• Son Seok Koo's Short Film "Night Fishing" Invited to the 28th Fantasia International Film Festival

    Actor Son Seok Koo's riveting performance and director Moon Byung-gon's visionary direction are making waves!

    The film 'Night Fishing' has officially snagged an invite to the prestigious 28th Fantasia International Film Festival.

    According to CGV, the film's distributor, "'Night Fishing,' a groundbreaking film with innovative techniques, has been officially selected for the international short film competition at the 28th Fantasia International Film Festival."

    'Night Fishing' is a thrilling tale about a mysterious incident at an electric car charging station on a dark night. It's now set to compete in the international short film section at the Fantasia International Film Festival, which will be held in Montreal, Canada, from July 18 to August 4.

    The Fantasia International Film Festival, North America's largest genre film festival, is a hotspot for distributors and buyers seeking fresh genre films. Spanning three weeks, it draws high audience engagement for its genre film showcases.

    The festival is renowned for its support of Asian genre films, often spotlighting Korean cinema. The 'Crime City' series notably won the Asian Feature Gold Award for two consecutive years. In 2023, the short film 'Shoulder' and 'Architect A' both won silver awards, further highlighting Korean films' prowess.

    Festival programmer Nicolas Archambault expressed, "It is a work that combines the overwhelming action performance of actor Son Seok Koo, the creative direction of Cannes award-winning director Moon Byung-gon, and impressive production values. We wanted to introduce this captivating world, which is expected to expand into a feature film, to film fans worldwide."

    'Night Fishing' stands out with its unique approach, capturing a man's eerie encounter at an electric car charging station through the lenses of seven car cameras.

    The film also spotlights Son Seok Koo's dynamic solo performance, directed by Cannes Palme d'Or winner Moon Byung-gon.

    Cinematographer Cho Hyung-rae, known for 'The Merciless' and 'Concrete Utopia,' adds to the film's cutting-edge perspective in a brief yet impactful runtime of 12 minutes and 59 seconds.

    Fans can catch 'Night Fishing' at CGV theaters for special screenings from June 14 to 16 and June 21 to 23.

    Source(1)

  • 'Weak Hero 2' takes over Netflix and sends webtoon sales skyrocketing 20 times

    The hit drama Weak Hero 2 is taking over both streaming charts and fans’ hearts—and now it’s bringing massive attention back to the original Naver webtoon Weak Hero.

    According to Netflix's Tudum Top 10 update on April 30, Weak Hero 2 pulled in a huge 6.1 million views (based on total watch time divided by full runtime) just three days after its release. It grabbed the #1 spot on the Global TOP 10 Non-English TV Series chart.

    That’s not all—right after it dropped, the drama soared to the top of Korea’s TOP 10 Series and even made the TOP 10 charts in 63 countries, including Brazil, France, Mexico, Belgium, Morocco, Greece, Indonesia, and more.

    This follows the success of Weak Hero 1, which previously ranked #8 and stayed on the global chart for five weeks straight.

    With all eyes on the new season, fans are now rushing to read the original webtoon, leading to a massive jump in popularity.

    The webtoon, which first started in May 2018 and wrapped up in November 2023, is famous for its intense storytelling and emotional depth.

    It tells the story of Yeon Si Eun, a quiet and seemingly weak student who turns into a top fighter at a violent school—giving fans a unique and gripping coming-of-age story.

    After Weak Hero Class 2 aired, many viewers started reading or re-reading the webtoon from beginning to end. As a result, sales of the webtoon have shot up more than 20 times compared to its average monthly sales after completion.

    The series has also been turned into printed books, a mobile game, and even emojis, and has been exported to 9 countries, including North America.

    When the first season of the drama premiered on Wavve in 2022, it held 45% of the platform’s total viewing share, proving its wide appeal.

    Fans are now hoping for a new sequel season of the webtoon, and the franchise is being praised as a perfect example of how a strong original story can keep growing through great adaptations.

    Source: [1]