Latest news with #Hi-Five
Yahoo
09-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
‘How to Train Your Dragon' Soars to Korea Box Office Crown
DreamWorks' 'How to Train Your Dragon' topped the South Korean box office over the June 6–8 weekend, overtaking local hit 'Hi-Five' in admissions and revenue. The live action remake of the 2010 blockbuster opened to $4 million from 540,059 admissions across 1,645 screens, accounting for 35.6% of the market, according to Kobis, the tracking service operated by the Korean Film Council. That put it ahead of 'Hi-Five,' which drew 400,746 viewers and grossed $2.7 million in its second frame. The Korean film has now reached a cumulative total of $7.8 million with 1.15 million admissions. More from Variety Tom Cruise's 'Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning' Leads Again at China Box Office as 'Ballerina' Bows in Third 'How to Train Your Dragon' Review: DreamWorks Swoops Into the Remake Game With Respectful Cover From Co-Director of 2010 Toon 'Lilo & Stitch,' 'Mission: Impossible' Lead U.K., Ireland Box Office to 50% Surge in May 'Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning' slipped to third place with $1.8 million from 256,857 viewers. The Tom Cruise-led action sequel has now amassed $21.7 million with more than 3 million admissions since its release on May 17. South Korean occult political thriller 'The Pact' placed fourth with $1.3 million and 183,425 admissions, bringing its cumulative total to $2.7 million. 'Lilo & Stitch' ranked fifth with $331,683 and 47,712 viewers for a total of $3 million, while Korean drama 'Big Deal' fell to sixth place, earning $255,883 for a total of $1.7 million. In seventh, Australian supernatural horror 'Bring Her Back' debuted with $195,358 from 33,225 viewers. Meanwhile, Japanese animated title 'Magic Candies' earned $74,448 for a running total of $247,004. Two more Japanese films rounded out the top ten: 'Colorful Stage! The Movie: A Miku Who Can't Sing' added $62,545 for a total of $361,064, and the re-release of 'Crayon Shin-chan: Crash! Scribble Kingdom and Almost Four Heroes' earned $40,737 to bring its lifetime Korean gross to $1.4 million. The top 10 films collectively grossed $10.8 million over the weekend, up from the previous frame's $7.6 million. Best of Variety 25 Hollywood Legends Who Deserve an Honorary Oscar New Movies Out Now in Theaters: What to See This Week Emmy Predictions: Animated Program — Can Netflix Score Big With 'Arcane,' 'Devil May Cry' and the Final Season of 'Big Mouth?'
Korea Herald
09-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Korea Herald
Korean comedy 'Hi-Five' hits million-ticket milestone
Superhero farce becomes fifth domestic film to reach benchmark this year, though critical reception remains divided Korean comedy "Hi-Five" crossed one million admissions on Saturday, marking a milestone for local cinema amid generally favorable but mixed audience reactions. According to the Korean Film Council's latest box office data, the superhero comedy reached 1,040,358 total admissions as of Saturday evening, hitting the benchmark nine days after its May 30 release. The film ranked second in daily ticket sales with 134,333 admissions, trailing only the Hollywood live-action remake "How to Train Your Dragon," which pulled in 165,319 tickets for the day, following its June 6 debut. "Hi-Five" maintained its momentum on Sunday, adding another 110,149 admissions to bring its running total to approximately 1.15 million. The latest effort by director Kang Hyung-cheol ("Scandal Makers," "Sunny") joins four other Korean films that have surpassed the million-ticket mark so far this year. "Yadang: The Snitch" leads the pack with 3,375,154 admissions, followed by "Hitman 2" (2,547,598), "The Match" (2,145,532), and "Dark Nuns" (1,670,559). Despite reaching the milestone, "Hi-Five" still falls short of the reported 2.9 million ticket sales needed to recoup its 15 billion won ($11 million) production budget. The film follows five individuals who gain supernatural abilities after each receives an organ transplant from a mysterious donor. When a shadowy cult seeks to steal their powers, the unlikely heroes must join forces to fight back. Lee Jae-in anchors the ensemble as a super-strong teenager, supported by Ahn Jae-hong's character who wields hurricane-force breath, Ra Mi-ran as a yogurt seller harboring secret abilities, Kim Hee-won as a factory worker blessed with healing powers, and Yoo Ah-in as a hipster wannabe capable of manipulating electronics. Though overall reception has been generally positive, opinions remain notably split. On local search engine Naver, viewers awarded the film a generous 8.30 out of 10 rating, while users on the film review site Watchapedia gave it a more modest 3.2 out of 5. 'Hi-Five' began its international rollout with a June 6 premiere in Cambodia. It heads to Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and Brunei on June 12, followed by releases in Indonesia, Vietnam, Taiwan and East Timor on June 13. Audiences in Hong Kong and Macao can catch the film starting June 19.
Korea Herald
03-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Korea Herald
'The Pact' taps former first lady's controversies for box office surprise
Political thriller outperforms Hollywood blockbuster despite limited release On the eve of South Korea's presidential election, an unlikely contender has made waves at the box office. "The Pact" — a darkly provocative occult thriller — claimed second place in nationwide ticket sales Monday, an unexpected showing for a low-budget production with a partisan political agenda. According to the Korean Film Council's latest box office data, "The Pact" drew 60,140 viewers on its opening day Monday, narrowly edging out $400 million Hollywood juggernaut "Mission: Impossible — Final Reckoning" (59,953 admissions) and trailing only the homegrown comedy "Hi-Five" (75,614 admissions). These numbers were despite the film's relatively limited theatrical release: Just 1,296 screenings on 536 screens nationwide, roughly a third of its competitors. "The Pact" follows an ambitious woman named Ji-hee (Kim Gyu-ri) who climbs the social ladder through plastic surgery, identity fraud and dark rituals to eventually set her sights on controlling the entire country. Whether directly stated or not, audiences swiftly made the connection to Kim Keon Hee, the wife of ousted former President Yoon Suk Yeol, whose impeachment following his shock Dec. 3 martial law declaration led to Tuesday's snap presidential election. Allegations of the couple's involvement with shamanistic practices have dogged them since the earliest days of Yoon's political ascent — from the Chinese character for "king" mysteriously appearing on Yoon's palm during televised debates to their controversial decision to abandon the Blue House in Seoul for a new presidential office about 6 kilometers south. Suspicions swriled throughout Yoon's tenure that spiritual advisers introduced by the first lady were pulling strings behind the scenes in major policy decisions. The film's Korean title, "Shinmyung," is the most glaring reference: It's Kim's given birth name (Myung-shin) backwards. The former first lady legally changed her name to Keon Hee in 2008. The nature of the production also points to the work's political intent. The film was bankrolled by progressive YouTube channel Openmind TV, which has faced multiple defamation lawsuits from public figures, and lost on one occasion. While producers claim their story draws from verified investigative reporting, the clearly fictionalized story frequently veers into unsubstantiated territory, depicting graphic shamanistic rituals taking place in the presidential office — scenarios for which no concrete evidence exists. "The Pact" is not the first purported expose on the former first lady to hit theaters. In December last year, documentary "The First Lady," exploring corruption allegations surrounding Kim, sold 84,888 tickets in its theatrical run — an impressive figure for low-budget independent cinema.
Korea Herald
02-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Korea Herald
'Hi-Five' tops weekend box office, edging out 'Mission: Impossible 8'
South Korean action comedy "Hi-Five" seized the top spot at the local weekend box office, unseating the latest "Mission: Impossible" installment, data showed Monday. According to the Korean Film Council, the comedy movie, directed by Kang Hyeong-cheol, drew approximately 380,000 moviegoers from Friday to Sunday. Premiering Friday, the movie follows five ordinary people whose lives take a dramatic turn after receiving organ transplants. "Hi-Five" ended the reign of "Mission: Impossible -- The Final Reckoning," Tom Cruise's eighth installment of the popular action franchise, which had held the No. 1 position since its local theatrical debut May 17. It has attracted a cumulative audience of 2.47 million to date. During the weekend, the film attracted about 371,000 moviegoers. Coming in third was "Big Deal," starring Lee Je-hoon and Yoo Hae-jin, which sold 131,000 tickets over the weekend. Inspired by a real-life story, the film revolves around two men entangled in a merger case during the 1997-98 Asian financial crisis. (Yonhap)
Korea Herald
27-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Korea Herald
Review: 'Hi-Five' struggles to find its superpowers
Kang Hyeong-cheol's superhero farce feels curiously unstuck in time Picture this: Two newly minted superhumans discover their extraordinary abilities and decide to ... play the recorder. One holds the instrument at arm's length while the other provides the breath from across a playground using his turbocharged lung capacity. This moment of laughable absurdity perfectly encapsulates what director Kang Hyeong-cheol is going for in "Hi-Five" — a goofy superhero ensemble comedy that wears its dumb-fun ambitions like a badge of honor. It doesn't take long for viewers to appreciate the film's most refreshing virtue — its refusal to dawdle. Take out a stopwatch and you'll discover that our protagonists acknowledge their powers and find each other in under 10 minutes of runtime. It is a merciful reprieve from the usual formula of prolonged soul-searching and clunky exposition that typically accompanies superhero origin stories. Here, supernatural abilities are simply accepted as fact with no existential hand-wringing required. Though his heyday feels increasingly distant, Kang has proven himself a reliable architect of crowd-pleasers before, with "Scandal Makers" (2008) and "Sunny" (2011) delivering impressive box office returns through their blend of nostalgia and heartfelt laughter. Now he returns to the superhero genre, without the grandiosity that usually accompanies such territory. Unapologetically feel-good comedy remains his specialty, and he pursues it here with shameless dedication, for better and decidedly for worse. The premise unfolds with breakneck simplicity: friendless teenager Wan-seo (Lee Jae-in) gains superhuman strength after a heart transplant, living under the watchful eye of her overprotective father (Oh Jung-se). When a YouTube video surfaces of her sprinting up a neighborhood hill at impossible speeds, she's approached by Ji-sung (Ahn Jae-hong), an unemployed slacker whose enhanced lungs allow him to generate hurricane-force winds with his mouth. They immediately recognize each other through mysterious tattoo-like marks that identify transplant recipients with supernatural gifts. This convenient plot device facilitates their eventual team-up with Ki-dong (Yoo Ah-in), a hipster-wannabe who manipulates electronics with finger snaps, and Sun-nyeo (Ra Mi-ran), a perpetually cheerful yogurt seller whose true abilities remain undisclosed until much later. The film proceeds with an unapologetic willingness to jettison intricate world-building in favor of lighter gimmicks. The original organ donor who bestowed these powers remains a deliberate MacGuffin, never explained or explored. Instead, Kang zeroes in on the small-scale comic mishaps that spring from these bumbling superheroes' daily encounters. The comedy finds its rhythm in the antagonistic dynamic between Ahn and Yoo's characters, a relationship built entirely on petty grievances, such as who ate more chicken wings. Beneath all that bickering, a predictable bromance emerges, following the familiar beats of mismatched buddy comedy. The ensemble cast inhabits their archetypal roles with grounded, humane warmth. Lee Jae-in infuses teenage earnestness into the plucky but determined Wan-seo, while Ra Mi-ran and Ahn Jae-hong slip effortlessly into the down-to-earth personas they perfected in the beloved drama "Reply 1988." Even Yoo Ah-in, whose artist mystique seems fundamentally at odds with broad comedy, settles convincingly into his role as an endearing reprobate who primarily uses his abilities to cheat at underground gambling establishments. In terms of action, "Hi-Five" conjures a fever dream of flying fists and rubber reality with a hefty 15 billion won ($11 million) budget, channeling old-school slapstick through a VFX-enhanced funhouse mirror. The most memorable set piece involves Sun-nyeo's yogurt cart careening through narrow streets at breakneck speed, propelled by Wan-seo's superhuman strength, as Rick Astley's "Never Gonna Give You Up" blasts. All of these elements would have cohered nicely if only the humor actually landed. Regrettably, the endless comic sequences fall resolutely flat, their timing and execution feeling mechanically stale. The humor occupies a frustratingly safe middle ground, with pratfalls and punchlines that feel recycled from a dusty comedy playbook. Kang remains admirably earnest in both tone and execution, but the problem is that his comedic sensibilities feel like retreads of material that perhaps worked best 15 years ago. At one moment the film even stoops to tired gay panic comedy, lingering on two straight men accidentally kissing in a sequence that lands with an audible thud. As corny bits accumulate like dead weight, the narrative's graver elements create an increasingly uncomfortable friction. Kang's earlier films (especially "Swing Kids") managed to weave levity through darker material with mixed results, creating tonal dissonance that often felt more ambitious than coherent. Here, that same tension reaches breaking point — when the humor consistently misfires, the backstory involving a grotesque organ-harvesting cult feels fundamentally divorced from the film's feel-good sensibility. The prolonged sequences showing delirious cult followers and human trafficking feel not just misplaced, but actively corrosive to the film's comedic foundation. The film's fundamental miscalculation lies in its lukewarm, dated humor that never commits to being genuinely silly or genuinely smart. Fans of aggressively corny humor might extract a chuckle or two, but it's doubtful whether this tired sensibility will resonate with contemporary audiences.
