Meet the contestants of ‘Physical: 100’ season two

Kensington Palace, the home of Prince William and Princess Catherine (aka Kate Middleton), has been deemed untrustworthy by a major news agency.

EXCLUSIVE: Netflix chief Ted Sarandos has weighed in on artificial intelligence’s place in Hollywood.

EXCLUSIVE: America’s undiscovered K-pop stars are getting their shot at fame.

After stints heading local-language production at Disney APAC and HBO Asia, Hong Kong-based Jessica Kam-Engle is now heading CreAsia Studio, a new Banijay Asia venture in Southeast Asia, in the role of EVP & Business Head.

, the craze for fermented foods and superfood has been inescapable in recent years. Kimchi, in particular, has gone from being South Korea’s national dish to something of an international phenomenon.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief This month’s Hong Kong International Film Festival will showcase over 190 films from 62 countries and regions, including five world premieres, and 64 Asian premieres. Running 12 days (March 28 – April 8), the festival will open with the Asian premiere of local director Ray Yeung’s “All Shall Be Well,” which won the Teddy Award at the recent Berlin festival.

Pyramid Game has been dubbed the new Squid Game in some circles, and it isn’t just because of its similar name.Based on the South Korean webtoon of the same name, Pyramid Game is a psychological thriller survival series set in an all-girls high school where students are ranked based on their popularity – which leads to violence against the lower ranks.The series is created by Lee Jae-gyun and stars Kim Ji-yeon, who is best known as a member of the South Korean girl group WJSN. Other cast members include Jang Da-ah, Ryu Da-in, Shin Seul-ki and Kang Na-eon.Pyramid Game will have its European premiere at Series Mania in March, following its debut in Korea on TVING last month.Along with the similarities in title, Pyramid Game and Squid Game are both Korean dramas which share similar survival themes – with the former set in the hierachy of a school, while the latter serves as commentary on capitalist society at large.The huge success of Squid Game has also led to a chase to replicate its success, with the existence of Pyramid Game likely being a byproduct of its popularity.The series has also received some positive early buzz.

TWICE is achieving new heights!

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Atlas Distribution Company, a U.S. indie distributor, has set Vietnamese-American co-production film “A Fragile Flower” on course for a theatrical release in the U.S. Produced by the duo Mai Thu Huyen and Jacqueline Thu Thao, the romantic musical drama, with a screenplay by Vietnamese singing sensation Nhat Ha, is set debut from Mar.

Lovelyz member Jisoo has addressed the possibility of a reunion for the girl group, saying that there’s only a “five per cent” chance of it happening.Earlier this week on February 26, the singer-actress made her official debut as an online gaming streamer with her own personal channel on Korean platform AfreecaTV. She hosted her first-ever livestream on the same day.During the livestream, the singer answered fans’ questions about the future of Lovelyz.

Solo Leveling has become one of the breakout anime shows of the year.Based on the Korean web novel by Chugong, the series takes place in a realm of gifted hunters and monsters. In this world, weak hunter Sung Jinwoo is given extraordinary strength through a mysterious programme, which kickstarts a journey across the various dungeons to discover the true source of his power.The anime adaptation debuted in January this year.

Jessica Kiang The shortest distance between two points is popularly believed to be a straight line. But if one of those points is the chin, cheekbone or torso of some sneering and/or psychotic Korean gangster, the shortest route is actually the arc described by either one of Korean megastar Don Lee‘s fists, here playing the fists of Detective Ma, protagonist of the ludicrously watchable “Roundup” series.

AOA member Choa has opened up about the reason behind her departure from the group in 2017.Choa recently appeared on singer Lee Ji-hye’s YouTube channel, during which she and the rest of the main cast of television show Diva Sisters – Ivy, Chae Rina, Narsha and Lee herself – were filmed gathering for drinks to celebrate Lee’s birthday.In the midst of discussions about the women’s experiences in the Korean entertainment industry, Ivy asked Choa whether she “left [AOA] for [her] own good”. Choa then admitted that at the time of her departure from AOA, she “still wanted to be part of this industry”, per SBS Star. However, Chae Rina noted that it “almost seemed like you were done with this industry”, adding that “the public probably felt the same way”.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief In Berlin with “The Roundup: Punishment,” part four of the action movie series that he created and stars in, the larger-than-life Korean American Don Lee finds himself simultaneously in multiple timely and lucrative businesses. These include the Marvel superhero business, the Korea-to-Hollywood remake business, “The Roundup” franchise and its multiple spinoff possibilities. Lee may even be in the business of saving Korean cinema, which is currently having one of its periodic wobbles.

Physical: 100. The streamer announced on X (formerly known as Twitter) earlier today (February 21) that Physical: 100 season two will premiere next month on March 19.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief North American digital distributor Echelon Studios has come on board “12.12: The Day,” the highest grossing film from Korea last year. The film has been on theatrical release in North America, through 815 Pictures since last year and grossed over $1 million.

Marry My Husband actress Song Ha-yoon has revealed why she isolated herself on the set of the hit Prime Video K-drama series.Marry My Husband follows ordinary office worker Kang Ji-won (Park Min-young), who gets a second chance at life after she dies at the hands of her cheating husband Park Min-hwan (Lee Yi-kyung) and treacherous best friend Jung Soo-min (Song Ha-yoon).In a new interview with South Korean media, Song Ha-yoon says that because of the villainous nature of her role, she “usually kept to myself while on set”, per SBS Star. The actress explained that it “didn’t feel right to form close relationships with other actors while playing the character”.“It was necessary because when actors are close to each other, it is noticeable in a scene.

Joe Otterson TV Reporter The “Money Heist” spinoff series “Berlin” has been renewed for Season 2 at Netflix. The second season will once again see Pedro Alonso returning as the title character, along with fellow cast members Michelle Jenner as Keila, Tristán Ulloa as Damián, Begoña Vargas as Cameron, Julio Peña Fernández as Roi, and Joel Sánchez as Bruce. The Spanish-language series serves as a prequel to the events of “Money Heist” (a.k.a “La casa de papel”).

“This might sound very irresponsible, but I don’t know what I’m doing,” South Korean filmmaker Hong Sangsoo told a Berlinale presser this afternoon when quizzed on his unique directing style. 

Greek weird wave director Yorgos Lanthimos’ latest film, “Poor Things,” has been nominated for a whopping 11 Oscars, including Best Picture. And while the comedic Frankenstein-esque drama isn’t expected to win a lot of major awards other than Emma Stone for Best Actress (she won the BAFTA yesterday, so she is in good shape), Lanthimos is in a great position to pick whatever he wants to do next.