A Korean media empire is unraveling. The movie business is paying the price

When five subsidiaries of JoongAng Group — the media empire behind streaming sensations like the Netflix cooking-competition hit "Culinary Class Wars" — filed for court-supervised restructuring this week, the damage was expected to spill into the country's film business right away.

Two of the units seeking protection sit at the center of an industry that's been on its back foot since the pandemic emptied theaters: the multiplex chain Megabox and its distribution arm, Plus M Entertainment.

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