Watch the thrilling trailer for ‘Money Heist: Korea – Joint Economic Area’

George Ezra scores his third Top 5 album with Gold Rush Kid, as it claims this week’s highest new entry on the Official Irish Albums Chart.

Paramount+ has expanded into South Korea, marking the first time the streaming service is available in Asia, Paramount announced Wednesday.Starting now, subscribers of South Korea-based streaming platform Tving will be able to stream Paramount+ content at no additional cost. This includes Paramount+ originals “Halo,” “Mayor of Kingstown” and “1883” along with shows from Paramount-owned Showtime including “Yellowjackets” and “Super Pumped: The Battle for Uber,” all of which are available in Korea for the first time.The deal is part of a global partnership between Paramount and CJ ENM, which co-owns Tving, and will also see seven Korean original shows distributed on Paramount+.The first production to launch as part of that partnership is the upcoming series “Yonder,” set to launch on Tving in late 2022 and on Paramount+ where the services is available.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefGrowth in paid SVOD subscriptions slowed sharply in the first quarter of 2022 in South Korea, one of the most fiercely contested entertainment markets. Net new additions were some 600,000, down from 1.7 million in the fourth quarter of 2021.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefThe Paramount+ streaming service launches Thursday in South Korea as a free-of-charge addition to the CJ ENM-controlled TVing platform.Paramount+ originals such as “Halo,” in addition to “Yellowjackets,” “Super Pumped: The Battle for Uber,” “Mayor of Kingstown” and “1883” will be released for the first time in Korea, exclusively through the new branded zone. It will also provide access to library movie titles including “Mission: Impossible,” “Top Gun,” and “Transformers,” CBS series “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation” and “NCIS,” Nickelodeon’s “SpongeBob SquarePants,” Comedy Central’s “South Park,” MTV’s young adult series and others from Showtime.

Mark Schilling Japan CorrespondentBack in Japan after his Korean-language drama “Broker” won two prizes at this year’s Cannes festival, Kore-eda Hirokazu appeared as a press event in Tokyo on Tuesday to announce the launch of a group of industry professionals who aim for structural reform of the Japanese film industry.The group calls itself the “Association for the Establishment of a Japanese Version of CNC.” The reference is to France’s government-backed oversight body, the Centre National du Cinema et de l’Image Animee. Kore-eda noted the low incomes and long working hours of freelance filmmakers and emphasized the need for reform.

KARA are reportedly in talks to record new music to celebrate the act’s 15th anniversary.Today (June 14), several South Korean news outlets reported that the former members of KARA had met up to discuss the possibility of reuniting as a group to release new music in lieu of their 15th anniversary.“I heard that they met frequently for discussion.

Kang Daniel has dropped the music video for ‘Parade’, a cut from his recently released album ‘The Story’.In the new visual for ‘Parade’, which dropped yesterday (June 8), Kang assumes the role of an ordinary office worker, going through the motions of a mundane daily routine of commuting to work alongside dozens of other business people like him.He then attempts to break free of the monotony with a party at the office, decked out with balloons and streamers strewn everywhere as he and his co-workers perform the choreography to the track. “To the skies / This is our own parade / It’s too late to stop / Raise your glasses, the festival is for all of us, all of us,” he croons on the chorus.‘The Story’ was first released on May 24, and was led by the title track ‘Upside Down’. The record features 10 new tracks, all co-written by Kang, alongside contributions from labelmate K-R&B singer Chancellor, who features on the song ‘Mad’.

A boy from Stanley is finding out what it would be like to cycle round South Korea - but he’s making his 1200km bike trek without leaving Scotland.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief“Jurassic World: Dominion” scored the third highest opening weekend of the year in South Korea, but still managed only second place at the box office, a further sign of recovery in the country.For the third weekend in a row, proceedings were dominated by local crime action film “The Roundup.” It earned $10.4 million over the Friday to Sunday period, down 32% from its previous weekend, according to data from Kobis, the tracking service operated by the Korean Film Council (Kofic). After nearly three weeks on release, the film has an accumulated total of $73.3 million.Its cumulative total is built on 8.87 million spectators.

John Hopewell Chief International CorrespondentShaping up as one of the most anticipated movies from Spain this year, “Prison 77” (“Modelo 77”) has an international teaser trailer, which Movistar Plus has shared in exclusivity with Variety.“Modelo 77” marks the third Movistar Plus original film, re-teaming Telefonica’s pay TV/SVOD service with director Alberto Rodríguez, co-writer Rafael Cobos and co-producer Atípica Films, the driving forces behind “The Plague,” Movistar Plus’ big banner 2017 series.Sold internationally by Film Factory, “Prison 77” will be released in Spanish theaters by Buena Vista International on Sept. 23, the second Friday of Spain’s San Sebastian Festival, which begs the question as to whether it will feature at the event.

Kep1er have announced the upcoming release of ‘Doublast’, the K-pop girl group’s second-ever mini-album.Today (June 3), the rookie group dropped a teaser image for their forthcoming sophomore project ‘Doublast’, which is due to be released on June 20 at 6pm KST. The picture features a summery-looking blue drink with a lemon slice on a yellow table, against the backdrop of lush greenery.‘Doublast’ will be Kep1er’s first release of 2022, and the much-anticipated follow-up to their debut mini-album ‘First Impact’.

So many K-Pop superstars also happen to be social media sensations – and the top accounts have millions and millions of followers!

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefLocally-produced action franchise movie “The Roundup” continued to stomp its way across the South Korean box office for a second weekend, giving theatres their best month of the year.Over the weekend. “The Roundup” rounded up $15.4 million from 2,520 screens nationwide, according to KOBIS, the tracking service operated by the Korean Film Council (Kofic).

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefKore-eda Hirokazu, director of the well-received Cannes competition film “Broker” says his diverse and lonely characters constitute a family of choice.“This film tells the story of a family which came together by choice. Each character had been rejected. They set off on a car journey, as if by accident.

The Palme d’Or can be a blessing and curse, a gold-plated sword of Damocles hanging over the heads of filmmakers lucky enough to claim it. After the first waves of shock and joy recede, and their subsequent year-long victory lap reaches the finish line, those same filmmakers are left alone with one troubling thought: What’s next? Director Hirokazu Kore-eda offers a fine case study in how that question might trip someone up.

Peter Debruge Chief Film CriticWhile Americans’ attention is consumed with the issue of abortion, halfway across the world, director Kore-eda Hirokazu (“Shoplifters”) focuses on the alternative for mothers who carry their pregnancies to term, but can’t raise the children on their own. A warm and unexpectedly nonjudgmental look at the Korean gray market for adoption, “Broker” was inspired by the idea of “baby hatches” — essentially, a donation station for unwanted infants — and follows the director’s natural curiosity through to its most humanistic conclusion, as audiences unexpectedly come to empathize with practically everyone involved in the buying and selling of a little bundle of joy.What is Kore-eda, who is Japanese, doing making a film in South Korea, you might ask? It’s not his first time working abroad.

Kang Daniel is here!