Forgot password

 

The summer box office war is almost over and the 2017 battlefield was especially heated featuring domestic films The Battleship Island, A Taxi Driver and Midnight Runners, and Hollywood competitors such as War for the Planet of the Apes, Despicable Me 3 and Dunkirk.

However, the September box office war looks like it will be just as intense, if not more, with potential blockbusters coming from some of the greatest hitmakers of our time: WON Shin-yun, HWANG Dong-hyuk and KIM Hyun-seok.  

 

First up is WON Shin-yun with his latest film, MEMOIR OF A MURDERER. Won began his film career as a martial arts instructor and choreographer in 1990s Korean cinema and has since become a hitmaker specializing in films in the thriller genre, often using rhythmic editing. He made his film debut with the horror movie, The Wig in 2005 and created a new form of thriller with A Bloody Aria in 2006. He began to reveal his flair for showmanship with the release of his third film, 7 Days (2007).  

 

7 Days features KIM Yun-jin of American TV shows Lost and Mistress, playing the role of a skillful lawyer who has to release a murderer within 7 days so she can save her own daughter. This film attracted 2 million viewers and cemented WON’s reputation in Korean genre cinema just as it was beginning to explode. Later on WON enjoyed his prime time with The Suspect (2013) where his experience as a martial arts director fit nicely. In this film, Dong-chul (GONG Yoo) is North Korea’s best special field agent but is abandoned by his government during a mission and settles in South Korea. Dong-chul is pursued as a murder suspect, and the chase sequences are carefully staged, with the action happening in a very fast rhythm. This film recorded 4.13 million viewers and catapulted GONG Yoo back into stardom after his dismissal from military service. 

 

After a 4 year absence, WON is back with MEMOIR OF A MURDERER, a crime thriller, based on a novel with the same title by KIM Young-ha. The film features a serial killer with Alzheimer’s on the run to catch another serial killer, working hard to re-assemble his broken memory. This film features SUL Kyung-gu of Oasis (2002) as the former serial killer suffering from Alzheimer’s, and is already receiving positive buzz even before its official premier. Set to be released September 7, MEMOIR OF A MURDERER was produced and will be distributed by Showbox. 

 

 

 

HWANG Dong-hyuk of Miss Granny (2014) is back with his first ever period drama, The Fortress. His previous works include true-story based My Father (2007) which stars Daniel Henney as a US soldier in Korea in search of his biological parents, Silenced (2011) which deals with the disclosure of sexual assaults and abuses committed in a public facility for the speaking and hearing handicapped, and the very famous Miss Granny, about a grandma in a young woman’s body, which went on to attract 8.66 million viewers in Korea. Miss Granny has since become a huge hit throughout Asia, having been remade as a local film in several countries including China, Japan, Vietnam, Thailand and Indonesia.  

 

HWANG has been working hard to expand his cinematic scope and has taken up the challenge of directing a period drama for the first time, with The Fortress. The film is a historical, political drama where the King and ministers argue over the way to end a war while they lay under siege in a fortress, suffering from vicious, cold weather during the 1636 Ching invasion. The original novel was written by KIM Hoon and goes through the 47 days it took to decide the future of the Joseon Dynasty. With a star-studded cast featuring LEE Byung-hun, KIM Yun-seok and PARK Hae-il, this film is generating excitement before its release. The Fortress will be distributed by CJ Entertainment, a long time partner of HWANG.  

 

 

 

KIM Hyun-seok is also back in September with comedy I Can Speak. Comedy being his signature genre, Kim is a well known hitmaker whose previous works include YMCA Baseball Team (2002) featuring the Korea’s first ever baseball team, romantic comedy When Romance Meets Destiny (2005) and comedic dramas Cyrano Agency (2010) and C’est Si Bon (2015). KIM has displayed a superb skill for showing the everyday life of ordinary, rather innocent men with a comic touch.   

 

His latest film, I Can Speak, is pretty much in the same vein, featuring a granny (played by NA Moon-hee) who starts to learn English, and a very low ranking public officer (played by LEE Je-hoon), who is sent to help her. In all the fun mishaps, the hidden story of the granny is also revealed. I Can Speak will be distributed by Lotte Entertainment and Little Big Pictures.