has signed on to Erick Oh’s animated short, Namoo, as an executive producer.

EXCLUSIVE: Guido Rud’s Argentina and Spain-based sales outfit FilmSharks has scored a pair of deals on its slate with Korea buyers.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefNew titles arrived in Korean theaters in time for the Chuseok (Korean Thanksgiving) holiday period, headed by locally-made thriller “On The Line,” which took top place from “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings.” But box office over the weekend preceding the big break remained subdued, totaling just $6.16 million.“On The Line” earned $2.16 million from 1,294 screens between Friday and Sunday and accounted for 35.1% of nationwide box office, according to data

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefSouth Korea’s anti-trust regulator has fined Google KRW207 billion ($177 million) for blocking customization of its Android mobile phone operating system.The move is significant given the leading position of Korean firms Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics in the mobile handset, tablets and wearables markets.The Korea Fair Trade Commission (KFTC) said Tuesday that Google had abused and protected its market dominance by making device producers sign up for

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief“Shang-Chi And The Legend of The Ten Rings” held on the top place at the South Korean box office for the second weekend. But it failed to sustain overall cinemagoing in what used to be, pre-COVID, the world’s fourth largest theatrical market.“Shang-Chi” earned $2.63 million in its second weekend for a market share of 50%.

Apple has rejected a request from Epic Games to restore its developer account, and therefore restore Fortnite to the App Store in South Korea.As reported in Reuters, the request had been submitted yesterday (September 9), while Epic also publicised this on Twitter via the Fortnite official account.“Epic has asked Apple to restore our Fortnite developer account,” the statement reads.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefChina’s “One Second,” South Korea’s “The Book of Fish,” India’s “The Disciple,” and two Japanese films, “Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy” and “Wife of a Spy” will compete for this year’s best film prize at the Asian Film AwardsThe awards again will be held again in conjunction with the Busan International Film Festival. The ceremony, on Oct.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefThe Disney Plus streaming service will begin operations in South Korea, from Nov. 12, 2021, the company announced Wednesday, firming up a previously trailed launch.The platform was given a soft launch in Japan last year, and will now be upgraded with the addition of Star-branded content from Oct.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief“Heaven: To The Land Of Happiness,” directed by leading South Korean filmmaker Im Sang-soo, has been set at the opening night title of next month’s Busan International Film Festival (Oct. 6-15, 2021.)The film was previously selected by the Cannes festival for the 2020 edition that was canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefTwo films each from India, Iran and South Korea feature in the eleven-title New Currents competition that is at the heart of the Busan International Film Festival.The festival this year will be operated as an in-person event Oct 6-15, 2021.