One of South Korea’s most profitable directors, Choi Dong-hoon has his last two films “The Thieves” and “Assassinaton” in the top ten highest grossing Korean films of all times at the South Korean box office. Even his two films preceding those, “Jeon Woo-chi: The Taoist Wizard” and “Tazza: The High Rollers”, feature in the top sixty on the same list. Though he was set to return with the thriller “Wiretap”, that project has since been shelved after its lead star Kim Woo-bin was diagnosed with nasopharyngeal cancer. But he has now locked into his latest project, which will be a simultaneously filmed two-part sci-fi film featuring aliens.
Two of South Korea’s brightest young talents , Ryu Jun-yeol and Kim Tae-ri, have already signed on star in both parts of the series. While other actors are still to be confirmed, Choi Dong-hoon is known to work with superstars who often return for his future projects. Names such as Jun Ji-hyun (“The Thieves”, “Assassination”), Lee Jung-jae (“The Thieves”, “Assassination”), Kim Yoon-seok (“The Thieves”, “Jeon Woo-chi: The Taoist Wizard”, “Tazza: The High Rollers”, “The Big Swindle”), Baek Yoon-sik (“Jeon Woo-chi: The Taoist Wizard”, “Tazza: The High Rollers”, “The Big Swindle”) as well as #metoo disgraced star Oh Dal-su (“Assassination”, “The Thieves”) have all featured in two or more films for the director.
It would, then, not be misplaced to think that any of the above named actors, particularly Jun Ji-hyun who has not been in a film since “Assassination” in 2015, could feature, while Kim Woo-bin, who has since completed his treatment for the cancer and is said to be on the path of recovery, is also rumoured to be attached to the project in some capacity.
Ryu Jun-yeol and Kim Tae-ri will be featuring together for a second time, after having impressed in the 2017 manga adaption “Little Forest”. The as-yet-untitled project is expected to go on the floors next year and is produced by Caper Films.
