Lotte Entertainment (Korean: 롯데엔터테인먼트) is a South Korean film producer and distributor and entertainment division under Lotte Cultureworks (Korean: 롯데컬처웍스), which is a Republic of Korea company that also houses Lotte Cinema (Korean: 롯데시네마).[2]
 Exterior of Lotte’s Charlotte Theater in Songpa district | |
Native name | 롯데엔터테인먼트 |
|---|---|
| Company type | Private |
| Industry | Film, TV Series, Musicals |
| Founded | September 2003[1] |
| Headquarters | , |
| Services | film production, exhibition, distribution, television production, financing |
| Owner | Lotte Corporation (aka Lotte Group) |
| Parent | Lotte Cultureworks |
| Website | lotteent.com |
History
editIn September 2003, Lotte Entertainment was created under Lotte Shopping to manage film production, distribution, investment, and international sales. In 2018, Lotte Corporation spun-off the entertainment branch from Lotte Shopping as Lotte Cultureworks which includes both Entertainment and Cinema divisions.[3]
The Lotte Entertainment division was created to focus its operations in the motion pictures industry, and is often included in Korea's "Big 4" of the major film industry distributors along with CJ ENM, Showbox, and NEW.[4]
In 2006, Lotte Entertainment established the Charlotte Theater in Songpa district in Seoul, which was Korea's first venue solely dedicated to musicals.[5]
International distribution
editIn early 2015, the company signed a theatrical distribution deal with Paramount Pictures which allowed Lotte to distribute all of Paramount's films in South Korea, after Paramount ended its theatrical distribution deal with CJ Entertainment that year.[6]
In 2016, Lotte Entertainment joined the Globalgate consortium which is led by Lionsgate. As part of the agreement, Lotte represents the Korean and Vietnamese film markets.[7]
Production Studio
editIn 2019, Lotte Entertainment launched its own TV series production studio. Its first series premiered on JTBC in February 2022 called "Thirty-Nine" (Korean: 서른,아홉). The series was later distributed though TVING and Netflix streaming services.[8]
Releases
editFilms
edit"Along with the Gods: The Two Worlds" (released in 2017) and "Along with the Gods: The Last 49 Days" (released in 2018) are considered the most successful film series in Korea. The first film still ranks as the third most watched Korean film of all time.[9] The franchise is based on a popular Korean web comic of the same title.
The zombie apocalypse thriller "#Alive" (released in 2020) was the first Korean film to be ranked No. 1 in the U.S. and Europe on Netflix streaming platform. The film also reached No. 1 on movie charts across 35 countries.[10]
"Escape from Mogadishu" (released in 2021) was the highest grossing Korean film in 2021 and a Korean Oscar Contender for 2022.[11]
Television series
edit| Year | Title | Original title | Network | Associated production | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | Joseon Survival Period | 조선 생존기 | TV Chosun | Huayi Brothers Korea HIGROUND |
[12] |
| The Great Show | 위대한 쇼 | tvN | Huayi Brothers Korea Studio Dragon |
[13] | |
| 2021 | Joseon Exorcist | 조선구마사 | SBS TV | Studio S (SBS) YG STUDIOPLEX Crave Works |
[14] |
| 2023 | Pale Moon | 종이달 | ENA | Big Ocean ENM | [15] |
References
edit- ^ "Company: Lotte Entertainment". Lotte Entertainment. 7 May 2023. Retrieved 7 May 2023.
- ^ Shackleton, Liz (April 3, 2023). "Lotte Cultureworks to Produce Korean Adaptation of Yes Studios' Israeli Series 'On the Spectrum'". Deadline.
- ^ "Lotte Cinema and Lotte Entertainment Introduce a New Independent Corporate Body, Lotte Cultureworks". Korean Film Council. 8 May 2023. Retrieved 8 May 2023.
- ^ Park, Jin-hai (June 8, 2018). "Big 4 Wary of New Distributors". The Korea Times.
- ^ Ahn, Chang-hyun (March 27, 2016). "What are the Characteristics of Private Theaters?". The Hankyoreh News.
- ^ Lee, Hyo-won (June 10, 2015). "Paramount, South Korea's Lotte in Distribution Deal". Hollywood Reporter.
- ^ Grater, Tom (July 22, 2020). "How Globalgate Is Spinning Local-Language IP Into International Box Office Hits". Deadline.
- ^ Ryu, Ji-yoon (February 16, 2022). "Lotte Cultureworks produces its first drama '30,9' starring Son Ye-jin". Dailian News.
- ^ Noh, Jean (January 22, 2018). "'Along With The Gods: The Two Worlds' becomes Korea's third biggest all-time box office hit". Screen Daily.
- ^ Na, Won-jeong (September 9, 2020). "Yoo Ah-in's zombie series '#Alive' and 'Kingdom 2' rank #1 on Netflix". JoongAng News.
- ^ Jeong, Yoo-jin (December 20, 2021). "Movies of the Year Viewed by Box Office Performance". News1 Korea.
- ^ "#tv조선 #드라마 #조선생존기 #유복이 최선을 다하겠습니다😭 | Instagram" (in Korean). Archived from the original on 2021-12-24 – via Instagram.
- ^ "TVN '위대한 쇼' 송승헌, '사남매 父' 되다! - 뉴스에이".
- ^ "'조선구마사' 감우성·장동윤·박성훈, 판타지 액션 사극 신세계+갓벽한 라인업 [공식]". www.msn.com. Archived from the original on 2020-11-24.
- ^ Yoo Jung-min (March 27, 2023). "'종이달' 김서형, 횡령 끝 추락 예고? "인생이 아름답게 무너졌다"" (in Korean). MBC Entertainment. Retrieved March 30, 2023 – via Naver.