It's taken some tinkering but, finally, we've finished the new Upcoming Releases page. While many excellent databases exist online with information on future Korean films, many are hard to navigate or far from comprehensive. We wanted to provide an easy to use resource listing all Korean films on the horizon and we believe we've been able to do that.
This monthly features previews the coming month's attractions in Korean cinema. All of these monthly posts are available in an archive on the Upcoming Releases page.
May 3
As One (aka Korea)
Just Friends
May 10
Du-re Sori Story
I Am
The Strangers
May 17
All About My Wife
Granny Is in 1st Grade
The Taste of Money
May 24
Children of Heaven
Hello!
U.F.O.
May 31
Don't Click
In Another Country
Runway Cop
Still Strange
May TBC
Rosa
Tummy
As One (aka Korea)
Director: Moon Hyun-sung
Cast: Ha Ji-won, Bae Doo-na
Synopsis: As One chronicles the victory of the first inter-Korean team at the 1991 Chiba Worldwide Table Tennis Championships.
Release date: May 3
There's a lot of buzz surrounding this project, especially with its two big female stars and theme of rapprochement of the divided Korean nations. It the film clicks with audiences it may be one of the highest-grossing films of the year.
Just Friends
Director: Ahn Cheol-ho
Cast: Oh Yeon-so, Lee Young-hoon
Synopsis: Just Friends is a romance about an unemployed art school graduate who has recently been dumped but meets an aspiring musician at a concert
Release date: May 3
I Am.
Director: Choi Jin-sung
Synopsis: A documentary of SM Entertainment's recent Madison Square Garden concert. Release date: May 10
Du-re Sori Story
Director: Cho Jung-rae
Screenplay: Baek Jong-min
Cast: Kim Seul-gi, Jo Ah-reum, Ham Hyeong-sang, Choi Eun-yeong
Synopsis: Two friends at the National High School of the Traditional Arts take a special class taught by a teacher with conflicting western influences. The class will compete as a chorus in contest.
Release date: May 10
The Strangers
Director: Choi Yong-seok
Cast: Yeo Hyeon-soo, Han Soo-yeon, Kim Joong-ki
Synopsis: Yeon-hee returns to her hometown following the death of her mother in a fire and there she meets Seok who has lost in father in the same accident. They bond and attempt to overcome their grief while Yeon-hee revisits the reason she left in the first place.
Release date: May 10
All About My Wife
Director: Min Gyoo-dong
Screenplay: Min Gyoo-dong
Cast: Im Soo-jeong, Lee Seon-gyoon, Ryoo Seung-yong
Synopsis: A romantic comedy about a man who, in a bid to cleanly divorce his wife, hires a playboy to seduce his spouse.
Release date: May 17
The Taste of Money
Director: Im Sang-soo
Screenwriter: Im Sang-soo
Cast: Kim Kang-woo, Kim Hyo-jin, Baek Yoon-shik, Yoon Yeo-joong
Synopsis: A woman divorces a salaryman and becomes wealthy. A tale of greed and sex in the upper strata of Korean society
Release date: May 17
Im Sang-soo's new film wrapped in January and looks to be another fascinating exposé of our darkest desires. The film will have its world premier at Cannes where it is in the main competition vying for the Palm d'Or. The Taste of Money will also feature a small role for the founder of koreanfilm.org and MKC contributor Darcy Paquet.
Granny Is in 1st Grade
Director: Jin Kwang-gyo
Cast: Kim Jin-goo, Shin Chae-yeon
Synopsis: A 70-year-old woman loses her son but she can't read the final letter he sent her so her 7-year-old granddaughter teaches her how to read.
Release date: May 17
Children of Heaven
Director: Park Heung-shik
Cast: You Da-in, Park Ji-bin, Kim Bo-ra
Synopsis: A new teacher begins a three month stint at a school for troubled children. She hopes to involve some of new students in a talent contest by staging a musical.
Release date: May 24
U.F.O.
Director: Kong Quee-hyun
Screenwriter: Kong Quee-hyun
Cast: Lee Joo-seung, Kim Chang-hwan, Kim Tae-yoon
Synopsis: A group of students catch sight of an alien spacecraft and decide to travel to UFO mountain but on the way there they are warned to turn back.
Release date: May 24
This sci-fi comedy opened last July at the Puchon International Film Festival and has since played at the Digital Seoul Film Festival and Tokyo International Film Festival.
Hello!
Director: Lim Tae-hyeong
Cast: Lee Sang-bong
Synopsis: Documentary chronicling the lives of 14 blind schoolchildren
The new Hong Sang-soo film stars a major French actress and will be premiering in Cannes ahead of its Korean release, not to be missed.
Don't Click
Director: Kim Tae-kyeong
Screenwriter: Kim Tae-kyeong
Cast: Park Bo-young, Joo Won, Kang Byul
Synopsis: Bizarre events occur after a pair watch a mysterious video.
Release date: May 31
This sounds like a blatant ripoff of The Ring (1998), given the poor quality of last summer's horrors, I'm not expecting much from this one. Also, as you'll notice on the poster, Don't Click was scheduled for release last August but got pushed back, never a good sign.
Runway Cop
Director: Sin Tae-ra
Cast: Kang Ji-hwan, Sung Yu-ri, Kim Young-kwang, Lee Soo-hyuk
Synopsis: In order to break a case, a determined detective goes undercover in the fashion world.
Release date: May 31
Still Strange
Director: Lee Hong-jae
Screenwriter: Kim Tae-kyeong
Cast: Jang Si-won, Kim Soo-woong, Lee So-hee
Synopsis: An old couple and their grown up children gather during the first New Year's Day following their only son's death.
Release date: May 31
Rosa
Director: Maeng Gwan-pyo
Cast: Ruzmetova Dayana, Jo Ha-seok
Synopsis: 16-year-old Uzbeki ballet dancer Diana loses her chance at a scholarship as the iron curtain rolls back. She then goes to Korea with a stranger in the hope of following her dreams.
Release date: May
Tummy
Director: Park Bo-sang
Cast: Cheon Ho-jin, Lee Mi-sook, Seo Yoon, Ye Hak-yeong
Synopsis: A sex comedy about a family's romantic entanglements. Release date: May
This film was made in 2008 and is finally seeing the light of day.
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