Jung Ji Hoon * 정지훈 * 鄭智薰 * (aka Rain/Bi / 비 / ピ) I [Upcoming Drama 2024] Red Swan

[jinijung]

06.11.09 Rain in NA first premier in CGV theater fancam3

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XD455QiBLs4

Thanks so much for your sharing

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some cap. from training clip

[Guest angelordevil]

06.11.09 Rain in NA first premier in CGV theater

credit:as tagged

from:rainhk

[Guest tyty6_7]

i

edit: heard that Im So Young, Lee Hy Ryo, SNSD, Cha Tae Hun, Chung Lim has come too.

Thank you, angelordevil...

He looked so happy in the pictures...hehehe... he must be proud of himself a lot during the time he was there... I am glad that Im So Young and Lee hyori came to the premiere to support him...

I cant wait for more fan cams....

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BTW, a random guy who saw Ninja Assassin at some advance screening talked a little bit about it:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1zFFM9P1X8A

-----------------------------------------

[Guest bbly]

That NA clip was amazing. I loved how the people who have worked with Rain had so much praise for him.

Rain looked sooooooo happy during the premiere. But it's weird that until now there are no more official news or clips. He looked really shy. I am sure that his close friends yelled in the audience "Don't cry" loooool.

[anjjo]

11.06.09 [Pic] Rain–MCM Collection

[jinijung]

Korea Takes Hollywood

By Sonia Kolesnikov-Jessop | NEWSWEEK

Published Nov 6, 2009

From the magazine issue dated Nov 16, 2009

Courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures

Korean pop superstar Rain in character as Raizo in Warner Brothers' 'Ninja Assassin'

In the late 1990s a Korean wave washed over Asia. From TV soap operas and movies to pop music, the region couldn't get enough of Korean culture and its good-looking stars. But the wave never quite reached the American entertainment industry. At most, Hollywood embraced the remake of several Korean films—including The Lake Houseand, more recently, The Uninvited.

Follow your favorite NEWSWEEK columnists Customize the Newsweek homepage to feature the latest word from your favorite columnists.

Lately, however, ethnic Korean actors have started to gain traction in American film and TV. Kim Yunjin and Daniel Dae Kim broke through when they were cast in Lost in 2004, followed by Sandra Oh in Grey’s Anatomy and James Kyson Lee in Heroes. This year Korean-American heartthrob Daniel Henney appeared in X-Men Origins: Wolverine as the villainous Agent Zero, and now stars on the new CBS medical drama Three Rivers. Lee Byung-hun took on the role of Storm Shadow in G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra. And John Cho, who played Hikaru Sulu in Star Trek, is currently starring as an FBI agent in ABC's drama FlashForward.

Next up: Jeong Ji Hoon, a.k.a. Rain, a pop superstar in much of Asia but still little-known on the global stage. On Nov. 25, Joel Silver and the Wachowski brothers will release their latest big-budget martial-arts thriller, Ninja Assassin, starring Jeong as the title character, who seeks revenge on the secret society that raised and trained him and killed his best friend.

The casting of Korean stars in prominent Hollywood roles reflects the new business realities: Jeong and his peers have a huge following in Asia, one of the few regions where movie audiences are growing. Korea, in particular, has become a key foreign market for Hollywood films, in some cases surpassing the U.K. According to the Web site Box Office Mojo, G.I. Joe earned more this summer in Korea—$13.2 million—than anywhere else outside the U.S.

Hollywood producers are also courting Korean directors who have a proven track record delivering hits for Asian audiences. "Every studio executive here has seen Oldboy by Park Chan-wook, and you can't say that about a lot of foreign movies," says Korean-American film producer Roy Lee of Vertigo Entertainment. Though Korean directors may be in demand among Hollywood producers, they are reluctant to make the leap. "Top directors in Korea have the ability to make whatever films they want with total creative freedom," says Lee. "With the [u.S.] studios they do not have that control."

Korean actors face cultural challenges, too. For actors from Asia to make it big in Hollywood, they have to commit to mastering English and networking with executives. "In Asia, for the most part, there is no auditioning process," says Grace Chen, the former managing director of William Morris Asia, now an independent consultant in Hong Kong. "So for big Asian stars to go to Hollywood and have to audition, it can be quite a foreign process." Plus, she says, those playing the Hollywood game risks losing opportunities back home.

And Asian actors in the U.S. are still often typecast as martial-arts experts. "Stereotype does still exist when casting films," says Rain. "Asians have our own broad and unique culture; it's just that more people have been interested in the martial-arts side than others."

But things are definitely changing. While it may be a while before Korean actors are cast as romantic leads in Hollywood, references to Korean culture are seeping into American films and TV. "In the past, you'd see a lot of Japanese references, Caucasian characters eating sushi or speaking a few Japanese words. But recently I noticed [they] are being replaced by Korean ones," says Shinho Lee, a Korean scriptwriter who splits his time between Seoul and L.A. Vertigo's Lee cites the rising prominence of Korean-Americans at all levels of the film-production chain: "There are more people of Korean descent working in Hollywood than of any other Asian ethnicity." Especially in front of the camera.

© 2009

http://www.newsweek.com/id/221320

[Guest angelordevil]

thanks jinjung for sharing a good articel, we can know something about it.

ah I just found this articel, read it we can know why Rain can be choose in NA,keke

BIrth of a Ninja Movie

30 NINJAS: James McTeigue, the film’s director, said that the Wachowskis came up with the concept of the film while talking with you and your company. Were you part of that discussion?

CS: Well, I guess it all started when we began shooting Speed Racer in Berlin at Babelsberg Studios. My partner, Dave Leitch, and I were over there — we often work with Larry and Andy [Wachowski] on most of their [movies], as their stunt coordinators and choreographers. It was our job to teach some of the cast to do some of the funnier fight scenes in the movie and train the cast on some fight choreography and techniques. A couple of weeks into production, Larry introduced us to a Korean pop star named Rain, who I’d never heard of before. At first Rain wasn’t initially included in much of the action sequences, so Larry asked us to take a look at him and give a quick little evaluation of what he could do. Dave and I already had our work cut out for us, so we were like, “OK, we’ll give him a move or two and see how he does.” We thought, just give him some loud sound effects and all will be good.

So Rain comes in for the first day of training, and he picked up not one, not two, not three moves — he picked up everything that we threw at him, very, very quickly. Granted they were very easy motions, but he moves like a professional. Rain was still getting his English going, and a lot of it was still through a Korean interpreter, and Rain was also very, very quiet and very shy to us at the time, but it became very obvious that he had immense physical skills. So in the next couple of days in training we started pushing him more and more. More for our own amusement, to see how far he could go and how good he really was on the outside parameters of his talent. Well, two weeks later, we still hadn’t hit those outer reaches — he was picking up choreography, he had a fantastic memory, and his energy and performance were fantastic. His martial arts were a little rough on the edges — but physically, he was capable of doing anything that we threw at him.

So we went to Larry and Andy a couple of weeks later to show them the rehearsal tapes (we had shot a little rehearsal, not really related to Speed Racer, just to show them how good he was). At the time, Larry and Andy hadn’t seen how good he was either; they had just met him somewhat formally. So we showed the tapes to them, and they were like, “Wow, he’s really good!” And we were like, “Yeah, he’s really good. We should give him some more stuff in the movie.” So we ended up doing a couple of different fight scenes, and granted, Speed Racer wasn’t a fight movie, but we tried to put in a few little things to show off Rain’s physical promise. Well, as time went on Rain continued to train with us, even after he’d shot his sequences, just to have fun and get a little time off set. We’d known Larry and Andy since the first Matrix movie, so we’d always joked about doing one of our favorite types of movies: We liked Bruce Lee movies, we liked comic books, and we like anime — and everyone loves ninja movies — and we’d love to do a ninja movie. Larry always said, “Ninjas, ninjas are great.”

So a couple weeks later, after we’d worked [even more] with Rain, we went back to Larry and Andy after lunch, and said, “Hey, we think we found the guy for your ninja movie.” And we showed him more tapes of Rain doing his thing, and we talked about it, and then that was all that was said. Speed Racer wraps, and about a month and a half later, we get a phone call from Larry Wachowski: “Let’s do a ninja movie. We’ll keep it small, and we’ll do a fun little ninja movie. We’ll bring all the guys back, and we’ll have fun.” And that’s kinda how it all got started. They got James [McTeigue] on board, and they started doing the writing, and we started getting our stunt team together, because everyone wanted to make it very much a stunt and fight movie, and we got in some of our best guys through our company.

link so can read all article

[Guest tyty6_7]

Thanks jijung and agelordevil for the link...here are more interviews about NA and Rain...

(continued the interview "Birth of a Ninja movie" in angelordevil post)

30 NINJAS: Rain’s character, Raizo, was brought into the clan as an outsider. How does his fighting style differ from the rest of the ninjas? Is he just a little bit better than everybody else? Or is his character, his identity as an orphan and an outsider, somehow expressed in the way he moves and fights?

CS: I think you’ve hit on something good there. I think Raizo, he’s an orphan, just like most of the people inside the orphanage, and Rain knows pretty much the same techniques as all his other brothers. But what keeps him apart is that he doesn’t finally give in to just being another sheep. He doesn’t give in to what the clan really stands for; he tries to maintain some level of humanism and some level of identity, and it’s through that and through his persistence that he sets himself apart. I think deep down, after Raizo does his first assassination and he realizes he’s not who he’s supposed to be, I think the tenacity that he shows in his fights and his fighting style is very much derived from him trying to stay human and to be who he really is. You know, he wants to feel love, he wants to belong to something, but that’s just not what the clan stands for. So I think it’s just his tenacity and his willingness not to be part of the clan that makes him just a little bit better. He’s fighting for a cause instead of just fighting.

Exclusive: Ninja Assassin Stunt Guru on the Film’s Blend of HK and Japanese Fight Styles and How Its Fight-Prodigy Star Was Discovered

If you’re fired up to see Ninja Assassin, the stormy, dark-hued Wachowski Brothers fight film that crashes into theaters November 25th, chances are it’s not because of the unconsummated love of two teenage heartthrobs with windswept hair. Let’s just be honest: It’s the action, stupid.

Put simply, the action in Assassin is going to rock. Rain, the film’s Korean pop-star lead, may seem at first blush a bit of a Timberlake wannabe, but the fact is, the guy is a total martial arts prodigy. He performed virtually all of his own stunts and completely owns the many fights in the film. What’s more, you’re going to be able to tell it’s Rain himself bringing the carnage, not a stunt double, because this fast-paced, bloody, and acrobatic film is an homage to the old Hong Kong movies, with longer takes, wider lenses, and less dependence on wire effects — all of which allows for more focus on pure martial arts skill and beauty.

This emphasis on kicking richard simmons old-school was driven home repeatedly by Chad Stahelski, a stunt coordinator and second unit director on Ninja Assassin, when he spoke at length the other day with 30 Ninjas Editor-in-Chief Julina Tatlock. Chad knows Assassin up and down, since it was he, along with his business partner in 87 Eleven Dave Leitch, who originally pitched Rain as the star of a ninja movie to the Wachowski Brothers (The Matrix trilogy).

The Perfect Recipe For a Bloody-Good Ninja

30 NINJAS: Can you tell me a little bit about your perceptions of the fighting techniques that go into making a great ninja fighter?

CHAD STAHELSKI: A lot of that is the perception and the tone of the film. If we were making, say, a very historically accurate or very realistic movie, the reality of the situation is that one guy dressed in black clothes, probably even in Japanese feudal times, wasn’t going to take on a whole regiment of samurai and survive — it just wasn’t going to happen. So we take a little creative leeway in making a ninja movie. What we wanted to do on Ninja Assassin, in terms of the fighting styles, was to show off more of the human talent, [make it] more of an ode to early Hong Kong films, where it takes a little longer in between cuts — a little less like The Bourne Supremacy. We had longer takes and a little bit wider lenses, so you got to see more of the action. In Ninja Assassin, you get to see Rain actually be Rain, and do his thing, [fighting] our stunt guys.

We thought the ninjas should be physically very well adapted to all kind of things, like acrobatics and sword works. We tried to keep a very distinct style of kinjitsu, which is a Japanese sword art, in our stunt guys’ movements, and we combined a little acrobatics and a little bit of Hong Kong-style reactions, just to give it a little bit of flair on top of the grit. To do that, we just brought in some of the best guys that we could find in martial arts choreography. I guess you’d say we tried to give it a very Japanese flavor with the sword work, at the same time sprinkling in some of the Hong Kong elements and some more of the American elements, as far as a little more rough-and-tumble and a bit bloodier.

30 NINJAS: But there’s a slightly higher survival rate for the heroes of the film …

CS: Yeah, exactly. We just made Rain be a little bit better than everyone else. One of the mottoes for all the heroes and in all the choreography that we do here at [our stunt company] 87 Eleven is: We really beat up our heroes a little bit. We’re not big fans of trying to make Terminators out of them all. We like our heroes to get beat up and still overcome, and they take punches, and they still give back twice as good as they get. So at the end of the movie, that’s why you see Rain completely bruised, battered, and cut up and bloodied.

30 NINJAS: If they’re not touchable, it takes away the jeopardy of it, and the seriousness of the fight. You want to see the reaction of the hit — whether it’s a good guy or a bad guy getting hit.

CS: Right, like when Rain jumps knowing he’s gonna make it, he jumps because he has to jump. He fights because he has to fight. He’s trying to find time for Mika [his lover], or he’s trying to escape; he’s never just gonna stand in the center of a room and wipe out 20 ninjas. There’s a purpose to him. He’s trying to get away, and you know he’s barely getting by, by the skin of his teeth.

http://30ninjas.com/blog/exclusive-ninja-a...stunt-guru-rain

[Guest angelordevil]

Thanks tyty6_7 for continue posting it.

so proud when reading it.

now all guys should see Rain's eyes,

from:rainhk

[jinijung]

09-11-07 Ninja Assassin New Photo

Credit : ilookmg.com

from : rainhk /shelleyshea

[Guest Kicia]

09-11-07 Ninja Assassin New Photo

Credit : ilookmg.com

from : rainhk /shelleyshea

[] [/]

Here`s one more:

http://sixtofive1982.files.wordpress.com/2009/11/0100.jpg' alt='0100.jpg'>

Credit : ilookmg.com l sixtofive1982

[jinijung]

[Nov-07-2009]'Ninja Assassin' Rain wasn't there, possibility of Rain's stature as a Hollywood role actor.

Rain wasn’t there. Neither the charismatic Rain on stage, nor the Rain with killer smiles in dramas such as ‘Full house’, was there. There was only the gifted yet sad ninja who must carry on the legend of its organization, Ozunu.

World star Rain(Jung Ji-Hoon)'s first leading role Hollywood movie ‘Ninja Assassin’ (Director James McTeigue/Produced by the Wachowski brothers) finally opened itself to the public.

The first reveal of ‘Ninja Assassin’ on the 6 th, which will be released coming November 26th, was full of action as expected, and caught the eye of many with its bloodier scenes than expected.

In ‘Ninja Assassin’ where Raizo, the protagonist, is raised by a secret organization as a secret weapon but must avenge the same organization for killing his friend, Rain made his debut with his perfect body and astounding actions.

If you are familiar with Rain’s usual tidy and friendly image, his long hair and stiff expressions in the screen will feel awkward, but that is something insignificant because you will slowly adapt yourself to Raizo in the screen, and not Rain.

Above all, Rain is to steal the hearts of the audience through his action, rather than acting in his first Hollywood movie ‘Ninja Assassin’. Although he managed the lines fully in English, because not much English skills was required, he boasted his sense for action and martial arts rather than ‘acting’, which is already accepted in Korea.

The core point of the movie is its action scenes, which is fair to say that this is a movie specifically for Rain. Despite its simple story, the movie itself is well made as producers of the ‘Matrix’ and ‘Independence Day’ cooperated with director James McTeigue of ‘V for Vendetta’.

Action scenes are also brilliant. With adequate action scenes that do not hurt the overall flow of the story, the audiences can observe Rain ’s perfect muscles through Raizo’s story, holding a grudge in his heart.

As previously known for eating chicken breasts and vegetables only for 8 months and working out for 10 hours, all for ‘Ninja Assassin’, Rain dominated the screen with his perfect body.

This scene which frequently occurred during the early stages of the movie, it is an appropriate amount of fan service as it doesn’t interfere with the storyline.

This will create jealousy and envy from male viewers, but charm the female viewers. It is unclear as to how much ‘Ninja Assassin’, which is one of the most looked forward to in Hollywood, can appeal to international viewers who don’t know Rain.

However, it will be successful enough just to raise awareness of Rain (on the ending credit, RAIN is used instead of his real name), a potential actor in Korea and Asia, with the movie ’s traditional story line.

Another thing to note is Lee Jun ’s, a member of MBLAQ , acting who played the youth of Raizo, who lived an oppressed life as a Ninja but suffers from anguish after realizing his heart ’s existence.

Warning to viewers with weak heart and who do not like to see blood. A ninja might be out there for you in the dark so be sure to watch out.

credit to MOVIE-en http://www.newsen.com/news_view.php?uid=200911061859181003

Brief translation by rain bird @ rain-eu

[Guest jastinel]

I`m excited to see his movie, NA, it will be shown in theaters here in my country (Philippines) soon. I wish they are giving away movie poster....More power Rain!!!

[Guest Kicia]

now all guys should see Rain's eyes,

http://img23.imageshack.us/img23/9775/2009...37c13f103e5.jpg

from:rainhk

This is not Jung Ji Hoon that we know... It`s a cold assassin

I will just quote jijijung post:

Rain wasn’t there. Neither the charismatic Rain on stage, nor the Rain with killer smiles in dramas such as ‘Full house’, was there. There was only the gifted yet sad ninja who must carry on the legend of its organization, Ozunu.

***

Thank jinijung for the review!

Now I can breathe a sigh of relief as the first Korean review wasn`t bad

***

I`m excited to see his movie, NA, it will be shown in theaters here in my country (Philippines) soon. I wish they are giving away movie poster....More power Rain!!!

We`re all excited and envious of Kim Sun Ah as she has watched it already What a lucky girl

***

Story about how Rain was chosen to play in NA is just amazing. I`m speechless

***

Thanks Thu for the fancams from NA first premier

***

7 Nov 2009 - HK newspaper - IWC event

source: rainhk

from: rain-cloud// rain germany

Captures form Six to Five Celeb Shop - thanks jijijung for sharing!

credit : memorain blog

from rain-cloud / ratoka

[Guest Jazzl]

I just saw the "Christmas Special" with Bi from 2003. There was a show when he tried to gather 6000 people for a surprise concert in order to remember of his deceased mother.

I was so touched and nearly cried in the end. I really had wet eyes. And god.. he's so handsome when he's crying.

[Guest bbly]

Don't know what to say!!!! The articles about Rain and his NA performance are just thrilling me and I can't wait for the day of watching this movie myself.

And what the article about how Rain actually got the attention of the Warchowski brothers and how fighting scenes were added to Speed Racer just for him and how he actually inspired the guys of doing a ninja movie, I am sooooooo proud of him!

The article about Korean entertainers in the US was very interesting as well.

[Guest ~~M!sTY~~]

I'm pretty damn happy about Ninja Assassin new pics

[Guest myyma]

hi everybody i am new here and i really love and adore rain he is so cute with attractive personality, the thing i want to know is why song hye kyo had not come to any of rain's show like his fashion concert and legend of rainisim and now the special screening of NA although there are a good friends till 2007 or the early of 2008 and then their friendship disappear as they were not a friend something complicated here. by the way this thread is so beautiful hope it be the best

[jinijung]

koreanpopaddict from twitter

Tomorrow night between 8:30-9:00 on Fox (in the States) they're going to show a sneak peek of Ninja Assassin! =)

[Guest ~~M!sTY~~]

myyma

I hate to break it to you ,but I don't know anything about it ????

and you're very welcome here ....