Korean singer and actor Rain said he wants to work with his”hero” Al Pacino someday.

MTV presented a question and answer session between the Korean pop star and his fans in time with the release of the first full clip from the action flick “Ninja Assassin,” in which Rain plays a starring role.

Asked whether there is any action star he would like to team up with for a movie, Rain said, “When I was young, `Scarface’ was my favorite film. Al Pacino is my hero. I want to work with him.”

Rain said he sustained lots of cuts on his body while acting for the new film, which hits theaters Nov. 25.

“I have lots of cuts on my body. When I was doing a stunt, even though everyone took care of me, I still got hurt a lot,” he said.

Rain told his fans that diet was the hardest part of the training he went through for the movie.

“I ate chicken breast for eight months with vegetables. That was terrible. No sugar. No salt. I don’t want to eat chicken breast anymore. I like junk food, French fries, hamburgers ― I love it,” he said.

He indicated that in the future he will make an English-language album for international fans.

“I don’t have plans yet for an English album, but I will. Please wait for me,” he said.

The young Korean actor is already a pop-culture phenomenon in Korea. Now, with his first starring role, he seems poised to earn some new fans in the States.

Filmed in Berlin, Germany, the action adventure movie is produced by Joel Silver and the Wachowski brothers.

Source: Korea Times

SEOUL — South Korean pop singer/actor Rain was offered the lead role in the Warner Bros. remake of Bruce Lee’s kung fu flick “Enter the Dragon,” J Tune Entertainment, Rain’s agency, confirmed Thursday.

J Tune, however, added that Rain hasn’t made a decision, and refused to discuss details.

The 27-year old actor stars as an assassin in the Wachowski Brothers’ upcoming “Ninja Assassin” set for release in November.

“Enter the Dragon,” which is considered one of Bruce Lee’s most popular films in the West, and the last before his death, delves into a Shaolin monk (Lee) who is assigned to expose illegal activities on an island. For the film’s contemporary take, the company has hired writer Kurk Sutter (also the co-producer for American TV drama “The Shield”).

J Tune Entertainment said only that Rain is currently preparing for his next Asian concert tour later this year.

Source: hollywoodreporter

Rain (real name Jung Ji-hoon) was recently in the French Alps for a fashion shoot for his clothing brand Six to Five. Rain and his crew photographed at Club Med in the South of France using the backdrop of the breathtaking French Alps. They also went to a place called the Savoy Chalet to take advantage of its traditional architecture, modern interior and elegant sophisticated feel. I am sure the European pictures will turn out great.

Rain’s European shoot will appear in Elle Magazine’s (Korea) August 2009 issue.

Meanwhile, Rain has plans for a global fan meeting which carries the theme “PEACE”. The fan meeting will be held at Kyunghee University in Seoul on 29 July, 2009.

Source: Osen
Credit: Kpopped!

Yesterday night, Jackie Chan held his concert <Jackie and friends> at Beijing’s National Stadium, the “Bird’s Next”. He invited South Korean superstar Rain, Jonathan Lee, Chris Li, Emil Chau, and other popular singers from China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan. Rain didn’t get his approval until the last minute, but he successfully delivered his performance in the end.

Jackie Chan is the first to hold a concert at the Bird’s Nest. The set up was certainly impressive. There were seven hundred security guards and over a hundred fifty performing guests. From Hong Kong, there were Eric Tsang, Alan Tam, Hacken Lee, Joey Yung, Jaycee Fong, Charlene Choi, and more. Singers from Taiwan included Jonathan Lee, Emil Chau, Van Fan. From China, there were Sun Nan, Li Bing Bing, Yuan Quan, Chris Li, Liu Yuan Yuan, Zhao Ben Shan, Teacher Xiao Shen Yang and his disciple, and more.

Last night at 7:10PM, the Bird’s Nest was filled with approximately eighty-thousand people, without an empty seat. Jackie Chan wore white traditional clothes and appeared on stage. With more than a hundred singers spread across six smaller stages, they sang “Descendants of the Dragon” together. Standing on the stage, Jackie Chan asked the audience to be environmental friendly, “I hope that after everyone leaves here, there will be no plastic bottles or concert tickets left in the stadium, okay?!” Afterwards, he sang “Sincere Hero” with Jonathan Lee and Emil Chau, and pushed the concert to its height.

Hong Kong’s Oriental Daily reported that Rain’s approval was delayed, where he didn’t know whether he could go on stage or not. Thus, Rain did not appear on stage at the opening of the show. He got the approval at the last minute and he went on stage after Jackie Chan gave him an introduction. The crowd cheered loudly as Rain sang and danced. Fans went wild when Jackie Chan and Rain performed “Love in Autumn” together.

Rain expressed in an interview, “I immediately agreed to perform after receiving Jackie Chan’s invitation because for one, ‘Da Ge’ (big brother) is a really nice person and two, because this is for charity. Therefore, I must attend. I’m very happy to be able to perform at the Bird’s Nest again this time. It reminds me of the time I was performing here for the Olympics.”

Source : UDN
translated by fewfew @ http://asianfanatics.net

A building in southern Seoul owned by K-pop star Rain may be provisionally banned from being disposed of following his loss in a compensation lawsuit in the United States over a concert cancellation.

But Rain’s agency, JTune Entertainment, said that any provisional seizure of the building would be impossible according to domestic law.

Last Thursday, a federal court in Hawaii ordered the 26-year-old star and his then-agency, JYP Entertainment, to pay more than $8 million (11 billion won) in compensation to Honolulu-based promoter Click Entertainment. They also have to pay lawyers’ fees for Click, with the total compensation reaching $9 million (12 billion won).

The concert, part of his world tour “Rain’s Coming,” was canceled several days before its scheduled date in June 2007. Click President Lee Seung-su testified that he lost about $1.5 million and suffered damage to his reputation and business due to the cancellation.

After the verdict, Lee said Monday that he will take a step to provisionally seize Rain’s and JYP’s property, including Rain’s building in Cheongdam-dong, which he purchased last year. The price of the building is estimated at over 15 billion won. Lee said he would also seek authorization to attach all earnings that Rain has made with the William Morris Agency, an entertainment company with which Rain signed a contract last year for his U.S. activities.

JTune and Click, however, have different opinions about whether the latter can seize the building.

JTune said Tuesday that even if Click starts a provisional seizure process, the seizure is impossible.

“The seizure of JYT’s real estate in the U.S. and here may be possible, but the request to attach Rain’s Korean property is impossible according to Korean law. Click may be able to seize Rain’s earnings through William Morris,” an official of the company said.

Meanwhile, Click said a “provisional” seizure was possible while actual seizure was impossible, saying a Korean court would likely allow the former if the company submits the U.S. court’s ruling as evidence.

In the ruling, the federal court ordered Rain and JYP to pay $2.4 million each in punitive damages, $1 million for damages related to fraud and $2.2 million for breach of contract.

Rain’s lawyer said they canceled the concert because a proper stage was not ready and Rain could not use his name in the U.S. due to a copyright challenge from a Beatles tribute band named Rain. The star also testified that he had every intention to perform and he had no hand in the cancellation.

JTune said it is preparing an appeal. It is said that Rain and JYP spent more than 500 million won in fees for five lawyers.

Credits: rahnita@Korea Times

Singer Rain has released a ‘Recollection’ album to his 5th album ‘Rainism’.

J-Tunes announced, “Repackaged album to Rain’s 5th album ‘Rainism Recollection’ will include the original 12 songs plus new versions of the songs and a DVD.”

The album will also include the Asian version of the song ‘Rainism’ and also English, Japanese and Chinese version of ‘Love Story’. The acoustic version of ‘12th September’, ‘My woman’, and urban mix of ‘Fresh Woman’ etc will also be included

Meanwhile, the full 35-min version of the MV ‘Love Story’ featuring actress Ha Ji Won is also be included in the DVD.

source: kbites

Korean pop star Rain is the subject of a documentary on the Discovery channel. Rain’s management agency said the documentary, aired in Australia and New Zealand on Jan. 31, will be screened across Asia including Korea on Feb. 23. The documentary portrays Rain as a symbol of Korean pop culture that has flourished in the past decade.
As part of the special program “Hip Korea” focusing on the popularity of the Korean pop culture, Rain features as a Korean cultural icon who appeals to worldwide audiences.

Rain’s passion and talent are discussed in interviews with Steven Colbert, the host of the U.S. show “The Colbert Report,” which regularly lampoons the singer, actress Susan Sarandon, who appeared beside him in “Speed Racer,” film director Park Chan-wook and actress Lim Soo-jung.

The Discovery Channel specializes in documentaries and is aired in some 170 countries.

source: digital chosunilbo

Rain’s edited “Love Story” MV starring “Hwang Jin Yi” actress Ha Ji Won is finally going to have a proper ending after all.

J. Tune Entertainment is releasing another repackaged album of “Rainism”, and in it will contain the full 50 minute “Love Story” MV. Rain is also planning to transform his epic music melodrama into a theatrical play.

source: seoulbeats

World renown star Rain is performing all around Asia and is currently in Japan.

However, news has just come in that Rain was supposed to have a performance in Shanghai on the 10th which was canceled. The reason this news is coming so late is because J-Tune Entertainment (Rain’s entertainment label) waited to release an official apology to the public until the 13th.

Newsen had a telephone interview with an official at J-Tune about the sudden cancellation:

“Time was imminently short and even the basic preparations were not ready. Due to these conditions we inevitably had to decide to cancel the performance. We see that this cancellation is a large inconvenience to Rain’s Chinese fans but the Asia tour is advancing and there will be many other opportunities to meet Rain.”

Source: allkpop

After we have news that JYP and Rain will be having a special stage together, here’s another exciting news of a special stage between 2 of Korea’s biggest “Sexy Icons” Lee Hyori and Rain.

They will be having a joint stage on 29th December after 5 years.

Hyori also appeared at Rain’s fashion brand “Six To Five” launch show last 23rd December. Rain said, “I had went up to Hyori noona and asked her for a favour to appear on the show. She had agreed to it immediately. This is going to be a fantastic performance.”

This is because Rain had also appeared on Hyori’s solo concert as guest performer on 20th December performing 3 of his songs Rainism, Fresh Woman and It’s Raining.

The last time the 2 performed together was in 2003 November on MBC “Korean Movie Award” with Tango performance and in December that yaer for KBS “Music Award” with a dance battle.

Rain and Hyori’ Tango performance