‘Top Gun Maverick’ Reclaims Korea Box Office Crown on Slower Weekend

Paramount+ is performing “above expectations”  in the UK, Ireland and South Korea, according to Bob Bakish, who forecast a “big year” for Western Europe to come and talked up local language content.

Video content budgets across India, Korea and Southeast Asia climbed 21% to reach $10.4bn in 2021, and are forecast to grow 15% to $12bn in 2022, according to a report from Media Partners Asia (MPA).

EXCLUSIVE: North America is getting its latest free streaming service later this month. Mometu, which is marketing itself as a “hand curated” on-demand live streaming platform, will launch on August 19 and has secured free streaming rights to South Korean feature The Policeman’s Lineage.

Joy Behar is pretty concerned about the issues conservatives are choosing to run on in this election cycle. On Monday’s episode of “The View,” she argued that their focus on LGBTQ+ rights and abortion rights will turn the country into a hostile nation if they succeed.Of course, Behar also argued that conservatives might be overplaying their hand. “They always say that the Democrats shoot themselves in the foot, but now it looks like the Republicans are doing that to themselves,” she argued.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefA powerful debut for “Hansan: Rising Dragon,” a locally-made historical action film, lifted the South Korean box office to its second highest weekend of the year and helped July to be the best month of 2022.The film is a prequel to “Roaring Currents” a tale of an heroic 14th century naval admiral that amassed some 17 million admissions in 2014 and is currently the most-watched Korean film of all time.Data from KOBIS, the tracking service operated by the Korean Film Council (Kofic), showed that “Hansan” earned $13.4 million from 1.63 million ticket sales between Friday and Sunday, for a market share of 60%. Over its first five days in theaters, the film amassed $17.9 million from 2.27 million spectators.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media Reporter“DC League of Super-Pets” struggled to sell tickets overseas against “Minions: The Rise of Gru,” another family-friendly offering that’s competing for attention at the international box office.The Warner Bros. animated adventure about the animal compatriots of Superman and other Justice League members has collected a lackluster $18.4 million from 63 foreign markets.

Disney+ has unveiled the all-star cast set to feature on upcoming K-drama Big Bet, including Sohn Seok-gu, Lee Dong-hwi and more.Formerly known as King Of Savvy, the new Korean series is set to tell the tale of a man who struggles to achieve his goal of becoming a casino mogul, however is majorly set back after a chain of unfortunate events. The man begins to risk everything he has, including his own life, to get himself back on track.Big Bet will star veteran South Korean actor Choi Min-sik as the series’ leading protagonist, marking his first television role in approximately 26 years since the 1997 show Love and Parting.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefNew release titles “Alienoid” and “Minions: The Rise of Gru” dominated business at the South Korean box office over the weekend. “Alienoid,” a sci-fi fantasy about the search for a legendary sword across different eras, opened on Wednesday and consistently, but narrowly, bested its animated rival. “Alienoid” earned $5.19 million between Friday and Sunday for a 32% market share, having played on more than 1,800 screens.

GFRIEND member Yuju has announced a new digital single ‘Evening’, featuring BIG Naughty.Yuju made the announcement through social media on July 21 at midnight KST, sharing a teaser image of herself lying on a fabric-covered surface, surrounded by used paint supplies and a filled scrapbook.‘Evening’ is set to feature up-and-coming South Korean rapper BIG Naughty, and will arrive next week on July 28 at 6pm KST.YUJU Digital Single이브닝 Feat. BIG Naughty2022.07.28 6PM (KST)#YUJU #유주 #이브닝 #BIGNaughty pic.twitter.com/vL60FFaaaD— 유주 YUJU (@konnect_YUJU) July 20, 2022Notably, Yuju’s forthcoming release of ‘Evening’ will mark her first music since she debuted as a soloist in January with the mini-album ‘REC.’, which was led by the single ‘Play’.

BLACKPINK’s Jennie has spoken about her casting in The Weeknd’s forthcoming HBO series The Idol. The K-pop idol’s involvement in the series was revealed earlier this week by HBO, and she later appeared in its teaser trailer alongside cast members The Weeknd, Lily-Rose Depp, Troye Sivan and more. The series was created by Euphoria creator Sam Levinson and Abel Tesfaye aka The Weeknd, and follows a self-help guru and leader of a modern-day cult who develops a relationship with a rising pop star.Jennie’s appearance in The Idol will mark the singer’s debut acting role.

Jennie, main rapper in K-pop group Blackpink, will be seen in the Weeknd’s (aka Abel Tesfaye) upcoming HBO drama series The Idol, alongside lead Lily-Rose Depp.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefJennie, part of the K-Pop girl group Blackpink will appear in the upcoming HBO TV series “The Idol.” She joins a cast that is headed by The Weeknd and Lily-Rose Depp.Co-created by The Weeknd (real name Abel Tesfaye), Sam Levinson (“Euphoria”) and Reza Fahim, “The Idol” is set against the backdrop of the music industry. The plot follows a self-help guru and cult leader who develops a complicated relationship with an up-and-coming pop idol.Jennie, expected to be credited under her full name Jennie Kim, appeared briefly in a recently released trailer for the show. The show’s release date has not been announced.HBO subsequently confirmed Jennie’s participation via Twitter.

BTS have officially been announced as the ambassadors for the World Expo 2030 in Busan, Korea by the expo’s Bid Committee.The appointment was announced by BTS’ management HYBE’s headquarters in Seoul on July 19. BTS leader RM also made a statement in a press release to Billboard, saying: “We are honoured to be appointed ambassadors for World Expo 2030 Busan.

Ahead of its much-anticipated Q2 Earnings reveal, Netflix debuted its Top 10 ranking for the week of July 11 to 17, with “Stranger Things 4” leading the pack. “Resident Evil” — based on the popular horror video game of the same name — snagged the No. 2 spot upon its premiere July 14.

ATEEZ have announced dates for their ‘The Fellowship: Break The Wall’ world tour, which will begin in October and take them to North America, Korea and Japan.On July 18, the eight-member act shared via their social media accounts that they would be embarking on a new world tour later this year. Titled ‘The Fellowship: Break The Wall’, the tour is set to hit nine cities from South Korea, the US, Canada and Japan from October to December.The tour will kick off in Seoul, South Korea with two shows on October 29 and 30, before heading to Anaheim, California the following week.

BTS alum on Friday released his debut solo album,, alongside a fiery new music video for the song «Arson.» The 10-track full-length can be streamed in full now via digital media services. According to a press release, the 28-year-old South Korean superstar is «leaping out of the box,» showing off new sides of himself and how much he has grown as an artist. In the first two tracks, listeners will hear the story behind the origin of J-Hope's stage name, born from Greek and Roman mythology of «Pandora's Box.» The dual main tracks «MORE» and «Arson» dive deeper into the artist's authentic and personal story. The release comes as J-Hope tops Billboard's Emerging Artists chart with «MORE,» becoming the fifth member of BTS to do so as a soloist. Earlier this month, J-Hope shared with fans a visually stunning music video for that first single.

BTS‘ J-Hope has revealed the reactions of his bandmates RM and Jungkook to his debut solo album ‘Jack In The Box’.The South Korean singer-rapper spoke to Rolling Stone upon the release of his debut solo record ‘Jack In The Box’, where he recalled the reactions he got from RM and Jungkook when they first listened to the record.“The first person I shared the album with … it’s always the same for me. I always share with RM first,” J-Hope said. “When RM heard the album, he said, ‘Wow, I didn’t think you’d do music like this.

Big Mouth, starring Girls’ Generation’s YoonA and Lee Jong-suk.The newly released visual starts off on a lighthearted note, with scenes from Park Chang-ho (While You Were Sleeping’s Lee Jong-suk) and Go Mi-ho’s (Girls’ Generation’s YoonA) earlier days as newly weds. Things quickly turn awry after Chang-ho is publicly and wrongly accused for a murder, with Mi-ho declaring to the press, “I sincerely hope you reveal who on earth would do such a thing.”Chang-ho tries to juggle both clearing his own name and ensuring the safety of his wife in snippets shown through the teaser as he gets himself into physical altercations, telling his aggressors: “Don’t touch my wife.