Shim Hyung-rae's "
D-War" will receive a wide release in China on May 11. The monster film will screen in hundred Chinese cities, including the major cities Beijing and Shanghai, on 500 screens.
"
D-War" was a blockbuster in Korea and the U.S. last year. "
D-War" holds the record number of screens for a Korean film in the U.S., namely 2200. The biggest Korean hit in China is
Bong Joon-ho's ...
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"What is the interrelationship between the naming value of a star and the number of audience?"
In conclusion, the interrelationship is inverse proportion according to the trend in 2007 box-office success in Korean film industry. Among the 100 movies released this year, only 4 movies had more than 3 million audiences, including "
D-War" (8 million),
"May 18" (7 million), "
Voice of Murderer" (3.25 million) and "
Le Grand Chef" which recently reached 3 million.
Among many movies that went into the black, following are those which closely reached the break-even point, including "
Miracle on 1st Street" (
Im Chang-jeong and
Ha Ji-won), "
Voice of Murderer" (
Seol Kyeong-gu and
Kim Nam-joo),
"May 18" (
Kim Sang-kyeong and
Lee Yo-won), "
D-War" (
Jason Behr), "
Paradise 1986" (
Park Hae-il and
Seong Ji-roo), and "
Le Grand Chef" (
Kim Kang-woo and
Lee Ha-na). Among the 100 movies released this year, only 7% made a profit.
However, all movies that drew attention for top stars' appearance have failed.
Ko So-young's come back movie, "
Go Go Sister",
Kang Dong-won's "M",
Song Hye-kyo's "
Hwangjin-y - Movie - 2007",
Shin Hyeon-joon's "
Three Kims",
Uhm Jung-hwa and
Han Chae-young's
"Changing Partners" have been rejected by the audiences. Top star,
Kim Tae-hee's 2nd movie "
Venus and Mars" is also having a hard time.
The naming value of directors had also drawn an inverse proportional line with the success of their work. Director
Lee Chang-dong ("
Secret Sunshine"),
Lee Myeong-se ("M") and
Heo Jin-ho (
"Happiness") made their come back but failed to attract audience. On the contrary, ...
MoreThe Korean movie industry got off to a shaky start this year, due to the weakened market position of local flicks versus Hollywood blockbusters, but it received a big shining ray of hope from director
Lee Chang-dong's thought-provoking drama, "
Secret Sunshine".
Jeon Do-yeon, the heroine of "
Secret Sunshine", grabbed the prestigious Best Actress award at the 60th Cannes Film Festival in May, setting the upbeat tone for the domestic film industry.
The 34-year-old actress won international acclaim for her brave and inspiring depiction of a grieving Korean woman struggling to rebuild her life in a new city in "
Secret Sunshine", the first picture in four years by
Lee Chang-dong, a former Korean culture minister.
Despite the positive turn on the filmfest front, the local movie market faced increasing pressure this year. Although the market volume of the Korean film industry remains relatively solid, with 104 films released between January and November this year, the number of moviegoers is steadily declining, and the profitability of major production houses is worsening, leaving a slew of projects stranded.
"The number of Korean movies with box-office influence is going down, and the campaign to export Korean films to foreign markets is nowhere near the target level", said Shim Young-seop, a leading movie critic. Meanwhile, Hollywo...
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South Korea tries their hand at awful American product
Brian Orndorf (briano)
South Korea is a land of unparalleled beauty and rich cinematic language. Now why would they want to screw all that up by making an extraordinarily dreadful fantasy picture to compete in the worldwide film market? The short answer is money (perhaps the only answer), but the reality is that America does just fine making cringingly terrible special-effect extravaganzas, so back off, South Korea!
"Dragon Wars" (or "
D-War" for those with less imagination) is a $70 million action spectacle in the vein of "Lord of the Rings" or, more accurately, a monster-budgeted episode of "Mighty Morphin Power Rangers". The film takes the viewer into the world of poor CGI and no-talent actors, hoping to weave a tale...
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Shim Hyung-rae's big-budget fantasy blockbuster "
D-War" will have its North American premiere at the Egyptian Theater in downtown Hollywood on September 13th under the title Dragon Wars. 400 guests will preview the film before its nationwide release the next day on over 1700 screens, the largest exhibition deal ever for a Korean film in the US. Director SHIM, along with American actors
Jason Behr and
Amanda Brooks will attend the reception after the premiere screening.
The English-language film, shot primarily in LA, i...
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