Colin Firth: How ‘Kingsman: The Secret Service’ Blew Away Bond, Bourne in South Korea

THE WRAP
MOVIES | By Todd Cunningham on March 23, 2015 @ 5:41 pm



In South Korea the movie “Kingsman: The Secret Service” is a cultural phenomenon and record-breaking $40 million box office smash, out-grossing the super spies — like James Bond and Jason Bourne — that it spoofs.

Just as mind-boggling are the unlikely factors powering its breakout, seized upon by clever and opportunistic Fox marketers who have pulled off a media coup.

To become Fox’s biggest hit in Korea since “Avatar,” the movie capitalized on a spate of recent high-profile beat-downs of poor Koreans, the bizarre mid-air meltdown of a Korean Air executive’s daughter and the country’s fascination with British dandies — perfectly personified in “Kingsman” by Colin Firth as the suave and stylish agent Harry Hart.

“We decided to take advantage of this and made three viral videos similar to real-life incidents to promote the film,” said Tom Oh, one of Fox’s top men in Korea. “Everything came together to create a massive hit.”

“Kingsman,” an action adventure adapted from the Mark Millar-Dave Gibbons comic book “The Secret Service,” has been a hit just about everywhere for Fox.

It has grossed $114 million domestically since it opened with a surprising $41.7 million against “Fifty Shades of Grey” over the Presidents Day weekend. It also has brought in $180 million at the foreign box office, and it will add to that figure when it opens in China this weekend. But for “Kingsman,” there’s been nothing like South Korea, which ranks as its No. 1 market abroad.

“The national mood at the time of release was one of strong dissatisfaction for politicians and the super-rich, like the second- and third-generation children of chebol (business families),” said Oh. “The most hated was the vice-chairwoman of Korean Air, whose abusive tantrum towards the flight attendants and forcing the plane to return to the gate put her behind bars.”

READ MORE HERE: http://www.thewrap.com/how-kingsman-the-secret-service-blew-away-bond-bourne-in-south-korea/

Clive Owen On Avoiding The British Agent Cliche In 'Shadow Dancer' And His Own Memories Of Irish Troubles The Huffington Post UK |

Clive Owen plays Mac in 'Shadow Dancer', here seen recruiting Collette McVeigh (Andrea Riseborough)

Clive Owen is a Brit undoubtedly done well in Hollywood, acclaimed for his versatility ('Closer', 'Children of Men', 'The Bourne Identity'), most recently for his Golden Globe-nominated turn with Nicole Kidman in the HBO telemovie 'Hemingway and Gelhorn'.

But he was persuaded to return to the genre he's probably most associated with, that of the political thriller for the lead role in 'Shadow Dancer', adapted by ITN News Correspondent Tom Bradby from his own novel.


Owen plays Mac, a weary British agent, responsible for running informers at the height of the Troubles in 1990s Northern Ireland. This brings him into contact with Collette (Andrea Riseborough on top form), who is tasked with betraying her family if she wants her own freedom.

Here, Owen explains how the Irish Troubles affected him personally, and the sympathies he feels for his own character caught in a no-win situation...

What were your views on the British-Irish conflict as a young man, living in the UK at the time the film is set?

Well, obviously I grew up with it being part of our lives and that threat being in the air and every night hearing some report on the news about the Troubles in Northern Ireland. I actually went to Belfast during that time. I did a play and stayed in Belfast for a week during the Troubles and it was rough, it was a war zone. And it was only when I went into the production office for this film and saw all the pictures they'd put on the wall from that time that I was like, "Wow, they've come a long way." Because it's not that long ago and it was a very different place then.


READ MORE: http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2013/01/18/clive-owen-shadow-dancer-northern-ireland_n_2501532.html?utm_hp_ref=uk

Clive Owen, actor and star of Shadow Dancer (SCOTSMAN)

Clive Owen. Picture: Carlo Allegri/AP

By JAMES MOTTRAM
Published on Sunday 12 August 2012 11:14


WHEN fame first came knocking for Clive Owen, he was ill-prepared for the unwanted attention it brought to his private life. This time round, the laid-back star is taking it in his stride

There’s something very reassuring about Clive Owen. Such is the aura of quiet confidence he carries, you can imagine him being very calm in a crisis, unflappable even. It’s just after 2pm when he arrives in the hotel room for interview, dressed in a navy suit and white shirt, unbuttoned to reveal a silver chain nestling around his neck. He has a pot of tea delivered. And he speaks in such a warm baritone voice, you can’t help but be instantly soothed. Ridiculously, ruggedly handsome, his features make a mockery of the fact he turns 48 in October.

Owen also seems remarkably together for a man who has glided in and out of Hollywood with ease, in films like Sin City, The Bourne Identity and King Arthur (in which he played the round-table legend). Owen doesn’t really do scandal, doesn’t do tittle-tattle and doesn’t seem to carry an inflated idea of his own image. The Times called him “the first male movie star this country has produced since Cary Grant” (with, presumably, apologies to Jude Law). Others have pegged him as a pin-up. “If I went around thinking I was a sex symbol,” Owen purrs, “I’d be on very dodgy ground.”

It took Julia Roberts to nail it, though. The two starred in Closer, Mike Nichols’ searing take on Patrick Marber’s play of sexual misadventure, before reuniting for espionage romance Duplicity. “George Clooney is obsessed with Clive,” she explained. “Every good-guy actor talks about Clive as one of their favourites. Because he’s English, because his successes have stood on the shoulders of his talents alone, and because he hasn’t been carried away by popular culture.” Playing an arrogant version of himself on Ricky Gervais’s comedy show Extras is about as far as Owen has got when it comes to getting carried away by popular culture.

His latest film, Shadow Dancer, is arguably his best role since 2006’s apocalyptic Children of Men. Directed by James Marsh, who made the Oscar-winning documentary Man on Wire, it’s a taut drama based on true events. Set in 1990s Belfast, it tells the story of Colette McVeigh (Andrea Riseborough), an active member of the IRA who is forced to turn informant in order to protect her son. “I just think it’s a great predicament to start a movie with,” says Owen. “She’s given an option: you never see your kid again and spend a long time in prison, or you come and work for us.”

READ MORE: http://www.scotsman.com/scotland-on-sunday/scotland/interview-clive-owen-actor-and-star-of-shadow-dancer-1-2463917