Hollywood Calls for Rain

Korean pop idol Rain has snagged his first leading role in a Hollywood film. The singer and actor told a press conference at the Lotte Hotel in Seoul on Wednesday that he has been cast as the hero in the action movie "Ninja Assassin".

The movie is to be produced by Joel Silver, the producer of "V for Vendetta", and the Wachowski Brothers, the directors of "The Matrix".

"It's such a huge opportunity that I feel like I'm dreaming", Rain said. "I'm not only working out to lose weight and training to build the perfect body, I'm also studying English hard".

This won't be Rain's first Hollywood movie. He recently shot a supporting role in the Wachowski Brothers' "Speed Racer", which is scheduled to open in theaters in May.

"You'll see Korean characters appear in some scenes in the movie", Rain said with a grin. "That's because I lobbied and sometimes pressured the producers to feature the Korean language".

link: http://www.hancinema.net/hollywood-calls-for-rain-12537.html

Rain recognized for enhancing Korea's image

Pop star Rain will receive the 2008 Korea Image Stepping Stone Award in recognition of his contribution to promoting a positive image of Korea through his music, the Corea Image Communication Institute announced Monday.

Rain, whose real name is Jung Ji-hoon, is one of Asia's most successful and well-loved artists, and has recently clinched a major role in a Hollywood film,.

The institute is a nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting Korea internationally.

The awards ceremony will be held in the Grand Ballroom of the Grand InterContinental Hotel on Feb. 19, during which the heartthrob singer/actor will perform.

Also joining the event will be last year's awardee, maestro Chung Myung-Whun, who will perform with violinist Dennis Kim, cellist Song Young-hoon and violist Hung-Wei Huang.

Rain began his singing career after releasing his first solo album, " Bad Guy ", in 2002, a huge success that was followed by other popular albums. He gained worldwide fame when Korean pop culture, particularly pop music and television dramas, became hugely popular several years ago in Asia and other regions.

He launched his acting career with starring roles in the Korean television drama "Full House" in 2004 and the movie "I'm a Cyborg, But That's OK" in 2006. In the same year, Rain was named one of the 100 Most Influential People by Time Magazine and one of the 100 Most Beautiful People a year later by People Magazine.

Rain recently concluded a contract with William Morris Agency, a New York-based major talent agency that represents entertainers such as Britney Spears, Jennifer Lopez and Russell Crowe. He will make his official Hollywood debut in May with a supporting role in "Speed Racer", a family movie written and directed by Larry and Andy Wachowski (of the "Matrix" trilogy).

The 26-year-old star has also been cast in a major role in "Ninja Assassin", which will be produced by Joel Silver and the Wachowski Brothers, and directed by James McTeigue ("V for Vendetta").

"This will mark the beginning of the second chapter of my life. It is an opportunity that I never want to miss", he said during a press conference in Seoul on Wednesday.

Last month, he lent a helping hand to the nationwide volunteer campaign to clean up an oil spill on the west coast, and donated 300 million won ($32,000).

By Lee Yong-sung

link: http://www.hancinema.net/rain-recognized-for-enhancing-korea-s-image-12536.html

Singer Rain, singing a contract with Russell Crowe and Jennifer Lopez's US agency.

Singer Rain is going to sign a contract with Russell Crowe's agency to taking his first step to enter the US music industry. Rain's agency, Jay Tune Entertainment. Co (a.k.a Jay Tune) revealed on 11th that, "We are going to sign a cooperation contract with the world's largest agency, WMA (William Morris Agency)".

The WMA has the largest number of entertainers and the copy rights in the world and has 100 years of history of bring up the best stars in the world, including Elvis Presley and Marilyn Monroe. At the moment, Jennifer Lopez, Janet Jackson, Alicia Keys and Eminem are under the system of the WMA.

In addition, the WMA brought up many directors, producers, script writers and actors from various blockbuster films such as "Spiderman 3", "X men" and "Kill Bill" as well as produced and distributed many popular TV programs such as "24", "Lost" and "American Idols". The WMA acts as a leader of the global entertainment industry.

The Jay Tune is going to have an interview about this cooperation on 13th in Seoul So-Kong-dong Lotte Hotel and will be informing more about Rain's future career in the US.

link: http://news.naver.com/main/read.nhn?mode=LSD&mid=sec&sid1=106&sid2=&oid=018&aid=0001941874&iid=

Rain grabs leading role in Hollywood film (2008/02/14)


Rain, Korea's foremost entertainer recently dubbed one of the world's most beautiful people, has clinched a leading role in a Hollywood flick scheduled to begin shooting later this year, his U.S. promotion agency was quoted as saying by Yonhap News Agency.

"Ninja Assassin", to be directed by James McTeigue, will mark the first time for the 26-old singer and actor, whose real name is Jeong Ji-hoon, to play a leading role in a U.S. movie. He will make his official Hollywood debut in May with a smaller role in "Speed Racer".

"This is such a huge opportunity for me. It seems like a dream", he said at a press conference in Seoul.

Rain emerged as a worldwide star when Korea's pop culture, especially its pop music and television dramas, became hugely popular several years ago in Asia and other regions.

Riding on the "Korean Wave", known in Korea as "Hallyu", Rain was named one of the "100 Most Influential People" by Time Magazine in 2006 and one of the "100 Most Beautiful People" a year later by People Magazine.

Rain recently concluded a contract with the William Morris Agency (WMA), a New York-based talent agency that represents entertainers such as Britney Spears, Jennifer Lopez and Russell Crowe.

"We're a business with a number of artists who are really international artists, and we look at Rain as the same", said John Mass, a WMA vice chief. "He's not just popular in Korea or Asia, but he's popular throughout the world".

Rain began his singing career after releasing his first solo album, " Bad Guy ", in 2002, a huge success that was followed by other popular albums. He launched his acting career when he starred in the South Korean television drama "Full House" in 2004 and the movie "I'm a Cyborg, But That's OK" in 2006.

Source : http://www.koreaherald.co.kr/ + HanCinema e-news

Rain, singing a title song for an animation movie

Rain is going to sing a title song for an animation movie .

On 4th, a Japanese news website, Pia, reported that Rain is going to participate in recording an OST for Hollywood DreamWorks's new animation, "Kung Fu Panda" which is targeting 2008 Beijing Olympic.

If this report is true, Rain is going to the first Korean singer to participate in recording OST for an American film.

"Kung Fu Panda" is to be released on every state of America in June and has its motives from Xu Jiao's "Kung Fu Hustle". Many Hollywood stars were cast in for voice acting includes Angelina Jolie, Jack Black and Dustin Hoffman.

It was reported that Rain received the proposal from the DreamWorks 4 months ago.


Source : http://kr.news.yahoo.com/service/news/shellview.htm?articleid=20080206020341189h1&linkid=4&newssetid=1352&from=rank

If we could exchange our bodies… "I'd like to change with either Lee Hyo-lee or Rain!" (2008/02/07)


A game of exchanging bodies… If you are given one chance to bring this fantasy into a reality, which celebrity is at the top of your list? Upon this interesting survey, singer Lee Hyo-lee and Rain topped each gender category by overwhelming number of votes.

The survey was conducted from 21st January for a week for an advertising purpose for upcoming film "The Devil's Game". The film is about two men who snatch and get snatched each other's body by a bet.

The unique theme of "body plunder" in the film "The Devil's Game" is becoming a sensational hit. The survey was targeted to Netizens where top Korean stars including Rain & Lee Hyo-lee, kwon Sang-woo & Kim Ah-joong, Song Seung-heon & Han Chae-young, Gong Yoo & Yoon Eun-hye had a hot competition. However, the first generation hot-body star, Song Seung-heon and global star kwon Sang-woo was no match for Rain's perfect body. And many beautiful top female stars couldn't beat Lee Hyo-lee's sexiness.

The world star, Rain, is loved by huge number of female fans for his tall height, perfectly sexy body and cute face, while Lee Hyo-lee is also loved by many for her charming sexy smiles, beauty, perfect body and friendly personality.

Evidently, "The Devil's Game"'s recent survey reflected the Netizens' hidden desires to haves perfect body and the new theme of "body plunder" evoked familiarity toward the movie.

The shocking theme, solid framework and delicate visual work of "The Devil's Game" is going to be released on 31st and is expected to be the biggest hit of 2008, following the foot steps of "Old Boy", "The Big Swindle" and "Blood Rain".


Source : http://news.media.daum.net/entertain/broadcast/200802/02/SpoSeoul/v19846312.html

Yoon Eun-hye, Rain, Han Ye-seul… Stars cried and laughed over substitute casting

What is a common thing between Yoon Eun-hye, Rain, Han Ye-seul, Jo Seung-woo and Kim Ah-joong? They have all became big stars through 'substitute casting'. On 13th, the cable channel's Story On's 'Cover story' deals with those 'substitute casts' who earned their roles over their original casts and made a big hits.

The recent example is Yoon Eun-hye from drama "Coffee Prince" who literary was a centre of attention during the course of the drama. Initially, the role was first suggested to Kim Ah-joong but she was under an exclusive contract with a shampoo company and a contract term states that she maintains long hair until the contract finishes. So the role was given to Yoon Eun-hye, who was prepared to cut her hair short for the role.

Last year's big issue, "Fantastic Couple"'s Jo An-na, Han Ye-seul, was also a substitute cast of Uhm Jung-hwa who refused the role due to her busy schedule from releasing her 9th album at the time. Despite the fact, Han Ye-seul brought out the character within herself and created many 'analects of Jo An-na', which became a sensational hit throughout the country. However, once in the past, Han Ye-seul same mistake as Uhm Jung-hwa when she refused to be in "My Name is Kim Sam-soon" and Jeong Ryeo-won took her place. The drama was literally a jackpot when it was on-air.

This goes same to Rain in "Full House". Initially, the producing staffs gave the role to Jung Woo-sung and then to Lee Jeong-jae. Even so, Rain showed constant interests to the staffs of starring in the drama and when Lee Jeong-jae turned down the offer in preparing for his film "Typhoon", Rain eventually got the role.

The film industry has no exception. Jo Seung-woo, who perfectly digested the role of autistic 20 years old man with the brain capacity of 5 years old in the film "Marathon" grabbed his chance when Shin Ha-gyoon, who was busy shooting other film and Park Hae-il, who felt a burden to act an autistic man, rejected the role.

Kim Ah-joong from "200 Pounds Beauty" also went around few turns before she could get her hand on the role. The directing staffs suggests many top female stars include Ko So-young, Kim Hee-seon, Lee Na-young and Soo-ae but many felt uneasy about a character who undergoes a complete cosmetic makeover. Meanwhile, Kim Ah-joong came into their eyes and she was given the role.

Also there are unlucky stars who have rejected their chances of fame. Cha In-pyo have rejected 'Shiri', 'The Foul King', "The Host", "Friend", 'Kick the moon', 'My Wife Is a Gangster' and 'My Boss, My Hero' and Kim Hee-seon missed out in 'Autumn in my Heart', "All In", 'Winter Sonata', 'Lovers in Paris', 'Phoenix' and 'Sorry, I Love You'.

link: http://www.hancinema.net/korean-movie-news_12445.php

Singer Rain, joined hands with KBS to expand the contents business to the global market

Singer Rain's agency, J-tune Entertainment (aka J-tune) is making full attempts to enter the global market through the contents business.

On 29th, the spokesman from J-tune said, "We are signing a joint contract with KBS Media, Co. and is planning a distribution of visual materials and merchandising business all over the Asia". Through this strategic cooperation with KBS Media, "We will produce various visual materials, games and off-line merchandises using vast amount of visual materials starred by Rain whose copyrights are of KBS'. And by making a full use of those videos that haven't been televised previously, the rarity of contents will be dramatically increased".

"We are targeting at every Asian countries in providing the contents to the media channels and off-line distributors".

Along with various KBS entertainment and documentary programs, Rain appeared as the main cast of following dramas, including "Sang Doo! Let's go to school", "Full House" and "A Love to Kill".

In particular, "Full House" was televised all over the Asia and recorded the maximum viewing rate of 40% and "A Love to Kill" is going to be on-air in Japan this year. Many expect to see the effects "A Love to Kill" may have in reviving the Korean Waves.

Meanwhile, Rain's Hollywood debut film, "Speed Racer" is going to be released in May and he is going to make a premier tour in Japan in July.


link:http://news.naver.com/main/read.nhn?mode=LSD&mid=sec&sid1=106&sid2=&oid=018&aid=0001938735&iid=