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2009/07/04 (GMT)
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Directed by Kang Woo-seok (강우석)
Screenplay by Kim Hee-jae (김희재)
133min | Release date in South Korea : 2003/12/24January 1968, 31 members of North Korean Special Unit 124 infiltrated South Korea with the ultimate mission of attacking the Blue House (Presidential Palace in Korea) and assassinating President PARK Chung-hee. When KIM Shin-jo, the only member who was captured alive, was asked "What was the purpose of infiltration?" on a live TV program, he shoute... More
By Kang Shin-who
Staff Reporter Three people were booked Thursday for renting out firearms to Korean filmmakers. The guns were used in famous movies including "Silmido" and "Public Enemy". According to the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency, a man identified by his surname Jung and two other men rented 18 firearms, including M16 and AK-47 rifles, to movie producers 15 times for some 40 million won per session. Only soldiers, policemen and intelligence agents are allowed to possess guns here. Those who want to own weapons for hunting need to get permission from the authorities. Jung borrowed the guns from Paramount Pictures in 1996 for use in a Korean film, but didn't report them to the authorities. Police said as the firearms came from overseas, they should have been returned to their original owners or destroyed....| More | |||||||||||||||||
Actor Seol Kyeong-gu, 41, and actress Song Yoon-ah, 36, will marry on May 28.
The renowned actor and actress plan to announce their scheduled wedding at Litz-Carlton Hotel in southern Seoul Saturday at 4 p.m. They made up their mind to marry, following a recent greeting session of their families, a close source of the couple said. "We appeared together in two films but we started dating in fall of 2007 in full scale", said Actress Song. "We spontaneously got to have mind to get marry each other". Actor Seol earlier married his senior actor Ahn Nae-sang's sister in 1996 when he acting in the theater. However, he divorced in 2006, four years of estranged life. "Seol has lived alone since 2002, when he was shooting a film, "Jail Breakers - No. 815", as main actor as his wife lived in Canada. He has never lived together although his wife returned in 2005", said a spokesman of the agency of Actor Seol. Seol is is best known for his roles in the popular "Public Enemy" and "...| More | |||||||||||||||||
'The history of the Korean movie industry is divided by what happened before and after Shiri'.
It was the gunfight that left critics and film fans so impressed. Shot in downtown Seoul, it was comparable with the drama and authenticity of a Hollywood action sequence, and helped make Korea's first ever blockbuster, "Shiri", such a monumental success a decade ago. But now the local movie industry is in desperate straits, and directors and producers are hunting for another model that will re-energize movie making here. "Shiri", which relates how a North Korean spy gets involved with a South Korean security agent, was a ground-breaking picture because it smashed local box office records and introduced the world to the Korean blockbuster. It sold an estimated 6.2 million tickets nationwide, breaking existing records for local and international films set by "Seopyeonje" in 1993 and James Cameron's "Titanic" in 1997, respectively. Choi Wan, at the time a senior official in t...| More | |||||||||||||||||
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By Lee Hyo-won
Staff Reporter The South Korean film industry had already been staggering for over two years and was hit especially hard by the global economic crisis. But the 2009 season begins hopefully, as "Scandal Makers" ("Speedy Scandal") a mid-budget film, continues to top the box office for a whopping seventh week and signals positive market trends. As of Wednesday, the family comedy has attracted over 6.59 million viewers since its release Dec. 3, according to Lotte Entertainment. It is expected to sell more tickets over the Seollal (Lunar New Year) holiday, and perhaps break the 6.62 million record for domestic comedies set by "200 Pounds Beauty" in 2006. The feat, in terms of numbers, may not seem big when compared to homegrown blockbusters that brought in over 10 million viewers. But "Scandal Makers" ("Speedy Scandal") points to something significant: first, it is a smaller franchise starring familiar faces rather than superstars, being thus an unexpected hit with...| More | |||||||||||||||||
No industry insiders or analysts would have predicted the Cha Tae-hyeon romp "Speedy Scandal" would hit pay-dirt at the box office.But through shrewd marketing and word of mouth from advanced screenings targeting specific demographics, the film has thus far amassed an impressive attendance figure of 1.5 million in 12 days. With a production budget of a modest $1.8 million, the comedy has already broken even and stands to turn in a tidy profit. Nine days was all it took for the film to achieve 1 million in attendance. Aside from Cha, the film's headliner, the movie's lack of star-power makes all the more astonishing the number of advance ticket purchases, a figure competitive with Hollywood heavyweights "Twilight" and "Australia". According to DCPLUS, the production house that financed the picture, "there's been an increase in attendance the following weekend after the film's premiere", and the film looks to ride the wave of positive feedback from moviegoers and reap the benef...| More | |||||||||||||||||
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| 133 min •35mm •Cinemascope (2.35) •Dolby SRD | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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