[Movie 2019-2020] Ashfall / Baekdusan, 백두산 - No Option For Failure

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December 25, 2019

 

Interview with Lee Byung Hun (a translation) 

 

 

 

“The movie scene is magnificent and the shock-grade special effects are comparable to Hollywood blockbusters.” Lee Byung Hun, the star of “Ashfall” released on December 19th,  said at an interview in a Seoul coffee shop.    

 

Before deciding to accept the role, Lee Byung Hun said he received an invitation call from Ha Jung Woo.  Therefore, he had deep interest in playing.  He said, as the work has features of a buddy movie, he very much looked forward to the collaboration. 

 

Power actors:  Lee Byung Hun, Ha Jung Woo. Ma Dong Seok, starring in “Ashfall” tells the story of the joint efforts of South and North Korea in the rescue and relief after the eruption of Baekdusan.   This was the first time that Lee had challenged the role of a North Korean agent, who was arrested and jailed for spying in South Korea.  He later stopped the eruption with a South Korean blasting expert played by Ha Jung Woo.   The spark created by these two best actors was highly anticipated. 

 

Lee Byung Hun’s performance in the entire movie is eye catching, showing multi-faceted acting.  On one hand, he can suddenly looked cold amidst laughter and on the other, showed strong fatherly love in front of his daughter.  Furthermore, he could switch easily between a North Korean accent and a Jeolla-do dialact.  Lee’s  assessment of the role is somewhere between sleek and calm, perfect and negligent, it is difficult to generalize. 

 

Lee also created a lot of "abbreviations" in the movie, and with Ha Jung Woo showed a sense of humour full of tacit cooperation.  He said unlike the characters in “Masquerade” and “Inside Men”, he wanted to show a happy side to his audience.  In his first collaboration with Ha Hung Woo, he praised praised him for his explosiveness and quick-witted resourcefulness. 

 

With respect to Jeon Do Yeon’s guest appearance, Lee Byung Hun said he was worried that Jeon Do Yeon’s influence would be too strong and would hinder the audience emotional input.   However, once they have collaborated, he wished their collaboration would continue.  When he spoke about his regrets for the movie, Lee said that as the post-production schedule is tight, it is regrettable that many wonderful shots were deleted.

 

As far as his personal acting skills are concerned, Lee said modestly that he still did not know much about acting. He was always questioning himself.  He would be happy all day for performing well and frustrated all day if he did poorly.  Lee said he thought the public would look forward to his comedy or action skills but very unexpectedly the audience felt that I had brought the character alive because of some kind of lack of compassion.

 

Lee Byung Hun who made headway into Hollywood with films such as 'G.I. Joe,' said due to overlapping schedules, he will appear in more Korean works in the next two years.  As for the movie “The Man Standing Next” which will be released next month, he said the release of two movies  starring the same person may not be a good thing for the audience but the images of the characters in the two works are completely different.

 

Source : https://cn.yna.co.kr/view/ACK20191219003600881

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 2019.12.24 ASHFALL at # 1 Korean Box Office with 3.2 million audience admission  Source: KoBiz

 

   

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December 25, 2019

 

Viewers of "Ashfall" surpassed 4 Million.    Congratulations 

 

 

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Source: Encore Films (Singapore)

 

Great reviews for Ashfall all round from those who attended the premiere yesterday!

From the makers of Along With The Gods, comes Ashfall, the biggest Korean disaster blockbuster ever! Staring Lee Byung Hun, Ha Jung Woo, Ma Dong Seok a.k.a. Don Lee, Jeon Hye Jin, Bae Su Zy!

 

Due to popular demand, Ashfall will now sneak on New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day!

 

 

 

 

Spoiler

 

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Source: Encore Films

 

In just 7 days, admissions for Ashfall has hit 4,000,000 in Korea!

 

Ashfall, the biggest Korean disaster blockbuster ever! Starring Lee Byung Hun, Ha Jung Woo, Ma Dong Seok a.k.a. Don Lee, Jeon Hye Jin, Bae Su Zy!

 

Fantastic reviews from those who have watched the film! “10/10 would recommend!” “Thrilling but also funny at the same time. A movie that will touch your heart as it makes you laugh. A movie full of emotions. Great acting too!” “Level of intensity is almost similar to Train to Busan!!!” Due to popular demand, Ashfall will now sneak on New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day!

 

 

December 24, 2019

With their overwhelming and massive scale, Korean Movie 'Ashfall' continues to top the box office.
   

Source: Naver via Story Kpop

 

Netizen comments :

(+159,-15) Lee Byunghun, the devil's genius.. His acting is no joke.

(+89,-10) Cutie ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ Cho Jiyoung ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

(+106,-43) Ashfall Ma Dongseok Suzy Bus scene is funny.ㅋㅋㅋ

(+139,-97) I saw Ashfall yesterday and it was so fun.

(+35,-17) I really enjoying Ashfall.

(+16,-3) Lee Byunghun is really good at acting.

 

December 20, 2019

'Their acting really good,' Ha Jungwoo and Lee Byunghun talks about their new movie 'Ashfall' in the new interview.

Source: Naver via StoryKpop

 

Netizens comments:

(+260,-14) The acting of Lee Byunghun is like the top of nation .

(+162,-7) I just came out and saw it, and Lee Byunghun acting iz the best... I thought actor Ha Jungwoo was good at acting, but actor Lee Byunghun is just really good at acting.

(+69,-3) Lee Byunghun acting is the best!

(+58,-2) Ha Jungwoo's voice is so good. Honey voice.

(+66,-14) Suzy was naturally good. Lee Byunghun and Ha Jungwoo, not to mention their acting. It's amazing . ㅠㅠ

(+41,-1) Lee Byunghun's acting was great. He speaks North Korean too.

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2019.12.25 ASHFALL at # 1 Korean Box Office with 4.1 million audience admission  Source: KoBiz

 

December 26, 2019

 

“Ashfall” Surpasses 4 Million Moviegoers At The Box Office

Source: Soompi by C. Hong

 

 

“Ashfall” has surpassed 4 million moviegoers at the box office in an impressive amount of time!

 

“Ashfall” is a disaster film that tells the story of a group of people struggling to prevent a catastrophic eruption of a volcano on Mount Baekdu that threatens the survival of both North and South Korea. It stars Ha Jung Woo, Lee Byung Hun, Jeon Hye Jin, Suzy, and Ma Dong Seok.

 

The film has held the top spot at the box office for two consecutive weeks since its release. It achieved 1 million moviegoers on its third day, 2 million on its fourth day, and 3 million on its sixth day. On December 25, around 3:17 p.m. KST, it surpassed 4 million moviegoers, achieving the milestone within seven days of its release.

 

This is an impressive record, beating out the times it took for “Extreme Job” (8 days), “The Thieves” (8 days) “Veteran” (9 days), and “Ode to My Father” (12 days) to reach the same milestone.

 

Congratulations to the cast and crew of “Ashfall!”

 

Source (1)

 

Want to meet the team 'Baekdusan' again ?!

Tickets GO CGV: https://bit.ly/2rrgA3M

Lotte Cinema: http://bit.ly/31aS6Y3

Megabox: https://bit.ly/2sftimd 

 

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Source: The Seoul Story

 

Photos: CJ Entertainment

 

 

 

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December 26, 2019

 

Facing disaster, a few too many laughs: Though ‘Ashfall’ has star power, it fails to break away from cliche

 

Source: INSIDE Korea JoongAng Daily

 

Local blockbuster “Ashfall” was released in theaters last week with a great deal of anticipation from local audiences, but the film turned out to be more of an untimely buddy film between North and South Korean agents. [CJ ENTERTAINMENT]

One of the most important factors of a good film about natural disasters or apocalyptic situations lies in creating convincing motives for the characters’ survival.

 

Other elements, such as the validity of their sacrifices or how the disasters happen, are up to the actors and scriptwriters to stretch peoples’ imaginations and have it play out on screen.

 

In that sense, the local blockbuster “Ashfall” failed spectacularly to convince audiences why the main characters needed to survive, instead relying on the rapport between the film’s two stars - Ha Jung-woo and Lee Byung-hun - to provide laughs and keep the story moving. Ha plays Jo In-chang and Lee plays Lee Jun-pyung.

 

The film poses an interesting question - what would happen to the Korean Peninsula if the dormant volcano Mount Paektu erupts again?

 

The exciting first 10 minutes or so may trick audiences into believing that this will be a good film. The movie’s co-directors, Lee Hae-jun and Kim Byung-seo, said at a press conference that it took them 10 different takes to shoot the five-minute-long scene that takes place in the streets around Gangnam station in southern Seoul, and I applaud them for their effort.

 

The computer-generated imagery (CGI) technology vividly shows how the earthquake begins to destroy one of the country’s most recognizable areas, and Jo escapes while the ground is breaking apart beneath him. The vividness and reality of the event was enough to immediately hook audiences on to the magnitude of the catastrophe.

 

However, their second attempt to film in a familiar location turned out to be just a ruse to show off their advanced CGI technology. In the scene, a pregnant Choi Ji-young (played by Bae Suzy) is stuck in her car while a large wave from the Han River is about to hit the bridge. The next scene immediately shows that she escaped as she resurfaces from the water.

 

Even if Choi knew how to swim, it still seems like an impossible task for a pregnant woman close to giving birth to escape a sinking car that she couldn’t get out of even on land.

 

I also had to prevent myself from rolling my eyes when Bae first appeared in the film with a large belly. I understand that making Jo’s wife pregnant gives him more motivation to make it back to Seoul alive to see his loved ones, but I don’t understand why Bae was cast in the role.

 

The youthfulness of Bae is highlighted in the brief scenes when Ha and Bae show up together. I winced at the scenes where they appear together because of their obvious age gap (16 years) that could not be covered up by the actors’ superb performances. Next to Bae, Ha looks awkward.

 

What the film fails at most of all is setting a motivation for the characters to act the way that they do. Instead, the movie focuses too much on the humor between the characters Jo and Lee.

 

Lee is also set as a lonely figure whose paternal love inspires him to sacrifice himself to save the nation. The movie’s biggest cameo, Jeon Do-yeon, gives off a breathtaking performance as Lee’s charismatic wife that I became curious for the first time to find out more about their story, but that ends abruptly when Jo and Lee are whisked away for their mission and I slumped back in my seat, feeling bored again.

 

Spoiler

 

I don’t understand why the directors chose to focus on comedy during a natural disaster film. Throughout their mission to stop the volcano from erupting again, Lee and Jo continue to bicker with each other, and I suppose the comical elements were added to balance out the seriousness of the situation.

 

But the constant jokes and bickering were out of line when the fate of the peninsula lies on the shoulders of the two characters.

 

At the film’s press conference, Ha said that he was attracted to the script because the characters found humor even at the brink of a calamity. But I thought that there were too many laughs and the comedy was untimely, merely a tool that the directors seemed to be obsessed with.

 

I also don’t understand how Lee and Jo began to trust one another in the midst of their squabbles, but suddenly, seemingly out of nowhere, it’s them versus the rest of the world.

 

As the story nears the end, more and more the film seems to be a repeat of cliches commonly found in films about natural disasters: the sacrifice of a lonely hero and a survivor who still manages to get a happy ending with his family.

 

All in all, the directors failed to use the good ingredients they had at their disposal - veteran actors and an interesting plot - to cook up a good story. I don’t know why the directors bothered to include stars such as Jeon Hye-jin, Ma Dong-seok and Bae when their characters are not very important to the story. If the film was going to stick to the predictable theme of familial love, it should have at least had a more interesting story instead of only focusing on the developing buddy relationship between the two agents.

 

The film currently sits atop the local box office, having sold more than four million tickets in a week since its release. But perhaps the film’s commercial success is largely influenced by its monopolization of movie screens - it was shown in more than 1,900 screens during its first week in theaters and the film is currently being screened in more than 1,500 screens. Compared to the ruckus caused over the dominance of “Frozen 2” at local theaters, the local film industry seems to be relatively subdued in the case of a domestic film.

 

BY LEE JAE-LIM [lee.jaelim@joongang.co.kr]

 

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Source: I D Y HO YEE MEI @idyidyhoho

Hong Kong’s newspaper! Ashfall got 3 million people who watch for now

 

 

Source: 갓수지 (Suzy) ~ Emma@foreverbaesuzyy

Korean media posted about Ashfall's success in Taiwan. 

[TRANS] "Exceeding 4 million audience, going beyond Korea and has captured Taiwan !!"

 

 

After-Christmas treats, LBH X HJW behind the scenes 

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Source: suzybz

 

ETtoday: Ashfall 1st day ticketing in Taiwan beats Parasite! Rave reviews online: CGI surpass Along With The Gods

Photos: awesome_hyeminee

 

ASHFALL gift sets given to fans during the stage greet & meet events

 

CGV 4DX screening blitz open! BAEKDUSAN How to enjoy yourself 

Booking: https://bit.ly/2rrgA3M

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ASHFALL Cute Art

 

Source: luvszy

 

Source: @KDrama555

 

Indeed.. the Chemistry is Good & Strong..

 

Clip: HIGH CUT

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2019.12.26 ASHFALL at # 1 Korean Box Office with 4.5 million audience admission 

Source: KoBiz

 

December 27, 2019

 

Christmas moviegoers set a record

 

Source: INSIDE Korea JoongAng Daily

Theaters in Korea saw more than 2 million people on Christmas Day, the largest turnout of the year.

 

According to the Korean Film Council, a total of 2,010,756 people went to see movies on Christmas Day, which was by far the largest number of theatergoers on single day in 2019.

 

On Christmas Day in 2018, around 1.9 million people went to local theaters and around 2.03 million people saw movies on Christmas Day in 2017.

 

The top-selling movie on Wednesday was local blockbuster “Ashfall” starring Lee Byung-hun, Ha Jung-woo, Ma Dong-seok, Bae Suzy and Jeon Hye-jin. The film tells the story of North and South Korean agents trying to respond to the volcanic eruption of Mount Paektu. It drew approximately 936,400 moviegoers to theaters over the course of the day.

 

“Cats” came in second with around 312,500 viewers, followed by “Start-up,” also staring Ma, and “Frozen 2.”

 

By Esther Chung

 

'Ashfall,' 'Cats' Have Strong Openings at Box Office

 

Source: The ChosunIlbo
 

Actor Lee Byung-hun's latest film "Ashfall" drew over 4 million viewers in about a week after its release on Dec. 19.

According to the Korean Film Council, the volcano disaster film attracted 4.18 million moviegoers as of Wednesday. The star-studded film featuring Ha Jung-woo and Su-zy depicts a group of people who try to stop a volcanic eruption of Mt. Baekdu in North Korea.

 

Meanwhile, Tom Hooper's cinematic adaption of "Cats," based on the Broadway show of the same name -- one of the longest-running shows ever -- attracted over 180,000 moviegoers on Christmas Eve.

 

It broke the previous records set by "Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again" in 2018 and "La La Land" in 2016, which drew over 145,000 and 62,000 moviegoers respectively on the first day of release.

 

"Cats" tells the story of a tribe of cats.

 

Source: CJ Entertainment

 

Seeing alone or together, BAEKDUSAN.

Reviews by audience. 

Still haven't seen it? Ticket GO

CGV: https://bit.ly/2rrgA3M 

Lotte Cinema: http://bit.ly/31aS6Y3

Megabox: https://bit.ly/2sftimd

 

 

 

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Moviegoers feedback clip: Encore Films

 

Over 600 guests attended the ASHFALL Singapore Premiere on Monday and they simply loved the movie! Superb reviews all round! Let’s hear what they shared about ASHFALL.

 

From the producers of Along With The Gods, comes the biggest Korean blockbuster ever! Starring Lee Byung Hun, Ha Jung Woo, Ma Dong Seok a.k.a. Don Lee, Jeon Hye Jin, Bae Su Zy!

 

Thrilling throughout with cleverly written scenes that will touch your heart and make you laugh, coupled with amazing graphics and top-notch acting. Ashfall is a movie that is sure to keep you on the edge of your seat!

 

Record-breaking box office and admission results in Korea in just one week! Incredible reception in Taiwan and Hong Kong too!

 

 

Source: CJ Entertainment

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December 24, 2019

 

ASHFALL Erupts in Powerful Opening
Solid Debut for START-UP in 2nd

 

by Pierce Conran KOFIC

 

 

As a pair of major local titles entered the charts, business shot up 75% week-on-week as 3.6 million admissions were registered during the penultimate weekend of the year. Korean films improved greatly on the charts, with the local share rising from 7 to 84%.

 

Claiming first place this week was the local industry’s most expensive production of 2019, the disaster action-drama ASHFALL, which reportedly cost KRW 27 billion (USD 23.29 million) to produce. Starring LEE Byung-hun, HA Jung-woo, Don LEE, JEON Hye-jin and BAE Suzy, the film was no slouch in its opening, recording 2 million entries (USD 15.17 million) over the three-day frame and a total 2.46 million sales (USD 18.3 million) since its Thursday debut. Initial reactions to the film have been lukewarm but this has yet to impact its run in theatres and reservations remain strong.

 

Box office magnet Don LEE performed a one-two punch over the weekend, as he also headlines the comedy-drama START-UP, which co-stars PARK Jung-min. The webtoon adaptation scored a healthy 718,000 sales (USD 5.47 million) over the weekend with 1.14 million entries (USD 8.33 million) counted over its first five days. The film has enjoyed a positive response and is well-positioned to play well throughout the end of year season. 

 

Finally ceding its pole position to the competition was Disney’s Frozen 2 which thawed 61% in its fifth weekend, which counted another 349,000 sales (USD 2.6 million). With 12.74 million admissions (USD 91.72 million) to date, the film has now overtaken Assassination (2015) and finds itself at 11th place on the all-time charts. Over the coming days it should also overtake Miracle in Cell No.7 (2013) and The Thieves (2012).

 

Local animated film The Haunted House: Sky Goblin, The Great Jormungandr entered the charts at number four with 290,000 tickets (USD 2 million) sold over the weekend and 316,000 seats (USD 2.17 million) filled over its first four days.

 

Closing out the top five was the Hollywood racing drama Ford V Ferrari which decelerated 69% as it cleared another 76,000 admissions (USD 595,000), raising its total to 1.07 million sales (USD 8.09 million).

 

While ASHFALL and START-UP have plenty of space to bring in big crowds for the last weekend of the year, a pair a major titles are preparing their own assaults on the charts. Despite scoring a flop debut in its native market, Hollywood musical Cats is poised for a sensational opening in Korea and is currently second on the reservations chart. Also opening will be the local historical drama Forbidden Dream from director HUR Jin-ho, which stars HAN Suk-kyu and CHOI Min-shik.

 

Photos: CJ Entertainment

 

Tension explosion

Reverse explosion

Carbonic acid explosion

BAEKDUSAN Best Scenes!

 

 

 

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December 26, 2019

 

"Ashfall" Leads Box Office on Christmas Day

 

By William Schwartz on HanCinema.net

 

"Ashfall" was the major winner at the box office for the Christmas holiday this year. According to KOFIC, over 2.01 million filmgoers went to the movies for Christmas 2019.

 

This was higher than 2018's 1.90 million figure, but not quite as high as the 2.3 million viewers who came out to theaters in 2017.

 

"Ashfall" continued to outperform the competition, taking in over 930,000 viewers just on its own. It has now broken the four million viewer mark, with 68.5% of available seats having been sold for the movie. "Start-Up" also added over 280,000 viewers to its credit. "Ashfall" faces stronger competition over the next weekend in the form of "Forbidden Dream", but reservations show that "Ashfall" will likely outperform this new movie as well.

 

Source: CJ Entertainment

Real disaster text true story?  Illustrator: Instagram @blackdraw_1
Tears of Disaster Movie BAEKDUSAN

Ticket GO 

CGV: https://bit.ly/2rrgA3M

Lotte Cinema: http://bit.ly/31aS6Y3

Megabox: https://bit.ly/2sftimd

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 2019.12.27 ASHFALL at # 1 Korean Box Office with 4.7 million audience admission 

 

Source: KoBiz

 

Source: CJ Entertainment

Agent Pengsoo and team BAEKDUSAN encounter!
It will be released tomorrow.. Coming soon! 
.

 

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December 28, 2019

 

Making another great escape: In ‘Ashfall,’ Ha Jung-woo shows that a little humor helps in the face of disaster

 

Source: INSIDE Korea JoongAng Daily

 

 

Over the course of his 15-year career, actor Ha Jung-woo has found himself in several precarious situations.

 

Ha has played many roles over the years, but his characters often find themselves having to tackle various catastrophic situations - stuck in a blocked tunnel for days with only two bottles of water and a birthday cake in “Tunnel” (2016); injured and trapped inside a secret underground bunker beneath the demilitarized zone in “Take Point” (2018); and now trying to stop a volcano from erupting and destroying the Korean Peninsula in “Ashfall.”

 

But this time, his character, a South Korean agent, is not confronting the situation alone. He forms a grudging alliance with a double agent portrayed by actor Lee Byung-hun, and over the course of the film, they become close friends as it becomes increasingly clear that it is unlikely that they both will make it out alive.

 

Those who have seen the film may be confused as to whether “Ashfall” is a buddy comedy or a disaster film, but Ha says that humor is often needed in disastrous situations.

 

“It was same for ‘Tunnel’ as well - there is a need to input the humor that naturally arises out of such circumstances,” Ha said in a recent interview at a cafe in Samcheong-dong, central Seoul. “I admit that my character [in ‘Ashfall’] is a bit more comical compared to my previous ones, but I thought that Jo In-chang was someone that could be [more goofy].

 

“There was much room for comedy in the script, and I thought that it was okay to have those moments. Even in Shakespeare’s tragedies, for instance, there are similar scenes,” Ha said.

 

A scene from the film “Ashfall.” Ha Jung-woo, left, plays South Korean agent Jo In-chang, who bonds with North Korean agent Lee Jun-pyung, played by Lee Byung-hun. [CJ ENTERTAINMENT]

According to the actor, there were more squabbles between Ha and Lee that didn’t make the final cut of the movie.

 

“I don’t think anything can be resolved in the face of disasters by being afraid,” he said. “In ‘The Day After Tomorrow’ (2004), Manhattan is frozen, and the survivors are lighting fires and raiding vending machines for food. While that can be painful for them, from a outside point of view, it might be seen as a romantic or relaxed moment. I think our film just tried to express those type of moments more actively [than other films about an apocalypse].”

 

While shooting scenes with Lee was fun, the set was not, Ha noted.

 

“It was different from ‘Tunnel’ because [in the former], we only had to prepare the set for inside of a car, and we used all kinds of flour, such as bean, mixed grain and black sesame, but for ‘Ashfall,’ we had more trouble because we had to set up a whole field,” Ha said. “Plus, particles of volcanic ash are bigger than dust, so [the ash] was made of pulp [instead of flour] and the actors could actually see them floating around the set. The pulp would get in our noses, and we had some trouble getting it all out after the shoot ended.”

 

Nonetheless, the chemistry between Ha and Lee was “very much satisfactory,” according to the actor.

 

 

“Lee is an actor who just gets the feel of it,” Ha described. “For instance, there is this scene where Lee goes outside to take a leak and I’m handcuffed inside a car. We have one of our spats there, but we actually shot the scene separately. Lee shot the scene first, and I saw that he added much more than what was written in the script. I responded to him after I watched his clip, and that’s how that scene was created.”

 

Unlike rest of the cast, Ha is familiar with working with computer-generated imagery or CGI technology, and he admitted that pretending to face a volcano explosion was much easier than having a sword fight with imaginary demons in the “Along With the Gods” series (2017-2018) while keeping a straight face.

 

Surprisingly though, Ha picked his scenes with Bae Suzy as the most difficult part of the film. Ha and Bae play a couple who call each other by cute nicknames.

 

“I usually work with male actors so it’s somehow more awkward when I’m with female actors,” Ha admitted. “And the scenes we do as a couple are embarrassing, but I still thought our chemistry was great. It’s only that I’m not really good at portraying such lovey-dovey moments. People who have seen the film have told me that they saw my ears turn red [during the scene].”

 

Although Ha has pulled off roles in rom-coms and serious characters like the Count in “The Handmaiden” (2016), the iconic roles which the public remembers him the most for are characters who have been through a lot or are from the lowest levels of the social hierarchy, such as in “The Yellow Sea” (2010). Ha also said that those types of characters are more interesting for him to play than others.

 

“For more dignified characters, I guess the roles narrow the range of acting I can do compared to rougher ones who don’t even have a job or a home,” Ha said. “I like to portray the latter which are closer to the reality we’re living in.

 

“But to be frank, I can’t always work on films that are to my taste. Nowadays, films are more project-centered, and there are huge investments that follow [the film], so I may not always take on scripts that suit my taste. So that is definitely a limit, which is why I like to quench my thirst for films through participating in production and or directing. That’s how I approach films more freely from a fresh perspective, as I did in ‘A Single Rider’ (2017) and ‘The Closet’ [coming next year].”

 

BY LEE JAE-LIM [lee.jaelim@joongang.co.kr]

 

Published on December 26, 2019 by 고몽

 

Add a spoonful of fun before and after!

BAEKDUSAN 7 more fun facts to know 

 

 

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 It's 5 Million Admission 10th Day !

 

Source: CJ Entertainment

BAEKDUSAN 5 million viewers!  The team that walks on the streets with the love and attention of the audience.

 

 

Lee Byung Hun x Ha Jung Woo Chemistry Explosion

BAEKDUSAN It's so funny to see you again!

 

Clips: Cosmopolitan Korea

 

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Source: 可馨Sandy @kehsinsandy

 

 

December 28, 2019

 

Films “Ashfall” And “Start-Up” Reach Impressive Moviegoers Milestones

Source: Soompi by J. Lim

 

Films “Ashfall” and “Start-Up” have reached impressive milestones!

 

On December 28, the Korean Film Council announced that “Ashfall” had surpassed five million moviegoers at 12:08 p.m. KST, the tenth day since its release. According to statistics, “Ashfall” is on par with films like “Extreme Job,” “Veteran,” and “The Thieves” in reaching this milestone.

 

 

To celebrate, a short video was shared that shows the cast laughing on set as they worked together on the film.

Meanwhile, the film “Start-Up” reached two million moviegoers at approximately 12:30 p.m. KST on its eleventh day since opening. The cast celebrated with a cake and candles that spelled out “200,” and they also posed with balloons at a film screening event later in the day.

 

Congratulations to both “Ashfall” and “Start-Up”! And a special congratulations to Ma Dong Seok, who stars in both films!

 

Source (1) (2)

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  2019.12.28 ASHFALL at # 1 Korean Box Office with 5.2 million audience admission 

 

Source: KoBiz

 

 

December 29, 2019

 

December Movie Star Brand Reputation Rankings Announced

Source: Soompi by E. Cha

 

The Korean Business Research Institute has revealed this month’s brand reputation rankings for film actors!

 

The rankings were determined through an analysis of the consumer participation, media coverage, interaction, and community awareness indexes of 50 popular movie stars, using big data collected from November 27 to December 28.

 

Ma Dong Seok, who is currently starring in both “Ashfall” and “Start-Up,” topped this month’s list with a brand reputation index of 7,542,349. High-ranking phrases in the actor’s keyword analysis included “Start-Up,” “Ashfall,” and “Hollywood,” while his highest-ranking related terms included “box office hit,” “reach milestone,” and “advance.”

 

Jung Hae In came in at a close second with a brand reputation index of 7,536,027, while Park Jung Min followed in third with a total score of 7,088,676 for December.

 

Check out the top 30 for this month below!

 

1. Ma Dong Seok
2. Jung Hae In
3. Park Jung Min
4. Gong Yoo
5. Ha Jung Woo
6. Lee Byung Hun
7. Han Hyo Joo
8. Han Suk Kyu
9. Jo Yeo Jeong
10. Kim Tae Woo
11. Choi Min Sik
12. Son Ye Jin
13. Hyun Bin
14. Jeon Hye Jin
15. Lee Young Ae
16. Gong Hyo Jin
17. Yoon Kye Sang
18. Lee Sung Min
19. Kim Min Suk
20. Lee Jung Eun
21. Lee Sun Gyun
22. Park Seo Joon
23. Song Joong Ki
24. Ra Mi Ran
25. Yum Jung Ah
26. Song Ji Hyo
27. Jung Woo Sung
28. Lee Jung Jae
29. Kwon Sang Woo
30. Park Sung Hoon

Source (1)