Song Hye-kyo, right, and Jeon Yeo-bean perform nuns in an upcoming occult movie "Dark Nuns." Courtesy of NEW

Korean films are poised to take center stage in theaters this January, offering a diverse array of new releases to start the New Year. From the occult thriller "Dark Nuns" to the romantic drama "Secret: Untold Melody" and the comedy action flick "Hitman 2," Korean cinema is ready to captivate audiences with exciting fresh content.

The January box office is set to feature films starring popular actors that audiences have come to love. One of the most anticipated releases is "Dark Nuns," starring Song Hye-kyo and Jeon Yeo-been in leading roles.

Set to hit theaters on Jan. 24, "Dark Nuns" is a sequel to the 2015 hit "The Priests," which attracted over 5.4 million viewers. Although the original director Jang Jae-hyun is not involved in this sequel, "Dark Nuns" preserves the realistic yet supernatural world he crafted, where individuals possessed by demons are saved through intense exorcism rituals.

In this sequel, the exorcism rituals, traditionally performed by male priests, are now carried out by nuns to save a young boy, with Song Hye-kyo and Jeon Yeo-been taking on the roles of the nuns. This shift in focus to nuns as the central characters sets the film apart from conventional exorcism narratives, offering audiences a unique and potentially refreshing perspective within the occult genre.

Actor Doh Kyung-soo in a scene from "Secret: Untold Melody" / Courtesy of Plus M Entertainment

Singer and actor Doh Kyung-soo will meet audiences in January with "Secret: Untold Melody," a remake of the 2007 Taiwanese film "Secret." The movie follows a fantasy romance between Yoo-joon (Doh) and Jeong-ah (Won Jin-a), who meet by chance in a music practice room of a university hiding a secret of time.

"Hitman 2" is the sequel to the hit action comedy "Hitman," which attracted over 2.4 million viewers when it was released in 2020, despite the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Actor Kwon Sang-woo returns as a former secret agent-turned-cartoonist who gets entangled in various incidents due to crimes imitating his comics.

Kwon had already led the first film with various comedic scenes and action sequences, giving fans the satisfaction reminiscent of watching Jackie Chan's prime action movies. Expectations are high that the sequel will follow suit, offering a lighthearted yet visually stunning cinematic experience, especially in theaters.

Actor Kwon Sang-woo plays Jun, a secret agent-turned-cartoonist in "Hitman 2." Courtesy of BY4M Studio

Additionally, actor Park Ji-hyun, who left a strong impression in "Hidden Face," will greet audiences on Jan. 8 with the comedy film "Forbidden Fairytale." This R-rated movie follows Dan-bi (Park), who dreams of being a children's literature writer but works as a civil servant regulating pornography, only to discover her talent when she reluctantly starts writing erotic web fiction.