While he still has damage control to tend to here in the aftermath of last June's canceled concert at Aloha Stadium, Rain, the South Korean pop star, is making gains internationally. And some of his fans — disappointed but still supportive of the hallyu star — are planning to fly to Los Angeles for the May 9 premiere of "Speed Racer," his first American movie.

"You gotta be loyal to be true," said Geri Mehrtens, whose group, called Hawaiian Cloud R.A.I.N. Inc., will trek to Grauman's Theatre for the premiere. For now, 10 from her Moanalua High 'ohana have signed up for the trip; the number could rise. As for the club's name, Mehrtens said: "I chose cloud, because clouds hold the rain, and R.A.I.N. means remarkable, amazing, incredible, namja ("fellow" in Korean)."

You might have heard that Rain, also known as Bi among his diehard boosters, has been signed to play the lead role in Warner Bros.' "Ninja Assassin," directed by James McTeigue, whose last biggie was "V for Vendetta." Could be a major blockbuster for Jung Ji-hoon (Rain's real name), if the movie gods are willing.

He is in the supporting cast of the Wachowski Brothers' "Speed Racer" alongside Emile Hirsch, Matthew Fox and Christina Ricci. It's a liveaction film, based on the Japanese anime hit inspired by a devout manga following. ...

That's not all. Rain will perform the theme song of "Kung Fu Panda," the animated martial-arts feature voiced by Jack Black, Dustin Hoffman, Jackie Chan and Lucy Liu, opening June 6. ...

OLYMPIC GOLD: On a global scale, Rain, whose breakthrough talent is singing in this country, has been tabbed to perform the 2008 Beijing Olympics' official theme song, with its message of hope, courage and inspiration. While that tune has not yet been publicly named (a contest has been under way over the past two years), one of the finalists-contenders is former Honolulan David Wong, one-time member of The Krush group, who has penned a tune titled "Wishing Star," which sounds like the kind of ditty suitable for the sweeping emotions of the Olympics, which begins Aug. 8 (8/8/08) in Beijing. Wong, a dynamic star known as Huang Dawai (which is David Wong in reverse), said in a visit home last year that the Olympic committee would select the main theme sometime in late April.

Thus, if Wong's entry wins the Olympic theme gold, and it's performed by Rain, both would get tremendous global exposure. ...

THE LOCAL ANGLE: Yasmin Dar, a model-actress, has joined the on-camera team for " 'Ohana Road," airing at 6 p.m. Saturdays and 11 p.m. Sundays on KITV 4. She is the only female host on the show, joining Dale Payson, who has hosted 236 shows so far. ... Paul Ogata, the Island comic now based in Los Angeles, is on the road the next few months (next up: University of California, Santa Barbara, on Saturday). He's touring California venues the next few days, then flies to New York City on March 9 to tape an episode of Comedy Central's "Live at Gotham" program, with a likely summer airdate. Then in late March, he's aboard Royal Caribbean's Freedom of the Seas for more standup. Go to www.cyberstupid.com for details. ...

NICE GESTURE: A fan of Frank DeLima's, Jean Yanagihara of 'Aiea, sent us a $200 check to forward to the comedian to support his Student Enrichment Program. "It's money we can use," said DeLima, who still journeys to Island schools to chat about the importance of hard studying and saying no to drugs. ...

THE ENVELOPE, PLEASE: Sunday is Oscar Night, when the Hollywood's scenesters assemble for the Academy Award. Here's how we pick 'em: