Hwang Jung-Min 황정민 [Upcoming Movies: “12.12: The Day”, “Mission Cross”, “Veteran 2”, “Hope”]

[Helena]

https://k-odyssey.com/news/newsview.php?ncode=1065578301830511
It is all about timing with South Korean films

YonhapNews / 2023-01-25 10:58:05
(This article is translated from Korean to English by Ha eun Lee)

▲ This photo, provided by Lotte Cultureworks, shows a scene from the upcoming film 'To the Land of Happiness (translated).' (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)

▲ This photo, provided by Plus M Entertainment, shows a scene from the film 'The Point Men.' (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)

 

SEOUL, Jan. 25 (Yonhap) – The COVID-19 crisis has hit hard on nearly all aspects of one’s life, and the film industry has not been an exception –- movie theaters have been struggling to survive ever since the pandemic started. Despite the current transition of the pandemic to the endemic phase, the Korean film market has been struggling to get out of the slump.



Since then, it has been all about timing with South Korean films. The film industry has been agonizing over the release date of their new films and when to hit the big screens.



There are more than 10 South Korean films that have entered the “Preparation for Release” phase as of January this year, according to the “Korean Film Production Situation Edition” released by the Korean Film Council on Wednesday. Most of them were filmed during the pandemic, and they were piled up in the warehouse for a year or two.



The second half of the production, which mostly entails editing, was completed way earlier; however, the release date has not yet been officialized.



The upcoming film “Boston 1947” is expected to be released in September during the Chuseok holidays in South Korea. The film, starring South Korean veteran actors Ha Jung-woo and Lim Si-wan, depicts the story of marathoners who competed in the first international marathon since Korea was liberated from Japan in 1945. Director Kang Je-gyu, who is known for several masterpieces including “Shiri” (199) and “Taegeukgi” (2004), was in charge of the production.

 


Meanwhile, there are multiple films that are done producing but have not yet finalized their release dates: “To the Land of Happiness (translated),” directed by Lim Sang-soo and starring Choi Min-sik and Park Hae-il, which would illustrate an extraordinary accompany of escapees and poor patients; “The Devil’s Deal” directed by Lee Won-tae, who is known for producing the 2019 hit movie “The Gangster, the Cop, the Devil.”



“Killing Romance” (tentative title), starring Lee Hanee, Lee Sun-kyun, and Gongmyeong, as well as “Jeong’s Ranch” (tentative title) with Ryu Seung-ryong and Park Hae-joon, have been geared up for their release a year or two ago; yet, their release dates have not been confirmed.


The reason behind this struggle to pick the right timing is that there are way more variables that must be considered, such as movie trends, changes in moviegoers’ tastes, films released in OTT (Over-the-top) services, and more, as films that have been delayed due to the pandemic are expected to pour out at once. As box office profits can vary greatly depending on when the film hits the big screen, films are engaged in a fierce war of wits.



In particular, the film industry insists that what happens in the theaters during the Lunar New Year holidays could be incorporated as a gauge of what will happen in future theaters.



During this year’s Lunar New Year holidays, “The Point Men,” starring Hwang Jung-min and Hyun Bin, raked in the largest number of admissions and is now running at the forefront; the second place was still held by “Avatar: The Way of Water,” which has been maintaining its juggernaut status since its release on Dec. 14. The animated version of the Japanese manga series “The First Slam Dunk” sat on No.3, and “The Phantom,” which had hit the box office concurrently with “The Point Men,” remained at No.4.



“The Korean works that have recently tasted success, as seen in theaters during the Lunar New Year holidays, are those starring actors with evident ticket powers,” analyzed an official from the film industry.


“Films with production costs that are below the average pursued a strategy of releasing them to theaters during the off-season; however, that no longer seems to work these days, which makes it even more challenging to decide on the release dates,” he added.



Some insist that it will never be easy to garner successful sales outcomes by winning in the war of wits over the release dates and pursuing a theater-oriented strategy. With the COVID-19 pandemic that has been ongoing over the past three years, theaters are not in shape yet, and there are more distribution channels, including OTT services, available instead.


An official from a film distributor said, “What used to work in the film market during the peak season now seems to be invalid. ‘Avatar 2’ did sell a huge number of tickets. But, it tended to start slow before the power of word-of-mouth actually began to bring in some moviegoers,” adding, “The battle is now all about the movie. The movie has to be good.”



“That being said, the logic that used to be embedded in theaters, that ‘Masterpieces must be released in the summers or at the end of the year,’ may no longer work.”



An official from the theater industry also explained, “The theater situation is changing rapidly after the pandemic,” and evaluated, “It is no longer a battle of wits on the release dates, but each film literally has to find one’s own way of survival.” (END)

(C) Yonhap News Agency. All Rights Reserved

[Helena]

https://zapzee.net/2023/01/25/the-point-men-tops-the-box-office-over-the-lunar-new-year-holiday/
‘The Point Men’ Tops the Box Office Over the Lunar New Year Holiday

By YU JIN KIM 

Credit: Plus M Entertainment, CJ ENM

The Point Men topped the South Korean box office over the Lunar New Year’s holiday.

Released on January 18th, the movie attracted a cumulative audience of 1.13 million people. Although the flick’s subject matter wasn’t the safest pool to dive into, the impressive direction of Yim Soon Rye and the amazing chemistry among the cast — Hwang Jung Min, Hyun Bin, and Kang Ki Young — are what made viewers stay tuned into the movie.

Over the same period, Avatar: The Way of Water attracted more than 10 million moviegoers, while The First Slam Dunk surpassed 1.59 million admissions. Due to the rave reviews and sparked memes, both movies are enjoying immense popularity in theaters.

Phantom became an unexpected flop, registering only 414,304 people in audience after its release. Although the film portrayed the Korean independence army’s achievements during the Japanese colonial era as a spy action thriller, it failed to captivate viewers and create a stir.

Hero is getting close to hitting 3 million people in audience as it registered over 2.95 million people after its release.

An insider in the movie industry stated, “The genre and theme of Phantom and Hero are a bit far from what viewers expected to watch during the holiday season. Now it became a five-sided battle in theaters. CJ ENM will be more careful in releasing new movies in the future as Hero and Phantom didn’t garner as much attention as The Point Men or Avatar: The Way of Water or The First Slam Dunk.”

Source (1)

 

 

[Helena]

On 12/6/2022 at 4:35 PM, Helena said:

Actor Hwang Jung-Min and Director Na Hong-Jin will team up again for sci-fi film 'HOPE’, this is their reunion in 7 years after 'The Wailing'.

 

https://kbizoom.com/hope-upcoming-film-by-director-na-hong-jin-featuring-hwang-jung-min-jo-in-sung-and-jung-ho-yeon/
“Hope”: Upcoming Film by Director Na Hong Jin, Featuring Hwang Jung Min, Jo In Sung, and Jung Ho Yeon

By dhan | March 30, 2023

Director Na Hong Jin, who directed “The Chaser” and “The Wailing,” will join hands with Plus M Entertainment to produce a new film called “Hope” (tentative title).

 

Korean film production company, Plus M, has recently announced their investment and distribution partnership with acclaimed director Na Hong Jin for his latest film, tentatively titled “Hope”. 

This project is already creating a buzz in the film industry, not only because of Na Hong Jin’s impressive track record, which includes movies like “The Chaser” and “The Wailing”, but also because of the star-studded cast that has been confirmed.

The story of “Hope” revolves around the residents of a remote fishing village, who face a mysterious attack that threatens their livelihoods. They set out to find the source of the threat before it destroys their community. Na Hong Jin described the film as a commentary on how the actions of a few can lead to the downfall of many, a theme that he hopes to express in a unique and compelling way.

Among the cast are some of Korea’s biggest names in acting: Hwang Jung Min, Jo In Sung, and Jung Ho Yeon. Hwang Jung Min will play the role of a rural police officer named Beom Seok, who leads the investigation into the attack. Jo In Sung will portray a young hunter named Seong Gi, while Jung Ho Yeon will take on the role of a police officer named Seong Ae.

But the star power of the cast does not end there. International actor Michael Fassbender, known for his roles in “X-Men”, has also been confirmed for a role in the film. Alicia Vikander, who won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role in “The Danish Girl” and played Lara Croft in the “Tomb Raider” reboot, will also appear in the film.

“Hope” has been a highly anticipated project since it was first announced, and Plus M’s investment and distribution deal only adds to the excitement. According to the production company, they were drawn to the project not only because of Na Hong Jin’s exceptional talent, but also because they believe the film has the potential to become a successful intellectual property (IP) that could be expanded into various forms of media.

The film is set to begin production in mid-2023 after pre-production has been completed. 

Source: daum 

 

—

https://deadline.com/2023/03/michael-fassbender-alicia-vikander-movie-korea-hope-wailing-na-hong-jin-1235312568/
Michael Fassbender & Alicia Vikander Set For Thriller ‘Hope’ From ‘The Wailing’ Director Na Hong-Jin & Korean Major Plus M Entertainment; ‘Parasite’ DoP Also Aboard

By Andreas Wiseman | March 29, 2023 8:43am

 

Michael Fassbender, Alicia Vikander and Na Hong-jin
Getty Images

EXCLUSIVE: Oscar winner Alicia Vikander (The Danish Girl) and Oscar nominee Michael Fassbender (12 Years A Slave) have been set for key roles in feature Hope, the first project from acclaimed Korean director Na Hong-Jin since 2016 hit The Wailing.

The largely Korean-language film will follow the residents of Hopo Port, where a mysterious discovery is made on the outskirts of the remote harbor town. Before long, the residents find themselves in a desperate fight for survival against something they have never encountered before.

Additional casting and pre-production is underway for a shoot later this year in Korea. We understand husband and wife Fassbender and Vikander will speak English in the film and wanted to take part after being impressed by the director’s previous work. It will mark the second time they’ve appeared together in the same film after 
The Light Between Oceans.

Korean producer-distributor Plus M Entertainment, owned by multiplex chain Megabox, is behind the project after recently inking a financing and distribution deal with Na, also known for Korean movies The Chaser and The Yellow Sea.

Cinematographer Hong Kyung-pyo, known for his work on Parasite and Burning, is also on board, marking his second collaboration with Na after The Wailing.

Hope sounds like it will be cut from similar cloth to the filmmaker’s previous films, all of which have been box office hits. 2016 thriller The Wailing played at Cannes before making $50M globally off an estimated $6M budget. That film charted how a mysterious sickness starts spreading after a stranger arrives in a village. A policeman, drawn into the incident, is forced to solve the mystery in order to save his daughter.

Hope will be produced under Na’s production banner Forged Films. Plus M is handling international sales and UTA Independent Film Group and Plus M are handling North America. The Korean firm is already eyeing additional IP opportunities for the project.

The director said today: “Oftentimes, a person’s goodwill can lead to unintended catastrophe simply because of differences in perspective. My hope for this film is to cinematically capture that phenomenon in a way that has yet to be seen.“

On their decision to finance the film, Plus M said: “Director Na’s new project Hope is not only a high-quality film but an enthusiastic project that has the potential to expand its IP to various content distribution channels. Above all, we’ve decided to invest in this project because we have the utmost trust in director Na’s creative vision. Plus M will collaborate and support Hope to make it a global success.”

Founded in 2014 by Megabox, one of the biggest multiplex chains in Korea, Plus M is an affiliate of JoongAng Group, which includes JoongAng Ilbo, a major Korean daily newspaper, and cable channel JTBC. The company said earlier this year that it wants to invest $600M in content. Its movie slate has included Hunt (2022), The Roundup (2022), Little Forest (2018), The Outlaws (2017), Anarchist from Colony (2017) and Dongju: The Portrait of a Poet (2016). Drama series include I Have Not Done My Best which aired in 2022 and Bulk (WT) which is set to be produced in 2023.

Upcoming, Ex Machina and Tomb Raider star Vikander will star as Katherine Parr opposite Jude Law as Henry VIII in Karim Ainouz’s feature, Firebrand.

Jobs, X-Men and 12 Years A Slave star Fassbender will next be seen in Taika Watiti’s Next Goal Wins and starring in David Fincher’s thriller, The Killer for Netflix.

Na is represented by UTA and Ziffren Brittenham. Vikander is represented by UTA, Tavistock Wood, Tapestry and Fassbender is represented by Conor McCaughan, Range Media Partners, Sloane, Offer, Weber & Dern, Tapestry. Hong is represented by WME. Forged Films is represented by UTA.

[Helena]

https://www.koreanfilm.or.kr/eng/films/index/peopleView.jsp?peopleCd=10007437
NA Hong-jin [Director, Screenwriter]

 

Na Hongjin, born in 1974, was working in advertisement when he decided to follow his dream of making films and entered the Korea National University of Arts. He made his directing debut in 2003 with the short <5 Minutes>, but it is his follow-up short <A Perfect Red Snapper Dish> (2005) that first brought him recognition, as it won Best Film at the Mise-en-scene Short Film Festival. His 2007 short <Sweat>, in which he criticized capitalism through the monochromatic depiction of sweating people shot in slow-motion, earned him Best Short Film Director at the Grand Bell Award and the Jury Prize from the Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival. Na Hongjin made a strong impression as his debut feature <The Chaser> (2008), as it was a tremendous success both critically and commercially. Not only did it top the Korean box office to become one of the most-watched Korean movies that year, its screening at the Cannes Film Festival a few months later was met with critical acclaim, with many reviews lauding it as an instant classic in Korean thriller. Starring Kim Yoonsuk and Ha Jungwoo, <The Chaser> swept nearly all the main awards in Korea later that year. His sophomore effort, <The Yellow Sea> (2010), about a Korean Chinese professional hitman, starred once again Kim Yoonsuk and Ha Jungwoo, but this time with Kim playing the ruthless killer. The film featured a larger and more layered narrative than <The Chaser> and was notable for being the first Korean movie to be funded in part by an American major, in this case 20th Century Fox. Although <The Yellow Sea> was not as commercially successful in Korea as his first film, the film was invited to the Un Certain Regard section of the 64th Cannes International Film Festival, where it was once again recognized for its artistic achievement. Na didn’t want to rush to release his much-anticipated third feature, but <THE WAILING> received universal acclaim upon its international premiere in Cannes, notably for its use of the horror genre to tell a story that blends shamanism and Christian faith. Produced by the Korean branch of 20th Century Fox, the film was released in many territories around the world and is now considered for a Hollywood remake. With only three feature-length films, Na Hong-jin has managed to become one of the most well-known Korean directors abroad. But Na decided to take up a new challenge, and so in early 2021, after years of being silent, he announced that he joined hands with famous Thai director Banjong Pisanthanakun, best known for the cult Asian horror <Shutter> (2004), to make a supernatural horror movie shot entirely in Thailand, with Na acting this time as a producer. <The Medium> (2021) premiered at the Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival, where it picked up Best Picture.

—
https://k-odyssey.com/news/newsview.php?ncode=1065595524076909
Filmmaker Na Hong-jin to take helm of upcoming star-studded feature ‘HOPE’

YonhapNews / 2023-03-31 15:45:06
(This article is translated from Korean to English by Ha eun Lee)

 

▲ This photo, provided by Plus M Entertainment, shows filmmaker Na Hong-jin. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)

 

SEOUL, Mar. 31 (Yonhap) -- South Korean acclaimed filmmaker Na Hong-jin, who has credits for a slew of award-winning violent thrillers and horror films including “The Chaser,” The Yellow Sea,” and “The Wailing,” will take the helm of the upcoming thriller “HOPE” (tentative title).


The Korean-based Plus M Entertainment recently signed both investment and distribution contracts with director-cum-screenwriter Na for this upcoming thriller, the Entertainment confirmed Friday.



Na’s Korean-language film will tell the story of residents of a harbor town near the remote Hopo Port, where a mysterious discovery is made on the outskirts of this isolated town. Before long, the residents find themselves in a fierce yet unfathomable fight for survival against an unknown being standing outside the village.


“We often witness a person’s good leading to unintended catastrophe due to differences in perspective. Our film will try to cinematically capture that often incomprehensible phenomenon, and we plan to show a work that has never been seen before,” said director Na in a press release.


This upcoming star-studded thriller will star Korean veteran actors Hwang Jung-min and Zo In-sung. Hwang, who previously starred in Na’s hit thriller “The Wailing,” will appear as the police officer Bum-seok, while Zo, who have credits in multiple hit films including “The Great Battle” and “Escape from Mogadishu,” will play the role of a young hunter Sung-ki.


In the meantime, model-cum-actress Jung Ho-yeon, who plucked to stardom with the Netflix sensation “Squid Game,” has been slated to play police Sung-ae. “X-Men” and “12 Years A Slave” star Michael Fassbender and Oscar winner Alicia Vikander (“The Danish Girl") have also been set for key roles in this upcoming feature.


The Hollywood stars are expected to appear as a husband and wife, and they will speak English in the film.



Cinematographer Hong Kyung-pyo, known for his work on mega-hit dark comedy “Parasite” and “Burning,” is also on board to collaborate with Na once again after “The Wailing.” This forthcoming feature will kick off filming in the middle of this year. (END)
 

(C) Yonhap News Agency. All Rights Reserved

[Helena]

On 12/27/2021 at 11:41 PM, Helena said:

http://english.chosun.com/site/data/html_dir/2021/12/23/2021122301002.html
Jeon Do-yeon to Reunite with Hwang Jung-min in Upcoming Netflix Film
[english.chosun.com | December 23, 2021] Actor Hwang Jung-min will reunite with actress Jeon Do-yeon as he will briefly appear in Netflix's upcoming film "Kill Bok-soon."  Their reunion comes more than a decade-and-a-half years after they starred in the 2005 tearjerker "You Are My Sunshine," which saw Hwang shoot to fame.

"Kill Bok-soon," also starring Sol Kyung-gu, is about a mysterious female killer and will be the first action film in Jeon's long and prolific acting career. The action thriller is slated for release sometime next year.

 

Battle of the legendary samurai sword vs. cheap axe | Kill Boksoon [ENG SUB]

 

Sorry, Hwang Jung-min, no time for dramatic hand-to-hand combat when Jeon Do-yeon's gotta grab groceries before the store closes 

 

#KillBoksoon #JeonDoyeon #HwangJungmin 

 

Watch KILL BOKSOON on Netflix: https://www.netflix.com/title/81478985

Subscribe to Netflix K Content: https://bit.ly/2IiIXqV

 

—

Spoiler

https://elle.com.sg/2023/03/31/jeon-do-yeon-on-action-scenes-and-how-her-aunt-is-the-inspiration-behind-the-name-kill-boksoon/
JEON DO YEON ON ACTION SCENES AND HOW HER AUNT IS THE INSPIRATION BEHIND THE NAME “KILL BOKSOON”

BY FARISIA THANG | MARCH 31, 2023

Photos : Netflix

 

We last saw the legendary Jeon Do Yeon on screen as the warm and indignant Nam Haeng Seon, a former national athlete who now runs a banchan store, in Crash Course in Romance. But we’re about to get a 180° preview of the actress as a legendary contracted killer in the movie Kill Boksoon. As a lethal killer with 100 percent success rate on her contract killings, Boksoon is also a single mother who struggles to connect with her daughter. In this John Wick-esque thriller,

As told to ELLE Singapore in a press conference, Director Byun Sung Hyun along with actors Jeon Do Yeon and Sul Kyung Gu go into detail on this Korean thriller. The action sequences, working together behind the scenes, and how Jeon’s aunt was the inspiration for the name of the character.

 

Congratulations on Kill Boksoon being invited to the Berlin International Festival. How do you feel?

Director Byun Sung Hyun: I remember when I was invited to the Cannes International Film Festival with The Merciless, you asked me the same question and you scolded me for saying that I was lucky. But I still feel the same way. I did not see it coming at all and I thought this film wasn’t the type of film that’d be invited to Berlin, because our film is a rather specific genre show. But I was deeply honoured and delighted that we were invited to Berlin.

The whole setup of a killer being a mom who raises a child is quite novel. Is it true that the character Boksoon and this whole narrative started from Do Yeon?

Director Byun Sung Hyun: Kyung Gu was working on a movie called Birthday with Do Yeon and he called me to the set because he knew that I’ve been a long-time fan of Do Yeon. That’s when he introduced me to her. Do Yeon called me once and proposed that we work on this one project together. I said that I actually want to work on my own with you. So I said, will you be interested in my script? And she was willing to. So I really thought long and hard about what kind of movie I can work on together with Do Yeon.

She’s been in so many great movies, most of them being quite dark and deep. Because her dark and deep movies are really great movies, I didn’t want to fight them head-on. I wanted to go around it. That’s why I chose an action-genre film. I don’t think she was in many action movies so I thought I would write an action movie. I just made up my mind that I wanted to do an action film and I met up with Do Yeon and talked with her to get ideas. I felt that the mum Jeon Do Yeon and the actress Jeon Do Yeon are two quite different people, hence the thought of the job of raising a child and the job of killing people. If I replace acting in her life with killing, that would be very contradictory and ironic. That’s how it all started.

How did you feel when you knew it was going to be an action film?

Jeon Do Yeon: I was intrigued. I wanted to try it — I actually want to try a lot of different genres but chances don’t come that easy. So I was very happy when he proposed an action film. It was my first time deciding to go into a project without reading the scenario so I was happy but I did have my reservations too.

At first, I was quite scared and unsure but I kept telling myself that I have to pull it off no matter what. No matter what happens, I’m going to get this done. And I had to keep practising because the set piece wasn’t me with the action team but me with the other actors, and sometimes the actors might get quite emotional once we’re rolling. So we had to make sure that we had lots of practice so we don’t accidentally get anyone hurt. Also, Director Byun prefers long takes when it comes to action sequences — while it was scary it gave me catharsis when I finished a scene. So I have a lot of different feelings swirling inside me.

This is your third collaboration with each other after I Wish I Had a Wife and Birthday. How was everything?

Jeon Do Yeon: I felt reassured. I always say that he’s like a big mountain. He’s not the expressive type, but he’s always there for me and has got my back. Especially when shooting Kill Boksoon, he waited for me and looked out for me.

Sul Kyung Gu: Jeon Do Yeon is Jeon Do Yeon. End of sentence. One thing I do want to say is that I was watching her do action scenes and I felt so bad as I could really feel that she was trying to overcome her own limits. And she did. She overcame herself. That’s why I thought, “There is Jeon Do Yeon”. And I told her that nobody other than you can pull this role off.

There are many slow-motion shots and camera rotations in the film. Are there some films that you homaged or drew inspiration from?

Director Byun Sung Hyun: I have always been a big fan of Scorsese films — I always watch them. A lot of people tell me that there’s a little bit of Tarantino in my films too. As I said before, I am a big fan of Kyung Gu and Do Yeon and Korean films in the early 2000s. I try to take after those films. For action scenes, I try to follow the style of director Lee Myung Se, but his style is just so immaculate I can’t be half as good.

 

How did you come up with the name Gil Boksoon?

Director Byun Sung Hyun: I actually couldn’t decide on the name. I came up with the daughter’s name Jae Young. I don’t care much about names, so I would just use the names of people who are around me at the time I am writing the script. When I was talking with Do Yeon about the script, Do Yeon’s aunt called her and on her phone, it said “Auntie Boksoon”. So I said I wanted to use that name and Do Yeon said over her dead body, so I felt rebellious and kept the name.

Does your aunt know about this?

Jeon Do Yeon: I did tell her. She said it is an honour. I didn’t not like the name; it’s just that when you think of Boksoon, the character, she’s supposed to be sophisticated and chic, but the name Boksoon is quite old-fashioned and adorable. So I had reservations as to whether the name fits the character, but now in hindsight, I don’t think it’d have worked without this name!

Hwang Jung Min also makes a special appearance in the film. How did that come about?

Director Byun Sung Hyun: I seriously did not even dream of having Jung Min make a special appearance. I was talking with Do Yeon — at first, I wanted to cast a Japanese actor but because of the COVID situation, if someone flew over from Japan there was mandatory quarantine and everything. I wanted a veteran, seasoned actor for the role but I didn’t really have connections so I was asking Do Yeon what I should do, and she asked me how Jung Min sounds. I told her if he says yes that would be beyond my dreams but I don’t even know how to get through to him. Then I got a phone call from him the next day. He didn’t even read the scenario and said yes. After one text message from Do Yeon, he called me the next morning. And I’d like to use this opportunity to thank him.

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.

Kill Boksoon is available on Netflix.

[Helena]

Cannes 2023: Screen International Day 2 edition

 

PLUS M 

 

——

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-features/cannes-plus-m-entertainment-ceo-interview-1235491429/
Cannes: Plus M Entertainment CEO on Turning the Family Firm Into a Korean Content Powerhouse
Since returning to his family's conglomerate in 2017, Jeongin Hong has helped the company grow to produce 20 percent of Korea's annual commercial film and TV drama output, while also landing back-to-back spots in Cannes.

BY PATRICK BRZESKI | MAY 15, 2023 6:00PM

 

Jeongin Hong, M Entertainment COURTESY OF SUBJECT

South Korean executive Jeongin Hong never planned to become a movie mogul. After studying economics at Princeton and putting in distinguished stints in private equity at Boston Consulting and Goldman Sachs (“I’m a science and economics guy,” he says), he was lured back to the family business in 2015. His family’s firm happens to be JoongAng Group, arguably Korea’s largest media conglomerate. Founded by Hong’s grandfather, Hong Jin-ki, the company publishes Korea’s most widely read newspapers, owns a university and a skyscraper, and controls major broadcaster JTBC, among many other business lines. Hong was initially pulled back into the patrilineal corporate fold to help with corporate strategy; but in 2017 he proposed to his elder brother, JoongAng Group’s current CEO, Jeongdo Hong, that the time was right to further capitalize on the Korean content wave still sweeping the globe by restructuring their conglomerate’s collection of entertainment entities and scaling up to become a fully integrated film and TV studio. Among the business units placed under the junior Hong’s purview are Megabox, one of South Korea’s three largest multiplex chains; film financier and distributor Plus M Entertainment; and the fledging studio business, SLL (previously JTCB Studios).

Inspired by the Bob Iger and Kevin Mayer blueprint of assembling IP engines to drive future growth, Hong set off on a buying blitz to bolster SLL’s capacity. SLL now contains 16 different development and production companies (and has minority stakes in eight others), and collectively the unit is Netflix’s largest source for K-drama series in Korea. In 2021, Hong added a U.S. indie studio to the stable, acquiring CAA’s content division wiip (following the Writers Guild of America settlement that required agencies to divest such holdings). 

Hong also has aggressively expanded the ambitions of Plus M. The company was responsible for Korea’s biggest box-office hit in 2022, action star Don Lee’s The Roundup ($102.8 million), and it produced the directorial debut of Squid Game star Lee Jung-jae, The Hunt, which premiered out of competition at Cannes  last May. Hong returns to the Croisette this year with a pair of feature’s representing the established and emerging of Korean cinema: period romp Cobweb, directed by Kim Jee-woon and starring Song Kang-ho, premiering out of competition; and first-time director Kim Chang-hoon’s mob drama Hopeless. Plus M also has a trio of buzzy market titles to debut in Cannes: Hope, the first international co-production from cult director Na Hong-jin (The Wailing), starring Alicia Vikander and Michael Fassbender; romance movie Love in the Big City; and drug world thriller Ya-Dang: The Triangular Connection. 

The Hollywood Reporter connected with Hong ahead of Cannes to discuss why investing in art-house films is good longterm business, his views on Korea’s struggling post-pandemic theatrical landscape, and why he’s just getting started at making the family firm into a global entertainment power player. 

Spoiler

 

Could you estimate how much your companies are spending on original film and TV content this year and how does that compare to several years ago, during the early stages of the transformation you have overseen since you joined the family business in 2017?

I’ll probably explain it to you this way. So in Korea, I would say there are somewhere between 170 to 180 K-drama series produced each year. Last year, we created around 32 of those series and this year our mission is to create 35. That’s around 20 percent of the scripted series made annually in Korea. If you go to the feature film side and subtract all of the independent movies and only focus on the commercial titles, normally there are around 70 to 80 commercial films released per year. Plus M Entertainment is investing and distributing in around 6 to 8 features per year, and then all of the production companies under SLL produce another 5-6 features a year. So adding them up, that’s around 15 features a year, which is again about 20 percent of local features released theatrically each year in Korea. That’s our current snapshot and we’re trying to become bigger. CJ Group and Studio Dragon probably do a few more films, but on the scripted side, our series output is pretty similar. Together, we probably manage about 45 percent of the total film and TV market in Korea. When I joined in 2017, and then really got started in 2018, our companies probably produced around eight scripted series per year and three or four niche, low-budget movies.

 

And what are your targets for growth going forward?

It’s our ambition to become bigger, but in the near-term future, we will be focussing more on boosting the size and quality of our productions. In terms of quantity, we’re one of the market’s dominant players in scripted series. We’re the biggest partner for Netflix in Korea and we’re the first partner for Disney+ when they launched. In feature film, I think we’re still in the transition period. Previously we were known for smaller-budget, meaningful art house movies, but under my leadership, we’ve decided to make more of a major commercial studio play. That’s where I think the new opportunities are. And I’m committed to film. The Korean wave has been going for some time, and it was Korean movies that first generated attention across the world. Now, series and streamers are making a lot of money, but it’s my belief that to keep sustaining Korean entertainment we need to continue to invest in film, because that’s where a lot of the great talent comes from. Movies have their own power, and that’s where the entertainment industry’s creativity often starts. So that’s why we started to do major-budget films in Korea. A good example was Hunt from last year, directed by Squid Game star Lee Jung-jae as his directorial debut. It had a budget of $20 million, which is pretty big in Korea. A lot of people were surprised, because Plus M wasn’t previously known for doing big films like that, and he was a first-time director, despite being a big star for decades. But it went well for us. We made our debut in Cannes with that title last year and it was a great start for us. 

 

How are you structuring your film slates as you look to continue expanding your output?

Our ambition for M Plus Entertainment is to retain a position as one of the top two or three film studios in Korea, and to do that, we need some big-budget tentpole films every year, as well as a handful of mid-cap commercial movies. And then my goal is to continue doing a lot of smaller-budget but meaningful and artistic projects, so that we can support new creatives as they try to bring their dreams to screen. I think this is actually the most important part, long-term — especially because CJ has kind of stopped investing in these titles for a while. If we’re taking 20 percent of the market, our key success factors are fully aligned with the size and health of the Korean entertainment industry as a whole. In order for our slice to become bigger, we have to grow the whole market, basically. So I feel deeply obligated to support new young directors working in film, because if we just reap the rewards of established talent and force all of the emerging directors to work in series, or YouTube or other social video channels, where is that going to leave the professional Korean film business in 10 years? 

 

And how about on the international side? How do projects like Na Hong Jin’s Hope fit into your strategy?

This will be a big one for us. Director Na is one of the most original filmmakers in Korea and he totally knows what he’s doing. He’s working with the same crew as he did on The Wailing, which are some of the most talented craftspeople in our industry. And it has a really exciting international cast. Hwang Jung-min — if you ask me, the biggest Korean actor other than Song Kang-ho — stars alongside Squid Game’s Jung Ho-Yeon. And from Hollywood, we have Alicia Vikander and Michael Fassbender. It has a very big budget for our industry and we’re financing it exclusively — it’s almost impossible to even break even from the Korean market alone with this one — so it’s a very big bet for us. But we as a company can learn and grow so much from doing it. We’re having discussions with different studios about bringing on an international partner, because it would be very helpful to have a powerful international partner to help us really get this film out into the world and have the IP become known. So, we’ll see how this first attempt goes.

 

Spoiler

Can you share more on the strategy behind your acquisition of Wiip from CAA? The Korean wave is already riding so high, and you already have such a strong business of servicing the U.S. streaming giants with your series and film content, why did you feel the need to take the risk of going global by acquiring a U.S. content producer?

As I said earlier, we already have a 20 percent market share and no one company in the content business can get to 50 percent — even Disney. It happens in the big tech but not in the content business. So I’ve always thought we need to grow the whole pie of the Korean industry, or we need to go global to find another growth engine. And very honestly, the U.S. market was not initially on my radar, because I’ve studied all of the stories from the past of the Asian companies that brought big money to Hollywood and lost a lot of it — the Japanese companies a few decades ago, and the Chinese companies in the past ten years or so.

So my primary international focus is actually Japan. I know they have great stories, great potential and a big domestic market. Consumers there still rent DVDs, so we know they are willing to pay for content. But the quality of their existing drama series productions doesn’t meet the quality and size of their market. There’s an opportunity there. So, we’ve been trying to set up another studio business mimicking SLL, but in Japan. We were slowed down a lot during the pandemic, but this year we are going to officially launch our Japan studio business. We’re also very bullish on Southeast Asia, because their youthful audiences there are huge fans of Korean dramas and movies. So, our plan there is to do the IP business, producing remakes and localized productions of our IP that has been proven in the region.

And the vision for Wiip?

When we were first invited to make an investment in Wiip, it was around 2019 and it was still a growth round. At the start, we only bought in to become about a 1 percent owner. I just wanted to get a view on what’s going on in Hollywood, how the global streamers are working, and what the trends are. So, it was just probing the market. But the fight between the writer’s guild and the agencies gave us the opportunity to actually enter the market. I don’t believe in manmade synergies, so, after the deal, I didn’t just force our producers to work with them. But it’s now the two-year anniversary of our acquisition of the company, and organic synergies are starting to emerge. Anthology Studios, our label that’s the co-producer of Cobweb, is trying to do a deal with Wiip to do co-productions. Hope has set an example for our companies too. I recently connected another one of our Korean producers with Wiip to codevelop something that could be a co-production. Traditionally, there have not been very good linkages between Korea and Hollywood, so there is a lot of potential. And Wiip is still very well connected to CAA, so they can help us package. So anything that could potentially work with Wiip, I’m super supportive of these days. 

Since you’re also heading up Megabox, Korea’s third-biggest cinema chain, I’m curious to hear your thoughts on the state of the Korean theatrical market right now. From a distance, it’s kind of surprising how slow the Korean box office has been to recover, because pre-pandemic, Korea famously had one of the highest rates of moviegoing per capita in the world, and this had always been cited as an integral part of the industry’s phenomenal growth story in recent decades — the way the local movie audience was developed and sustained.  How do you read the market now?

I think the biggest reason for the slow comeback of the Korean film audience is probably that local content was very strong, pre-pandemic — which is pretty ironic. 2019 was a record-setting year for our box office. Both domestic films and Hollywood titles — especially Disney’s Marvel tentpoles — were doing phenomenally well. But Korean movies have a sort of structural problem now. Korean movies always had a scale advantage versus other domestic content in the local landscape, and until recently Korean films were boosted by government support. The average budget for a movie in Korea is probably about $5 million, and up until 5-10 years ago, the average budget for a TV drama series was about $500,000. So, local TV didn’t offer much scale. Everyone says it’s the pandemic that has diminished our box office, but I think it’s more because of Netflix and the big local TV channels — like our JTBC, CJ ENM, and TBN included. First, drama series budgets creeped over $1 million per episode, and now it’s sometimes well over $3 million. We produced Narco-Saints for Netflix and that was $3.5 million per episode. And some are going even higher now. So, the Korean audience doesn’t need to come out to the cinema for Korean content at scale anymore. You can watch a $5 million per episode series on your 80-inch TV in the comfort of your own home — and the streamers are still hungry to make more of this stuff. In the past, because of the strict regulations governing TV in Korea, you couldn’t show someone smoking, no nudity, limited violence. So, people would go to the cinema to see scale and to see something different. Now, Netflix gives you all kinds of content from all over the world, much of produced at a significant budget. So, we need to raise the bar of our production ambitions with feature films. But because of COVID, many of the studios have a bunch of titles they are sitting on, and they’re experiencing a lot of cashflow constraints, so then when they do release them, they haven’t been doing it with very sharp marketing — and some of these titles are a few years old, so they are slightly behind trend and arguably under-budgeted in the current climate. So, all of this means we’re sort of stuck in a vicious cycle that’s going to take a little while to unwind. It’s going to take time to rebuild inventories and reset the bar, but I’m confident it will happen. Maybe not to 2019 box office levels overnight, but we’ll get to 90 percent. We just need to keep investing in ambitious filmmaking as an industry.

 

[bearcreek]

 

 

“12.12: The Day” Becomes 1st Korean Non-Sequel Film Since “Parasite” To Surpass 10 Million Moviegoers

Dec 24, 2023

by E. Cha

In just over a month, “12.12: The Day” has surpassed 10 million moviegoers at the Korean box office!

 

On the morning of December 24, the Korean Film Council announced that the star-studded historical film had officially reached a total of over 10 million moviegoers. The film was originally released on November 22, meaning that it took less than 33 days to hit the 10 million mark.
 

“12.12: The Day” is only the second Korean film released in 2023 to reach the milestone, following the smash hit “The Roundup: No Way Out.”

 

Notably, it is also the first Korean film that is not a sequel or part of a series to surpass 10 million moviegoers since the award-winning 2019 film “Parasite.”

 

“12.12: The Day” is Hwang Jung Min’s third film to hit the 10 million mark (following “Ode to My Father” and “Veteran”), and it is Jung Woo Sung’s first movie to reach the milestone.

 

Congratulations to the entire cast and crew!

 

Watch Hwang Jung Min in “The Point Men” with subtitles on Viki HERE

 

SOOMPI >>> 12-12-the-day-becomes-1st-korean-non-sequel-film-since-parasite-to-surpass-10-million-moviegoers

 

 

 

 

[bearcreek]

 

 

“12.12: The Day” Becomes 6th Most-Watched Korean Film In Box Office History

 

 

Jan 26, 2024

by E. Cha

“12.12: The Day” continues to soar to new heights at the Korean box office!

According to the Korean Film Council, as of January 25, “12.12: The Day” had reached a total of 12,984,746 moviegoers, extending its own record as the most-watched Korean film released in 2023.

 

“12.12: The Day” has now overtaken the star-studded 2012 blockbuster “The Thieves” to become the sixth most-watched Korean film in box office history. Even including international films, “12.12: The Day” is already the ninth most-watched movie of all time at the South Korean box office.

 

The next most-watched Korean film of all time is “Veteran,” which drew over 1.341 million moviegoers to theaters following its release in 2015.

 

Starring Hwang Jung Min, Jung Woo Sung, Lee Sung Min, and more, “12.12: The Day” is a historical film about the real-life military coup that shook South Korea following the assassination of President Park Chung Hee in 1979.

 

Congratulations to the film’s cast and crew!
 

SOOMPI >>>12-12-the-day-becomes-6th-most-watched-korean-film-in-box-office-history

 

 

[bearcreek]

 

 

“12.12: The Day” Surpasses 13 Million Moviegoers In Just 2 Months

Jan 27, 2024

by E. Cha

 

“12.12: The Day” has reached an impressive new milestone at the Korean box office!
 

On January 27, the Korean Film Council officially announced that as of 6 a.m. KST that morning, “12.12: The Day” had reached a total of 13,003,228 moviegoers.
 

The star-studded historical film was originally released on November 22, 2023, meaning that it took just 65 days to hit the 13 million mark.
 

“12.12: The Day” is the first Korean film since 2019 to surpass 13 million moviegoers—and only the sixth Korean film ever to reach the milestone, following “The Admiral: Roaring Currents” (2014), “Ode to My Father” (2014), “Veteran” (2015), “Along with the Gods: The Two Worlds” (2017), and “Extreme Job” (2019).

 

Congratulations to the cast and crew of “12.12: The Day”! Check out the stars’ thank-you message below:

 

 

 

SOOMPI >>> 12-12-the-day-surpasses-13-million-moviegoers-in-just-2-months