[Movie 2015] INSIDE MEN 내부자들 - Lee Byung Hun, Jo Seung Woo, Baek Yoon Sik

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Thanks to the fan highlight at LBH DC Gallery

Published on December 10, 2015 by Pieces of Work

Inside Men (내부자들) (2015) - Korean Movie Review (English)

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12/12 INSIDE MEN at Number 1 Korean Box Office   

Source: KoBiz   

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12/13 INSIDE MEN at Number 1 Korean Box Office   Source: KoBiz 

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December 14, 2015

'Inside Men' tops box office for 4th weekend

SEOUL, Dec. 14 (Yonhap) -- "Inside Men," a South Korean film about corruption in society, has retained its position atop the box-office chart for the fourth weekend in a row, data showed Monday.

The movie based on a web cartoon series drew 603,022 viewers from Friday to Sunday, with the cumulative total expected to break 6 million later in the day, data by the Korean Film Council showed.

"This is the first movie to have topped the box office for four consecutive weeks this year since 'Veteran,'" said Choi Geun-ha, public relations manager at Showbox, which distributes "Inside Men." "It's particularly impressive for an R-rated movie."

Starring Lee Byung-hun, Cho Seung-woo and Baek Yun-shik, "Inside Men" portrays the sometimes symbiotic, sometimes parasitic relationships between politicians, the press, the wealthy, law enforcement authorities and organized criminals in South Korea.

"In the Heart of the Sea," an American adventure film, has remained in second place, gathering 234,228 moviegoers. The Ron Howard film is based on a non-fiction book of the same name about the sinking of the American whaling ship Essex in 1820, which inspired Herman Melville's novel "Moby richard simmons."

The South Korean animation movie "Pororo 3: Cyber Space Adventure" did well on its opening weekend to place No. 3 with 149,181 viewers.

"The Priests," a domestic exorcism film, sank to fourth place with 134,080 viewers.

A scene from the South Korean movie "Inside Men" (Yonhap) 

sojungpark@yna.co.kr

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December 13, 2015

Korea Box Office: ‘Inside Men’ Tops Chart, Newcomers Open Soft

Sonia Kil Variety.com

Lee Byung-hun in "Inside Men"COURTESY OF SHOWBOX

Local crime drama, “Inside Men” stayed on top of the Korean box office for the fourth weekend. It earned $4.24 million from 603,000 admissions between Friday and Sunday for a cumulative total of $40.5 million from 5.96 million admissions.

“In the Heart of the Sea” remained in second, earning $1.66 million from 234,000 admissions between Friday and Sunday. The whaling drama has made a total of $5.21 million from 728,000 admissions after two weekends on release.

Local animated feature “Pororo3: Cyber Space Adventure” debuted in third, earning $1.03 million between Thursday and Sunday. “Pororo: The Racing Adventure,” the previous feature-length release of the series, scored $1.36 million over four days and finished with $5.78 million in 2012.

Opening on the same day, U.K.-French action thriller “Legend” opened in fifth, making $984,000 over four days.

Local duo “The Priests” and “Love Guide for Dumpees (formerly known as “A Dramatic Night”) slipped to third and sixth, respectively. Occult thriller “Priests” has earned $35.6 million from 5.39 million admissions since its Nov. 5 release. Romantic comedy drama “Dumpees” made $375,000 between Friday and Sunday, for a total of $2.08 million after its second weekend.

“Fathers and Daughters” opened in ninth, earning $308,000 between Thursday and Sunday. It exceeded the total score of director Gabriele Muccino’s 2012 release “Playing for Keeps” ($59,600).

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December 14, 2015

South Korea Box Office: Local Film Stays on Top for Fourth Straight Week

by Lee Hyo-won  THR

Courtesy of Showbox/Mediaplex

Ron Howard's 'In the Heart of the Sea,' starring Chris Hemsworth, remained in the second spot.

Local film Inside Men ruled the South Korean box office for the fourth consecutive weekend for the Dec. 11-Dec. 13 period, accounting for 38.8 percent of the market. In the Heart of the Sea came in second, also maintaining its place from the previous week.

Distributed by Showbox/Mediaplex, Inside Men's market share has tapered off since it took as much as 55.4 percent two weeks ago. Nevertheless, the crime drama starring Terminator Genisys star Lee Byung-hun has earned a cume of $40.31 million.

In the Heart of the Sea, handled by Warner Bros. Korea, ranked No. 2 for the second weekend in a row as it took in 15.1 percent of the revenue, slightly down from the previous week's 17.6 percent. Ron Howard's maritime adventure story starring Chris Hemsworth has so far collected $5.19 million.

Three other films shared the remaining revenue, each taking in 7 percent-9 percent of the market.

Pororo 3: Cyber Space Adventure, featuring a beloved Korean cartoon penguin, debuted in third place. Accounting for 8.7 percent of ticket sales during its opening weekend, the homegrown animated film distributed by NEW grossed $1.02 million.

The opening of Pororo 3 pushed The Priests down one spot to the fourth position. The local mystery drama about a Catholic exorcism trailed close behind the animated film as it accounted for 8.1 percent of ticket sales. Total revenue for the CJ Entertainment title amounts to $35.46 million to date.

The U.K./France film Legend debuted in fifth place, taking 7.1 percent of the market share. Distributed by Isu C&E, the crime thriller starring Tom Hardy grossed $980,743 during its first week in theaters.

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C O N G R A T U L A T I O N S !

12/14 INSIDE MEN at Number 1 Korean Box Office,

surpassing 6 million audience admission!

 

Source: KoBiz 

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December 15, 2015

‘Inside Men’ stays in 1st among weak new releases

Source: INSIDE Korea JoongAng Daily

New releases showed lackluster performances while local political thriller “Inside Men” continued to reign at the box office during the slow second weekend of December. 

Brian Helgeland’s classic British crime thriller “Legend” opened in fifth place with 111,785 ticket admissions, earning 921 million won ($778,000). 

Based on the biography of two notorious gangster twins titled “The Profession of Violence: The Rise and Fall of the Kray Twins,” the film features Tom Hardy playing a double role as the twins. London in the 1950s and ’60s is the backdrop.

Italian director Gabriele Muccino’s heartrending family drama “Fathers and Daughters” opened in ninth place, attracting 28,266 moviegoers and earning roughly 221 million won. 

Amanda Seyfried plays the protagonist Katie, who was raised by an abusive and depressed father (Russell Crowe). The film explores the aftereffects of an early estranged relationship between father and daughter, as Katie struggles to form deep and genuine relationships with others. 

Animations performed strongly at the otherwise quiet box office.

The Korean animated film “Pororo3: Cyber Space Adventure” opened in third place with 149,181 tickets sold, while the Japanese feature “Boruto: Naruto the Movie” attracted 34,467 moviegoers, landing in eighth place.

Woo Min-ho’s webtoon-based movie “Inside Men” maintained its top spot for the fourth consecutive week, amassing a total of nearly six million tickets sold and 5 billion won. It is the second movie this year to stay in first place for four straight weeks after Ryoo Seung-wan’s summer blockbuster “Veteran.”

Riding on the back of this success, an uncut version of the film that lasts for three hours - 50 minutes longer than the original one - will be released on Dec. 31. 

Meanwhile, in the North American box office, “The Hunger Games: Mockingjay ? Part 2’’ marked its fourth straight weekend in first, while Ron Howard’s whaling tale “In the Heart of the Sea’’ capsized. 

It was a quiet weekend at movie theaters there as well. Few studios wanted to push out a new release days before “Star Wars: The Force Awakens’’ lands. That left the final chapter of the “Hunger Games’’ saga to remain No. 1, earning $11.3 million, according to studio estimates Sunday. 

“In the Heart of the Sea,’’ starring Chris Hemsworth, was the only major new release. But its hopes sank with an estimated $11 million despite a production budget of around $100 million. 

In limited release, Adam McKay’s finance farce “The Big Short’’ opened strongly with $720,000 in eight theaters. 

JIN EUN-SOO, AP [jin.eunsoo@joongang.co.kr]

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December 15, 2015

R-Rated Crime Flick Hits 6 Million in Cinema Attendance

Source: The Chosun Ilbo

The crime drama "Inside Men" has attracted over 6 million moviegoers as of Monday, according to the film's distributor Showbox. It is the third R-rated film ever to achieve the feat. 

The flick has topped the local box office for four consecutive weeks since its release on Nov. 19. 

"The Man from Nowhere" in 2010 starring heartthrob Won Bin drew 6.18 million viewers and Hollywood flick "Kingsman: The Secret Service" was seen by 6.13 million viewers when it was released in February this year. 

"Inside Men," starring Cho Seung-woo and Lee Byung-hun, is based on a web cartoon series about corruption and betrayal in the media, judiciary and political worlds. 

The original 3-hour version is scheduled to be released on Dec. 31.

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Source: CGV

Inside Men: The Original, 3-hour uncut movie version to be screened in cinemas on December 31. Different opening and ending. ‪#‎InsideMen‬ ‪#‎LeeByungHun‬ ‪#‎JoSeungWoo‬ ‪#‎BaekYoonSik‬

Published on December 14, 2015 by extmovie_channel

INSIDE MEN: THE ORIGINAL trailer

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Source: Nate

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Source: Maxmovie

Korean Box Office: Inside Men VS Kingsman: The Secret Service

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December 14, 2015

The Best Storyteller of Our Time
Comics Artist YOON Tae-ho's World 

by HA Jung-min / KoBiz

"3.35 million and 4.95 million viewers, and viewing rate of 8.2%." These are the records of films Moss (2010) and Inside Men (2015), and a cable TV series Misaeng, respectively. Given that both films are R-rated and that 5% is considered successful for a cable TV series, the figures are even more impressive. Inside Men has been on top of both the pre-sales chart and box office for 5 consecutive weeks since release, which means an even bigger figure is to come out later on. The only common factor shared by the three products that are different in terms of genres and subject matters is YOON Tae-ho. They are all based on YOON Tae-ho's web cartoons with the same titles.
 
YOON's web cartoons have opened up a new territory in storytelling, with detailed and realistic descriptions of all kinds of human beings in specific groups. As if observing an eco-system, he closely describes and weaves the story, which brings up tension even without particular events. The reality and powerfulness are the very basis of Moss and Inside Men.
 
Comics Artist Conquers the Internet

Though widely known as a web cartoonist, YOON began his career as a cartoonist on paper format and it now has been 22 years since he debuted. He drew cartoons since he was very little. He grew up in a rather humble environment, and there was a time where he was even homeless but still went to private cartoon lessons. He struggled and managed to enter the professional industry by joining HUH Young-man, who is one of the greatest comics artists in Korea, as an apprentice in 1988. He made his debut in 1993 with Emergency Landing on comics magazine Monthly Jump.
 
It was since YAHOO (1998) that YOON clearly revealed his proper traits as a comics artist such as carefully depicted characters and powerful drawing style, and most notably, questions on the power and the social structure of his time.
 
YOON realized by his first work that his weakness lied in his poor narrative. He tried to make up for it by transcribing soap opera scripts and reading books on scenario writing, seriously learning the art of storytelling. And YAHOO was the result. With sci-fi elements added to a historic event, YAHOO centered around the collapse of Sampoong Department Store in 1995, and was rewarded with the Comics Award by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism.
 
After proving his presence to the comics industry with YAHOO, YOON was re-recognized by Romance that depicted the elderly in 2001. Romance humorously and poignantly dealt with the senior generation which was not often discussed in comics. 
 
Into the 21st century, the world changed fast and the comics industry also went through a big transformation - the main stage for comics is not paper anymore but the Internet. Instead of turning paper pages, readers scroll down on computer monitors and such change required web cartoon artists to innovate everything from the narrative, structure, subject matter and drawing style. YOON, who had always pursued contemporariness, readily moved onto web cartoon. Soon he has become a leading web cartoon artist with Moss, the winner of the Best Comics Award in 2007.
 
Moss is a thriller set in the countryside. The story begins when divorced and fired RYOO Hae-gook visits the hometown of his father to attend his funeral, who had cut off the relationship with his son for a long time. Despite their humble appearances, the villagers' eyes are spooky and disturbing. From their uneasy atmosphere, Hae-gook detects a very high tension and understands intuitively that there is something suspicious going on in the village.
 
Moss reaches a very high level of generic success with a savage-like drawing style and aptly arranged story that fit the computer monitor environment. However, what truly makes an overwhelming suspense is his character description, from a very close observation that feels like one taken thoroughly under the skin at an autopsy session. The almighty village leader and the villagers who commit violence without any trace of guilt remind us of the dictators and their followers that we have actually witnessed in modern Korean history. With the story, characters and the genre all in tune, Moss was turned into a film by KANG Woo-suk in 2010 and made a huge success.
 
Beyond Comics, onto the Screen

The heyday of YOON triggered by Moss hits the top with Misaeng: Incomplete Life. He spent whole three years just for preparation when a publisher proposed him for a cartoon on baduk (go). Misaeng is therefore a combination of baduk and office life.
 
Misaeng illustrates series of episodes that JANG Geu-rae, a once-baduk prodigy who ended up not becoming a professional player, experiences at his workplace, a trade company called One International. YOON neither glorifies nor tragedizes this young temporary employee’s struggle. Instead, YOON fills the story with events and mistakes that anyone who has ever experienced employment would sympathize with, because those ordinary trifles are the real crisis of our life. 
 
TV drama Misaeng reenacted the atmosphere of the original work through a great adaptation and camera work, and created a huge "Misaeng syndrome." Web cartoon Misaeng received the President's Prize in the Korean Contents Award in the comics section.
 
Inside Men once again proves that YOON is among the best storytellers of our time. It is a hard boiled crime story featuring people at the closest proximity to the power in Korea. The characters are already very powerful: a newspaper opinion writer who is also a “kingmaker” manipulating the politics; a conglomerate who supports corrupt politicians; political hoodlums who engage in bloody fights for those in power; and a prosecutor who is an ex-cop. Their conspiracy, betrayal, corruption, revenge and reversal ceaselessly take place incessantly.
 
Inside Men catches readers' attention from the beginning with its superb characters and narrative, and film adaptation was already decided even before the web cartoon was actually completed. The film version of Inside Men has hit the no. 1 place in the box office, making a new record for an R-rated movie.
 
Recently YOON has completed another web cartoon called Pah-in: The Greedy Bastards, featuring smugglers and is now serializing Misaeng season 2. JANG and his colleagues, who separated in the first season, now meet in adversary power dynamics. YOON has become one of the nation's leading comics artists with his outstanding ability of storytelling, character design, and serious message delivery. It is not only the comics readers who can't wait for his next works.

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12/15 INSIDE MEN at Number 1 Korean Box Office 

Source: KoBiz   

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December 15, 2015

Domestic films outperform expectations in Nov.

SEOUL, Dec. 15 (Yonhap) -- Domestic films have far beaten expectations in the typically slow movie month of November, with nearly seven out of 10 movie-goers having watched South Korean movies in that period, data showed Tuesday.

November remained a tepid month -- only about 15.3 million people went to movie theaters, up 0.6 percent from the same month last year, according to data by the Korean Film Council. That generated 119.5 billion won (US$101.2 million) in revenue, up just 0.8 percent.

But 69.5 percent of movie-goers watched domestic films in a rare success for South Korean filmmakers. Revenues for domestic movies jumped 57.3 billion won on-year to 81.6 billion won.

Six out of the 10 highest-grossing films in November were directed by South Koreans, the data also showed.

"The Priests," a South Korean exorcism film, was at the forefront, drawing 4.9 million viewers. Starring Kang Dong-won, the Jang Jae-hyun feature follows a Catholic priest and a deacon who perform an exorcism to save a girl possessed by an evil spirit.

"Inside Men," a local movie about society-wide corruption, followed with 3.7 million people.

"Spectre," the 25th installment in the James Bond franchise, settled with 1.8 million. "The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2" trailed with 690,000.

sojungpark@yna.co.kr

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December 16, 2015

‘Inside Men’ breaks ‘Kingsman’ record

(Showbox)

Korean noir film “Inside Men” broke domestic records set by British film “Kingsman (2015)” as the fastest climbing R-rated film, according to the data released by Korean Film Council.

The film, about the tug-of-war between the corrupt forces behind Korea’s politics and media, displays uncensored violence and obscenity and raked in over 6 million moviegoers in the shortest span of time in Korean movie industry’s history -- 26 days.

On Monday, “Inside Men” hopped over the 6 million mark and the next day ran past the record 6,129,681 of “Kingsman: The Secret Service.” 

A 50-minute expanded director’s edition “Inside Men: The Original” will open in cinemas on Dec. 31. 

By Lim Jeong-yeo (kaylalim@heraldcorp.com)

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As expected, two major new Korean movie releases have taken the two top spots. Our Inside Men now at number 3. Tomorrow when Star Wars: The Force Awakens premieres, Inside Men will drop another spot to number 4 but it is ok. Four weeks at Number 1 is no small feat. that  Inside Men has been selected the best R-Rated blockbuster for 2015, not to mention the various new records set by the movie and it's definitely not the end, yet. It's still going strong at the Korean box office. Despite the strong December holiday movies, there is still a good chance that moviegoers may return to watch Inside Men again. Moreover, the release of the uncut version at the end of the year.

12/16 INSIDE MEN, YOU DID WELL! KEEP FIGHTING!  Source: KoBiz 

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December 16, 2015

Inside Men continues reign in South Korea

By Kevin Ma FilmBiz Asia

Box Office News

Inside Men 내부자들 topped the South Korea box office for the third consecutive weekend, ahead of the release of three major year-end blockbusters.

With a week-on-week decline of 25.1%, Inside Men earned ₩5.01 billion (US$4.22 million) from 602,000 admissions between Friday and Sunday. The crime drama — which accounted for 38.8% of total revenue for the weekend – has made ₩47.8 billion (US$40.2 million) from 5.96 million admissions.

The Showbox Corp 쇼박스 release will surpass Northern Limit Line 연평해전 this week to become the fourth highest grossing local film of the year.

In the Heart of the Sea remains at second place, earning ₩1.96 billion (US$1.65 million) from 234,000 admissions between Friday and Sunday. The Ron HOWARD film has made ₩6.15 billion (US$5.18 million) from 728,000 admissions, making South Korea the highest-grossing international territory for the period adventure so far.

Local animated film Pororo, Cyberspace Adventure 뽀로로 극장판 컴퓨터 왕국 대모험 (pictured) is the top new local film, earning ₩1.21 billion (US$1.02 million) from 162,000 admissions from 544 screens over four days. In January 2013, Pororo: The Racing Adventure 3D 뽀로로 극장판 슈퍼썰매 대모험 (2013) earned ₩6.82 billion (US$5.74 million) from 930,000 admissions during its theatrical run.

British gangster drama Legend opened in fifth place, earning ₩1.16 billion (US$978,000) from 144,000 admissions over four days.

The Priests 검은 사제들 has made ₩42.0 billion (US$35.4 million) from 5.39 million admissions. Love Guide for Dumpees 극적인 하룻밤 has earned ₩2.46 billion (US$2.07 million) from 301,000 admissions. You Call It Passion 열정 같은 소리 하고 있네 has made ₩4.66 billion (US$3.92 million) from 639,000 admissions.

Star Wars: The Force Awakens, The Tiger 대호 | 大虎 and The Himalayas 히말라야 open this week. Star Wars is currently leading pre-sales with a 36.8% sales share. Himalayas and The Tiger are at 13.4% and 9.2% respectively.

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A little late finding this article to share as right now 'Inside Men' (6.19M) already broken the record by 'The Man From Nowhere' (6.18M), topping the official list of best R-rated Korean movies

December 14, 2015

R-rated, Yet 5 Million Admissions
Box Office Record of R-rated Movies, Seen with INSIDE MEN

by KIM Hyun-jung / KoBiz

  

Inside Men marches on to make new records since its release on November 19th. It already attracted 1 million viewers in just 3 days upon release, breaking the record of the shortest time to reach 1 million admissions among the R-rated movies.
 
Its box office success kept going on. Inside Men accommodated 490,000 viewers in just one single day on November 21st, breaking the record held by Tazza-The Hidden Card (2014) of the biggest one day audience of 475,000 among the R-rated movies. During the first week of release, Inside Men reached the best first week score among the R-rated movies with 1.6 million admissions. The previous record was 1.5 million held by A Frozen Flower (2008).
 
The march did not stop there. Inside Men reached 4 million viewers on December 2nd, in just 14 days since release, which is at least 10 days faster than The Man From Nowhere (2010) and Kingsman: The Secret Service (2014). On December 7th, this film finally reached 5.01 million viewers, defeating New World (2013, 4.68 million admissions) and Nameless Gangster : Rules of the Time (2012, 4.72 million admissions), now with just The Chaser (2008, 5.04 million admissions) ahead.
 
So far, Inside Men has broken all the shortest time records to reach 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 million viewers among all the R-rated movies released in Korea.
 
The biggest box office record among the R-rated movies is Friend (2001, 8.18 million admissions) but it is not an official record observed by Korean Film Council (KOFIC). Since official counting has been made possible, the number one place is occupied by The Man From Nowhere of 6.18 million viewers, followed by Kingsman: The Secret Service of 6.13 million at the second place, and Tazza: the High Rollers (2006, 5.68 million viewers) and The Chaser at the 3rd and 4th places respectively.
 
So, what would be the limit for Inside Men? It may be time for The Chaser to step down the throne.

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A bit surprised that Star Wars didn't open in first place despite the rave updates before. Shows that nothing is certain with the box office, anything can go well or go wrong. Inside Men is down to number 4 and with lesser ticket reserve but the audience admission is still gaining and going up. Up. Up.

12/17   INSIDE MEN, DOING WELL! KEEP FIGHTING!  Source: KoBiz