Kim Yoon-seok (김윤석)

Korean actress Min Ji-ah [Chae Ki-won/10Asia]

My name is Min Ji-ah. I used go by my birth name Kim Min-ju while appearing in short plays but someone told me it would be better for me if I use 'Min' as my last name so I did before starting shooting for "The Slave Hunters". People around me said it sounded better and I think it sounds similar to my original name too.
My birthday is on October 31, 1983. I didn't do much on my last birthday because I was on set. If only I had a boyfriend... maybe he would have prepared a special event for me.
I was majoring in architectural design but what I really wanted to do was act so I transferred to Kyung Hee University and majored in theater and film. As a young girl, I loved watching movies so I took many film classes. I was in movie clubs when I was in middle and high school....More

The movie "JEON WOO CHI : The Taoist Wizard", directed by Choi Dong-hoon and produced by Zip Cinema, has broken the 5-million mark in just 26 days after its release.

According to Zip Cinema, the cumulative number of people who have seen the film stood at around 4.93 million as of January 16.

Although "JEON WOO CHI : The Taoist Wizard" premiered on December 23, 2009, one week a...More

The movie "JEON WOO CHI : The Taoist Wizard" will be made into a comic book series. And the series will also be downloaded and provided as a subscription-based online service.

Hit movies and TV dramas are often as adapted into novels or comic books. But the comic book series "JEON WOO CHI : The Taoist Wizard" is a special case since it is not a one-time publication of a single comic book that usually coincides with the release of the movie. Instead, it will be a long-running, 3-season series.

Starting January 25, the first seas...More

"The Murderer" director Na Hong-jin

Korean film "The Murderer" has signed on major Hollywood studio 20th Century Fox as one of its co-investors, according to the film's distributor Showbox Mediaplex Co. on Tuesday.

Showbox announced in a press release that the Na Hong-jin helmed pic -- which already has Korean entertainment agency Wellmade Star M as its main investor -- will receive additional funding from Fox, making "The Murderer" the first Korean movie to receive direct investment from the Hollywood studio.

The new business partnership, Showbox explained, will further expand into diverse business opportunities. Fox -- which is owned by media mogul Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation -- will reportedly take part in producing sequels and remakes of the film. In case of a Hollywood remake, Na will be contractually guaranteed to direct the film with original Korean producer Popcorn Films on board as well....More

Film insiders excited over new works by three star directors

Hits came from all quarters in Korean cinema last year, with big blockbusters "Take Off" and "Haeundae", auteur films "Thirst" and "Mother - 2009" and indie sleepers "Old Partner" and "Breathless" all filling seats.

Disaster flick "Haeundae" was the first locally made film to top 10 million tickets sold in three years. Industry-wide box office returns hit a record high of 1.08 trillion won ($964 million), about half from Korean-made films.

The state-funded Korean Film Council forecast in a recent report that the local movie market will continue its incremental growth over the next five years, and 2010 is expected to be another bonanza for the local film studios. But the most hotly anticipated movies inside the industry aren't quite as diverse as 2009's top sellers - on the contrary, they're all in a single genre: thriller.

Korea's thriller renaissance, kicked off by "The Chaser" in 2008 and continued by "Secret - 2009" at the end of last year, continues with "No Mercy", the first big, locally made release of 2010.

According to a recent survey by the JoongAng Ilbo of 20 film experts including producers, investors and critics, the three most highly anticipated films scheduled to be released this year were all thrillers. "The Housemaid - 2010", a remake of a local classic, came in first, followed by "The Murderer" (working title), which will reunite "The Chaser" director Na Hong-jin with his two leads from that film. In third was "Moss" (working title) by veteran director Kang Woo-seok.

"The Housemaid - 2010", a remak...More