Three North Koreans Indicted in Sony Pictures Hack and Financial Crimes

Matt Donnelly Senior Film WriterSony Pictures Animation is developing a new movie about a pack of female K-Pop stars who slay evil spirits in between gigs.“K-Pop: Demon Hunters” is underway at the Oscar-winning studio behind “Spider-Man: Into the Spiderverse,” from directors Maggie Kang and Chris Appelhans.Kang, whose credits include “The Lego Ninjago Movie,” is mounting the project as an homage to her Korean pride and the wildly popular K-Pop music she grew up with.

starring Andra Day as the jazz singer, was named best picture, while the Korean American family drama “Minari” got best intergenerational film. Spike Lee’s Vietnam-themed “Da 5 Bloods” picked up best buddy picture and Regina King’s “One Night in Miami…,” about the fictional meeting of Malcolm X, Sam Cooke, Cassius Clay and Jim Brown, got best ensemble.“We focus on films made by and for grownups,” said Tim Appelo, the film and television critic for AARP.

EXCLUSIVE: The Remake Co, FilmSharks’ specialty label handling remake rights, has closed a deal with Korea’s Covenant Pictures for rights to the Argentinian feature Crazy Heart.

Jessica Kiang Like cracking a window in a stuffy room, it sometimes feels as if Hong Sangsoo’s films are where festival lineups go when they need to breathe. The 2021 Berlin Film Festival takes a quick, deep lungful with “Introduction,” an airy 66-minute sampler of everything the Korean director’s fans admire, which is coincidentally everything his detractors dislike.

Naman Ramachandran Netflix has boarded thriller “Dhamaka,” starring popular Bollywood star Kartik Aaryan, and will release the film exclusively on the service.Aaryan plays a news anchor who gets stuck in a situation with a mysterious bomb blast and must make a choice between his future career or the humanist in him.

Halsey has defended BTS after a German radio DJ was accused of making racist comments about the K-Pop giants.Matthias Matuschik faced criticism when he discussed the Korean band’s cover of Coldplay’s ‘Fix You’ while on air at Bavarian radio station Bayern3 last week.While talking about the track, he appeared to compare the group to coronavirus, saying he hoped “a vaccine will be available soon” for the band.He continued to insist that he had “nothing against South Korea” and was not xenophobic

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefConsumption of South Korean content now outstrips time watching U.S.-made content on streaming platforms in three key market in South East Asia.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefSpotify users worldwide will no longer have access to music tracks from K-pop acts represented by Kakao M, an offshoot of Korean internet giant Kakao Corp. The global music streamer’s deal with the label has expired and has not been renewed.“Spotify can confirm that starting March 1, 2021, Kakao M’s catalogue will no longer be available to our listeners worldwide due to the expiration of our license.

For the second year in a row, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association has given its Golden Globe for Best Foreign Language Film to a movie (predominantly) in Korean. However, the twist this time around is that 2021 winner Minari is a wholly U.S. production (as opposed to last year’s laureate Parasite).

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefJapanese hit animation “Demon Slayer The Movie: Mugen Train” enjoyed a 32% surge to move to the top of the Korean box office. It grossed $745,000 over the weekend to expand its cumulative total to $7.74 million in just over four weeks of release.“Demon Slayer” had not previously topped the Korean chart.

Spotify worldwide over an apparent disagreement with distributor Kakao M.Spotify launched in South Korea on February 1, 2020, but did so without music from artists with licensing deals under Kakao M, including IU, Zico and more.Now, releases distributed by the Korean label have been removed from Spotify around the world.