SHINee members Minho and Key renew their contracts with SM Entertainment

Kep1er will reportedly disband in July after discussions about a potential contract extension fall through.Today (April 25), South Korean news outlet Star News reported that Kep1er will disband in July as originally scheduled, with the members returning back to their respective agencies thereafter. The K-pop act were in discussions for a contract extension earlier this month, according to Dispatch.The temporary girl group – comprising Yujin, Xiaoting, Mashiro, Chaehyun, Dayeon, Hikaru, Huening Bahiyyih, Youngeun and Yeseo – were formed through the 2021 reality show Girls Planet 999 and had a contract for two years and six months.Per Star News, the girl group will release new music and hold a concert to bid their fans farewell before their official disbandment.

ADOR and entertainment giant HYBE.This is according to a new exclusive report by South Korean news outlet Korea JoongAng Daily, which cited a source with “knowledge in the matter”. This comes shortly after news that HYBE and ADOR CEO Min Hee-jin, the woman behind NewJeans, are in a power struggle over the K-pop agency.“NewJeans will make a comeback in Korea with a new single in May, whether or not ADOR CEO Min Hee-jin cooperates with HYBE,” the source told the publication.

HYBE and ADOR CEO Min Hee-jin, the woman behind popular girl group NewJeans, are reportedly in a power struggle over the K-pop agency.Today (April 22), South Korean news agency Newsis reported that the audit team of entertainment giant HYBE had launched an investigation against ADOR CEO Min Hee-jin and an unnamed executive of the company. The latter had reportedly been part of HYBE’s investor relations team.According to the report, the two ADOR executives were allegedly caught leaking confidential information in order to attract investors as well as induce HYBE to sell its ownership of the K-pop agency.

Britain's Got Talent fans were left demanding a 'missing' star return as the series' second episode aired on Sunday night (April 21). Millions tuned in to episode one which aired on Saturday night (April 20), officially kicking off the 2024 series.

Britain's Got Talent fans have jokingly demanded that the show should change its name after spotting a pattern. The hit ITV talent competition returned over the weekend with a double show extravaganza.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief ‘Kung Fu Panda 4’ retained its lead at the top of the South Korean box office on what was the quietest cinema-going weekend in more than a year. The animated franchise movie held up reasonably. It maintained a nearly 44% market share, dropped only 32% week-on-week and was untroubled by competition from new releases. The film earned $1.91 million between Friday and Sunday, according to data from Kobis, the tracking service operated by the Korean Film Council (Kofic).

Britain's Got Talent viewers have spotted an issue with the show's big return after an epic double-episode weekend. The hit talent competition returned to ITV with a bang as it aired on both Saturday (April 20) and Sunday (April 21) night.

SHINee singer Onew has opened up about his decision to leave long-time label SM Entertainment.In a new interview with (x)clusive Singapore, SHINee’s Onew spoke more about why he made the choice to leave SM Entertainment, after over 15 years with the K-pop agency. The singer left the company this March and signed to Griffin Entertainment earlier this month.“You could think of it as me taking on another challenge, as I aspire to be an artist who looks further ahead rather than being complacent,” Onew told the publication in a new interview, adding that “it was not easy to decide to start anew in a new place”.Elsewhere in the interview, the SHINee singer also spoke about how to keeps his passion for music after being in the industry for so long: “I have become flexible to different situations, and I think that’s the key.”Onew is the second member of SHINee to leave SM Entertainment, following Taemin, who has since signed with Big Planet Made.

Britain’s Got Talent has returned with an explosive launch episode which saw an incredible singer and a South Korean martial arts troupe given the golden buzzer and fast tracked to the semi-finals. Bubbly brunette Sydnie Christmas, 28, dazzled the judges with her voice, while Ssaulabi Performance Troupe impressed with their taekwondo skills during the first episode of the ITV’s show 17th series, which aired on Saturday, April 20.

EXCLUSIVE: US-Bangladeshi action movie MR-9: Do or Die, starring ABM Sumon, Michael Jai White and Frank Grillo, has been picked up by Quiver Distribution for a North American VOD/digital release this month.

Park Chan-wook is developing his acclaimed film Oldboy for the first time as an English-language series in partnership with Lionsgate Television. Park, who directed and co-wrote the original film, is set to produce the series alongside producing partner Syd Lim.

SHINee singer Key has announced dates for his upcoming 2024 ‘Keyland On: And On’ tour, featuring concerts in Thailand, Indonesia and more.Today (April 17), SHINee’s Key revealed four new dates for his 2024 ‘Keyland On: And On’ tour. They come about three months after the singer originally kicked off the series of concerts with a two-night performance at the Olympic Handball Stadium in Seoul, South Korea.Key will bring his ‘Keyland On: And On’ tour to the cities of Bangkok, Jakarta and Macau in July 2024, all of which will take place on either a Saturday or Sunday.

Next year, we’ll witness a unique venture from Oscar-winning director Bong Joon-ho (known for his Best Picture-winning “Parasite”) as he returns to the sci-fi genre with his upcoming film “Mickey 17.” featuring the talented duo Robert Pattinson and Mark Ruffalo. But that’s not all the South Korean filmmaker is cooking up.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Disney has confirmed that Korean webtoon-to-screen adaptation “Low Life” is poised to begin production. When valuable treasure is discovered off the coast of Korea, the country’s biggest degenerates come crawling out of the woodwork in the hope of striking it big. Word spreads after a fisherman got lucky and kept a piece of the booty for himself.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief “Kung Fu Panda 4” took top spot at the South Korean box office becoming the film that finally pushed aside local champion “Exhuma,” which had dominated for seven consecutive weeks. But it was an understated victory, rather than a triumphant one, and the exhibition industry’s $5.6 million nationwide haul was among the lowest scoring weekends this year. “Kung Fu Panda 4” earned $2.81 million between Friday and Sunday with a 50.1% market share. Over its full five day run since a Wednesday opening, it enjoyed a $5.96 million total. “Exhuma” slipped to second place in its eight weekend of release.

Steven J. Horowitz Senior Music Writer Park Boram, a South Korean singer who has steadily built her career over the past decade, has unexpectedly died at the age of 30, according to her agency Xanadu Entertainment. “We are here to share sorrowful and heartbreaking news,” shared Xanadu in a statement.

THE BOYZ have announced their upcoming 2024 ‘Zeneration II’ world tour, featuring concerts in Asia, the US, Europe and more.Today (April 8), THE BOYZ announced the first batch of dates for their upcoming 2024 ‘Zeneration II’ world tour. The trek will follow their 2023 ‘Zeneration’ world tour, which had featured 24 dates in Asia.‘Zeneration II’ will kick-off in July with a three-date show in South, South Korea, before the boyband head to the US for a solo tour the first time since 2022.

Alex Ritman Banijay has acquired the format rights to “Alumni Lovers,” the school reunion dating show from MBC that first launched in South Korea last December. In a deal to be formerly announced by its global head of acquisitions Helen Greaterox at an MIPTV panel later on Monday, the French TV giant will launch the format in Netherlands via its SimpelZodiak label and France through Endemol France.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Oscar-winning Japanese animation film “The Boy and the Heron” earned a chart-topping $34.9 million between Friday and Sunday at the mainland China box office. Over its full five-day opening run, it took an even more spectacular $73 million. China was the last major territory to play the Studio Ghibli-produced fantasy in cinemas – it released in its native Japan in July and is imminently headed to streaming in many other territories – but that did not stop Chinese audiences from lapping it up. While most films release in China on a Friday, “The Boy and the Heron” was given a Wednesday outing in order to capture momentum from the Thursday-to-Saturday Qingming public holiday. Consultancy firm Artisan reports that it earned RMB248 million ($34.9 million) over the conventional Friday-to-Sunday weekend.

SHINee singer Onew has signed with Griffin Entertainment, just a month after leaving longtime agency SM Entertainment. Griffin Entertainment announced that SHINee’s Onew had signed with the company today (April 3) in a statement to South Korea news outlet Sports Kyunghang. “We are happy to be together with Onew on his new start,” the agency said, as translated by Soompi.“Griffin Entertainment will not spare any effort so that we can become the artist’s sanctuary,” the label added.