The coronavirus pandemic had a very detrimental effect not just on film production but also distribution and release. Productions with an international shooting schedule in particularly were heavily hit, having to either cancel shoots altogether or wait and change locations to resume production. However, with the ease in movement and the opening of the world, these projects were able to finish and 2022 in particular was a good year for these long-gestating films. Possibly the biggest and longest-delayed project of these is the history-making real-life crime thriller “The Point Men”, which has just released its first trailer and set a January 2023 release date for itself.
Synopsis
Based on the true events of the Korean hostage crisis in Afghanistan.
A group of Korean tourists is taken hostage by an extremist Taliban group in Afghanistan. The Korean government dispatches Jae-ho (Hwang Jung-min), known as one of Korea's most skilled diplomats, in order to handle the situation. Once he arrives, he asks for the Afghan government's cooperation and uses every means possible to free the hostages. However, his efforts go in vain. Due to his failure, he's forced to work with Dae-sik (Hyun Bin), a special agent who is an expert on the Middle East. As they begin making their move to get to the Taliban, the first hostage death occurs. With nowhere else to turn, the two become unlikely allies in a race against time to save the rest of the hostages.
We mention “history making” because this is the first Korean blockbuster production led by a female director. Yim Soon-rye, best known internationally for the Kim Tae-ri starring slice-of-life drama “Little Forest”, is in the director seat for this big-budget blockbuster production. At her disposal, she has two excellent actors in Hwang Jung-min, who had his first prominent film role in Yim's sophomore feature “Waikiki Brothers”, and a heavily tanned Hyun Bin, who also had another delayed action film “Confident Assignment 2: International” see release this year. Co-starring Kang Ki-young (“The Book of Fish”), “The Point Men” is confirmed for a January 18th, 2023 release in South Korea. A wider international release should be anticipated imminently.
