South Korea's BTS Member J-Hope Begins Process to Join Military

Nini Lee, a South Korean fan of the K-pop boy band BTS poses for photographs with a BTS photo during an interview with media at a café featuring BTS goods in Seoul, South Korea, June 15, 2022. (Reuters)
Nini Lee, a South Korean fan of the K-pop boy band BTS poses for photographs with a BTS photo during an interview with media at a café featuring BTS goods in Seoul, South Korea, June 15, 2022. (Reuters)
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South Korea's BTS Member J-Hope Begins Process to Join Military

Nini Lee, a South Korean fan of the K-pop boy band BTS poses for photographs with a BTS photo during an interview with media at a café featuring BTS goods in Seoul, South Korea, June 15, 2022. (Reuters)
Nini Lee, a South Korean fan of the K-pop boy band BTS poses for photographs with a BTS photo during an interview with media at a café featuring BTS goods in Seoul, South Korea, June 15, 2022. (Reuters)

A second member of Korea's BTS - the first K-pop band nominated for a Grammy - has begun the enlistment process for mandatory military service, a management official confirmed on Monday, two months after the group's oldest member began his service.

BTS members said last year they would join the military starting with Jin, who turned 30 and enlisted in December after postponing his service as long as permitted.

An official at the band's management, BigHit Music, said on Sunday that a second member, the 29-year-old j-hope, whose real name is Jung Ho-seok, applied to end postponement of his own enlistment.

"We would like to inform our fans that j-hope has initiated the military enlistment process," the statement said. "We ask you for your continued love and support for j-hope until he completes his military service and safely returns."

All able-bodied South Korean men ages 18-28 must serve in the military for about two years.

A 2019 legislative revision allowed globally acknowledged K-pop stars to delay signing until they are 30. Some lawmakers have pushed to sharply reduce their service along the lines of what is required of Olympic and Asian Game medalists and some classical musicians, but their efforts made little progress.

South Korea's defense minister has said BTS members could perform overseas while serving. Many artists have been designated as such "entertainment soldiers".

In a separate statement on Monday, BigHit said j-hope would release a solo single titled "on the street" on Friday, which he wrote as a "gift" for fans to share his feelings toward them.

The seven-member group has pursued solo projects since announcing a break from group musical activities in June.

Local media have said that another member, Suga, was judged unfit for active duty and would apply for community service instead. BigHit declined to confirm the report, citing privacy concerns, but said all members would fulfil their duties.



Hollywood Lands a Much-Needed Box Office Hit with ‘A Minecraft Movie’

 Jack Black poses for photographers with a model wolf character from the film, upon arrival at the World premiere of "A Minecraft Movie" on Sunday, March 30, 2025, in London. (AP)
Jack Black poses for photographers with a model wolf character from the film, upon arrival at the World premiere of "A Minecraft Movie" on Sunday, March 30, 2025, in London. (AP)
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Hollywood Lands a Much-Needed Box Office Hit with ‘A Minecraft Movie’

 Jack Black poses for photographers with a model wolf character from the film, upon arrival at the World premiere of "A Minecraft Movie" on Sunday, March 30, 2025, in London. (AP)
Jack Black poses for photographers with a model wolf character from the film, upon arrival at the World premiere of "A Minecraft Movie" on Sunday, March 30, 2025, in London. (AP)

Hollywood needed “A Minecraft Movie” to be a hit, and it delivered in its opening weekend, significantly narrowing this year's box office deficit.

No one guessed just how big it would be. In its first few days in theaters, the movie earned a staggering $157 million in ticket sales from theaters in the US and Canada, according to studio estimates Sunday. Internationally, it’s looking at an additional $144 million for a global debut of $301 million. And with school spring breaks ongoing, “A Minecraft Movie” is just getting started.

“We're just thrilled that audiences are responding and that everyone's going to the theater,” said Pamela Abdy, the co-chair and CEO of the Warner Bros. Motion Picture Group.

Not only is it the biggest opening of 2025, “A Minecraft Movie” also broke the record for a video game adaptation, a distinction previously held by “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” ($146 million). Going into the weekend, analysts projected “Minecraft” might hit $80 million. Instead, it nearly doubled that figure.

“You can’t underestimate the value of earnest, entertaining, joyous cinema,” said Michael DeLuca, also co-chair and CEO. “People really want an escape, especially when it involves the whole family.”

Nothing is guaranteed in the movie business, but an offering based on the best-selling video game of all time makes for a good start. It hardly mattered that the block-based game doesn’t exactly have a narrative. Many of its 200 million active monthly players turned out in droves anyway.

DeLuca said it’s one of the “broadest playing movies” they’ve ever seen, meaning it’s working in all sizes of cinemas all over the world.

The PG-rated movie, directed by Jared Hess (“Napoleon Dynamite”), was a co-production of Legendary Entertainment and Warner Bros. It cost a reported $150 million to make, not including marketing and promotion expenses. Jack Black and Jason Momoa lead the ensemble cast (Danielle Brooks, Emma Myers and Sebastian Eugene Hansen). Their characters are transported into an imaginative dimension called the Overworld and need to go on a dangerous, and immensely silly, adventure to get home.

“We made the movie for the fans and the fans exceeded our expectations,” DeLuca said.

Critics were largely mixed on “A Minecraft Movie,” but audiences gave it a more promising B+ CinemaScore and 4/5 stars in PostTrak exit polls. Men made up around 62% of the audience, and 64% were under the age of 25. Warner Bros. went big on its release, opening the film in 4,263 locations domestically and 36,000 screens internationally.

“Younger audiences love going to the movie theater, believe it or not,” said Paul Dergarabedian, the senior media analyst for Comscore. “This is the perfect small screen to big screen alliance. It became a must-see theatrical event. Awareness was off the charts.”

Video game adaptations have had some pivotal successes in recent years, including “The Super Mario Bros. Movie,” the “Sonic” series and “Five Nights at Freddy’s.”

“Video games were once a genre that had very mixed results at the box office, but the code has finally been cracked,” Dergarabedian said.

Second place at this week's box office went to the Jason Statham action pic “A Working Man," which added $7.3 million in its second weekend. Third place was occupied by the second installment in the episodic “The Chosen: Last Supper” series. Part two (made up of episodes three through five) earned $7 million over the weekend. The third and final batch of episodes arrive in theaters on April 11.

“Snow White” slid to fourth place in its third weekend, bringing in $6.1 million. It's now made over $168 million globally.

It’s been a difficult start to 2025 for Hollywood and movie theaters, with disappointments including “Snow White” and “Mickey 17.” But one hit can change the tides significantly, especially with in-theater marketing pushes in full swing for the pivotal summer movie season, which kicks off the first weekend in May.

Before this weekend, the box office was running at a 13% deficit compared with last year. Now the gap is down to 5%.