News

Warner Bros. Motion Pictures Group and Cj Enm have unveiled a deal to jointly develop, finance and distribute English-language and Korean-language feature remakes of each studio’s films.

The new agreement will see Warner Bros. become the lead studio on English language remakes originating from Cj Enm’s library, while Miky Lee’s Cj Enm will take the lead on Korean language movies drawn from the extensive Warner Bros. Pictures library.

“Miky Lee, Cj vice chairwoman, and the team at Cj Enm have built an enviable slate of films over its history to become a powerhouse producer of Korean cinema, with films that resonate with audiences across the globe. We are excited to have the opportunity to work with Cj Enm as we look to expand Warner Bros. Motion Picture Group’s movies offerings around the world,” Warner Bros. Motion Picture Group’s co-chairs and CEOs Michael De Luca and...

Revenge movies have been a popular feature in mainstream Hollywood for decades, and it’s a genre that has often never shied away from controversy. There have been countless horror movies where a seemingly normal guy, or a full blown creep, lures an unsuspecting female victim back to his place. The genre has seen movies emerge from both the small underground scene to big budget Hollywood pictures. However, some of the most intriguing and memorable revenge films have been the entries that subvert the usual man-tortures-woman traditions of the slasher genre. Over the decades we’ve seen movies such as 1995’s Boy Meets Girl, Lady Vengeance from 2005, 1999’s superb Audition, with its wince inducing torture scenes wonderfully subverting what at first starts as a gentle romance, in a way. Of course, we also have the likes of Kill Bill 1 & 2 and even cult classics like Russ Meyer’s 1965 exploitation flick Faster Pussycat Kill Kill...

“The Sporting Image” is the summer 2024 edition of the Notebook Insert, a seasonal supplement on moving-image culture.Illustration by Ivy Johnson.The 1990s were a turbulent decade for Park Chan-wook the director, whose first two films, The Moon Is... the Sun's Dream (1992) and Trio (1997), were unmitigated box-office disasters. But it was also an illustrious decade for Park the film critic, whose writing for Screen, Kino, and Sports Chosun had developed a cult following. Before Joint Security Area (2000) put him on the map as a filmmaker, he was known for his sharp critical insights and dynamic prose. Meanwhile, he worked at the video rental store Movie Village in Seoul, where he initiated hundreds of cinephiles into the work of Leos Carax, Kim Ki-young, and Abel Ferrara. I was twelve when the R-rated Lady Vengeance (2005) came out. I didn’t have the patience to wait until I turned eighteen, so I decided...

South Korean filmmaker Park Chan-wook is the latest auteur making the migration to television. He previously dabbled in serialized narratives by directing all six episodes of the 2018 BBC spy thriller mini-series "The Little Drummer Girl." Adapting a John Le Carré novel, famous for their intricate plots, for his second English-language work? Park's pulled off that and more.

This year, Park co-created "The Sympathizer," a Vietnam War satire starring Robert Downey Jr. and Hoa Xuande. Adapted from Viet Thanh Nguyen's 2015 novel (and Pulitzer winner), Park also directed the series' first three episodes. Most recently, it's been confirmed that he's producing a TV remake of his most famous film: 2003 revenge thriller "Oldboy."

Park is one of the most internationally known filmmakers from South Korea. The country has a thriving movie industry. (Check out /Film's picks for the best South Korean film directors here.) Before Park took off as a director,...

Per IMDb, “the Vengeance Trilogy is a series of three Korean films: (1) Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance (2002), (2) Oldboy (2003), and (3) Lady Vengeance (2005), directed by South Korean filmmaker Park Chan-wook. Each movie deals with themes of revenge, violence, and salvation.” ♦ (1) Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance (2002) A viewer may want to have sympathy for the main character Ryu. He is a deaf-mute man who wants to be a kidney donor to save his sister’s life. Besides the fact that he does not have the money to pay for the kidney transplant operation, the doctor also tells him that he is not a compatible donor. That means he needs to find a suitable donor. His desperation makes him turn to the black market to find an

The post A Review of the 3 Korean Films in the Vengeance Trilogy first appeared on popgeeks.com.

The post A Review of the 3 Korean Films in the Vengeance Trilogy first appeared on popgeeks.

Following in the wake of the Spike Lee-directed remake in 2013, Park Chan-wook’s South Korean masterpiece Oldboy (2003) is getting a small screen adaptation, we’ve learned.

Lionsgate Television is partnering with renowned filmmaker Park Chan-wook to develop his acclaimed film Oldboy for television, marking the first English-language series adaptation of the iconic property. This comes as Park’s The Sympathizer just debuted on HBO.

Park Chan-wook, who of course directed and co-wrote the original South Korean film, is attached to produce the upcoming “Oldboy” TV series along with producing partner Syd Lim.

“Lionsgate Television shares my creative vision for bringing Oldboy into the world of television,” said Park. “I look forward to working with a studio whose brand stands for bold, original and risk-taking storytelling.”

“Park is one of the most visionary storytellers of our generation, and we’re excited to partner with him in bringing his cinematic masterpiece to the television screen,...

Lionsgate Television is partnering with renowned Korean filmmaker and television creator Park Chan-wook to develop his acclaimed film Oldboy for television. This marks the first English-language series adaptation of the iconic property.

Park, who directed and co-wrote the original film, is attached to produce the series along with producing partner Syd Lim.

Oldboy has earned numerous accolades, becoming the first South Korean film to win the Grand Prix at Cannes in 2004 and being named to numerous lists of the greatest movies of all time. The movie was re-released by Neon last year for its 20th anniversary, landing in the top ten at the domestic box office in its opening week, a rare feat for a re-release.

Adapted from a Japanese manga of the same name, the film follows a man who is released from prison after 15 years, only to find that he must find his captor in five days. The...

Lionsgate Television and Park Chan-wook are partnering on an English-language adaptation of the South Korean auteur’s revenge thriller Oldboy.

Park and producing partner Syd Lim are attached to produce the series. Lionsgate Television executives Courtney Mock and Tara Joshi are overseeing the project.

The news comes days after the debut last weekend of Park’s HBO series The Sympathizer.

Oldboy became the first South Korean film to win the Grand Prix at Cannes in 2004 and the modern classic was re-released last year to mark its 20th anniversary.

Adapted from the Japanese manga of the same name, the feature follows...

Miky Lee, vice chair of Korean media giant Cj, is set to give the USC School of Cinematic Arts 2024 commencement address, organizers said Tuesday.

As a pioneer of the Korean movie wave, Lee has championed Korean directors like Park Chan-wook and Bong Joon Ho, and has executive producer credits that include Lady Vengeance, The Host, Snowpiercer, The Handmaiden and Parasite, the latter of which was the first non-English-language film to win the Oscar for best picture.

She will give the commencement address at the graduation ceremony set for May 10 at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles.

“Miky Lee is a true pioneer and ambassador of collaborative global filmmaking, and we are so happy to have her share her insight and expertise with our graduating students,” Elizabeth M. Daley, dean of the USC School of Cinematic Arts, said in a statement.

Organizers also announced that the veteran Hollywood director, writer and...

South Korean filmmaker Park Chan-wook is regarded as one of the most prominent filmmakers in South Korean cinema and in the Hollywood entertainment industry. Chan-wook’s work has garnered attention for its cinematography, framing, black humor, and brutal themes.

Park Chan-wook directed, co-wrote, and produced 2022’s critically acclaimed South Korean neo-noir romantic mystery movie Decision to Leave, starring Tang Wei and Park Hae-ii. The movie was named one of the top five international movies in 2022 by the National Board of Review and was selected as a South Korean entry for Best International Feature Film at the 95th Academy Awards. The brilliant filmmaker Park Chan-wook is reportedly working on his passion project after he recently collaborated with a Marvel actor.

Tang Wei and Park Hae-ii in Park Chan-wook’s Decision to Leave

Park Chan-wook to start production on his ‘lifelong passion project’ in fall of 2024

According to World of Reel, after...

Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s Evil Does Not Exist was named best film at the Asian Film Awards in Hong Kong on Sunday evening (March 10).

The Japanese drama, which premiered in competition at Venice where it won five awards including the grand jury prize, also picked up best original music for composer Eiko Ishibashi.

Scroll down for full list of winners

While Hamaguchi was not at the ceremony, held in the Grand Theatre of the Xiqu Centre in Hong Kong’s West Kowloon Cultural District, the top prize was accepted in-person by Ishibashi, cinematographer Yoshio Kitagawa and co-editor Azusa Yamzaki – presented by...

The 17th Asian Film Awards announces the winner of this year's Excellence in Asian Cinema Award which aims to highlight distinguished talents and affirm their achievements and contributions to the Asian film industry and culture. This year, they have two winners from different regions who have achieved remarkable success in their acting careers. They consistently push the boundaries of their performances, showcasing their unique talents and making significant contributions to their respective fields. One of the two awardees this year is Korean actress Lee Young-ae (이영애), the screen icon widely known as the “Oxygen Lady” with an illustrious career spanning over three decades. Lee Young-ae expressed deep honour upon receiving the Excellence in Asian Cinema Award: “I am pleasantly surprised to receive this distinguished award. It is beyond words for me to express my gratitude. But I am certainly delighted to come to Hong Kong and take part in this...

Filmax has acquired international rights to Spanish thriller “Nina,” the new feature written and directed by Andrea Jaurrieta (“Ana by Day”) that bows at this week’s Málaga Film Festival as one of its higher profile titles in main competition.

Loosely based on the play of the same name by José Ramón Fernández, which borrows elements of Anton Chekhov’s “The Seagull,” “Nina” tells the story of a woman, an actress, who returns to her home town on Spain’s rugged northern coast seeking to take revenge on a celebrated writer. As she encounters past acquaintances, including a once close childhood friend, and faces dark memories, she begins to question whether vengeance is the only way forward.

“Nina” stars Goya-winning actress Patricia López Arnaiz (“Ane is Missing”) as the titular character and San Sebastián Silver Shell winner Darío Grandinetti, famed for his performance in Pedro Almodovar’s “Talk to Her,...

Songbird’S Sorrow

Atlas Distribution Company, a U.S. indie distributor, has set Vietnamese-American co-production film “A Fragile Flower” on course for a theatrical release in the U.S. Produced by the duo Mai Thu Huyen and Jacqueline Thu Thao, the romantic musical drama, with a screenplay by Vietnamese singing sensation Nhat Ha, is set debut from Mar. 29.

“A Fragile Flower” tells the tale of resilience and hope through the eyes of a blossoming Vietnamese songstress blessed with both a mesmerizing voice and a gentle soul. Much of the cast are professional singers including Trizzie Phuong Trinh, Nhat Ha, Anh Dung, Khanh Hoang, Lam Tuyet Trang, Ho Xuan Dao, Jacky Tai, Jinstar Nguyen Duy, Maya, Quoc Cuong and Mai Thu Huyen.

Production was by Tincom Media with Rakesh Tammabattula, the film’s executive producer.

Leeding Lady

Prominent Korean actor Lee Young-ae is to be presented with the Excellence in Asian...

Korean actress Lee Young-ae, known for her roles in Park Chan-wook’s Joint Security Area and Lady Vengeance, will be presented with the Excellence in Asian Cinema Award at this year’s Asian Film Awards (March 10) in Hong Kong.

With a career spanning three decades, Lee’s credits also include 2003 drama series Jewel In The Palace, which was broadcast in over 90 countries and introduced Korean history to a global audience.

One of two recipients of the Excellence in Asian Cinema Award, Lee is confirmed to attend the ceremony at Hong Kong’s Xiqu Centre in person. “I’m delighted to come to Hong Kong and take part in this prestigious event for the Asian film industry,” said Lee. “I look forward to more collaborations and engagements with Asian filmmakers across the region to raise international awareness of Korean cinema and culture.”

Park Kwang Su, chairperson of Busan film festival which...

Clockwise from top left: Minami Hamabe in Gozdilla Minus One/Minus Color, Harrison Ford in Raiders Of The Lost Ark, and Charlize Theron in Mad Max: Fury Road - Black & Chrome. Screenshot: Toho, Paramount, Warner Bros. Godzilla Minus One returns to theaters this weekend minus one important element: Color. Godzilla Minus One/Minus Color,...

Clockwise from top left: Minami Hamabe in Gozdilla Minus One/Minus Color, Harrison Ford in Raiders Of The Lost Ark, and Charlize Theron in Mad Max: Fury Road - Black & Chrome.Screenshot: Toho, Paramount, Warner Bros.

Godzilla Minus One returns to theaters this weekend minus one important element: Color. Godzilla Minus One/Minus Color,...

Park Chan-wook's Decision to Leave is exclusively showing on Mubi in many countries in the series Luminaries.Decision to Leave.It’s been a great pleasure and privilege to talk with Park Chan-wook for my ongoing interview project. This project, which has involved 4,000 conversations with visual artists, architects, poets, film directors, and novelists, aims at bringing all the art forms together, pooling knowledge to create a polyphony of art and culture of our time.In these interviews, there are often recurrent questions about unrealized projects and advice for future artists, but I particularly emphasize beginnings: How does an artist begin? How does someone come to art, or to cinema, or to architecture? What’s the first film, the first artwork, that the artist feels is when they found their own language?I’ve known director Park Chan-wook since Joint Security Area (2000) all the way through Lady Vengeance (2005) and The Handmaiden...

It's easy to forget that a lot of people have died during the five-and-a-half seasons of "Yellowstone." Most character deaths are reserved for the villains who dare to go toe-to-toe with the Dutton family. Dan Jenkins (Danny Huston) made the mistake of trying to build a casino near the ranch only to get dispatched by the Beck brothers, and Roarke Morris (Josh Holloway) dies horribly after Rip Wheeler (Cole Hauser) hurls a rattlesnake in his face. That's not exactly the ideal cowboy death that Emmet Walsh (Buck Taylor) receives leading up to the mid-series finale of season five. 

It's no wonder, then, that the performers playing the lead characters were wondering how long they would last on Paramount Network's smash hit series. Granted, the actors on "Yellowstone" had a little more job security than every single cast member of "The Walking Dead," but not much. 

Arguably, the ungovernable Beth...

Park Chan-wook's revenge thriller "Oldboy" celebrated its 20th anniversary this year. In commemoration, the film was remastered and theatrically distributed this past August by Neon. If you missed this beautiful restoration in theaters, fear not: Neon has announced it is releasing a limited edition 4K Blu-ray of "Oldboy," scheduled for release on December 12, 2023.

"Oldboy" is based on a manga by Garon Tsuchiya and Nobuaki Minegishi. The film adaptation transposes the setting from Japan to South Korea, but retains the core premise. Boorish businessman Oh Dae-su (Choi Min-sik) is abducted and held in a locked room for 15 years. Freed one day out of the blue, Oh Dae-su makes it his mission to find out who imprisoned him -- and why. But by the end of his journey, he wishes that he'd stayed locked up.

Co-written by Park, Hwang Jo-yun, and Lim Jun-hyung, "Oldboy" is the second chapter of the director's...

Ballerina is a Korean action film written and directed by Lee Chung-hyun. The Netflix film follows the story of Ok-ju, an ex-bodyguard who is on a quest to fulfill her friend’s last wish: revenge. Ballerina is action-packed with some really heavy moments that are played to perfection by Jeon Jong-seo. So, if you loved the Netflix film here are some similar movies you could watch next.

Lady Vengeance

Synopsis: After being wrongfully convicted, a woman is imprisoned for 13 years and forced to give up her daughter. While in prison she gains the respect of her cellmates and plots her revenge on the man responsible. Once released, she begins her elaborate plan of retribution, but discovers a horrifying truth.

Kill Bill: Volume 1 (Rent on Prime Video) Credit – Miramax Films

Synopsis: The acclaimed fourth film from groundbreaking writer and director Quentin Tarantino, Kill Bill Volume 1 stars Uma Thurman (Pulp Fiction), Lucy Liu,...

Neon’s re-release of Park Chan-Wook’s 2003 Oldboy grossed an estimated $495k on 250 screens this weekend for a total cume of $880k over five days. It’s set to cross the $1 million in its first week back – surpassing a cumulative North American gross of $707k with original distributor Metro Tartan Film. The classic revenge thriller came out in 2003 and was released Stateside in 2005. It was the first South Korean film to win the Grand Prix in Cannes in 2004 and took in $15 million worldwide.

It’s rare for re-releases to top $1 million at the domestic box office. Others that have include Studio Ghibli fare and James Cameron’s Avatar and Titanic.

The restored and remastered version of Oldboy opened last Wednesday at $235k, landing in the top ten alongside summer tentpole including Barbie and Oppenheimer.

Top-performing cities include San Francisco, New York City, and Los Angeles at Alamo Drafthouse Cinemas. An...

Re-releases reliably dot the theatrical calendar and this week have a standout. Oldboy, the 2004 Cannes prize-winner, re-released by Neon on its 20th anniversary restored and remastered, grossed $235k on Wednesday and $150k Thursday — for a total cume $385k on 250 screens heading into the weekend.

San Francisco, NYC and LA, led by Alamo Drafthouse Cinemas, are the top-performing cities so far for Park Chan-wook’s classic film — the first screening in U.S. theaters since its original North American release in 2005.

Oldboy follows Oh Dae-Su (Choi Min-sik), who, after being kidnapped and imprisoned for fifteen years, is released but must find his captor in five days. The critically acclaimed film is the second installment of Park’s The Vengeance Trilogy, preceded by Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance (2002) and followed by Lady Vengeance (2005). Oldboy won the Grand Prix at the 2004 Cannes Film Festival. It grossed $15 million worldwide, and saw...

Clockwise from upper left: Parasite (Cj Entertainment), Snowpiercer (The Weinstein Company), Train To Busan (Well Go USA) Graphic: AVClub When Parasite won the Academy Award for Best Picture in 2020, it marked a historic moment for cult favorite filmmaker Bong Joon-ho and for South Korean cinema. While some American audiences were surprised,...

Choi Min-sik in OldboyPhoto: Neon

When Parasite won the Academy Award for Best Picture in 2020, it marked a historic moment for cult favorite filmmaker Bong Joon-ho and for South Korean cinema. While some American audiences were surprised, and even annoyed, to see an international film win Best Picture, many film...

Based on a Japanese manga by Garon Tsuchiya Nobuaki Minegishi, Park Chan-wook's 2003 film "Oldboy" is a sensational, harrowing, violent, exhilarating opera of sin, retribution, and tragic twists worthy of Shakespeare. Tapping into a particularly Korean sense of social anxiety, it explores experiences of free-floating guilt and the sense that one might be punished at any moment for a slight you didn't know you committed. It's a panic attack of a film that swings for the walls -- literally, with a hammer -- and thwacks a few skulls in the process. Aggressive, enormous, bloody, and blunt, "Oldboy" may be one of the best films of its decade. 

In 2003, Park's film -- the second part of what the filmmaker called a Vengeance Trilogy -- received a lot of attention. It won the Grand Prix at Cannes and dozens of other film awards besides. Quentin Tarantino talked it up immensely, and critics gushed.

Neon is returning “Oldboy ” to theaters just in time for its 20th anniversary.

Park Chan-wook’s acclaimed and influential psychological thriller will return to U.S. theaters August 16. It debuted in five theaters in March 2005 (it opened in South Korea in November 2003) and at its peak played in just 28 auditoriums for a domestic total of $707,481 before finding a cult fandom. It can be presumed that this theatrical reengagement will play a bit wider than the first release.

A loose remake of Garon Tsuchiya and Nobuaki Minegishi’s Japanese manga of the same name, “Oldboy” stars Choi Min-sik as a general lout of a human being who is mysteriously kidnapped and kept in a single room for 20 years before being just as randomly released from captivity. He has no idea who took him or why, but he is unleashed back into the world with little to live for save for revenge and moral absolution.

Neon is celebrating Park Chan-wook’s Oldboy 20th anniversary in a massive way. Yesterday brought an official poster teasing the upcoming restoration of the jaw-dropping revenge thriller. Today brings the trailer and a release date.

A Greek tragedy by way of a visceral revenge thriller, Park Chan-wook’s Oldboy will keep you guessing at every turn. And right from the get-go, too. Oh Dae-su (Choi Min-sik) is kidnapped on the night of his daughter’s fourth birthday and wakes up imprisoned, sealed in a hotel room. He learns his wife has been murdered, and he’s been framed for her death. Cut to 15 years later, Oh Dae-su is suddenly freed and sent on a quest to find his captor. That barely, and I emphasize barely, sets up the insanity that follows.

It’s the precise type of shocker you’ll want to experience on the big screen. Luckily, Neon is bringing Oldboy,...

One of the greatest and most jaw-droppingly shocking movies of all time, Park Chan-wook’s Oldboy turns 20 years old here in 2023, and a fresh new restoration is on the way.

He’s back. Check out the official poster below and expect the trailer Tomorrow.

From what we gather, Neon will be bringing this new restoration of the original Oldboy to theaters this year, and we expect to learn much more with the trailer debut tomorrow.

Variety had noted in a report back in August 2022, “It will mark the first time Park’s film plays on the big screen since its initial release on November 21, 2003.”

The acclaimed film stars Choi Min-sik as Oh Dae-Su, a man who was kidnapped and imprisoned for 15 years. After he’s released, he has five days to find his captor.

Yoo Ji-tae and Kang Hye-jung also star in Oldboy, which was remade in 2013.

Park Chan-wook’s...

Park Chan-wook is currently in production on the post-Vietnam War drama series The Sympathizer for HBO and A24, but with a weekend off, the Decision to Leave helmer made a decision to enter Saturday’s BAFTA Tea Party in Beverly Hills.

Before he ducked into the ballroom, Park took a moment to speak to The Hollywood Reporter on the red carpet, where he shared a little about what it’s like to not only direct Robert Downey Jr. in the adaptation of the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by Viet Thanh Nguyen but to watch the way he moves about the set.

“First of all, he is very delightful and pleasant character, with a personality that really lights up the entire set and makes everyone happy to be there and having such an enjoyable experience,” Park relayed through a translator. “He remembers every single crew member and all the background actors. He...

If you were to draft a list of the artists most responsible for the ever-expanding global popularity of Korean film and television, Park Chan-wook — the director of Oldboy and this year’s Oscar frontrunner Decision to Leave — would undoubtedly fall somewhere at the top. Far less known, however, is the name of the woman responsible for co-writing all of Park’s films since the early 2000s: Chung Seo-kyung. Park met Chung, then an aspiring writer, while serving on the jury of a Korean short-film competition in which she was competing sometime around 2001. After winning the Cannes Grand Prix in 2003 for Old Boy and deciding to that his next movie would be more female-centric, Park remembered Chung’s spark and peculiar sensibility and reached out to her to write a draft of a script.

That project became his sixth feature, 2005’s Lady Vengeance, and the duo have co-written every one of...

Bong Joon-ho may be the national hero for bringing home the Oscar for Parasite, but it was Park Chan-wook who first blazed the trail for Korean cinema. After two false starts, his international career began in earnest in 2000 with Berlinale hit Joint Security Area (J.S.A), a military thriller set in the no-man’s land between North and South Korea. In the years since, Director Park has been a quicksilver talent, never repeating himself and bringing savagely original twists to genres as diverse as the vampire movie (Thirst), the erotic thriller (Handmaiden) and manga (Oldboy). His latest, Decision to Leave, is no exception, a perversely modern and yet classically Hitchcockian whodunnit, in which Park Hae-il’s obsessive detective Hae-joon falls hard for his suspect (Tang Wei).

Deadline: What were your thoughts going into Cannes with Decision To Leave?

Park Chan-wook: I guess I don’t really have a...

Much of the world knows Korean entertainment through superstar pop music performers like BTS and Black Pink. Then, with “Squid Game,” the world fell for Korean drama. And thanks to Bong Joon Ho and his “Parasite” Oscar-winner, more of the planet has learned of the powerhouse that is Korean cinema. ¶ The Korean film industry’s proficiency is scarcely new. Bong, together with the likes of Kim Jee-woon (“A Bittersweet Life”) and the multihyphenate Park Chan-wook are part of a cohort of leading directors who emerged at the beginning of the millennium and remain at the forefront. Over some two decades, they have given Korean cinema an impeccable reputation for combining style, substance and smart storytelling.

With his latest drama, “Decision to Leave,” on the Oscar international film shortlist after a glittering run on the festival circuit and a successful worldwide release, it is now Park’s turn in the spotlight.

Writer-director Park Chan-wook has long been a favorite of cinephiles thanks to the combination of meticulously controlled craft and boundary-busting shock value in films like “Oldboy,” “Lady Vengeance,” and “Thirst.” With his Best International Feature–shortlisted romantic thriller “Decision to Leave,” however, the auteur leaves his penchant for taboo-breaking behind in favor of a subtler approach that paradoxically yields his boldest and most original film yet. The story of a detective (Park Hae-il) who falls deeply and tragically in love with a murder suspect (Tang Wei), “Decision to Leave” is a hypnotic reverie of longing, obsession, and regret in which the characters are constantly hiding things from themselves, each other, and occasionally the audience — which required precisely adjusted cinematic effects from Park and his collaborators.

“People in modern films tend to be very honest with their feelings,” Park told IndieWire, “and honesty is considered an ideal in our society. But...

Killer Collectibles highlights five of the most exciting new horror products released each and every week, from toys and apparel to artwork, records, and much more.

Here are the coolest horror collectibles unveiled this week!

Bones and All Blu-ray from Warner Bros.

A late contender for one of the most affecting horror films of the year, Bones and All will be released on Blu-ray and DVD on January 31 via Warner Bros. Unfortunately, no special features are listed for the cannibal drama.

Luca Guadagnino directs from a script by David Kajganich (Suspiria), based on Camille DeAngelis’ 2015 novel of the same name. Taylor Russell and Timothée Chalamet star with Mark Rylance, Michael Stuhlbarg, André Holland, Chloë Sevigny, David Gordon Green, and Jessica Harper.

Terrifier 2 Shirt from Terror Threads

Art the Clown has cemented his place as a modern horror icon, so it’s to be expected that he’s the focal point of most merchandise,...

Click here to read the full article.

Tony Barry, the veteran Australian film and television actor who starred in cult Kiwi comedy Goodbye Pork Pie and had a long-running role in the television drama series The Time of Our Lives, has died. He was 81.

Barry’s friend, the New Zealand filmmaker Gaylene Preston, wrote on Facebook that the actor had died in Murwillumbah, Australia after a long illness. “He was one of a kind. A fierce fighter for the underdog, working for indigenous rights and as part of rehabilitation [programs] in the justice system and for the environment,” Preston wrote.

“Tony Barry gone – lovely man, terrific actor and hero of mine. Sad today,” tweeted Sam Neill who starred with Barry in Michael Blakemore’s Country Life.

Born on Aug. 28, 1941, in Queensland, Australia, Barry made his screen debut in 1968 in the television series Skippy: the Bush Kangaroo, which he followed with appearances...

Click here to read the full article.

Park Chan-wook, the world-renowned South Korean auteur best known for the floridly violent films referred to as his “Vengeance Trilogy,” wanted to tell a gentler story. It was 2019 and Park was ruminating on ideas for what would become Decision to Leave, his 11th film and first feature in six years, following a period of television work and fine art creation. He began with two competing ideas.

“Over the years, I’ve watched lots of detective dramas and police procedurals, and I love these kinds of films,” he says. “But I’ve always thought the depiction of the protagonists is quite far from reality, because they’re either really tough and violent, or some kind of genius detective.” Examples in this genre are particularly prevalent in Korea, where the highest-grossing movie just this year is Lee Sang-yong’s The Roundup (101 million and counting), a...

Park Chan-wook's Decision to Leave is exclusively showing on Mubi in many countries starting December 9, 2022 in the series Luminaries.Above: Fan poster for Decision to Leave by Vassilis Dimitros.With the release of Park Chan-wook’s latest masterpiece—the dizzying, obsessive Decision to Leave—I thought it would be a good time to dive into the posters for his entire body of work. But I’ve already written about John Calvert’s gorgeous posters for The Handmaiden (2016) and I’m sure I’ve featured these exquisite Korean posters below, for Lady Vengeance (2005), somewhere before. Mubi’s own poster by Nicolas Ortega for Decision to Leave is one of the year’s best, and the original Cannes release poster from Empire Design was one of the graphic highlights of that festival. Empire also produced a terrific illustrated UK poster for Park's Stoker in 2013. But a lot of the theatrical posters for...

This story about “Decision to Leave” and director Park Chan-wook first appeared in the International Film issue of TheWrap’s awards magazine.

Best known for his action films “Oldboy” and “Lady Vengeance” and the erotic tale “The Handmaiden,” Korean auteur Park Chan-wook is more understated in this slow-burn tale of a police detective who becomes obsessed with a woman he suspects of killing her husband. He did this interview through a translator.

What was the genesis of this story?

It starts from my high school days when I read the novel series on Martin Beck (by Swedish authors Maj Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö). At first I wanted to adapt those novels into a movie. Then I changed my mind and I wanted to adapt a single chapter — but looking back at the story that was written from it, I realized that the story of the chapter is actually not present anymore.

On paper, "I Saw The Devil" doesn't break new ground. Intelligence agent Kim Soo-hyun (Lee Byung-hun) sets out for revenge after the murder of his fiancee Jang Joo-yun (Oh San-ha). When he discovers the identity of her murderer, Jang Kyung-chul (Choi Min-Sik), he decides to play cat and mouse to drag out his vengeful catharsis.

All-in-all, a pretty typical setup for a revenge thriller. Such movies are a popular breed in South Korea and "I Saw The Devil" shares many qualities with other high points of the genre. Indeed, Choi Min-Sik previously played a serial killer and object of revenge in Park Chan-Wook's "Lady Vengeance."

Where the film is exceptional is its violence. Director ​​Kim Jee-woon shows both living and dead characters' bodies being destroyed in slow, nauseating detail. The gore would probably make even the aforementioned Mr. Park queasy. It certainly did so to the Korean Media Rating...

(Welcome to The Daily Stream, an ongoing series in which the /Film team shares what they've been watching, why it's worth checking out, and where you can stream it.)

The Movie: "Lady Vengeance"

Where You Can Stream It: Kanopy, Tubi

The Pitch: Park Chan-wook's Vengeance Trilogy is an unofficial, yet highly regarded series of neo-noir films centered around, you guessed it, protagonists seeking vengeance for something that has happened to them. With "Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance," he crafted a story about two men's intersecting desire for revenge, and with "Oldboy," he introduced a wronged man that ends up falling down a path of inner and outer destruction. "Lady Vengeance," his 2006 trilogy concluder, is similar to these movies in a lot of ways. Lee Geum-ja (Lee Young-ae) has been released from prison after 13 years for a crime she didn't commit. After becoming a darling in the public eye for her apparent dramatic reformation,...

Mubi has announced its lineup of streaming offerings for next month, including new restorations of Lars von Trier’s The Kingdom I & II ahead of the third installment beginning to roll out right after Thanksgiving. Additional highlights include Christos Nikou’s Apples, Lorenzo Vigas’ The Box, Paweł Łozińsk’s The Balcony Movie, and Antonio Marziale’s short Starfuckers, along with films by Hou Hsiao-hsien, Park Chan-wook, Lucrecia Martel, and more.

Check out the lineup below and get 30 days free here.

November 1 – A Married Woman, directed by Jean-Luc Godard | For Ever Godard

November 2 – No Ordinary Man, directed by Aisling Chin-Yee, Chase Joynt | Portrait of the Artist

November 3 – Time to Love, directed by Metin Erksan | Rediscovered

November 4 – Apples, directed by Christos Nikou | Mubi Spotlight

November 5 – The Assassin, directed by Hou Hsiao-hsien | Hou Hsiao-hsien: A Double Bill

November 6 – Daughter of the Nile, directed by Hou Hsiao-hsien | Hou Hsiao-hsien: A Double Bill

November...

Park Chan-wook sees himself first and foremost as a storyteller, and as such his films masterfully marry striking visuals with twisty narratives that befuddle audience expectations. But, understanding character at the center of all he does, he admits a preference for the influence of detective and spy novels over certain genres that he feels might place too much of an emphasis on plot machinations.

With Decision to Leave, Park leaves behind the ultra-violence interwoven into his Vengeance trilogy along with the sex that accompanied 2016’s The Handmaiden. Instead, Park offers up an intoxicating romance between Detective Hae-jun (Park Hae-il) and widow Seo-rae (Tang Wei). Key to their dynamic is Hae-jun’s incessant surveillance of Seo-rae, which continues even after she’s been cleared as an official suspect in the death of her husband. A lover of Hitchcock and particularly Vertigo, Park takes great joy in setting up all of the...

This review originally ran May 23, 2022, for the film’s world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival.

South Korea may have made big inroads on American TV recently with “Squid Game” and “Pachinko,” and the country’s intriguing film and television industry also has a stronger-than-usual presence at this year’s Cannes Film Festival. “Squid Game” star Lee Jung-jae’s political thriller “Hunt” premiered as a midnight screening early in the festival; Davy Chou’s “Return to Seoul” landed a pre-Cannes deal with Sony Pictures Classics and is one of the hits of the Un Certain Regard sidebar; and Japanese director Hirokazu Kore-eda is in the main competition with “Broker,” his first film shot in South Korea in the Korean language.

And on Monday, veteran Korean director Park Chan-wook premiered his new film, “Decision to Leave,” as part of Cannes’ main competition. Park is no stranger to the festival, having won...

Has Park Chan-wook gone soft?

This question may sound radical to anyone familiar with the colorful violence and disturbing sexuality at the center of his work. Start with the “Vengeance Trilogy”: From the multiple suicides in “Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance” (2002) to the one-man army slaughtering a sea of henchmen in’s “Oldboy” (2003) all the way through a husband raping his wife at the dinner table in “Lady Vengeance” (2005), the South Korean auteur has built his own aesthetic out of dark, visceral material that intensifies his protagonists’ powerful desire to take control of their circumstances.

The same impulse reverberates through his bloody vampire drama “Thirst” and the twisted eroticism of “Stoker.” Even his 2006 romantic comedy “I’m a Cyborg, But That’s Ok” includes a sequence in which an emaciated hospital patient hallucinates about going on a killing spree in the hospital ward.

Yet here comes “Decision to Leave,” a classy,...

(Welcome to The Daily Stream, an ongoing series in which the /Film team shares what they've been watching, why it's worth checking out, and where you can stream it.)

The Movie: "Sympathy For Mr. Vengeance"

Where You Can Stream It: Tubi, Vudu

The Pitch: Ryu (Shin Ha-kyun) is a deaf-mute man in South Korea, slaving away at a grueling factory job to pay for his ill sister's (Im Ji-eun) kidney transplant. Frustrated by the hospital's bureaucratic inability to find a matching donor, he makes a foray into the black market that leaves him ripped off and down one of his own kidneys. Worse still, a donor for his sister is finally found, but now he doesn't have the money to pay for the operation. Ryu and his girlfriend, the anarchist Yeong-mi (Bae Doona), plot to extort local businessman Park Dong-jin (Song Kang-ho) by kidnapping his young daughter Yu-sun (Han Bo-bae).

From there,...

Park Chan-wook, the master filmmaker behind Oldboy, Thirst, and Stoker, is back with new thriller Decision to Leave, and the official trailer for the US release has arrived today.

South Korea’s Official Selection for International Feature Film at the 95th Academy Awards, Decision to Leave will release in US theaters on October 14, 2022, we’ve learned.

Watch the official trailer for Decision to Leave below, which teases a romantic thriller.

In South Korean thriller Decision to Leave (aka Heojil Kyolshim)…

“A police detective, Hae-joon (Park Hae-il), is called in to investigate the mysterious death of a man who fell from a mountain peak. During his investigation, he begins to develop an interest in the man’s widow, Seo-rae (Tang Wei), who is a suspect in the case.”

Park Chan-wook’s directorial credits also include Joint Security Area, Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance, the Three… Extremes segment “Cut,” Lady Vengeance, and The Handmaiden.

Choi Min-sik stars as man out for revenge.

Neon has acquired US rights to Park Chan-wook’s modern classic Oldboy and will release it in theatres to commemorate the revenge thriller’s 20th anniversary.

Park’s ground-breaking South Korean film won the 2004 Cannes grand prix and stars Choi Min-sik as a man who is released from mysterious captivity after 15 years and has five days to find his captor.

Yoo Ji-tae, and Kang Hye-jung also star in the 2003 film marking the second instalment in Park’s The Vengeance Trilogy. Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance came out in 2002 and Lady Vengeance opened in...

Neon has acquired the U.S. distribution rights to Park Chan-wook’s award-winning title Oldboy. Neon is planning a theatrical release in celebration of the pic’s 20th anniversary.

The movie follows Oh Dae-Su (Choi Min-sik), who after being kidnapped and imprisoned for 15 years, is released, only to find that he must find his captor in five days. The 2004 Grand Prix winning Cannes Film Festival title is the second installment of Park’s The Vengeance Trilogy, following Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance (2002) and preceded by Lady Vengeance (2005).

Chan-wook also wrote the screenplay alongside Hwang Jo-yun and Lim Joon-hyung. The pic also starred Yoo Ji-tae, and Kang Hye-jung. The pic was a huge hit in South Korea with Box Office Mojo reporting a global gross of 15M. Since Oldboy‘s release in 2003, the film has been restored and remastered in 4K Hdr supervised by Park. The pic spawned a 2013 English-language remake from Spike Lee.

Neon has landed U.S. distribution rights to South Korean director Park Chan-wook’s film “Oldboy” and plans to bring the dark revenge thriller back to theaters in honor of its 20th anniversary.

It will mark the first time Park’s film plays on the big screen since its initial release on Nov. 21, 2003. Neon has not specified the exact date that “Oldboy” will return to the big screen.

“Oldboy,” which Oark co-wrote with Hwang Jo-yun and Lim Joon-hyung, won the Grand Prix at the 2004 Cannes Film Festival, led by jury president Quentin Tarantino. The acclaimed film stars Choi Min-sik as Oh Dae-Su, a man who was kidnapped and imprisoned for 15 years. After he’s released, he has five days to find his captor. Yoo Ji-tae and Kang Hye-jung co-star in the film.

It’s the second installment in Park’s “Vengeance” trilogy following 2002’s “Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance” and preceding 2005’s “Lady Vengeance.