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PARK Chan-wook’s The Handmaiden, the filmmaker’s first Korean-film since 2009’s Thirst, became the second most widely pre-sold film for CJ Entertainment (behind the 167 countries for Snowpiercer in 2013) after locking deals with 116 countries during this month’s European Film Market (EFM).

 

Among those sales were US rights to internet giant Amazon Studios, as well as Japan (Phantom), Taiwan (Catchplay), Turkey (Kurmaca), HK/Macau (Edko), Mongolia (Bloomsbury), Australia/New Zealand (Dreamwest), German-speaking Europe (Koch Media), French-speaking territories (The Jokers), Poland (Gutek Film), Czech/Slovakia (Aero Films), Hungary (Mozinet), Greece/Cyprus (AMA) and Latin America (Swen). Meanwhile, CJ is retaining rights for China, Indonesia and Vietnam, where it will distribute the film directly.

 

Transposing the events of Sarah Waters’ 2002 novel Fingersmith from Victorian England to Colonial Era Korea and Japan, The Handmaiden follows a young pickpocket whose services are engaged by a conman to pose as a maid for a rich heiress. The conman and heiress are played, respectively, by stars HA Jung-woo and KIM Min-hee. Joining them as the young pickpocket is new face KIM Tae-ri, who was found following extensive auditions.

 

A promo reel for the film, which is still in post-production, drew great interest from buyers at EFM this year. The head of CJ Entertainment’s International Department, Kini S. KIM, revealed that there was “fierce competition among the distributors.”