‘Squid Game’ Star Lee Jung-jae Re-Edits Directorial Debut ‘Hunt’ Ahead of TIFF

Weki Meki member Choi Yoo-jung is preparing to make her official debut as a soloist.Today (August 23), South Korean news outlet EDaily reported that the idol is currently in the “final stages” of preparations for her official solo debut. While further details such as its release date and format have not been officially announced, Choi’s debut record is reportedly due out in September.The Weki Meki singer’s upcoming solo release comes after a string of collaborations and K-drama soundtrack contributions in recent years, the latest being her digital single ‘UH-RA’, a collaboration with rapper Ahn Byung-woong that arrived earlier this month.Choi also featured on the B-side ‘Lazy’ from Fantagio Music labelmates ASTRO’s subunit JinJin and Rocky’s debut mini-album ‘Restore’ in January.In 2021, she appeared on the track ‘It Wasn’t Me’ in SM Entertainment record producer and DJ Raiden’s first mini-album ‘Love Right Back’, which included features from NCT’s Taeil and Xiaojun, (G)I-DLE’s Miyeon and rapper pH-1, among others.Choi first rose to fame in 2016, after appearing on the first season of Produce 101.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief“Hunt,” the period political thriller directed by “Squid Game” star Lee Jung-jae, held top spot at the South Korea box office for the second weekend. “Nope” was the highest opener, landing in third spot.“Hunt,” made $5.68 million over the weekend, down 35% compared with its opening score a week earlier.

Hunt will get a US theatrical release in December.On August 15, Deadline reported that film distributor Magnolia Pictures has acquired US rights to the South Korean film Hunt and is currently planning a December theatrical release.The spy-action film notably marks the directorial debut of veteran actor Lee Jung-jae, who gained significant international recognition for his role in Netflix’s 2021 hit series Squid Game. He also wrote the screenplay for Hunt, which is set in the ’80s at the height of South Korea’s military dictatorship.Lee also stars in the film alongside with Jung Woo-sung as intelligence agents tasked with hunting down a North Korean spy embedded in their agency.

Squid Game and its lead actor Lee Jung-jae have each bagged an award at this year’s Hollywood Critics Association (HCA) TV Awards.On August 13, the HCA TV Awards broadcasted its 2022 ceremony, where Squid Game won in two of seven categories it was nominated for. The South Korean hit was awarded Best International Series, beating out shows like Apple TV+’s Pachinko, Acapulco, as well as Netflix’s own Lupin, Money Heist and Narcos: Mexico.Its lead actor, Lee Jung-jae, who had starred as Squid Game’s main character, Seong Gi-hun, also took home the award for Best Actor in a Streaming Series.

“Hunt” premiered at this year’s Cannes Film Festival in the Midnight section and follows two Korean Central Intelligence agents tasked with finding a mole within the agency and who uncover a plot to assassinate the country’s president. Jung-jae directed, wrote and produced the movie and stars alongside “Squid Game” co-star Heo Sung-tae.

EXCLUSIVE: Magnolia Pictures has snapped up domestic rights to Hunt, the feature directorial from Squid Game Emmy nominated star Lee Jung-jae, which made its world premiere at this year’s Cannes Film Festival in the Midnight section.

Squid Game could expand to other countries, in line with his original intentions for the story.The record-breaking Netflix show revolves around a survival game called the ‘Squid Game’, in which participants take on a series life-or-death challenges based on children’s playground games for prize money. It is later revealed in the series that the games are held yearly for the entertainment of wealthy VIPs, and it is implied that other editions of the games exist.In a recent interview with Deadline, its creator Hwang Dong-hyuk shared that he had written the series, which is set in Korea, keeping possible international editions of the titular ‘Squid Game’ in mind.

EXCLUSIVE: Vertical Entertainment has acquired North American rights to Chris Naoki Lee’s feature directorial debut, Dinner Party, in which he stars alongside Kara Wang (Top Gun: Maverick), Imani Hakim (Mythic Quest) and Kausar Mohammed (The Flash). The global indie distributor has slated the pic for a day-and-date release on August 19.

Welcome to Deadline’s International Disruptors, a feature where we’ll shine a spotlight on key executives and companies outside of the U.S. who are shaking up the offshore marketplace. This week, we’re speaking with Korean super-agent Soyoung Lee, who represents some of the nation’s biggest stars and talked to us about her experiences of the Korean content boom.

Squid Game may be the most watched Netflix original series ever, but for the Emmy-nominated stars of the Korean horror thriller, it’s all very personal.

Lashana Lynch has been cast as Rita Marley in Paramount Pictures’ Untitled Bob Marley biopic about the reggae legend, according to an individual with knowledge of the project.The film will star Kingsley Ben-Adir in the title role as Bob Marley.Reinaldo Marcus Green, the director of the Will Smith film “King Richard,” will direct the film. Zach Baylin, who was nominated for an Academy Award in the “Best Original Screenplay” category for “King Richard” is writing the script with Green.Marley’s son and reggae artist Ziggy Marley will produce. Rita Marley and Cedella Marley will produce on behalf of Tuff Gong.

Squid Game star Lee Jung-jae has re-edited an international version of his upcoming directorial debut Hunt to suit a global audience.South Korean media outlet Yonhap News Agency reported on August 3 that Lee had revised several key lines and scenes in the film following its premiere at this year’s Cannes Film Festival in order to contextualise the film’s political setting for global audiences.An international version of Hunt will now see the addition of further elaboration of South Korean politics in the ’80s. “When writing the script of Hunt, I set younger generations in South Korea who learn about the era from history textbooks as the target audience.

Stranger Things added a few more tens of millions of hours viewed to its Season 4 tally this past week.The final viewership for the new season (Vol.1 and Vol.2 combined) is 1.352B hours in the first 28 days of release. That is the most for any English-language series on Netflix and more than twice the hours viewed logged by the second most popular season of an English-language series on the streamer, Bridgerton 2 (656M).

Squid Game was previously the most popular Netflix TV show ever, but many believed Stranger Things‘ fourth season could beat the Korean language thriller to become number 1.

Netflix have developed a real-life Squid Game multiplayer game that will launch in the US and UK this September.On August 1, Variety reported that the two companies have collaborated on a game inspired by the hit South Korean drama. The upcoming in-person game will allow two to six players to compete in a series of challenges featured in Squid Game, including ‘Red Light, Green Light’, ‘Glass Bridge’, and the titular ‘Squid Game’.Immersive Gamebox will use motion-sensing and touchscreen technology in digital smart rooms to recreate the experience of being in the games.

Squid Game star Lee Jung-jae’s directorial debut Hunt has been released.Set in the ’80s, Hunt follows two top National Intelligence Service (NIS) agents who uncover shocking truths as they chase down the person in charge of North Korean spies who have infiltrated the country.On top of serving as the film’s director and screenwriter, Lee Jung-jae stars as agent Park Pyung-ho, with Jung Woo-sung playing his colleague and rival Kim Jung-do.The new trailer for the film begins with Pyung-ho and Jung-do finding themselves in the middle of a sudden shoot-out as they attempt to put a stop to the South Korean president’s visit. They then learn of a spy with the code name Dong-rim who has infiltrated the organisation as part of a plan to assassinate the president.Aside from the film’s two main leads, Hunt also features a supporting cast inclusive of Jeon Hye-jin (Uncle, Ashfall), Heo Sung-tae (Squid Game), Ko Yoon-jung (Alchemy of Souls, Rookie Cops) and Kim Jong-soo (Snowdrop, Dream), among others.

You know celebrated Academy Award nominee Kristin Scott Thomas as one of the great actors of her generation. But you can now add filmmaker to her list of accolades.