‘Sound of Freedom,’ Indie Hit Film About Child Trafficking, Set for Theatrical Release in Korea (EXCLUSIVE)

EXCLUSIVE: Former Blue Ant Media execs Solange Attwood and Asha Daniere have launched an “internationally-focused, next generation studio business” out of Canada.

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.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Sony Pictures‘ “Madame Web,” a standalone origin story in the studio’s array of “Spider-Man”-based Marvel characters, has been granted a theatrical release in mainland China. The film will open in the country on March 1 — two weeks after the title’s Valentine’s Day bow in North America and multiple international territories, including the Chinese-language markets of Taiwan and Hong Kong. The release marks a welcome opportunity for Sony, which, along with the other traditional studios faced difficulty in securing theatrical runs in China over recent years.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Three Japanese films enjoying their world premieres, along with festival favorites “City of Wind” and “Solids by the Seashore,” are set to appear in the 13-title competition section of the Osaka Asian Film Festival in March. The event will be held March 1-10 at venues including ABC Hall, Cine Libre Umeda, T-Joy Umeda and the Nakanoshima Museum of Art. The opening and closing films will be announced in early February. The 19th edition of the festival, which will eventually contain 55 feature and short films, is set to also include three special programs – a “Thai Cinema Kaleidoscope,” “Taiwan: Movies on the Move,” and “Special Focus on Hong Kong” – as well as its regular Spotlight Section on underrated Asian films and the Indie Forum of more challenging and innovative works. The competition titles are: “City of Wind,” by Mongolia’s Lkhagvadulam Purev-Ochir; “Fire on Water,” by Malaysia’s Sun-J Perumal; “Hyphen,” by The Philippines Joy Arnaldo; “The Lyricist Wannabe,” by Hong Kong’s Norris Wong; “The Missing,” by The Philippines’ Carl Joseph E.

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 Media and entertainment veteran Kim Williams is to be appointed the next chairperson of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, the Australian federal prime minister Anthony Albanese’s office announced on Wednesday. Williams takes over from the departing Ita Buttrose and will have a five-year mandate. He joins at a moment when the ABC is enduring a moment of editorial turbulence.

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.

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.

Alex Ritman The nominees for the 2024 EE BAFTA Film Awards are set to be revealed on Thursday, with Naomi Ackie and Kingsley Ben-Adir — both former BAFTA Rising Star nominees — making the announcement at 12 p.m. U.K. time (4 a.m.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Film and TV Producers’ Groups Call for Government Regulation of Streamers, Protection of Indie Sector Against ‘Market Failure’ and Loss of IP Streaming platforms could be subject to tighter regulation and forced to loosen their control of intellectual property if national governments heed a call for action launched Thursday by film and TV producers’ trade organizations around the world. The “global screen producers’ statement on streaming platform regulation and intellectual property protections,” was published by some 20 groups including Australia’s Screen Producers Association, Germany’s Produzentenverband, Screen Producers Ireland, multinational Spanish-language group Federación Iberoamericana de Productores Cinematográficos y Audiovisuales and Belgium’s Union des Producteur.ices Francophones de Films & Series. They say that they, “share a commitment to securing regulation from our respective governments that will ensure that our industry continues to both be sustainable and maintains our nation’s cultural sovereignty.” Among the nine principles, that the groups want governments to follow, two stand out and would likely require regulation.

As Godzilla Minus One winds down its notable theatrical run, distributor Toho International said it will play a remastered black-and-white version of the film for one week.

The Berlinale has announced the full line-ups of its Panorama, Forum and Generation sidebars for the 74th edition running from February 15 to 24. (scroll down for full list)

Jaden Thompson The complete program for the 39th Santa Barbara International Film Festival has been announced. Taking place from Feb. 7-17, the festival will open with the world premiere of the documentary “Madu,” directed by Matt Ogens and Joel ‘Kachi Benson.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media Reporter “Treasure,” a father-daughter road trip drama starring Lena Dunham and Stephen Fry, has sold worldwide rights to Bleecker Street and FilmNation Entertainment. The movie, formerly titled “Iron Box,” will have its world premiere at the Berlin Film Festival. Bleecker Street and FilmNation Entertainment, which recently teamed on “Waitress: The Musical,” will co-distribute the movie theatrically later this year in the U.S.

Louis Rees-Zammit has made a surprise announcement confirming his decision to leave rugby immediately to pursue a career in American football. The news came just before Wales was about to announce their squad for the Six Nations, where Rees-Zammit was expected to be included.

Valerie Wu Intern “The Gentlemen,” Netflix’s TV series follow-up to Guy Ritchie’s 2019 British gangster film, has released a trailer. Set in the world of the original, the new series features a cast of new characters, including Theo James as the Duke of Halstead, Ray Winstone as cannabis empire founder Bobby Glass and Kaya Scodelario as Bobby’s daughter and the empire’s operations leader. Guy Ritchie serves as creator, co-writer, executive producer (the latter two positions shared with Matthew Read) and directs the first two episodes.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Newen Connect has closed a raft of sales on “Kina & Yuk,” a live action family adventure from the team behind “Ailo’s Journey,” ahead of the Unifrance Rendez-Vous showcase. Directed by Guillaume Maidatchevsky (“Ailo’s Journey”), the feature is a wild arctic tale following two foxes who are separated by the melting polar ice and must overcome a number of dangers in the hope of being reunited and raise a family together. The movie was released in French theaters by UGC on Dec.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Italy’s Sveva Alviti (“Dalida”) and U.S. actor Newton Mayenge (“Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty”) are attached to star in Cannes-set romantic drama “The Other Side of Fame” to be directed by Erik Bernard (“Free Dead or Alive”).