Zhang Yimou to Co-Direct Korean War Film With His Daughter, Eyes October Release

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief“Godzilla vs. Kong” jumped straight to the top of the South Korean box office in its opening weekend.

Refresh for latest…: Warner Bros/Legendary’s Godzilla Vs Kong thrashed off to a $21.5M (RMB 140M) start in China today, good for the best opening day of a Hollywood title in the market since Covid began and portending a weekend in the high $60Ms. The film positively dominated the Middle Kingdom with an 88% share and played on 42,482 screens.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefLeading South Korean TV production studio Monster Union has commissioned a local adaptation of British comedy series “Uncle.” The Korean series will be the first localization of the scripted format, which is represented by BBC Studios.The darkly comic series follows the misadventures of a dissolute, out-of-work musician who forges an unlikely alliance with his 12-year-old nephew after being morally blackmailed into looking after him by his chaotic sister, on the

Rebecca Davis editorChinese director Zhang Yimou’s stylish, snowy spy thriller “Impasse” is set to debut in China over the May 1 Labor Day weekend, joining what will be an unusually competitive line-up.“Impasse” was supposed to hit screens last year, but its release was pushed back to this upcoming April 30 due to the pandemic.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefKorean American drama film “Minari” can’t stop winning awards. Similarly, it continues to reign on top of the Korean box office.The Lee Isaac Chung-directed film earned $1.09 million between Friday and Monday to top the box office in South Korea, according to data from Kobis, the tracking service of the Korean Film Council (KOFIC).The figure is little changed from the previous weekend.

Zack Snyder has revealed that there was a plan to give Atom a spinoff movie.

The Beijing International Film Festival, which typically takes place in mid-April but has yet to announce its plans for 2021, is considering a postponement to August. Organizers are hoping that by late summer the pandemic will have subsided to an extent that international filmmakers and guests are able to travel to China to participate in the event, sources in contact with organizers of the government-backed festival told The Hollywood Reporteron Friday.

Korean media group Next Entertainment World has partnered with L.A.’s Library Pictures International, signing a three-year co-financing slate for the production of Korean-language films.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefKorean Oscar-winner “Parasite” gleefully poked fun at South Korea’s bourgeoisie. Hur Jin-ho’s “The Dinner” is set to give the middle classes another skewering.The project is an adaptation of Dutch novel ‘Het Diner’ (“The Dinner”) written by Herman Koch.

On Feb. 22, Korean cafe Spoon by H on Beverly Boulevard announced via Instagram that it would close the next weekend.

Gallery: The career of Betty White in pictures (Espresso)Youn shared the historic first with "Minari" co-star Steven Yeun, the first Asian-American to be nominated for a best actor Oscar. Born in Seoul, Yuen and his family moved to Canada and then the United States when he was a child.

When Youn Yuh-jung was asked how she felt about being called the "Meryl Streep of South Korea" in a recent interview, she said she’s flattered by the comparison. But she had her own introduction.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefA notable launch for “Minari” lifted the South Korea box office to its second highest weekend of 2021. The Korean-language American-made drama performed 80% higher than the weekend’s other significant new release Disney’s “Raya and the Last Dragon.”Opening in first place, “Minari” clocked up $1.68 million over the weekend, according to data from the Korean Film Council’s KOBIS box office tracking service.

Steven Yeun poses for photos ahead of the 2021 Critics Choice Awards, held on Sunday (March 7) from Pasadena, Calif.

Saban Films has picked up the horror-thriller Hide and Seek forNorth America, the U.K. and Ireland.

Lee Isaac Chung’s Minari is an American film that tells the story of a Korean American family as they uproot from their more metropolitan life in California to a rural one in a small Arkansas town in search of the American dream. In case you didn’t catch on, this is a very American film.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterApple has ordered a live-action series adaptation of the Korean webtoon “Dr. Brain.” The series will be the first completely Korean-language project at the streamer.Kim Jee-Woon will write and direct, with “Parasite” star Lee Sun-Kyun set to star.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefTriumph and pain were bedfellows last year for the Korean film industry. But Berlin’s European Film Market and the imminent Hong Kong FilMart see Korean companies putting on a brave face.Korean cinemas were in defensive mode early on in the coronavirus pandemic, as a population familiar with epidemics chose to stay away from crowded places.