Among the most eagerly anticipated Korean films this year is PARK Chan-wook’s upcoming erotic thriller The Handmaiden. Starring HA Jung-woo (Assassination, 2015) and KIM Min-hee (Right Now, Wrong Then, 2015), the story is drawn from Sarah Waters’ novel Fingersmith and is set both in Korea and Japan during the Japanese Colonial Era. Though the film is still in post-production, select buyers were given a sneak peek in CJ Entertainment’s booth at the European Film Market. The film is aiming for an early summer release in Korea.

 

Before that, CJ is preparing to release a number of titles, including the ensemble social media-themed Like for Likes, featuring the red-hot YOO Ah-in (Veteran, 2015), which opens in Korea on February 17th. Coming up in spring will be the youth indie title One Way Trip, which bowed at the Busan International Film Festival last October, the fantasy romantic thriller Time Renegades (working title) with JO Jung-suk (My Love, My Bride, 2014) and LIM Soo-jung (All About My Wife, 2012), and the action drama Phantom Detective (working title) from A Werewolf Boy (2012) director JO Sung-hee, featuring LEE Je-hoon in his first post-military service role.

 
Coming up in summer for the studio will also be the Korean War film Operation Chromite, which features Liam Neeson playing General MacArthur, alongside local stars LEE Jung-jae (Assassination, 2015) and LEE Beom-su (The Divine Move, 2014). CJ will release the film in Korea and holds rights for China, Indonesia, Mongolia, The Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam, while FINECUT is representing the film in the rest of the world.

 

CJ is also preparing to launch a number of international titles. Following the successes of their local language productions Let Hoi Decide (2014) and the Miss Granny (2014) remake Sweet 20, respectively the first and second most successful film in Vietnamese box office history, the company will debut the female-led action-thriller Tracer in April. In Indonesia, CJ released Joko ANWAR’s A Copy of My Mind this month, which already screened at the Venice, Toronto and Busan International Film Festivals. Co-produced with Tianjin Century Media Co., Ltd., the Chinese horror-thriller The Peaceful Island is also being prepared for release this year. The film marks the Chinese debut of Tell Me Something (1999) director CHANG Yoon-hyun.