It’s being reported that K-Pop icon Park Bo Ram has sadly passed away.
01.04.2024 - 00:21 / justjared.com
K-Pop is going stronger than ever!
South Korean superstars were giving us major moments in March, including some incredible girl group offerings like ILLIT and Purple Kiss, solo efforts from stars like Wendy, J-Hope and YooA, and boy bands, like Day6, NCT Dream, Lun8 and Xikers.
We’ve rounded up some of the biggest releases of the year making an impact on the charts, and we want you to tell us: what is the best K-pop release of March?
Place your vote inside – the winner will be revealed right here on April 7 at 3 p.m. ET.
Keep reading to find out more…
And while you’re at it, meet the new groups that just debuted in 2024! Plus, see the K-pop idols that have made their solo debut!
It’s being reported that K-Pop icon Park Bo Ram has sadly passed away.
Park Bo-ram died Thursday afternoon, the singer’s agency, Xanadu Entertainment, said.
Steven J. Horowitz Senior Music Writer Park Boram, a South Korean singer who has steadily built her career over the past decade, has unexpectedly died at the age of 30, according to her agency Xanadu Entertainment. “We are here to share sorrowful and heartbreaking news,” shared Xanadu in a statement.
Goodbye Earth, starring Ahn Eun-jin and more. Read on for everything you need to know about the show.Goodbye Earth is an adaptation of a Kotaro Isaka novel, called The Fool At The End Of The World.
Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Rights to “I, The Executioner,” which will premiere as a Midnight Screening at the Cannes Film Festival this year, have been picked up by South Korea’s CJ ENM. The crime-action film directed by Ryu Seung-wan (also written Ryoo Seung-wan) is a sequel to Ryu’s 2015 hit “Veteran” and in Korea goes by the title “Veteran 2.” Few details of the story have yet been disclosed, but CJ describes the film as “combining Ryu’s trademark action with observations and messages about social change.” Ryu last year enjoyed major box office success with crime comedy “Smugglers.” Hwang Jung-min, who recently enjoyed box office success in “12.12: The Day,” reprises his role from “Veteran.” He is joined in the sequel by Jung Hae-in (“Tune in for Love”) as a new member of the film’s Violent Crime Investigation Squad. “I, The Executioner” was produced by Filmmaker R & K, the production shingle owned by Ryu and his wife Kang Hae-jung, with CJ ENM as financier and local and international distributor. CJ ENM expects to give the film a theatrical release in South Korea at an unspecified date in the second half of the year. The original “Veteran” had its international premiere in a sidebar of the 2015 Toronto festival, was named best film at the Sitges genre festival in Spain.
K-Pop singer Park Bo Ram, who has been a prominent figure in K-Pop for over a decade, has 'suddenly' died at the age of 30. She is said to have been found unconscious at a friend's house, with a statement announced by agency Xanadu Entertainment confirming her death: 'Park Bo Ram suddenly left us in the late evening of April 11.' Her cause of death is currently being investigated and police have requested an autopsy. Bo Ram’s agency, confirmed her death on Friday, April 12 in South Korea with an announcement.
There is so much going on in Viet Thanh Nguyen’s Pulitzer Prize-winning 2015 novel “The Sympathizer” that it would take a team of true craftsmen even to attempt to unpack it in episodic form. HBO is lucky they hired one of the best in Park Chan-Wook, a supremely and undeniably talented director.
Welcome to , Deadline’s fortnightly strand in which we shine a spotlight on the TV shows and films making noise in their local territories. The industry is as globalized as it’s ever been, but breakout hits are appearing in pockets of the world all the time and it can be hard to keep track. So we’re going to do the hard work for you.
THE BOYZ have announced their upcoming 2024 ‘Zeneration II’ world tour, featuring concerts in Asia, the US, Europe and more.Today (April 8), THE BOYZ announced the first batch of dates for their upcoming 2024 ‘Zeneration II’ world tour. The trek will follow their 2023 ‘Zeneration’ world tour, which had featured 24 dates in Asia.‘Zeneration II’ will kick-off in July with a three-date show in South, South Korea, before the boyband head to the US for a solo tour the first time since 2022.
Minho and Key of K-pop boyband SHINee have renewed their contracts with long-time label SM Entertainment.SM Entertainment announced the contract renewals of both Minho and Key in a statement to South Korean news outlet Sports Chosun, saying that the SHINee duo had re-signed due to a “strong foundation of trust” with the K-pop agency, via Soompi.“We are happy to continue our valuable relationship with Minho and Key,” SM Entertainment added. “We will provide our full support in various ways for Minho and Key to shine not only as members of SHINee but also as solo artists.”In the same statement, Minho and Key also touched on their decision to re-sign with SM Entertainment, saying that the K-pop boyband have “spent every moment together [with the agency] from our beginning until now”.“I think we are who we are today because of the agency staff that we have worked together with for a long time,” the SHINee members added.
Goodbye Earth.Today (April 9), the streamer revealed though its Netflix K-Content account on X (formerly Twitter) that Goodbye Earth will premiere April 26. The announcement was accompanied by 10 stills from the upcoming K-drama, which will star Ahn Eun-jin, Jeon Sung-woo and more.Notably, none of the stills feature actor Yoo Ah-in, who has been embroiled in controversy regarding his alleged drug use since early-2023.
Alex Ritman Banijay has acquired the format rights to “Alumni Lovers,” the school reunion dating show from MBC that first launched in South Korea last December. In a deal to be formerly announced by its global head of acquisitions Helen Greaterox at an MIPTV panel later on Monday, the French TV giant will launch the format in Netherlands via its SimpelZodiak label and France through Endemol France.
Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Oscar-winning Japanese animation film “The Boy and the Heron” earned a chart-topping $34.9 million between Friday and Sunday at the mainland China box office. Over its full five-day opening run, it took an even more spectacular $73 million. China was the last major territory to play the Studio Ghibli-produced fantasy in cinemas – it released in its native Japan in July and is imminently headed to streaming in many other territories – but that did not stop Chinese audiences from lapping it up. While most films release in China on a Friday, “The Boy and the Heron” was given a Wednesday outing in order to capture momentum from the Thursday-to-Saturday Qingming public holiday. Consultancy firm Artisan reports that it earned RMB248 million ($34.9 million) over the conventional Friday-to-Sunday weekend.
Emiliano De Pablos Spain’s film and TV industries are in their second wave as standout content providers for global streamers. Some of the country’s most intriguing titles will take the international stage this weekend at MipTV in Cannes. Built on a foundation of hits such as “The Red Band Society,” “Grand Hotel,” “Velvet” and “Locked Up,” a new era of internationally renowned content creation in Spain kicked off in 2018 with Alex Pina’s blockbuster series “Money Heist,” picked up by Netflix.
K-pop girl group LE SSERAFIM as “Friends of the NBA” in Asia as part of a new multi-year collaboration.The “Friends of the NBA” programme is described by the association as “the league’s celebrity and influencer programme in Asia to engage fans in new and creative ways”, per a press statement released today (April 5).Billed as a “celebration of the intersection of sports and music”, the programme will see LE SSERAFIM attend NBA games and events, collaborate with the association on “a variety of exclusive content” to be featured on both parties’ social media channels, participate in promotional activities for the league and more.In the same press release, LE SSERAFIM spoke of the newly established collaboration in a joint statement: “We are so excited to collaborate with the NBA through its ‘Friends of the NBA’ program. We had a great time watching an NBA game in person last year in LA! We look forward to working together with the league to experience so much more with NBA fans around the world.”Meanwhile, NBA chief marketing officer Tammy Henault also said, “We’re thrilled to team up with breakout K-pop sensation LE SSERAFIM, a young and dynamic group of NBA fans.
Later this month, acclaimed South Korean filmmaker Park Chan-wook (“Decision To Leave”) returns to the world of genre with the Max series “The Sympathizer,” which focuses on a Vietnamese double agent operating on U.S. soil.
Big Bang star G-Dragon will be releasing new music sometime in the second half of the year, his label has confirmed.His label Galaxy Corporation announced that G-Dragon would be making his long-awaited comeback “in the second half of this year”, in a statement to South Korean news outlet News1 earlier today (April 3).“After making his comeback, he will be carrying out global activities, and activities in Japan are also planned as part of them,” Galaxy Corporation added in its statement, via Soompi. G-dragon’s forthcoming comeback will be his first solo release in about seven years, since he released his self-titled EP ‘Kwon Ji-yong’ in 2017.
Highlight have regained the trademark rights to their original name, BEAST.Highlight’s label, Around Us Entertainment, announced today (April 2) that the boyband have reclaimed the trademark rights to their original name, BEAST. The group originally debuted in 2019 under the name BEAST, before changing it to Highlight in 2016 after leaving CUBE Entertainment.In a statement to South Korean news outlet eDaily, Around Us Entertainment said that it has “smoothly completed the mutual agreement regarding the use of the trademark for BEAST”, per Soompi. However, the quartet will continue their activities under the name Highlight.“Regardless of the group name they promote under, it feels new to be able to showcase the group name BEAST,” it added.
aespa singer Karina and South Korean actor Lee Jae-wook have broken up, their agencies have confirmed.Today (April 2), South Korean news outlet TenAsia reported that aespa’s Karina and Lee Jae-wook have broken up, just a little over a month after the pair went public with their relationship in late-February 2024.In response to the report, a representative from Lee’s agency C-JeS Studios confirmed that the pair have “decided on the breakup in order to focus on the project he is currently filming”, per Newsen via Soompi.“The two decided to remain as colleagues who support each other,” the entertainment agency added. “They will each greet [fans] through good activities from their respective positions going forward.
GOT7 singer BamBam has teased new music from the boyband, revealing that “all the songs are done”.GOT7’s BamBam recently appeared on popular Thai YouTube channel WOODY, where he spoke about a potential reunion for the boyband and what fans could expect in the future.The K-pop idol touched on the pressure he and the rest of the band feel when fans ask for a full group comeback, saying that “it would be about whether we’d be able to fulfil our promise to our fans or not”.“We wanted to come back at [a specific] time, so we kept them waiting, which is just the pressure on ourselves about the timing,” he explained. “As for returning with seven people, I think it’s not too much pressure because every one of us would love to come back as seven people.”However, BamBam mentioned that seeing as two GOT7 members are currently enlisted for South Korea’s mandatory military service – JAY B and Jinyoung – the group will have to wait until they return before they can release new music together.That being said, BamBam did reassure fans that preparations are already underwar for a GOT7 comeback.