[Weekly Up & Down] ‘Hellbound’ Invited to TIFF & ‘Escape from Mogadishu’ and ‘Sinkhole’ Save the Box Office

Netflix’s ‘Hellbound‘ Invited to Primetime Section of the 46th TIFF

The new Netflix original series Hellbound was officially invited to the Primetime section of the 46th Toronto International Film Festival. Hellbound is a story about a supernatural phenomenon where supernatural beings from hell appear out of nowhere to condemn people to hell. A new religious group uses this opportunity to take control, but some people try to uncover the group’s secret.

This year’s TIFF will be held from September 9th to September 18th. The Primetime section, which Hellbound was invited to, introduces creators who are opening a new golden age with great stories and directing skills, crossing the boundaries between TV and film. Hellbound is the first Korean series to be invited to the section.

‘Escape from Mogadishu‘ and ‘Sinkhole‘ Sweep the Box Office

Despite the level-4 social distancing, Escape from Mogadishu and Sinkhole �ranked 1st and 2nd on the box office.

First, according to the Korean Film Council, Sinkhole attracted 647,589 moviegoers over the weekend (August 13th to August 15th). With the record, the movie rose to the top of the box office chart. The cumulative number of admissions is 922,368. This is the best opening-week record made by a Korean movie this year. On top of that, it has also set a new record of this year’s daily attendance for a Korean movie for two days in a row.

Escape from Mogadishu, now in the third week of its release, drew a total of 2,318,967 viewers, according to the Korean Film Council. By far, this is the second highest-grossing movie following Black Widow in 2021.

Seungri Sentenced to 3 Years in Prison

A month before his discharge from the army, Seungri was sentenced to prison for soliciting prostitution. He was sentenced to three years in prison and was fined 1.15 billion KRW (about $984,800). The court found Seungri’s statement “unreliable” due to its inconsistency and found him guilty of all nine charges.

There are Seungri’s 9 charges: habitual illegal gambling, solicitation of prostitution, assistance in the solicitation of prostitution, violation of sexual crime laws through the spread of illegal sexual content via SNS, breach of business finance regulations, violation of food sanitation laws, embezzlement, illegal foreign monetary transactions, and abetting assault. If Seungri does not appeal within one week, he will be forcibly discharged from the army and then imprisoned.

Yoon Kye Sang Tied the Knot

Yoon Kye Sang registered his marriage and is now legally married. On the 13th, Just Entertainment shared, “Yoon Kye Sang registered his marriage this morning.” Recently, Yoon announced his plan to marry his non-celebrity girlfriend. At the time, he wrote, “We’ll be skipping the wedding for now due to the COVID-19 situation, but we will register our marriage later this month.”

Source: Netflix, 2, 3, 4