Cha Seung-Won 차승원 [Upcoming Movies: “Believer 2”, “Tyrant”, “ War and Revolt”]

[Helena]

https://www.screendaily.com/news/korean-cinemas-offer-major-support-for-release-of-escape-from-mogadishu-sinkhole/5160626.article
Korean cinemas offer major support for release of ‘Escape From Mogadishu’, ‘Sinkhole’

BY JEAN NOH | 17 JUNE 2021

South Korean exhibitors and broadcasters are offering major incentives to two local big-budget films – Lotte Entertainment’s Escape From Mogadishu and Showbox’s Sinkhole – that have delayed their releases due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Members of the Korea Theater Association – including leading multiplex chains CJ CGV, Lotte Cinema and Megabox – have declared they will forgo the usual 50:50 split of ticket sales between theatres and distributors until box office reaches 50% of each of the film’s respective total budgets including production costs and P&A.

The deal was mediated by the Korean Film Council (KOFIC) to support the distributors, which are hesitant to take losses at the box office, and exhibitors in dire need of local summer tentpole releases to revive their businesses. Local box office fell by almost 74% last year and has yet to recover.

In addition, KOFIC has also negotiated a deal with the Korea IPTV Broadcasting Association – which includes telecom carriers KT, SK Broadband and LG U+ as members along with cable operator Home Choice – that will provide the two distributors with 80% of sales revenue when the two films are released on their services. This is around 20 percentage points higher than the current standard distribution rate.

From February to May this year, theatre owners had tried offering distributors an extra $0.90 (KW1,000) for every ticket sold at directly-operated cinemas but it was not enough to encourage the release of big-budget films, which still risked losing money at the box office.

“We need highly-anticipated Korean films, which recently have been unable for a while to release in theatres, to open during the summer to draw in audiences,” said Hwang Jae Hyeon, CJ CGV analyst and communications team leader, speaking to Screendaily.

“As I know it, Escape From Mogadishu is budgeted at around KW22bn-KW25bn ($19.6m-$22.3m) and Sinkhole is at KW14bn-KW15bn ($12.5m-$13.4m) so they are carrying a lot of risk before they can break even at the box office. This is why we have come up with this extraordinary measure.

“Of course, we expect the films to score enough at the box office to reach the threshold of making back half their budgets and more – otherwise we wouldn’t be able to live. There is a consensus that this will bring about a synergy effect for other film releases as well.”

Escape From Mogadishu, directed by Ryoo Seung-wan (Veteran), is an action drama starring Kim Yoon-seok, Zo In-sung and Huh Joon-ho in which the embassies of North and South Korea are forced to cooperate in order to escape the outbreak of war in Somalia’s capital.

Sinkhole, directed by Kim Ji-hoon, stars Cha Seung-won, Kim Sung-kyun and Lee Kwang-soo. It follows a man whose house is swallowed up by a sinkhole while he is throwing a housewarming party.

The films’ release dates aren’t yet fixed but they are anticipated to open between late July and mid-August.

 

Sinkhole | cr: Showbox

[Helena]

On 6/14/2021 at 7:53 PM, Helena said:

Distributor: SHOWBOX

Film: ‘Sinkhole | 싱크홀’
Director: Kim Ji-hoon (May 18, Sector 7, The Tower)
Cast: Cha Seung-won, Kim Sung-kyun, Lee Kwang-soo; Kim Hye-joon, Nam Da-reum, Kim Hong-pa, Ko Chang-seok, Kwon So-hyun, Han Hye-rin

=> 14-15 billion won (12.5-13.4 million dollar) budget.

 

https://zapzee.net/2021/06/28/lee-kwang-soo-and-cha-seung-wons-sinkhole-confirmed-to-be-released-on-august-11th/

‘Sinkhole’ Confirmed to Be Released on August 11th

by krishkim

 

 

Kim Ji Hoon’s new film Sinkhole will be released on August 11th.

On Monday, Showbox announced the premiere date of Sinkhole. Sinkhole begins when a man’s house, which took him 11 years to obtain, falls down into a sinkhole in a minute. The Tower director Kim Ji Hoon helmed the production, and Cha Seung Won, Kim Sung Kyun, Lee Kwang Soo, and Kim Hye Jun took the lead.

Alongside Lotte Entertainment’s Escape from Mogadishu, Sinkhole is ready to take over the Korean cinema in August.

 

 

The first still photo, which shows a huge sinkhole in the middle of downtown Seoul, creates tension with its overwhelming size. The giant hole that swallowed everything and the crowded surrounding area stimulates curiosity about the story that’s to come.

Also, the rest of the released photos capture the sense of urgency that the characters experience. How will they survive this unprecedented crisis?

Man Soo, played by Cha Seung Won, is a “nosy” man who works three jobs for his only son. Dong Won, played by Kim Sung Kyun, falls in deep shock when the home that he worked so hard to obtain falls 500m underground in seconds. On top of that, Kim Seung Hyun (Lee Kwang Soo) and Eun Joo (Kim Hye Jun) also ended up getting stuck in the sinkhole when they visited Dong Won’s house.

Director Kim shared, “I tried to paint out the situation in which ordinary people suddenly fall into a disaster. I thought a lot about how I can show people dealing with the disaster rather than the disaster itself.”

Source: Showbox
Translator Kim Hoyeun: If you are a fan of K-drama, K-movie, and K-pop, I am your guy. I will continue to provide you with up-to-date K-entertainment news.
 

more stills

Spoiler

 

 

 

Trailer

Spoiler

 

https://www.soompi.com/article/1477258wpp/watch-cha-seung-won-lee-kwang-soo-kim-sung-kyun-and-kim-hye-joon-look-up-in-disbelief-in-new-disaster-film-trailer
Watch: Cha Seung Won, Lee Kwang Soo, Kim Sung Kyun, And Kim Hye Joon Look Up In Disbelief In New Disaster Film Trailer

by S. Nam | Jun 29, 2021

Upcoming film “Sinkhole” (literal title) released its thrilling first teaser!

“Sinkhole” is a disaster comedy film about a man named Park Dong Won (Kim Sung Kyun), who finally buys a house after 11 years only to have it fall into a sinkhole within a minute. Trapped in the sinkhole with his neighbor Jung Man Soo (Cha Seung Won) and his guests, he must find a way out before the sinkhole fills with water.

The teaser begins with an emergency news briefing of an unprecedentedly large-scale sinkhole appearing in the center of Seoul. The sinkhole easily swallows up nearby cars, telephone poles, and even an an entire apartment.

Park Dong Won, Jung Man Soo, Deputy Kim (Lee Kwang Soo), and Intern Eun Joo (Kim Hye Joon), who were spending an ordinary day in life, suddenly get swept up in the crisis as they fall down the sinkhole with the apartment. Jung Man Soo comments, “I think we’ve fallen around 500 meters (about 1640 feet) down.” On top of the building, the four people wave flashlights as they scream, “Please save us!”

Although they can’t see out the deep hole, disastrous events appear to have occurred outside as well with explosions and smoke everywhere. Inside the sinkhole, Park Dong Won opens his eyes wide as he asks, “Have you seen anything like this?” With shocked faces, the four people look up to see a ruined building hanging precariously above them.

The film will be produced by director Kim Ji Hoon of “The Tower” and director Seo Kyung Hoon, who worked on the visual effects for “Roaring Currents” and “The Terror Live.”

“Sinkhole” will premiere on August 11. Check out stills of the film here!

 

Source (1)

 

[Helena]

https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/art/2021/07/689_311531.html
Blockbuster film 'Sinkhole' invited to Locarno Film Festival

By Lee Gyu-lee | 2021-07-02

Film "Sinkhole" will be screened at this year's Locarno Film Festival, scheduled to be held from Aug. 4 to 14. Courtesy of Showbox

Disaster comedy film "Sinkhole" has been invited to this year's Locarno Film Festival, set to be held in Switzerland from Aug. 4 to 14.

The film's distributor, Showbox, announced Friday that the blockbuster flick will be presented at one of the festival's sections, Piazza Grande, which holds an open screening of selected films with about 8,000 viewers. The films screened at the section will be evaluated by a panel of American film critics for the Variety Piazza Grande Award.

This is the second time for a Korean film to be invited to the Piazza Grande section, since director Kim Seong-Hun's disaster thriller, "Tunnel," starring Ha Jung-woo, in 2016. In 2019, "Parasite" star Song Kang-ho became the first Asian actor to receive the Excellence Award at the festival.

Founded in 1946, the Locarno Film Festival, which welcomes the 74th edition this year, is one of the longest-running film festivals in the world. 

Directed by Kim Ji-hoon, who helmed another disaster film, "Tower" (2012), "Sinkhole" revolves around hardworking patriarch, Dong-won (Kim Sung-kyun), who finally fulfills his dream of owning a house after 10 years.

On the day he invites his coworkers, including Kim Seung-hyun (Lee Kwang-Soo), to his new house, the whole building falls into a sinkhole. Along with nosy, annoying next-door neighbor Jung Man-soo (Cha Seung-won), the group tries to find ways to survive from about 500 meters underground. 

The film is set to hit theaters on Aug. 11.

 

—

 

https://www.locarnofestival.ch/LFF/home.html
The 74th Locarno International Film Festival [August 4-14, 2021]

Film Sections - Piazza Grande

=> https://www.locarnofestival.ch/LFF/locarno-74/films-sections/piazza-grande.html

Spoiler

8,000 viewers a night, the Piazza Grande is both the Festival’s heart and its showcase. With its giant screen, one of the biggest in Europe, endowed with truly exceptional projection quality, the Piazza Grande is one of the finest open-air venues in the world. This magnificent and unique setting is where every night all the many and diverse festival audiences come together for a big cinematic event. The programming on the Piazza Grande offers prestigious screenings, most of them world, international or European premieres, introduced by the director and the cast.  The Piazza Grande audience also serves as the biggest jury on the planet, voting for the renowned “Prix du Public UBS” (Audience Award). In addition, there is the Variety Piazza Grande Award, chosen by a panel of film critics, and intended to assist the international career of a film in the selection.

 

 

https://www.locarnofestival.ch/LFF/locarno-74/program-74/film.html?fid=1218782&l=en&eid=74

Spoiler

 

Film: Sing-keu-hol (Sinkhole)
Piazza Grande
South Korea  ·  2021  ·  DCP 2K  ·  Color  ·  117'  ·  o.v. Korean

Information
Director: KIM Ji-hoon
Cast: CHA Seoung-won, KIM Sung-kyun, LEE Kwang-soo, KIM Hye-jun
Producer: LEE Soo-nam, KIM Yang-yeon
Executive producer: KIM Do-soo
Production designer: KIM Tae-young
Cinematography: SHIN Tae-ho
Music: KIM Tae-seong
Costumes: AN Ji-hyun
Screenplay: JEON Cheol-hong, KIM Jeong-han
Special effects: YOON Dae-won
Sound: LEE Sung-jin
Editing: SHIN Min-kyung
Production: The Tower Pictures, Inc.
World Sales: Showbox (sales@showbox.co.kr)

 

Related reports: https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/locarno-2021-john-david-washington-beckett-ida-red-frank-grillo-1234976453/

[Helena]

The 26th Chunsa Film Arts Awards [Nominations]

 

=> http://www.chunsa.or.kr/award2.html?cate=award2

 

Spoiler

 

Best Director 감독상
'The Book of Fish | 자산어보' Lee Joon-ik 이준익
'Deliver Us from Evil | 다만 악에서 구하소서' Hong Won-chan 홍원찬
'Samjin Company English Class | 삼진그룹 영어토익반' Lee Jong-pil 이종필
'Steel Rain 2: Summit | 강철비2: 정상회담' Yang Woo-suk 양우석
‘Space Sweepers | 승리호' Jo Sung-hee 조성희
'Peninsula | 반도' Yeon Sang-ho 연상호

 

Best New Director 신인 감독상
'Lucky Chan-sil | 찬실이는 복도 많지' Kim Cho-hee 김초희
'Voice of Silence | 소리도 없이' Hong Eui-Jung 홍의정
'Moving On | 남매의 여름밤' Yoon Dan-bi 윤단비
‘An Old Lady | 69세' Lim Seon-ae 임선애
'Me and Me | 사라진 시간' Jung Jin-young 정진영
'Call | 콜' Lee Chung-hyun 이충현
 
Best Screenplay 각본상
'The Book of Fish | 자산어보' Kim Se-gyum 김세겸
‘Samjin Company English Class | 삼진그룹 영어토익반' Hong Soo-young 홍수영
‘The Day I Died | 내가 죽던 날' Park Ji-wan 박지완
'Moving On | 남매의 여름밤' Yoon Dan-bi 윤단비
'Voice of Silence | 소리도 없이' Hong Eui-jung 홍의정
'Lucky Chan-sil | 찬실이는 복도 많지' Kim Cho-hee 김초희

 

Technical Award 기술상

 
Best Actor 남우주연상
'The Book of Fish | 자산어보' Seol Kyung-gu 설경구
'Voice of Silence | 소리도 없이' Yoo Ah-in 유아인
'Deliver Us from Evil | 다만 악에서 구하소서' Lee Jung-jae 이정재
‘Me and Me | 사라진 시간' Cho Jin-woong 조진웅
'Space Sweepers | 승리호' Song Joong-ki 송중기

 

Best Actress 여우주연상
‘An Old Lady | 69세' Ye Soo-jung 예수정
'Beasts Clawing at Straws | 지푸라기라도 잡고 싶은 짐승들' Jeon Do-yeon 전도연
'Honest Candidate | 정직한 후보' Ra Mi-ran 라미란
‘Three Sisters | 세자매' Moon So-ri 문소리
'Samjin Company English Class | 삼진그룹 영어토익반' Go Ah-sung 고아성
‘Call | 콜' Jeon Jong-seo 전종서

 

Best Supporting Actor 남우조연상
‘Deliver Us from Evil | 다만 악에서 구하소서' Park Jung-min 박정민
'Steel Rain 2: Summit | 강철비2: 정상회담' Shin Jung-geun 신정근
'Peninsula | 반도' Koo Kyo-hwan 구교환
'Night in Paradise | 낙원의 밤' Cha Seung-won 차승원
'Moving On | 남매의 여름밤' Yang Heung-joo 양흥주
'Steel Rain 2: Summit | 강철비2: 정상회담' Ryu Soo-young 류수영

 

Best Supporting Actress 여우조연상
'Three Sisters | 세자매' Kim Sun-young 김선영
‘Innocence | 결백' Bae Jong-ok 배종옥
'The Day I Died | 내가 죽던 날' Lee Jung-eun 이정은
'Samjin Company English Class | 삼진그룹 영어토익반' Esom 이솜
'Lucky Chan-sil | 찬실이는 복도 많지' Youn Yuh-Jung 윤여정
'Peninsula | 반도' Lee Re 이레

 

Best New Actor 신인남우상
'Peninsula | 반도' Kim Do-yoon 김도윤
'The Singer | 소리꾼' Lee Bong-keun 이봉근
'Innocence | 결백' Hong Gyung 홍경
'Moving on | 남매의 여름밤' Park Seung-jun 박승준
'Move the Grave | 이장' Kwak Min-gyoo 곽민규

 

Best New Actress 신인여우상
'Lucky Chan-sil | 찬실이는 복도 많지' Kang Mal-geum 강말금
'Three Sisters | 세자매' Jang Yoon-ju 장윤주
'Pawn | 담보' Park So-yi 박소이
‘Fighter | 파이터' Lim Sung-mi 임성미
'Moving on | 남매의 여름밤' Choi Jungun 최정운
'More Than Family | 애비규환' Jung Soo-jung 정수정

 

UPDATE: Rescheduled to November (dued to COVID outbreak).

[Helena]

 

 

 

https://www.breaknews.com/sub_read.html?uid=818323

Cha Seung-won X Kim Sung-gyun X Lee Kwang-soo X Kim Hye-jun ‘Sinkhole’, Pleasant, refreshing, exhilarating disaster blockbuster

 

2021/07/05

 

 

▲ Actor Cha Seung-won <PhotoSource=Showbox> ©BreakNews

[Helena]

https://www.soompi.com/article/1478006wpp/cha-seung-won-kim-sung-kyun-lee-kwang-soo-and-kim-hye-joon-talk-about-filming-a-large-scale-disaster-movie
Cha Seung Won, Kim Sung Kyun, Lee Kwang Soo, And Kim Hye Joon Talk About Filming A Large-Scale Disaster Movie

by C. Hong | Jul 5, 2021

 

Cha Seung-won X Kim Hye-jun X Kim Sung-gyun X Lee Kwang-soo ‘Sinkhole’ <PhotoSource=Showbox> ©BreakNews

 

On July 5, the upcoming movie “Sinkhole” held an online press conference with director Kim Ji Hoon and actors Cha Seung Won, Kim Sung Kyun, Lee Kwang Soo, and Kim Hye Joon.

“Sinkhole” is a comedy disaster film starring Kim Sung Kyun as Park Dong Won, a man who has saved up for 11 years to buy his own house only to have it disappear down a sinkhole in less than a minute. Although it is set in a terrifying sinkhole that has opened up in the heart of the city, the movie is about the hopeful stories of survival of ordinary people.

Director Kim Ji Hoon said, “I planned ‘Sinkhole’ after thinking about the questions, ‘What if the floor suddenly gave out in the place you live?’ and ‘What kind of things might happen deep underground in a sinkhole?’ When I did the tower movie, I focused more on the computer graphics and scale of the disaster. This time, the movie was more lighthearted and fun. It’s a disaster movie that is easier for the audience to approach.”

He continued, “There is no single actor who is greater than the teamwork of a great cast. Emotions and acting come from interactions between people, and the ‘Sinkhole’ cast were good at developing their interactions and exchanges of emotions.”

 

▲ Actor Cha Seung-won <PhotoSource=Showbox> ©BreakNews

 

Cha Seung Won co-stars in the film as Jung Man Soo, Park Dong Won’s neighbor and a single father who works three jobs to make ends meet. He also has a special knack of inserting himself where he wasn’t invited. Cha Seung Won said, “There are a lot of computer graphics in disaster films, but considering the director’s last project, ‘Tower,’ there was no reason for me not to join the project. I think that there will be lot of cinematic fun for the viewers in seeing how characters fight to survive in a tragic situation.”

About his character, he said, “He works at a gym, a photography center, and also for a chauffeur service. Just like how he works three jobs, he’s not an easy character to pin down. He is a hardworking breadwinner, but he’s also a chatterbox. He’s got strong survival skills and will do whatever it takes if it’s for his precious son.” He added that the character was quite similar to himself.

 

Spoiler

 

▲ Actor Kim Sung-kyun <PhotoSource=Showbox> ©BreakNews

 

Kim Sung Kyun said, “I could empathize with that despair when the house you’ve waited 11 years for disappears in an instant and everything you’ve treasured inside that house is smashed to pieces. I was drawn to the irony of a man having to fight to escape a house that he’d worked so hard for so long to acquire.”

 

Spoiler

 

▲ Actor Lee Kwang-soo <PhotoSource=Showbox> ©BreakNews

 

Lee Kwang Soo appears in the drama as Deputy Kim, one of Park Dong Won’s colleagues at work, who is at the housewarming party when disaster strikes. His character adds a comedic element as he alternates between desperation and a sense of injustice at the world. “I read the synopsis and asked the director if I could appear in the movie,” he said. “The concept of a sinkhole and people fighting to survive within it felt fresh to me.”

Director Kim Ji Hoon added, “Lee Kwang Soo’s casting was a blessing. He didn’t ever hold himself back and instead immersed himself deeply in the character.”

 

Spoiler

 

▲ Actress Kim Hye-joon ‘Sinkhole’ <PhotoSource=Showbox> ©BreakNews

 

For “Sinkhole,” the production staff built a real physical set that included over 20 buildings. In the movie, Kim Hye Joon plays an intern named Eun Joo, who is also one of Park Dong Won’s colleagues. She said, “I had no idea that I was on set at first. When I learned that the entire city block we were on was a set, I was really shocked.” The director explained, “No matter how good the CGI is, I think that the physical space is a basic foundation for actors.”

“Sinkhole” premieres on August 11. Check out a trailer here!

Source (1) (2)

▲ Cha Seung-won X Kim Sung-kyun X Lee Kwang-soo X Kim Hye-joon ‘Sinkhole’ <PhotoSource=Showbox> ©BreakNews

[Helena]

https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/art/2021/07/398_311639.html
Disaster blockbuster 'Sinkhole' places human story at the center of terrible predicament

By Kwak Yeon-soo | 2021-07-05

 

From left, actors Cha Seung-won, Kim Hye-jun, Kim Sung-kyun and Lee Kwang-soo pose during an online press conference for the film "Sinkhole," Monday. Courtesy of Showbox

Disaster blockbuster "Sinkhole," which blends horror and comedy, tries to locate a human story at the center of a terrible predicament of falling into a massive sinkhole.

Directed by Kim Ji-hoon, who helmed the disaster film "Tower" (2012), "Sinkhole" revolves around Dong-won (Kim Sung-kyun), a hard-working man who fulfills his long-cherished dream of buying a house after 11 years.

On the day he invites his coworkers, including Seung-hyun (Lee Kwang-Soo) and Eun-joo (Kim Hye-jun), to his new house, the entire building falls into a sinkhole. Along with irritating next-door neighbor Man-soo (Cha Seung-won), the group tries to find ways to survive from about 500 meters underground.

"If Tower was a thrilling survival story that takes place in a high-rise building that catches fire, Sinkhole is a more optimistic disaster movie that takes place in an underground setting" director Kim said during an online press conference for the film, Monday. 

The veteran director explained that he tried to depict a situation in which ordinary people suddenly become caught in a disaster. "Instead of focusing on the natural disaster itself, I wanted to show how people deal with the situation and go through it together," he said.

In the film, Man-soo juggles three jobs ― he works as a chauffeur, fitness trainer and photographer ― to provide for his son. Cha said he shares similar characteristics with Man-soo in the way that they are both nosy and talkative.

According to Cha, it was the "team effort" that drew him to the project. "There was that sharing of responsibility, which I have never experienced in my previous works. Each character has his or her unique personality that fits well and complements each another," Cha said 

 

Spoiler

A scene from "Sinkhole" / Courtesy of Showbox

Actor Kim said the harrowing set-up that leaves the characters in a terrible predicament enabled the actors to portray their characters more authentically. 

"The entire set was built from scratch. The director could have used CGI, but he insisted on constructing over 20 buildings to form a massive neighborhood. I feel immense pride in the fact that I acted in such environment," he said. 

Kim revealed it was difficult to portray an ordinary middle-aged man because he has mostly played dark, intense characters in the past. 

Lee, who recently left SBS's variety show "Running Man" to pursue acting, will appear as the "icon of misfortune" in the film. 

"The story's premise was really interesting and I liked how the tone of the disaster movie remains predominantly bright and comedic. It was refreshing to see how the characters think of possible solutions to escape disaster," he said. 

On working alongside Lee, director Kim said he was surprised by how serious Lee was on set. "I initially expected Lee to be a mood setter, who could cheer us up, but he turned out to be a very serious person. I often had to study his face to see if everything was okay," he laughed. 

This film has been invited to this year's Locarno Film Festival, set to be held in Switzerland from Aug. 4 to 14.

"Sinkhole" is set to hit theaters Aug. 11.

 

 

[Helena]

https://www.breaknews.com/sub_read.html?uid=821554
‘Sinkhole’, 2nd trailer released.. Cha Seung-won X Kim Sung-kyun X Lee Kwang-soo X Kim Hye-jun working hard

 

2021/07/19

 

▲ Cha Seung-won X Kim Sung-kyun X Lee Kwang-soo X Kim Hye-jun 'Sinkhole', 2nd trailer released <PhotoSource=Showbox>  ©BreakNews

 

 

 

[Helena]

https://www.breaknews.com/sub_read.html?uid=823035
Cha Seung-won . Kim Sung-kyun . Lee Kwang-soo . Kim Hye-jun Disaster Blockbuster 'Sinkhole', 3rd poster released

 

▲ Cha Seung-won . Kim Sung-kyun . Lee Kwang-soo . Kim Hye-jun disaster blockbuster 'Sinkhole', 3rd poster released <PhotoSource=Showbox> ©BreakNews

 

 

Sinkhole team on SBS POWER FM ‘Cultwo Show 두시탈출 컬투쇼’ [2021-07-27]

Spoiler

 

 

Source: cultwoshow

 

Cr: Showbox

 

[Helena]

https://zapzee.net/2021/07/30/sinkhole-unveiled-4-behind-the-scenes-photos-full-of-actors-delightful-teamwork/
‘Sinkhole’ Unveiled 4 Behind-the-Scenes Photos Full of Actors’ Delightful Teamwork

by krishkim
 

Spoiler

Sinkhole released behind-the-scenes photos that capture the passionate actors and delightful teamwork.

Sinkhole is the new disaster film. It begins when a man’s house, which took him 11 years to obtain, falls into a sinkhole in a minute. In the sinkhole with him are his nosy neighbor Man Soo and his two minions Seung Hyun and Eun Joo. Suddenly fallen 500 meters underground, these four people work together to escape the sinkhole.

The behind-the-scenes photos released today capture the passionate actors, who even dared to cover themselves in the dirt. Cha Seung Won, playing Man Soo, even got buried in a pile of dirt for the scene where he falls from the rooftop. Kim Sung Kyun and Lee Kwang Soo pulled off an action scene involving a taxi without a stunt double. Kim Hye Jun also showcased energetic performance as an intern Eun Joo.

Cha shared, “We felt a lot of pressure as the work involved the scenes that had to be filmed with imagination in a situation that I had never experienced before. But thanks to my co-stars, I got to lessen that pressure.” And the teamwork he mentions is fully shown in the photos. The bright smiles on the actors’ faces show a glimpse into the lively atmosphere of the set despite the challenging scenes.

Meanwhile, Sinkhole will be released on August 11th.

 

Source: Showbox
Translator Kim Hoyeun: If you are a fan of K-drama, K-movie, and K-pop, I am your guy. I will continue to provide you with up-to-date K-entertainment news.

[Helena]

https://www.screendaily.com/news/hybrid-2021-new-york-asian-film-festival-names-centrepiece-closing-films/5162104.article
Hybrid 2021 New York Asian Film Festival names centrepiece, closing films

BY JEREMY KAY | 30 JULY 2021

…..The closing film is the North American premiere of Kim Ji-hoon’s disaster comedy Sinkhole straight from its world premiere at Locarno Film Festival. The South Korean film focuses on a group of people who must pull together in a battle against time and gravity.  The opening film is the in-person-only international premiere of Ryoo Seung-wan’s South Korean action thriller Escape From Mogadishu. More than 70 films will screen at the virtual and in-person NYAFF that runs from August 6-22.

 

 

[Lmangla]

EVENT ALERT! how is the drama hiatus from Olympics treating you? come join in the fun and tell us about your kdrama journey and how it all began. 

 

re: @partyon, @Sleepy Owl, @confusedheart326, @agenth, @Lmangla

[Helena]

[2021-08-02] Sinkhole Press Preview

 

 

Spoiler

 

 

 

 

[2021-08-03] Sinkhole team on MBC FM4U 'Kim Shin-young, Hope Song at Noon'

Spoiler

mbcradio12

 

 

 

https://k-odyssey.com/news/newsview.php?ncode=1065596024650623
(Movie Review) New comedy disaster 'Sinkhole' drags audiences into worst nightmare

2021-08-03

Spoiler

▲ This photo. provided by Showbox, shows actor Cha Seung-won (left) and Kim Sung-kyun (right). (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap) 

 

▲ These photos, provided by Showbox, show scenes from the movie "Sinkhole." (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)

 
SEOUL, Aug. 3 (Yonhap) -- When your hard-earned house plunges deep into the ground, you're not left with a lot of choices. The disaster comedy film "Sinkhole" directed by Kim Ji-hoon, who also is the director of the 2012 thriller-action film "The Tower," portrays the struggle of people who try to climb up the ground after facing this ridiculous situation in the middle of the city.

"Sinkhole" starts off with Dong-won (Kim Sung-kyun), the head of his household who is also finally able to own a house after 11 years, inviting his co-workers to a housewarming party. Manager Kim Seung-hyeon (Lee Kwang-soo) and intern Eun-joo (Kim Hye-joon), who are drunk, decides to spend the night at Dong-won's house. 

The next morning, before Seung-hyeon and Eun-joo have a chance to leave the house, the ground literally collapses. Man-soo (Cha Seung-won), who has been in a quarrel ever since Dong-won moved in, is also stuck in the same situation with his son Seung-tae (Nam Da-reum). The five people have only each other to rely on and work through this problem. 

The upcoming disaster film is based on actual sinkhole catastrophe that is frequently mentioned in the news. However, in "Sinkhole," Dong-won's house located in Cheongwoon Villa, breaks down 500 meters below the ground, showcasing an unprecedented disaster. The severity of this sinkhole is on a whole different level from the slight depression in the ground portrayed in real life. As if a roller coaster is rushing downhill, the scene of the villa being sucked into the ground in an instant, will be visually shocking to the audience. 

Broken windows, walls, and shattered objects surround the collapsed building, which resembles a real-life disaster site. To make the underground space look realistic, the production team created a large rock set and vividly captured the shaking of the building using a gimbal set while also creating an artificial earthquake. 

In addition, the scene where water gradually fills the roof of the building due to heavy rain, instantly creates a tense atmosphere, which is a must for disaster films. Actor Cha Seung-won, who plays one of the main characters, described this elaborate production as "an obvious big-budget movie." 

The actors who put on numerous survival performances have also struggled in real life while filming since they have to drown in mud swamps, spit out soil from their mouths, and barely hold onto a railing at high altitudes while being hit by a waterfall of cold water. In particular, Cha Seung-won and Kim Sung-kyun, who do not spare themselves to protect their respective sons in the movie, are simply devastated in the latter part of the movie. Lee Kwang-soo, Kim Hye-joon, and Nam Da-reum, who repeatedly fall, roll, and yell throughout the movie, are second to none.

Director Kim recently cited the movie's focal point to be the "comedy within disaster." In addition, the movie also contains sympathetic yet relatable reality such as the frustration felt among young people who realize buying a house is almost an unachievable dream, the regret of some people who become aware that buying an apartment instead of a villa was a better choice, or the sorrows of interns who are not respected from their workplace. "Sinkhole" also doesn't forget to bring out the warm emotional scenes after the group suffers from the disaster. 

However, the attempts to induce laughter by portraying awkward situations or the repetitive unexpected situations do not fulfill their duty. Since the isolated space is limited, this movie may come across as a little boring for audiences who expect hard core tension like the disaster comedy "Exit" (2019), which succeeded in making viewers burst into laughter amid the nervous atmosphere when the main characters cross between buildings. 

"Sinkhole" will be showcased for 114 minutes and hit local screens on Aug. 11.  (END)

(C) Yonhap News Agency. All Rights Reserved

 

 

[Helena]

http://www.koreanfilm.or.kr/eng/news/features.jsp?blbdComCd=601013&seq=515&mode=FEATURES_VIEW
Local Summer Blockbusters Line Up after Quiet Start to the Year

by Pierce Conran | Aug 03, 2021

Action, Disaster and Horror to Crowd Theaters

Though the pandemic is already well into its second year, the local film industry was hit particularly hard in 2021, as successive waves of COVID infections soared higher and dragged on longer than last year. The result has been that though local cinemas remained open, the main titles to hit screens have by and large been foreign films, as many international territories have moved to open up their markets.

However, despite Korea enacting the toughened Level 4 social distancing restrictions earlier this summer, local distributors have finally resumed releasing their titles as viewers thirst for local content. The first of them was Showbox, which launched the Thai-Korean co-produced horror film The Medium, produced by Na Hongjin and based on his idea, which managed to briefly unseat Black Widow from the top of the charts and has so far welcomed 800,000 viewers.
 

Now that we’ve reached the high point of summer, when extreme heat and humidity, not to mention school holidays, drive viewers into multiplexes, the rest of the industry is following suit as studios have scheduled some of the biggest tentpoles to be seen in Korean cinemas since summer last year, when Peninsula and DELIVER US FROM EVIL went on release. 

Spoiler

 

Escape from Mogadishu
Release Date : July 28
Cast : Kim Yunseok, Zo Insung, Huh Joonho, Koo Kyohwan
Sales Contact : Lotte Cultureworks
Tel : +82 2 3470 3400 
Fax : +82 2 3470 3549 
Email : international@lotte.net

Four years after his previous blockbuster The Battleship Island (2017), director Ryoo Seungwan returns with another ambitious film, this one shot on location in Morocco. Partially based on real events, Escape from Mogadishu follows South Korean diplomats stationed in Mogadishu, the capital of Somalia, who try to help the Korean president score an invitation for Korea to enter the United Nations. Among the things blocking their path are officials at the North Korean embassy.

However, these political tensions have to go on the back burner when Mogadishu erupts into conflict as rebels look to take over. With diplomats all over the city in peril, the rival Korean embassy workers must become unlikely temporary allies. 

Known for his kinetic hits The Unjust (2011) and Veteran (2015), Ryoo teams for the first time with Kim Yunseok (The Priests, 2015), who plays the South Korean ambassador, and Zo Insung (The King, 2017), who appears as a counselor for the embassy. Meanwhile, the North Korean ambassador is played by Huh Joonho (Default, 2018), while Koo Kyohwan (Peninsula, 2020) plays a lawyer for the North Koreans.

The film was a joint production between Ryoo’s own company Filmmaker R & K, which recently made EXIT (2019), and Dexter Studios, the company behind ASHFALL (2019). Escape from Mogadishu will have its international premiere as the opening film of this year’s New York Asian Film Festival (NYAFF) on August 6.
 

The Cursed: Dead Man’s Prey
Release Date : July 28
Cast : Uhm Jiwon, Jung Jiso
Sales Contact : CJ Entertainment
Tel : +82-2-371-5500 
Fax : +82-2-371-6340 
Email : filmsales@cj.net

After storming theaters with Peninsula last summer, director Yeon Sangho is back in cinemas with a new project he wrote. The Cursed: Dead Man’s Prey, a feature film follow-up to the occult-themed tvN drama series The Cursed, which aired on small screens last year, is directed by Kim Yongwan, who previously made the sports comedy-drama Champion with Don Lee (aka Ma Dongseok) in 2018. Kim returns after having helmed the original series, which was also written by Yeon.

Uhm Jiwon returns as Im Jinhee, a gritty reporter investigating a case involving Forest, a shady corporation with occult ties, with the help of the young girl Sojin (Jung Jiso), who possesses a supernatural ability. In the series, the pair went up against Forest. However, viewers unfamiliar with the series need not fear as this feature-film continuation explores a new story involving a case of serial murders committed by corpses that have been raised from the dead by some unknown foe. Uhm was recently seen in The Silenced (2015) and The Odd Family: Zombie on Sale (2019), while Jung is known for her role as the rich family’s daughter in Parasite (2019).

Sinkhole
Release Date : August 11
Cast : Kim Sungkyun, Cha Seungwon, Lee Kwangsoo
Sales Contact : Showbox
Tel : +82 2 3218 5500 
Fax : +82 2 3444 6688 
Email : sales@showbox.co.kr

The popular disaster genre gets a new entry in August with the release of Sinkhole, the latest film from studio Showbox. From director Kim Jihoon, the disaster film specialist known for the Gwangju Uprising saga May 18 (2007), the creature feature Sector 7 (2011) and inferno drama The Tower (2012), Sinkhole will have its international premiere at a special outdoor gala screening at this year’s Locarno International Film Festival.

Kim Sungkyun leads the film as Dongwon, a hard-working family man who, after slaving away for 11 years, finally succeeds in buying a home for his family. Overjoyed at achieving his dream, Dongwon invites his work colleagues over for a housewarming, but during the party, disaster strikes. Torrential rain weakens the ground beneath their feet, and a gigantic sinkhole appears, swallowing the building whole. Hundreds of meters below ground level, Dongwon, his neighbor Mansu (Cha Seungwon), and the other unfortunate survivors attempt to find their way out. But as rain begins to fill up the sinkhole, they are quickly running out of time.

Spoiler

 

Hostage: Missing Celebrity
Release Date : August 18
Cast : Hwang Jungmin
Sales Contact : Contents Panda
Tel : +82 2 3490 9300 
Fax : +82 2 6902 0286 
Email : webmaster@its-new.co.kr

Box office magnet Hwang Jungmin, who led DELIVER US FROM EVIL last year and is known for major hits such as Ode to My Father (2014), Veteran (2015), A Violent Prosecutor (2016), and The Battleship Island (2017), lends his star persona to the kidnap thriller Hostage: Missing Celebrity, in which he plays himself. In the film, top star Hwang is kidnapped after a film premiere in Seoul. Initially, the star believes it’s a stunt, but when his captors show how serious they are, he begins to realize just how serious a situation he finds himself in. While the kidnappers demand a massive ransom to be paid out within 24 hours, the star attempts to find a way out of his predicament. As he makes his daring escape, he discovers that real action isn’t like it is in the movies.

Hostage: Missing Celebrity is the debut of director Pil Gamsung and is one of two titles this summer from Filmmaker R & K, the production company run by partners Ryoo Seungwan and Kang Hyejung, following Ryoo’s Escape from Mogadishu.

GUIMOON: The Lightless Door
Cast : Kim Kangwoo, Kim Sohye
Release Date : August 18
Sales Contact : Finecut
Tel : +82 2 569 8777 
Fax : +82 2 569 6662 
Email : cineinfo@finecut.co.kr

A janitor goes on a murderous rampage in a training center in the town of Guisari in 1990, and since then, on each anniversary of the brutal event, death or suicide occurs on the grounds, leading the complex to be shuttered for good. Rumors abound of a ‘guimoon’, a door for ghosts, in the building that should anyone enter through, they will never be able to leave the building. In the present, Dojin (Kim Kangwoo), the director of a psychic research institute and the son of a shaman who died during an exorcism ritual at the center, travels to Guisari for answers, as do a trio of students look to film a video about the haunted building.  

GUIMOON: The Lightless Door is the feature-length debut of director Shim Deokgeun, and the project has the distinction of being the first-ever film to be developed simultaneously for 4DX and Screen X, as well as traditional 2D venues. Kim Kangwoo, known for The Taste of Money (2012), leads the cast while Moonlit Winter (2018) actress Kim Sohye appears as one of the students.

 

[Helena]

https://zapzee.net/2021/08/04/sinkhole-to-premiere-at-27th-sarajevo-film-festival/
‘Sinkhole’ to Premiere at 27th Sarajevo Film Festival

by Munjeong Jung

The movie Sinkhole will premiere at the 27th Sarajevo Film Festival.

Recently, Sinkhole has proved its international fame by receiving invitations from the 74th Locarno Film Festival, the 20th New York Asian Film Festival, and the Sarajevo Film Festival.

Sarajevo Film Festival is one of the largest film festivals in Eastern Europe. Previously, Korean movies like Parasite and Beasts Clawing at Straws had the honor to premiere at the event in 2019 and 2020. This time, Sinkhole was listed in “Kinoscope” category, known for selecting films with beautiful footage and cinematography.

Ahead of its screening, an insider shared, “Sinkhole is an eyecatching movie that has great storytelling which draws the viewers into the piece. It is a movie that hits people’s fear of losing their lives. And it is very appealing in the sense that it embodies our generation.”

Sinkhole is a film about an average man’s house, that took 11 years to buy, falling into a sinkhole of 500m. It stars Cha Seung Won, Kim Sung Kyun, Lee Kwang Soo, and Kim Hye Joon.

Source: Showbox

 

—

 

The 27th Sarajevo Film Festival [13-20 August 2021]

https://www.sff.ba/en/news/11530/introducing-the-kinoscope-programme-of-the-27th-sarajevo-film-festival

 Introducing the Kinoscope Programme of the 27th Sarajevo Film Festival

The Sarajevo Film Festival announces this year's Kinoscope programme. The programme will feature 17 films. Also this year, separate parts of the Kinoscope programme will be shown - Kinoscope Real and Kinoscope Surreal.

 

 

Kinoscope is home to international films which propose bold visions, in particular those by emerging filmmakers from around the world. The Kinoscope programme is divided into three sections, corresponding to the times of the day of the first screenings at our beloved Meeting Point cinema. Kinoscope Real, premiering each day at noon, presents documentaries or fiction films that have a particular take on reality. Kinoscope, daily every evening, is dedicated to crossover arthouse films, while Kinoscope Surreal consists of late-night screenings of genre films“, say Mathilde Henrot and Alessandro Raja, Kinoscope Programmers.

 

Kinoscope Surreal

…

SINKHOLE / SING-KEU-HOL
South Korea, 2021, 114 min.
Director: Ji-hoon Kim
Cast: Seoung-won Cha, Sung-kyun Kim, Kwang-soo Lee, Hye-jun Kim
 
Ordinary office worker Dong-won and his family move into a house he has bought after years of saving. Overwhelmed with happiness, he invites his colleagues to a housewarming party, but heavy overnight rain leads to a gigantic sinkhole that, in mere minutes, swallows up the entire apartment complex and the people inside. Hundreds of metres down the hole, Dong-won, his neighbour Man-su, and the unfortunate housewarming party guests must find their way out. Rain starts to pour down, filling the sinkhole with water, giving them very little time to get back to the surface.

…

[Helena]

https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/art/2021/08/689_313365.html
Disaster meets comedy in upcoming film “Sinkhole”

By Lee Gyu-lee | 2021-08-04

From left, actors Lee Kwang-Soo and Kim Hye-jun, director Kim Ji-hoon, actors Kwon So-hyun, Nam Da-reum, Cha Seung-won and Kim Sung-kyun, pose for pictures during a media conference held in Yongsan-gu, central Seoul, Monday. Courtesy of Showbox

The upcoming tentpole, "Sinkhole," about a group of people who fall 500 meters underground, is seeking to set a new paradigm of disaster movies by adding comedy to the genre.

"Combining two different genres didn't come easy. It was a great challenge (for me and the production team) to put light-hearted humor into a disastrous situation," the film's director Kim Ji-hoon said during a media conference held in Yongsan-gu, central Seoul, Monday. 
 

A poster for the film / Courtesy of Showbox

Dong-won (Kim Sung-kyun) is an ordinary father figure, who is the patriarch and breadwinner of his family. He has been working hard towards his goal of owning a house, and his dream finally comes true when he buys his own apartment in a small building after 11 years. 

He is having the time of his life, except for his cat-and-mouse relationship with a nosy, irritating neighbor called Man-soo (Cha Seung-won) after an unpleasant encounter on the day he moved in.

Meanwhile, Dong-won invites his coworkers ― Seung-hyun (Lee Kwang-Soo) and intern Eun-joo (Kim Hye-jun) ― for a housewarming party. But the party soon becomes a catastrophe when the entire building falls down into a massive sinkhole, leaving Dong-won and Man-soo, each with their sons, to come together to survive, along with the coworkers. 

Kim Ji-hoon, who directed the 2012 disaster film, "Tower," which takes place in a 108-story building on fire, said he tried to focus on sharing an optimistic message with his latest film. 

"'Tower' was all about showing a disastrous situation, whereas with 'Sinkhole,' I tried to deliver a hopeful message with a touch of humanity and good humor," he said. "I thought that a sinkhole would be an interesting setting for the film. Because we've never been there, it gave me the creative freedom to add from my imagination."

The film lacks edge-of-the-seat, high-flying action from the survivors compared to previous disaster films. But it fills in this void with comic moments and witty characters, like Seung-hyun and Man-soo. 

The director noted that he wanted the characters to portray normal people who resonate with viewers. 

"The cast members and I discussed a lot about how we, as ordinary people, would try to survive in a disaster if we went through that situation in real life. And I tried to show how they would react and come together as a team to survive without turning against each other," he said. "The cast also helped me a lot by giving me ideas about the comedic scenes."

A scene from the film / Courtesy of Showbox

Man-soo, who is a single father juggling three jobs to raise his son, comes off as a strange character, showing unconvincing hostility towards Dong-won when they first meet. His exaggerated gestures and expressions almost seem obnoxious and trying too hard to force humor onto the audience. 

But as the story goes on, the character settles in and blends with the other co-survivors, after the building sinks into the hole, eventually playing the key figure among the survivors. 

Actor Cha expressed that the fellow cast members helped him to easily get into his role. "The script was very well-written and pretty self-explanatory. I didn't really have to spend too much to study my role, but it was the co-stars that helped me build my character as we created the scenes together," he said. 

Actor Kim Sung-kyun added that the film set, which created a realistic environment down in a sinkhole, helped him play his role. 

"The actor who played my son in the film is actually about the same age as my real sons. As we were thrown into the water and had to go through all those tough scenes together on the set, these scenes made him feel like my real son and helped me to get into the role better," he said. 

The actors said that they hope this movie will offer a good laugh to audiences especially during the tough times of the ongoing pandemic. 

"When we shot the film, we didn't expect it to come out during such a difficult time," Lee said. "If the audience can have a good time with a laugh and a touching moment through our film, I won't hope for anything more."

Cha added, "I hope this film can take your mind off of your burdens during this harsh, stagnant time… a lot of money has been put into this film and you'll be able to see that." 

"Sinkhole" will have its premiere at the Locarno Film Festival, which kicks off Wednesday in Switzerland, and is set to hit local theaters on Aug. 11.

[Helena]

[2021–08-06] Cha Seung-won & Lee Kwang-soo on KBS1 ‘Morning Plaza 아침마당’

https://breaknews.com/825456

 

'Sinkhole' Cha Seung-won X Lee Kwang-soo, 'Morning Plaza' live broadcast special guest appearance <PhotoSource=Showbox> ©Chosun

 

 

[Helena]

https://k-odyssey.com/news/newsview.php?ncode=1065600380791925
Who's the next hit, following 'Mogadishu'... from DC villains to veteran actor Hwang Jung-min

연합뉴스 / 2021-08-07 17:06:11

 

▲ This photo, provided by its distribution company Lotte Entertainment, shows a scene from "Escape from Mogadishu." (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)

 

SEOUL, Aug. 7 (Yonhap) -- While “Escape from Mogadishu,” directed by Ryu Seung-wan, is on top ranks for 2 consecutive weeks, the news of upcoming films’ releases is lightening up the movie theaters.

Foreign movies led by Hollywood stars such as Margot Robbie, Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman are making their way to Korea’s box office and Korean films starring Cha Seoung-won and Hwang Jung-min will greet the audiences. 

Following “The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do it,” horror movies such as “Guimoon: The Lightless Door” and “Malignant” will set out to blow the summer heat away.

 

Spoiler

◇ Cruel but lovely, action film “The Suicide Squad”… “Free Guy”·”Reminiscence”

 

▲ This photo, provided by its distribution company, Warner Bros Korea, shows a scene for "The Suicide Squad." (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)

Released on Aug. 4, DC’s new series “The Suicide Squad” is chasing closely behind “Mogadishu” and is attracting its fans’ anticipation.  With the psychotic clown Harley Quinn (Robbie) who was widely loved from the previous series “Suicide Squad” (2016), as the lead character, DC comics' supervillains such as Bloodsport, Peacemaker and King Shark are depicting cruel but lovely actions.  Director James Gunn, who transferred to DC comics from its rival company, Marvel where he had produced the “Guardians of the Galaxy” series, has taken the megaphone for the new suicide squad episode adding his unique sense of humor. 

▲ These images, provided by each film's distribution companies, Walt Disney and Warner Bros, show (from the left) "Free Guy" and "Reminiscence." (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)

“Free Guy,” starring Ryan Reynolds will release on the 11th of August. Based on a fantasy story-line about a sub-character in a game moving on his own accord like a human, watchers will be able to enjoy its entertaining aspects.  Reynolds who took the role of Guy, a banker wearing beige-colored trousers and a blue shirt, will make the watchers laugh with his sense of humor that he showed in “Dead Pool,” and “Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard” series, in a rather mild way.  The ordinary banker realizes that he is a background character in a game and when notices that the world is in the verge of destruction, he turns into a hero. 

Following two casual action films mentioned above, a serious mystery thriller “Reminiscence” starring Hugh Jackman will be released on the 25th.  The background of the film is a future world where half of a city gets drowned due to the rise of the sea levels. It features a story of a man facing the truth hidden in his past memories while in search of his loved one.  “Inception”and “Mememto” are well-known films based on stories about memories and what made “Reminiscence” more intriguing is that its director is Jonathon Nolan, younger brother of director Christopher Nolan. The mysterious atmosphere and Jackman’s serious expressions seen in the film’s trailer has raised more interest. 

◇ Disaster comedy “SINKHOLE” … Action thriller “Hostage: Missing Celebrity”

Decent Korean films, although not as magnificent as “Mogadishu,” are set to attract audiences. 

▲ These images, provided by each film's distribution company, ShowBox and New, show (from the left) "SINKHOLE" and "Hostage: Missing Celebrity." (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)

“SINKHOLE,” aiming to be a hit disaster comedy like “Exit” (2019), will be released on the 11th of August. The film is about a survival after having one’s hard-earned house plunged into a 500-meter-deep sinkhole. The lead actors, Cha Seoung-won, Kim Sung-kyun and Lee Kwang-soo, will entertain the watchers with their comedic gestures and senses of humor while struggling underground.   Sinkhole is a disaster frequently reported on news but is uncommon in films, adding freshness to the movie. The large scale of the hole that sucks a whole villa provides visual satisfaction. The actors’ passionate actions, while covered in dirt and writhing in the hole filled with heavy rains, is another spectacle for the watchers.

“Hostage: Missing Celebrity,” starring Hwang Jung-min as a kidnapped celebrity will meet the audiences on the 18th. The reality-action thriller features Hwang, attempting escape for his life with his hands and feet tightly bound. For the kidnappers, the film cast skillful rookie actors.  The star actor who used to take roles of a pursuer such as a detective in “Veteran,” a spy for “The Spy Gone North,” and a killer for “Deliver Us From Evil,” will lead the tension of the plot with his realistic acting of helplessly getting dragged away by the abductors.

 

Spoiler

◇ Continuous releases of horror movies… return of director James Wan

 

▲ These images, provided by each film's distribution company, CJ CGV and Warner Bros, show "Guimoon: The Lightless Door" and "Malignant." (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)

Horror films are produced regardless of seasons, but a new attempt was made for this summer season and people are looking forward to the return of director James Wan, dubbed the ‘king of horror.’ 

“Guimoon: The Lightless Door” is the first film in Korea to have attempted planning for Screen X and 4DX running as well as the ordinary 2D version. Screen X, in which the screen expands to the side walls and 4DX ,which adds various effects such as wind, smell, movement to its larger screen, will intensify the film’s scary atmosphere.  In the film, watchers can follow the traces of a psychic Do-jin (Kim Kang-woo) who opens the door of ghosts, named guimoon, to discover the truth of a closed training center where a mass murder had taken place and 3 college students who visits the haunted center for their horror video contest. Although being chased by ghosts in a closed place is rather classic, the startling moments in the film can be frightful. 

On September, Wan, director of the “Conjuring” universe and “Saw,” will unveil his new production, “Malignant”.  It is completely different from the works until now,” said the director who always has given fresh sense of fear to his watchers with new approaches.

 (END)
 

(C) Yonhap News Agency. All Rights Reserved

[Helena]

http://www.bbangyanews.com/news/articleView.html?idxno=4958
"Sinkhole" sold in 13 Asian countries

By Khaing | 2021.08.09 20:39

 

• [BBANGYA NEWS | Reporter Khaing] The film "Sinkhole" reported sales in 13 Asian countries with favorable reviews from local media and audiences at the Locarno International Film Festival.

Photo = Showbox

After "Sinkhole" was released in the Piazza Grande section of Locarno International Film Festival on the 6th (local time), it posted a great success in selling to 13 Asian countries with a heated response.

"Sinkhole," starring Cha Seung-won, Kim Sung-kyun, Lee Kwang-soo, and Kim Hye-joon, is a disaster buster that occurs when one's house, which he prepared for the first time in 11 years, falls into a 500m underground sinkhole. "Sinkhole" was sold to 13 Asian countries including Japan, Singapore, Malaysia, Brunei, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, the Philippines, Indonesia, and Thailand.

The "Sinkhole," which was officially invited to the Piazza Grande section of the 74th Locarno International Film Festival, was officially screened at an outdoor theater located in Piazza Grande Square, the main square representing the festival.

Standing in front of an audience that filled the 8,000-seat outdoor theater, director Kim Ji-hoon said, "It's like a dream to be in Locarno. "Between space travel and Locarno, I will choose Locarno if I have to choose," he said, receiving enthusiastic cheers from the audience.

Director Kim Ji-hoon, who attended the red carpet and "Sinkhole" presentation, also received keen attention from local media, including photo calls and press conferences held prior to the official screening. The Brazilian daily Estadao said, "The sequence of falling into the sinkhole is excellent. "It is a new disaster movie that we met with a combination of comedy and tragedy that deviates from existing grammar."

"Sinkhole" is scheduled to be released in Korea on the 11th.

 

—

 

https://zapzee.net/2021/08/09/lee-kwang-soo-and-cha-seung-wons-movie-sinkhole-sold-to-13-asian-countries/
Lee Kwang Soo and Cha Seung Won’s Movie ‘Sinkhole’ Sold to 13 Asian Countries

by Munjeong Jung

Credit: Showbox

The Korean movie Sinkhole has been sold to 13 Asian countries, receiving positive reviews from local media and audiences at the Locarno International Film Festival.

On August 6th (local time), Sinkhole had been invited to premiere Piazza Grande at Locarno International Film Festival. The Artistic Director of the Locarno Film Festival, Giona A. Nazaro, remarked, “Sinkhole is an intensive film with many elements. It is a great disaster movie comparable to Hollywood blockbusters, with powerful, timely messages and irresistible humor. Director Kim Ji Hoon did such a fantastic job.”

The movie was sold to 13 countries: Japan, Singapore, Malaysia, Brunei, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, the Philippines, Indonesia, and Thailand. 

Furthermore, MovieCloud, a Taiwanese distributor of the film, commented, “Sinkhole is a great movie with beautiful footage and powerful action sequences with a sprinkle of Korean humor. You will be able to enjoy the movie from beginning to end.”

Source: Showbox
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[Locarno Review] ‘Sinkhole’ Is A Silly, Sentimental, Satisfying Comedic Disaster Movie About Man’s Inhumanit–No, It’s About A Really Big Sinkhole

Jessica Kiang | August 6, 2021 1:00 pm

Look, sometimes even the snootiest of cinephiles, with the most obscurantist of cinematic palates (generally well served by the Locarno Film Festival selection), just needs a movie about a massive sinkhole. And when that mood strikes, now there’s Kim Ji-hoon‘s “Sinkhole,” aka “Sing-keu-hol” (pronounced: “Sinkhole”), a modest little social issues drama about a boy from a rural farming community who haha just kidding it’s about a sinkhole. Actually, to be strictly truthful, it’s less about the sinkhole itself – we never truly get a sense of the sinkhole’s motivation, nor the existential conundra it must provoke to actually be a sinkhole, as in how far to sink and what does it mean to be a hole, can absence have presence etc. – than about the people in the sinkhole. But dodge that minor quibble as one might a slab of concrete falling down a sinkhole, and here to meet all your sinkhole movie needs is “Sinkhole,” a film that from here on out is really going to test my abilities to make up new terms that mean sinkhole. 

The sudden concavity, like all great villains, makes a delayed entrance. First off, establishing the film’s breezy, comic throwaway tone in images of tremendous forgettability and blandness, we’re introduced to the endearingly daffy Park family moving to Seoul in a downpour, having just bought their first apartment. “We’re homeowners!” crows enthusiastic dork Park Dong-wan (Kim Sung-kyun) delightedly to his wife, who has a charming habit of high-fiving him for the slightest success. They’re excited about their new apartment, which will mean Dong-wan’s daily commute to his middle-management office job will be much shorter, although they are a little concerned when their cute little boy, who has the distressingly adorable habit of bowing deeply and formally in greeting to everyone he meets, discovers to his delight, that a marble set on the floor will roll toward the window of its own accord. 

Dong-wan also immediately has a run-in with his shambling, insolent neighbor Man-su (Cha Seung-wan), who turns out to be the local jack-of-all-trades so Dong-wan sees him everywhere he turns – at the gym, at the photographer’s studio, when ordering a driver and of course when he calls a building meeting to look into the tilted floor and the mysterious cracks that are appearing all over the place. What could possibly make these two nemeses end up working together? Why, nothing on earth. On the face of the earth, that is. 

Speaking of relationships that need the jumpstart that only a massive, life-threatening subterranean anomaly can provide (a phenomenon known to psychologists as “sinkhole therapy”), Man-su is raising a surly teenage son, Seung-Tae (Nam Dae-reum), who despises his loser Dad right until he proves his latent heroism through the medium of sinkhole. And among Dong-wan’s co-workers, whom he has over for a soju-sozzled housewarming party on the eve of the unexpected underfoot collapse, are Seung-hyeon (Lee Kwang-soo), who is mooning over a co-worker without noticing that the office intern Eun-ju (Kim Hye-ju) is kind of into him. It will take the spontaneous appearance of the unexpected geological dimple, and for the entire five-story building to plummet hundreds of meters into a perfectly round, chronically unstable abyss, and for Eun-ju to superhumanly pronk (which I swear is a real word applied to quadrupeds who jump off all four feet at the same time) over hurtling masonry to grab a coil of hose by which she can save Seung-hyeon from falling off the edge of the wildly listing building, in order for him to notice her pretty eyes. 

The CG around the surprise cave-in isn’t bad but also doesn’t necessarily strike one as good – it’s a bit like playing an old version of a video game whose graphics blew your mind at the time but which has since had a couple of spiffier updates. Still, where it matters – 400m underground, with surface instability and worsening weather making rescue impossible – Kim’s staging of the more intimate mini-disasters that naturally occur due to an entire structure plummeting half a k into a hitherto unknown crevasse, is tense and fluid and comprehensible. Falling taxicabs, cascading hunks of concrete, downed rescue drones, mud that acts like quicksand, collapsing walls, quaking platforms, treacherous lift shafts, rising flood levels and, oh yeah, the sudden arrival of the building next door, all do their bit to further imperil the survivors, including some others trapped throughout the building that the core group doesn’t even find out about until later. Not everyone survives. (In fact, you might not want to parse who lives and who does not for social commentary, as to do so might make you like “Sinkhole” a little less. And that would be a shame because all “Sinkhole” wants is to be liked.) 

While the film is likely to do gangbusters business at home, it is genuinely hard to tell if it will get an international release. Although the appetite for Korean genre movies has never been higher, it’s far from the most distinctive or distinguished commercial export from a country that has produced more than its fair share of genuine genre auteurs. On this evidence, Kim, who was also behind the more straight-faced 2012 disaster movie “The Tower,” is not one of those as yet. But if “Sinkhole” is very far from the apotheosis of gonzo Korean actioners (that title is still held, imho, by Kim Seong-hun‘s “A Hard Day” from 2014), nor has it any of the visual filmmaking flair that we’ve come to expect of Korean exports, it is terribly good-humored, has a corker of a “Yellow Submarine” sequence as a climax, and is not afraid to paint its relationship arcs in the most shamelessly broad of strokes. Which is actually just fine – this is a film about a hole into which stuff gets sunk, yes, but it is also a film about a hole out of which new, unsinkable bonds of comradeship emerge. Meaning that as you leave, the only profundity left for your significantly smoother brain to ponder is: what if the real sinkhole was the friends we made along the way? [B-]