21. Believer 2 (dir. Baek Jong-yeol)
Back in 2018, director Lee Hae-yeong did the near impossible when he successfully adapted Johnnie To's much-adored film “Drug War” into a feature that stayed loyal to its source yet also carried its own distinctive Korean flavour, leaving us with a memorable final performance from the late, great Kim Joo-hyuk and fully affirming the leading man status of Cho Jin-woong. Despite that, it was surprising when a follow-up was announced to it, this time the directorial reins being handed over to Baek Jong-yeol. This is somewhat of a left-field choice, as Baek's only other directorial credit comes in the form of the admittedly very good romance “The Beauty Inside”. The story continues from the first part, but with the exit of Ryu Jun-yeol and the demise of Kim Joo-hyuk, Cho Jin-woong is this time joined by Cha Seung-won, Oh Seung-woo who will likely play the character portrayed by Ryu and Baek's “The Beauty Inside” leading lady Han Hyo-joo.
22. The Childe (Park Hoon-jung)
After “Night in Paradise”, director Park Hoon-jung returns once again with a film about a man in an exotic location. His first of two collaborations with comeback-kid Kim Seon-ho, with Park playing a big part of the actor's resurrection following his scandal, “The Childe” (previously titled Sad Tropics) will focus on a man born to a Korean father and a Filipino mother who aspires to be a boxer. He travels to the Philippines in the hopes of tracking down his father, and in the process, he gets mixed up with some bad people. Kim will be joined by Go Ara, Kim Tae-joo and Kim Kang-woo on the cast-list. Honestly though, a new Park Hoon-jung is all I need to know really, with the writer/director doing no wrong, in my humble opinion (yes, even “The Witch: Part 2. The Other One” had positives).
23. Alienoid 2 (dir. Choi Dong-hoon)
Choi Dong-hoon ended his ambitious sci-fi saga “Alienoid” with a “To Be Continued: 2023” message and while the passion project didn't quite set the box-office ablaze as his previous works, there was still enough merit in the first part to warrant anticipation for the second. With the world building established and the characters set up, it remains to see how Choi, who definitely intended this story to be told over two parts, takes the tale further and manages to reach a successful conclusion. With a number of questions unanswered, for which Choi says one can expect answers in Part 2 in our interview with him (which you can watch on our YouTube channel here), “Alienoid 2” will hope to do a lot better at the box-office than its predecessor.
