4 Korean movies to premiere in theaters dominated by Disney films

Disney movies are making big waves in South Korean theaters this month. The live-action “Aladdin” will soon reach 10 million viewers and “Toy Story 4” is also attracting a lot of viewers by bringing nostalgia among its long-time fans. Now, the live-action “Lion King” is awaiting to premiere on July 17 and take over the huge popularity of Disney films.

The original “Lion King” that was released in 1994 still holds the record for the biggest success worldwide among the G-rated animated films. This year’s live-action adaptation was directly by Jon Favreau who also directed “The Jungle Book” while globally renowned film score composer Hans Zimmer and singer-songwriter Elton John were in charge of the music. Actor Donald Glover and Beyoncé each provided their voice to Simba and Nala as well.

Against the rather intimidating cast of “Lion King,” Korean movies will try to win movie-goers’ hearts with a combination of seasoned actors and newcomers, as well as diverse genres from a disaster action film, historical drama, period piece, to occult, offering broader options to choose from.

Among them, the first to be released on July 24 is “The King's Letters” directed by Cho Chul-hyun, a story about the creation of the Korean alphabet “Hangul.”

“EXIT” directed by Lee Sang-geun and “The Divine Fury” directed by Kim Ju-hwan will follow and premiere on July 31 together. “EXIT,” a disaster action movie where an escape operation takes place to get away from the city due to mysterious gas spreading from an unknown cause, is garnering anticipation for Jo Jung-suk’s high-quality comedy performance. “The Divine Fury” is an occult film, which has enthusiastic fans. It tells the story of a martial arts champion, played by Park Seo-joon, fighting against a powerful evil force along with a priest from Vatican City, played by Ahn Sung-ki.

The last movie to be showcased in theaters, “Battle of Fengwudong” directed by Won Shin-yun, will premiere on August 7. It features a battle and victory of Korean independence army against the Japanese troop in June 1920. The production team made admirable efforts to keep the details of the movie as close as possible to what actually happened by referring to “Tongnip Sinmun,” the first newspaper published in Korea, and independence activist Hong Beom-do’s journal while consulting with descendants of independence army members and historians.


Seo-Hyun Lee baltika7@donga.com