Warner Bros. Expands Korean Production Slate

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NEWS & REPORTS

Warner Bros. Expands Korean Production Slate

Aug 03, 2016

Writer by Pierce Conran
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A SINGLE RIDER to Follow KIM Jee-woon’s THE AGE OF SHADOWS

With the release of their first local Korean production, KIM Jee-woon’s The Age of Shadows, imminent, US studio Warner Bros. has announced plans to ramp up the scale of their Korean production slate in the coming years. Starting in 2017, the outfit plans to release two to four Korean titles per annum.

First up next year will be LEE Joo-young’s debut picture A Single Rider, which went into production back in March in Australia with LEE Byung-hun and KONG Hyo-jin starring and completed production in early May. Warner Bros. Korea director CHOI Jae-won calls it “a small-size movie, completely the opposite from The Age of Shadows,” which was produced for around KRW 10 billion (USD 9 million).

Another project scheduled for next year is The Bad Lieutenant, an original story (apparently not connected with Abel Ferrara’s 1992 cult classic) from The Man From Nowhere (2010) director LEE Jeong-beom. With casting already underway, the film is expected to shoot early next year.

Prior to these, Warner Bros. will debut as local producer with KIM’s period action-thriller The Age of Shadows, which stars SONG Kang-ho and GONG Yoo. The film opens in Korea on September 7th and has already booked festival dates for the Venice and Toronto International Film Festivals.

"Warner Bros. is well known for establishing relationships with filmmakers on the long term at the studio level," said Monique Esclavissat, Warner's executive vice president of international production and acquisition. "We want to be a home for filmmakers but also to be the home for new talented filmmakers, and be an additional option in the Korean market.”

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