Top Korean actor JANG Dong-gun is set to star with Zhang Ziyi and Cecilia Cheung in director HUR Jin-ho’s adaptation of the French novel Les Liaisons Dangereuses.
Jang is fresh off the shoot of Kang Je-kyu’s sweeping WWII film My Way which wrapped recently. His previous films also include the English-language martial arts Western Warrior’s Way and the iconic gangster film Friend.
Set in 1930s Shanghai, Dangerous Liaisons is a China-Singapore remake between Zonbo Media and Homerun Asia. The original 18th century French novel has been remade into several different films and plays over the years, including the American film starring John Malkovich and Glen Close and the Korean film Untold Scandal starring BAE Yong-joon and JEON Do-yeon.
Hur has been building a pan-Asian reputation ever since his Christmas in August (1998) swept through East Asia. His other films include such hits as One Fine Spring Day and April Snow. Zonbo Media previously produced his China-set A Good Rain Knows.
Korean actress BAE Doo-na is set to join an impressive all-star cast on the Hollywood film adaptation of the bestselling novel <Cloud Atlas> by David MITCHELL. Directed by Andy and Lana WACHOWSKI and Tom TYKWER, the film stars Academy Award winners Tom HANKS and Halle BERRY, as well as Hugh GRANT, Jim BROADBENT, Hugo WEAVING, and Zhou XUN.
<Cloud Atlas> weaves together six stories set in different times and places to show intricate relationships.
Bae is known for her performances in films such as PARK Chan-wook’s <Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance>, BONG Joon-ho’s <The Host> and more recently in the Japanese film <Air Doll>, directed by KOREEDA Hirokazu.
Jang and Bae are part of a growing group of Korean talent that has been branching out abroad, spearheaded by entertainers such as Rain (JUNG Ji-hoon) who starred in the Wachowski brothers’ Ninja Assassin. Korean directors Park Chan-wook and KIM Jee-woon are also working on foreign projects – Stoker and The Last Stand, while BONG Joon-ho is planning a multi-national project with <Snowpiercer>, based on a French graphic novel.