[Movie 2008] The Good, The Bad, The Weird 좋은 놈, 나쁜 놈, 이상한 놈

[rubie]

Thanks to ylin for the info update -

 

 

Copied from walkerart.org // fest21.com

Kim Ji-woon, director of recent cult favorites A Bittersweet Life and A Tale of Two Sisters, is prepping a period western (!) for release in 2008, reports Variety. Entitled The Good, the Bad and the Weird, the real payoff is Kim’s casting coup, with arguably the three hottest actors in South Korea taking on the titular roles: Lee Byung-hun is Good, Jung Woo-sung is Bad, and the masterful Song Kang-ho is Weird! The wartime setting is an interesting concept, but the treat will be seeing these three magnetic actors chew up the scenery.

The Rome Film Festival Award for $15,000 went to South Korean director Kim Ji-Woon's THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE WEIRD, an Asian twist on the spaghetti Westerns popularized by Italian cinema icon Sergio Leone. The director is best known internationally for his fantasy horror films THE FOUL KING (2000), which won him Best Director honors at the Milan International Film Festival and A TALE OF TWO SISTERS (2003), which was widely seen on the fantasy/horror festival circuit, winning Best Film and Best Director prizes at the Fantasporto Film Festival in Portugal.

 

March 15, 2007

Hot films at Filmart 
Written by Patrick Frater Variety.com

 

Spoiler

"SHINDO"
Director: Koji Hagiyuda (Japan)
Int'l sales: Bitters End
Hot: Specially selected by the Tokyo Festival for the kind of market boost that Filmart can provide, pic will world preem in the market and not the festival. It features rising star Riko Narumi as a high school piano genius who bonds with an older 
boy, played by Ken'ichi Matsuyama, star of the hits "Death Note" and "Death Note 2." 

"THE WARLORDS"
Director: Peter Chan Ho-sun (Hong Kong/China)
Int'l sales: Media Asia and Morgan Chan
Hot: Not far from wrapping a four-month shoot, $40 million pic boasts trio of Asia's leading men: Andy Lau, Takeshi Kaneshiro and Jet Li plus Xu Jinglei as femme interest. Trio of brothers heroically fight off oppression in Qing Dynasty era. Based on ancient novel "The Assassination of General Ma" and previously filmed as "Ci Ma" or "Blood Brothers" by Zhang Che in 1973. 

"PALACE DAYS"
Director: Xu Jinglei (China)
Int'l sales: Kaila Picture Co.
Hot: HAF project "Palace" sees a concubine, a prince and a princess become best friends as youngsters. With one of them later China's only female emperor, the three are embroiled in court intrigue. Talented multihypenate Xu will star and from the directing chair promises that, despite the period setting, pic will come to be recognized as a gangster movie. 

"THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE WEIRD" 
Director: Kim Jee-woon (Korea)
Int'l sales: Cineclick Asia
Hot: Three of Korea's top male stars will join hands in Korean-style Western, helmed by one of Asia's most sought-after directors. Lee Byung-heon ("A Bittersweet Life") plays "the good"; Jung Woo-sung ("The Restless") "the bad" and Song Kang-ho ("The Host") "the weird." Ambitious $10 million production is set in Manchuria during the early 1900s, building off a string of Korean genre films from the 1970s that combined the aesthetics of the Western with outlaw movements aligned against Japanese colonial forces. Skedded to shoot starting this April in China. 

[Guest genna]

LBH and JWS... awesome! Two of my favorite actors acting together. lol, how much better can it get?

[Guest espèce*]

wow...a movie to look forward to!!!

I love the trio! <3 esp LBH

[Guest [Deleted User]]

The user and all related content has been deleted.

[rubie]

Website at Barunson Film, the movie's management. Thanks to honeyhunny.com for the highlight -

http://www.barunsonfilm.com/film/newmovie.asp?NDIV=60

 

September 28, 2007

 

Pusan fest unites Korean, Chinese film sectors

By Mark Russell and Jonathan Landreth THR


Feng Xiaogang's antiwar movie "Assembly" opens this year's Pusan festival.

SEOUL/BEIJING -- Since South Korea sprouted what arguably has grown into the most advanced modern Asian entertainment industry, and China's population of consumers continues to mushroom, the increasingly chummy relationship between these neighbors is turning heads around the region.

With such recent developments as the Korean multiplex building boom in China (CGV, Megabox and MK Pictures all have construction under way), diversified conglomerate CJ's move into China through film investment and delicatessens (yes, delicatessens) and the shooting in West China of a spaghetti Western by up-and-coming Korean production house Barunson, there's a veritable creative bridge being constructed across the Yellow Sea.

To be sure, Korea's not the only neighbor trying to get into bed with China. After all, the most successful Chinese-language film on the mainland this year is the thriller "Confession of Pain," which features the bilingual, Taiwan-born Japanese actor Takeshi Kaneshiro and funding and distribution help from Japan's Avex Entertainment.

But on Sept. 21, less than two weeks before Asia's biggest film festival kicks off on Oct. 4 in the South Korean beach-resort town of Pusan, Korea's CJ Entertainment entered into an agreement with the state-controlled China Film Group Corp. to work together to develop young Chinese filmmakers.

Details were scarce when the general agreement was initially announced in Beijing -- where earlier, spotty forays into the Middle Kingdom by Hollywood majors were often cloaked in secrecy due to fears of unwanted scrutiny from communist party officials. But the particulars of this new pact -- which also named two Hong Kong studios, Media Asia and Emperor Motion Pictures -- have since spilled forth from Seoul, where it could very well pull a sharper focus in the freewheeling market environment of the Pusan International Film Festival, which lasts through Oct. 12.

The partnership has been a long time in the making. Two years ago, Jonathan Shen, the man credited with bringing Academy Awards coverage to China Central Television, and Zhang Pimin, deputy director-general of China's Film Bureau, hosted a special China night in Pusan just as the so-called 'Korean wave' was swelling, with content crashing all across China's media shores.

Now, Korea's film industry -- the fifth largest in the world in terms of boxoffice dollars, generating $1.1 billion in 2006 -- has discovered there just aren't enough consumers on the Korean Peninsula to support growth.

"In the future, I think China will account for over 50% of the international demand for our content," says Teddy Hoon-tack Jung, founder, CEO and president of Korean talent-management company and production house iHQ.

Jump-starting iHQ's forays into China were its record Asian presales of the 2005 action-melodrama "Daisy," directed by Hong Kong's Andrew Lau. Earlier this year, with its parent company SK Telecom -- the largest wireless service provider in Korea -- iHQ set up its first foreign office in, where else? Beijing. iHQ now has two China-related features in the works.

Since getting imported films into theaters in China is complicated due to China Film Group's near monopoly on distribution, Koreans are hoping that by owning the bricks and mortar of the industry -- the screens themselves -- their films might fare better against the bulk of the imports China brings in from Hollywood.

Further proving that China is Korea's first target for growth, Megabox and parent company Mediaplex moved in quickly, opening one theater after another in the wake of Warner Bros.' exit from the exhibition market after a government rule change prevented them from gaining a promised majority share in the theaters they had built. Now, with money from the sale of Megabox to Australian banking group Macquarie in July, Mediaplex plans to expand its investment in Chinese theaters, opening another new property in January, six months after its last.

 

Choi Jae-won, head of the film division at Barunson, is another of the Seoul-based film execs increasingly traveling to China. Choi took the shooting of "The Good, the Bad, and the Weird," directed by Kim Ji-woon, to West China where it is expected to wrap in mid-October for theatrical release in February 2008.

Where many once saw working in China as daunting, Choi says it is now "reasonable to have Chinese producers as co-production partners."

Indeed, examples of Chinese-Korean filmic cooperation are becoming increasingly common. Korean VFX artists are aiding Jackie Chan and Jet Li as they battle it out in the Hollywood-China co-production "The Forbidden Kingdom." The Seoul-based firms Macrograph, DTI and Footage have been tapped to add visual effects to the action-fantasy based on Chinese lore.

Chinese lore is also at the center of another film in which Korean participation (read: investment) was key: Hong Kong auteur John Woo's "Battle of the Red Cliffs," which recounts a story known across China, Korea and Japan about a particularly spectacular battle in the third-century Three Kingdoms era.

"Koreans know this story from the popular comic book," says Christopher Chang, vp international business and development at Showbox Entertainment in Seoul, one of the $70 million-plus film's producers. "If you watch this film before the Olympics, you'll understand the history of China better."

It can't hurt that China's economy -- which has experienced double-digit growth for more than a decade, even as the government limits what its 1.3 billion citizens may consume legally -- is about to get yet another shot in the arm as Beijing hosts the 2008 Summer Olympics.

"In 1988, the Seoul Olympics totally changed Korea, its economy and society. China now is just like that," Choi explains, adding that he may attempt to establish a joint venture in China next year. "I have started discussions with a high-profile group," he says.

Still, though filmmaking resources in China are cheap and expertise is abundant, corruption, censorship and limited market access are persistent concerns.

"People there know it and are trying to change," Choi avers. "They are trying to overcome those problems themselves. Even though China has a lot of people, the market is not very big yet. It will take time. For now, having production relations and building trust are most important."

To that end, PIFF is clearly doing its part. Korea's biggest film event will open with Beijing-based director Feng Xiaogang's antiwar movie "Assembly," for which Chinese production outfit Huayi Brothers hired a Korean crew to shoot pivotal battle scenes.

In another attempt to promote China-Korea relations at PIFF, the Korea Film Council (KOFIC), together with the Asian Film Market, will hold the "2007 China Biz-camp."

The event is a sequel to a November 2006 session held in Beijing at which distribution and production companies and the Chinese government shared tips on how to get Korean films either into or around the heavily restricted Chinese theatrical market.

This year, the Biz-camp will open its doors in Pusan's Grand Hotel on Oct. 9 with a conference in two parts: an assessment of Korean films' past successes in China and the viability of China's ancillary film market overall, with input from China's CCTV6 movie channel; and a discussion of Chinese copyright law as it affects the Internet.

The KOFIC Information Center at PIFF will then offer legal advice and help arrange meetings between pre-registered China experts and Korean filmmakers.

"PIFF is pushing forward several programs that will allow Korea and China's film institutions and professionals to better understand each other and create more co-production talks," says PIFF programr Kim Ji-seok. "One thing is for sure: The Korean and Chinese film industries will keep cooperating with each other, growing together."

Source: The Hollywood Reporter // lbh.com

“The Good, the Bad, the Weird” trailer/posters at 12th PIFF






  

[Guest monoceros]

wow, this is getting so much hype that I'm predicting that it will be a flop...am I being too critical?

[rubie]

wow, this is getting so much hype that I'm predicting that it will be a flop...am I being too critical?

Hi monoceros, welcome to the thread. I think it's just normal to predict it otherwise... the bigger the hype, the greater the anticipation becomes, the higher the expectation gets . It's is undeniably a huge hype... even from the articles that came out. I think what or rather who will make this movie really excel or not is the directing. Dir. KJW has been awesome in his recent production with positive feedback exceeding initial hope. The 3 actors of course are really great bonuses and they are the best in action movies.

Hopefully the combination of 1+3 can produce something even better (or never thought of) and not too much of the anxiety attack for the fans & public later... from all the hype, that comes with the territory.

[rubie]

Hot films at Filmart

Written by Patrick Frater

Thursday, 15 March 2007

"SHINDO"

Director: Koji Hagiyuda (Japan)

Int'l sales: Bitters End

Hot: Specially selected by the Tokyo Festival for the kind of market boost that Filmart can provide, pic will world preem in the market and not the festival. It features rising star Riko Narumi as a high school piano genius who bonds with an older

boy, played by Ken'ichi Matsuyama, star of the hits "Death Note" and "Death Note 2."

"THE WARLORDS"

Director: Peter Chan Ho-sun (Hong Kong/China)

Int'l sales: Media Asia and Morgan Chan

Hot: Not far from wrapping a four-month shoot, $40 million pic boasts trio of Asia's leading men: Andy Lau, Takeshi Kaneshiro and Jet Li plus Xu Jinglei as femme interest. Trio of brothers heroically fight off oppression in Qing Dynasty era. Based on ancient novel "The Assassination of General Ma" and previously filmed as "Ci Ma" or "Blood Brothers" by Zhang Che in 1973.

"PALACE DAYS"

Director: Xu Jinglei (China)

Int'l sales: Kaila Picture Co.

Hot: HAF project "Palace" sees a concubine, a prince and a princess become best friends as youngsters. With one of them later China's only female emperor, the three are embroiled in court intrigue. Talented multihypenate Xu will star and from the directing chair promises that, despite the period setting, pic will come to be recognized as a gangster movie.

"THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE WEIRD"

Director: Kim Jee-woon (Korea)

Int'l sales: Cineclick Asia

Hot: Three of Korea's top male stars will join hands in Korean-style Western, helmed by one of Asia's most sought-after directors. Lee Byung-heon ("A Bittersweet Life") plays "the good"; Jung Woo-sung ("The Restless") "the bad" and Song Kang-ho ("The Host") "the weird." Ambitious $10 million production is set in Manchuria during the early 1900s, building off a string of Korean genre films from the 1970s that combined the aesthetics of the Western with outlaw movements aligned against Japanese colonial forces. Skedded to shoot starting this April in China.

Source: http://www.varietyasiaonline.com/content/view/943/53/

[rubie]

Thanks to Hyc at LBH thread for the info-update

Translation by Hyc

http://news.empas.com/show.tsp/cp_is/20070...%BB%E7%B8%B6%7D

2007-03-16

Lee Cheong-A the only girl among the cast of male leads Lee Byung Hun, Jung Woo-Sung, and Song Gang Ho

In The Good, the Bad and the Weird, Lee Cheong-A (23) will portray the restaurant owner in uncultivated field of Manchuria, the only woman who is involved in the events among the three men. She will be going to Manchuria, China in April with the 3 male leading actors to start shooting.

[Guest jicks]

Thanks to Hyc at LBH thread for the info-update

Lee Cheong-A the only girl among the cast of male leads Lee Byung Hun, Jung Woo-Sung, and Song Gang Ho

http://nimg.empas.com/orgImg/is/2007/03/16...2010200-001.jpg

She will be going to Manchuria, China in April with the 3 male leading actors to start shooting.

Lucky, lucky, LUCKY woman!!!

[rubie]

Lucky, lucky, LUCKY woman!!!

Totally agree with you, jicks... she's one lucky woman... 3 times' as much! I'm not too sure about the actress but she seems to be the one from the series "To The Summer Beach" (with Lee Wan) or maybe I'm mistaken her for someone else. But one thing though, the actress keeps getting younger and younger compared to the 3 leading men.

In my random daydream ... I thought would it be great if they got Lee Young Ae instead... the JSA trio reuniting but that would cost a bomb to the already high-budgeted movie. :blush:

[rubie]

March 22, 2007

Hong Kong Expo finds funding

Event high notes include galas, FilMart

By VICKI ROTHROCK, DARCY PAQUET

The first week of Hong Kong's massive Entertainment Expo, encompassing nine different events, ended on a high note with two galas and the wrap of the four-day FilMart.

The first Digital Entertainment Industry person of the year award was split five ways on Thursday.

DreamWorks' Raman Hui, whose credits include work on "Shrek," received the award for digital animation. Digital effects award went to Percy Fung, who promotes high-end 3-D animation production, as well as digital filmmaking and high definition.

Tony Wong, chief creative director for Hong Kong's Jade Dynasty Group, won for digital crossover, while the digital entertainment software nod went to Sze Yan Ngai, founder of the China Game Publishers Assn. (Hong Kong).

Henry Ma, associate director of the School of Design at the Hong Kong Polytechnic U., picked up the digital entertainment education award.

Meanwhile, the three-day Hong Kong-Asian Film Financing Forum wrapped Thursday with awards going to six films, one of which also secured full financing.

The $13,000 awards based on synopsis creativity went to helmer Clara Law for her drama "The Messenger" and Japan's Kore-eda Hirokazu for drama "Night-Fragrant Flower."

The $15,000 Rome Festival Award was presented to "The Good, the Bad and the Weird," an Asian Western to be helmed by Korea's Kim Jee-woon.

"The Messenger" and Mabel Cheung's "Romance of the Three Kingdoms: Red Rose and White Rose," from Hong Kong, received $13,000 post-production service awards from Technicolor Thailand.

The Hong Kong Cyberport Award for the most imaginative narrative and technical excellence went to Jia Zhangke's "Shuang Xiong Hui" from China and "Now Showing," to be helmed by Hong Kong's Pang Ho-cheung, along with $13,000 each.

Pang's $1.4 million project about a TV soap opera actor also secured all its budget from Hong Kong's Sundream Motion Pictures and China's Huayi Brothers. Pang said he arrived at the forum without any money lined up.

While business was slow for most Korean sales companies at FilMart, several deals were announced before Friday's close.

Major studio CJ Entertainment saw good business with Korean-Japanese co-production "Virgin Snow," wrapping sales for Vietnam (BHD), Malaysia (Hua Yea) and Thailand (Box Office).

Big-budget fantasy epic "The Restless" sold to Trade Media for France, while upcoming titles "Small Town Rivals" and "My Tutor Friend 2" went to Thailand (Box Office) and Malaysia, respectively.

A package of "The Wig," "Art of Fighting" and "Face" was sold to Borsalino for Latin America, while "My Scary Girl," "Lump of Sugar," "Say Yes," "Last Present," "Ghost House" and "Inch'Allah" was sold to Eagle for Taiwan.

Lotte Entertainment pre-sold upcoming title "My Father" for Thailand (J-BICS) and Malaysia (Hua Yea). Pic stars Daniel Henney as a U.S. soldier who comes to Korea and tracks down his biological father in jail.

Other sales by Lotte include gangster film "The Show Must Go On" to J-BICS for Thailand and romantic comedy "Old Miss Diary" to Box Office for Thailand and Hua Yea for Malaysia.

Finally, iHQ sold 2005 swordplay epic "Shadowless Sword" for Malaysia and Singapore (Viswass Film) and for Slovakia, Romania, the Czech Republic, Hungary and Ukraine (all Intl. Data Group Poland).

Meanwhile, Korean pubcaster KBS struck six TV drama deals worth $1 million with broadcasters and distributors in Vietnam, China, Hong Kong, the Philippines and Malaysia in its first trip to FilMart.

Korean TV dramas continue to fetch higher and higher prices on the international market.

KBS alone concluded $30 million in deals in 2006, while the entire Korean film industry combined sold only $24.5 million.

Source: Variety.com

http://www.variety.com/article/VR111796164...yid=18&cs=1

[Guest ellabel]

wow, this is getting so much hype that I'm predicting that it will be a flop...am I being too critical?

Hmmm... actually, a production of this magniture, with 3 of the most popular and talented Kactors and an award-winning director can only go to the extremes... either it wud be a mega hit and can set a new record or it wud be a total disastrous flop.

There's so much media hype on this mainly becoz just the names of the leading actors already attract it. There's nothing bad with the hype, the problem lies if there will be too much expectation in the movie and it wud not deliver.

Let's just hope that you are not good at predicting. lol

[rubie]

Copied from http://blogs.walkerart.org/filmvideo/?p=192

Kim Ji-woon, director of recent cult favorites A Bittersweet Life and A Tale of Two Sisters, is prepping a period western (!) for release in 2008, reports Variety. Entitled The Good, the Bad and the Weird, the real payoff is Kim’s casting coup, with arguably the three hottest actors in South Korea taking on the titular roles: Lee Byung-hun is Good, Jung Woo-sung is Bad, and the masterful Song Kang-ho is Weird! The wartime setting is an interesting concept, but the treat will be seeing these three magnetic actors chew up the scenery.

The Rome Film Festival Award for $15,000 went to South Korean director Kim Ji-Woon's THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE WEIRD, an Asian twist on the spaghetti Westerns popularized by Italian cinema icon Sergio Leone. The director is best known internationally for his fantasy horror films THE FOUL KING (2000), which won him Best Director honors at the Milan International Film Festival and A TALE OF TWO SISTERS (2003), which was widely seen on the fantasy/horror festival circuit, winning Best Film and Best Director prizes at the Fantasporto Film Festival in Portugal.

Source: http://www.fest21.com/blog/awardswatch/asi...h_awards_at_haf

There're a couple of articles on an interview with Dir. KJW this week, hopefully we'll get to read the English version or at least a translated gist of the updates

Read them here

http://rd.empas.com/r.tsp/%C0%CC%BA%B4%C7%...%BB%E7%B8%B6%7D

http://rd.empas.com/r.tsp/%C0%CC%BA%B4%C7%...%BB%E7%B8%B6%7D

The related interview clip, thanks to www.leebyunghun.com for the link

http://mplay.donga.com/videofile/2007/cult...kimjw070405.wmv

[rubie]

Buono, il brutto, il cattivo, Il (1966) imdb

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly wikipedia

Teaser posters from CINE21






 

Briefly translated by Hyc at LBH thread

Go! Dream team, Song Gang Ho, Lee Byung Hun and Jung Woo-Sung begin filming.

Director Kim Ji-woon big-scale movie "The Good, the Bad and the Weird" has started shooting. As the crank in for this movie was done on 7th April, this Korean western style movie would be filming in the movie set in studio for 2 months, and is scheduled to go to China in June for the site photographing.

For the three guys, Song Gang Ho would portray a train robber, Lee Byung Hun a killer, and Jung Woo-Sung a reward hunter.

 

[rubie]

The Good, The Bad and The Weird

Genre: Oriental Western
Format: 35mm
Estimated Running Time: 120 min.
Budget: US$10,000,000 (HK$78,000,000)
Funds Secured: US$8,000,000 (HK$62,400,000)
Producer: CHOI Jae-won
Writing Credits: KIM Jee-woon (screenplay), KIM Min-suk (screenplay)
Production Company: Barunson Co. Ltd. / Grimm Pictures
Partner Attached: Showbox, South Korea

Introduction

Korean filmmaker Kim Jee-woon has created box office hits in Asia with The Foul King (2000), A Tale of Two Sisters (2003) and A Bittersweet Life (2005). This time he would take on the challenge of a new genre: an “Oriental Western". Set in Manchuria in 1930s, the story deals with three Korean men and their entanglement with the Japanese army, Chinese and Russian bandits, accompanied with many exciting action scenes.

Synopsis

In the 1930s, the world is in chaos. In Northeast Asia, the Korean Peninsula has fallen into the hands of the Japanese Imperialists. Many Koreans have flocked to Manchuria, the vast terrain of horses and wilderness bordering their homeland and China. Some of them, inevitably, have turned into mounted bandits to earn their living in this barren
wasteland. 

Tae-gu (The Weird) is a thief. He robs a train of Japanese military officers, but the incident is not as simple as it first seems. In the middle of this fierce gun battle against the Japanese, he obtains a mysterious map that leads to a treasure from the Qing Dynasty, buried somewhere in Manchuria. 

Yet, the map is also sought by Chang-yi, the cold blooded hitman (The Bad). Tae-gu must fight not only the Japanese but also Chang-yi and his fellow thugs, who happen to attack the train at the same time. At the end of this intense gunfight, a mysterious man jumps into the center of the battle from nowhere and rescues Tae-gu with astonishing gunplay.

Having survived the battle, Tae-gu thanks the man for saving his life. Yet, he does not know that this stranger is Do-won, the bounty hunter (The Good), who has been chasing Tae-gu to turn him in for a reward. 

These three men - Do-won (The Good), Chang-yi (The Bad) and Tae-gu (The Weird) - will soon discover that the map they are battling for is also a magnet that attracts others as diverse as the Korean resistance, Chinese/Russian/Korean mountain bandits and the Japanese army. The blazing gun battle in the train proves to be merely the beginning of the rollercoaster ride to the final showdown to come. 

Director's Statement

The broad plains of Manchuria offer a seemingly boundless landscape of earth and sky, long ruled by wild men and their horses. It became a battle field for great powers in 1930s. And it also became a land of exile for Koreans wandering there. 

Do-won, the bounty hunter, Chang-yi, the cold-blooded hitman and Tae gu, the train bandit, are players in an epic story staged against Manchuria’s striking, exotic landscape. I would like to express the overflowing emotion filling the endless landscape with a matter of life and death, but I also want to do it in a rather humorous way. On yet another level, I want to show the audience the faces of Koreans of that era who had been abandoned by their homeland and by the insurmountable tide of history. 

Personally, this film also represents a genre that I have envisioned during my previous filmmaking endeavors. With this never-before-seen genre of the “Oriental Western”, I want to create cinematic excitement and the sensation of wild action staged on a vast and exotic landscape.

Director

Kim Jee-woon began his career as a stage actor, then stage director, and finally has become one of the most popular and acclaimed figures among modern Korean directors/screenwriters. His second screenplay, The Quiet Family (1998), won him the Best Screenplay prize in a local contest, and Kim went on to make his directorial debut with this screenplay. The film was invited to many film festivals. Kim’s films, from The Quiet Family (1998) to last year’s A Bittersweet Life, have been hailed by critics and audiences alike for his unique style and storytelling. His second feature, The Foul King (2000), drew more than 2 million spectators, while his astounding horror film of true visual elegance, A Tale of Two Sisters (2003), reached 3.5 million viewers nation-wide. It went on to be remade by Dreamworks in the US. 

Kim is now working on his next project, The Good, The Bad and The Weird, an oriental western that will surprise
the film world once again.

Producer

Choi Jae-won founded I Pictures Inc. in 2000 and has executive produced globally-acclaimed films such as Memories of Murder (2003) by Bong Joon-ho; Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter, and Spring (2003) by Kim Ki-duk; A Tale of Two Sisters (2003) by Kim Jee-woon; Chihwaseon (2002); Volcano High (2001); My Beautiful Girl, Mari (2002) and Take Care of My Cat (2001), to name a few.

Since changing the company name to Barunson Co. Ltd. in 2005, Choi has taken the initiative to produce a number of projects by world-renowned directors such as Kim Jee-woon (A Bittersweet Life, A Tale of Two Sisters), Bong Joon-ho (The Host, Memories of Murder), Yim Phil-sung (Antarctic Journal) and others. 

In addition to these projects, Choi is seeking to expand project development with other producers abroad with efforts focused mainly on family-oriented animation and feature films.

Production Company

Though Barunson film division is a newcomer in the film industry, its founders have been involved in producing for the last decade, with various kinds of films, including The Host (2006) and Memories of Murder (2003), by Bong Joon-ho; A Tale of Two Sisters (2003) by Kim Jee-woon; The President’s Barber (2004) and Volcano High (2001).

Employing a system of "Synergetic Producer Groups" that unites producers of different backgrounds and specialties to maximise productivity, Barunson Film Division’s primary objective is to make films that convey Asian originality while meeting world-class production standards. This ambitious vision has resonated deeply among the directors currently preparing their next projects with Barunson – Bong Joon-ho, Kim Jee-woon, Yim Phil-sung and others – and they represent the rare filmmakers who can make this vision come true. The ability to attract these talents to the banner is testimony to Barunson’s goals and visions. 

Source: hkiff.org.hk
Articles cine21.comfilm2.co.kr

[rubie]

Nothing really new, a previous update from a different source.

April 4, 2007

Lee Byung-hun, Song Kang-ho and Jung Woo-sung star together in next movie

Lee Byung-hun, Song Kang-ho and Jung Woo-sung, 3 of the most famous Korean actors are going to star together in the next movie (current title is Good Guy, Bad Guy and Weird Guy).

The movie is invested by the same company that produced The Host, the best selling movie in Korea history.

All the 3 actors are famous not just in Korea, but currently 3 of the most high profile Korean actors internationally as well.

Source from stareastasi.com

[rubie]

Apr 20, 2007

Top Producer Talks About Three-Star Hat-Trick

Director Kim Ji-woon

Next Wednesday, the stellar triumvirate of Song Kang-ho, Lee Byung-hun and Jung Woo-sung gather to start filming “The Good, the Bad and the Weird.” Simply by starring the three stars, the movie is generating huge advance buzz. The Chosun Ilbo spoke to Director Kim Ji-woon (43).

"As a movie fan, I have certain wishes. Why are there no movies in Korea like “Ocean's Eleven” that gather an ensemble of superstars? There should be at least one such movie in my generation, never mind popularity and ambition.”

That begs the question how difficult it was. The audience may be delighted, but persuading the stars must have been a headache for Kim. Every star, after all, has a tendency to think of him- or herself as the center of the universe. Catering to the emotional needs of three solar systems can’t have been easy.

Even though the three actors are reportedly close, Kim seems reluctant to talk about the point. After some thought, he puts it this way: Lee Byung-hun is “the most questioning actor in Korea”, Song Kang-ho is “Korea's super actor” and Jung Woo-sung has “ambitions as a director.” “Of course it wasn’t easy. For many stars acting is only possible if they understand the character, but that’s especially true for Lee Byung-hun.” How much so? Kim smiles. "Byung-hun may be unhappy to hear this, but for example, if I convince him to play the character on April 1, he calls on April 3 saying he doesn’t understand. If I convince him again the next day, he calls on April 5 saying some part is strange." Kim adds, "As you can see, he is stubborn about his parts."

From left: Song Kang-ho, Jung Woo-sung and Lee Byung-hun

Even though they call each other brothers -- in order of Song, Lee and Jung -- there is a certain tension. But Kim is undeterred. "I’m excited about the prospect of seeing Song, Lee and Jung Woo-sung in the same frame,” he says. “I’m going to give the audience a picture and a story they have never seen in Korean movies."

Source: englishnews@chosun.com

http://english.chosun.com/w21data/html/new...0704200014.html

[rubie]

April 14, 2007

Director trots the globe in search of the perfect western

Director Kim Ji-won [JoongAng Ilbo]

"I wanted to take the most American of film genres _ the western _ and turn it into something that felt authentically Korean," said director Kim Ji-won. After thinking about it, Kim said he figured Manchuria during the Japanese occupation is the perfect setting.

"Then, I realized that there are already films by Korean directors that are westerns set in Manchuria, such as Lee Man-hui's 'Cut the Chain' [1971] and Shin Sang-ok's 'Vagabond.' I didn’t get to see it but I heard that Im Gwon-tek also made this kind of film,” he said.

I met Kim when he was in the middle of making his new film "Good Guy, Bad Guy, Strange Guy," which is set to open in theaters early next year. The idea of Kim (who is known for mixing genres, including horror, comedy and noir) shooting a western in Manchuria has been a hot topic in the industry for some time.

The title, which the director borrowed in part from Segio Leone's 1966 spaghetti western "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly," makes the film accessible for non-Koreans as well. The star-studded cast includes Song Gang-ho, Lee Byeong-hun and Jung Woo-sung, forming a 'dream team' of actors.

"Good Guy, Bad Guy, Strange Guy" is set during the 1930s when the Japanese occupied Manchuria. Conflict elements such as the West eying the land for occupancy will add to the tension of the plot. Visuals will also be strong "with Westerners and Asians riding horses. Besides horses, there will also be motorcycles and jeeps appearing in the film," said Kim.

The three stars will play horse-riding thieves who embark on various adventures after discovering a treasure map. As to matching the three to their respective roles as the good, the bad and the strange, the director said: "The roles can change as the plot develops. On the outside, they can all be bad guys. They are basically three guys who, during the Japanese occupation, had to leave their homeland to go to Manchuria and struggle to adjust to living there."

The production cost totals 14 billion won ($15 million). Many action scenes were digitally made before the actual shoot.

"The last big chase scene features almost all of the characters in the film coming together to perform. There needed to be a lot of preparation beforehand. Also, because we had Chinese and American staff working together with translators, we had to be prepared," Kim said.

The film will be shot mainly in China, for around six months, with other shoots taking place in Hollywood and Korea.

"I thought about a lot of things as I was going from continent to continent. I wondered what the Korean map would feel like if the top [of the peninsula] stretched wide open," he said.

While preparing for the shoots, Kim said that he felt a sense of respect for those who direct blockbusters. "Even though the process was really tough, my heart beats when thinking about the three actors and the vast land that we will be filming on," he said.

By Lee Hoo-nam JoongAng Ilbo [jainnie@joongang.co.kr]

Source: English JoongAng Daily

http://joongangdaily.joins.com/article/view.asp?aid=2874450

[rubie]

April 17, 2007

Chinese market represents a lifeline for struggling movie producers

The Korean film industry is making rapid inroads into China. In the short term, it is a way to boost growth in the local film market. In the long term, it is part of a joint effort to branch out into the world market.

China’s film market has been growing at 30 to 40 percent a year by revenue, and thus Korean filmmakers are anxious to find Chinese partners. In the last year there has been a big jump in the number of jointly produced films. Korean companies have also been opening multiplex theaters with Chinese partners.

The lives of Liu Bei, Guan Yu and Zhang Fei, warlords of ancient China, and heroic tales of many other gallant warriors are chronicled in the “Romance of the Three Kingdoms,” a classic Chinese literary masterpiece which is much loved in Korea and Japan, as well as China.

It’s not surprising that film producers in the three countries should be eager to turn the books into motion pictures, and collaborative projects involving companies from Korea, Japan and China are underway.

A much anticipated project is “Battle of Red Cliffs,” an account of the bloodshed between Cao Cao’s million men as they battled Zhuge Liang and the Zhou Yu alliance. Then there’s the “Romance of the Three Kingdoms: Resurrection of the Dragon,” the story of Zhao Yun, Liu Bei’s military commander. Showbox and Taewon Entertainment are the Korean partners involved in these productions. The production cost of “Battle of the Red Cliffs” is expected to $70 million, the most expensive movie ever made in Asia.

The rapid growth of the Chinese film industry is unprecedented. Last year’s ticket sales amounted to $336 million, a 35 percent increase compared to box office revenues of $248 million in 2005. The Korean market had revenues of almost $1 billion last year but it’s growth was only 3.4 per cent; the current growth rate in China is the fastest in history. The British market research firm Nielsen NRG predicted that by the year 2010, the Chinese film market would reach $720 million in annual ticket sales.

The problem for foreign film makers is that harsh restrictions make it difficult for them to enter the Chinese market. China’s State Administration of Radio, Film, and Television, which oversees China’s film industry, imposes a strict quota system. It will only permit fifty foreign movies to be screened per year. The quota is usually consumed by Hollywood movies, leaving about three slots for Korean movies per year. However, collaborative productions with Chinese film makers are regarded as home produced movies, and therefore Chungmuro (Korea’s equivalent of Hollywood) sees cooperative efforts with China as a bridge to entering the Chinese film market.

Last month’s Hong Kong Film Mart explored the possibilities of joint Korea-China-Japan productions. The Hong Kong Trade Development Council held a seminar titled “Hong Kong: The Gateway to the Chinese Market” to promote collaboration in film production between Hong Kong and foreign movie producers. The CEO of Hong Kong’s Intercontinental Group, Teri Lai, commented on the necessity of joint producing efforts, saying “The walls in the Chinese film market are very high, but once we get past them, great profits await.”

At the Hong Kong-Asia Film Financing Forum, 25 co-produced film projects from Asia were presented.

Director Zhang Ke Jia, who received the Golden Lion Award at the Venice Film Festival for “Still Life,” offered “Shuang Xiong Hui,” a joint production with Japan. Director Pang Ho-cheung’s “Now Showing,” and Zhang Yuan’s “One Night in Beijing” also caught the attention of many foreign investors.

Film producers in Korea and Japan prefer classic Chinese stories to be the theme of their co-produced movies, because the three countries share a similar cultural context. “A Battle of Wits,” “Seven Swords” and “The Promise,” all of which have been released in China, Korea and Japan, are good examples. These movies were filmed in Chinese to target the Chinese market. Box office sales in Korea and Japan were relatively low, but they were a great success in China.

Upcoming releases also feature Chinese classic literature. “Battle of Red Cliffs” is directed by John Woo and the roles of Zhou Yu, Zhuge Liang and Gan Ning will be played by Chow Yun Fat, Takeshi Kaneshiro and Shido Nakamura respectively. It was expected that Jung Woo-sung would be Zhao Yun or Zhao Zilong, but he chose director Kim Ji-woon’s “The Good, the Bad and the Strange,” as his next movie. Parts one and two of “Battle of Red Cliffs” will both be ready for release in time for next year’s Beijing Olympics.

For the “Romance of the Three Kingdoms: Resurrection of the Dragon,” Andy Lau, Maggie Q and Sammo Hung Kam-Bo will be cast in the leading roles, and Jeong Taewon of Taewon Entertainment will be the head producer.

The movie began shooting on April 1, with a production budget of $20 million and will be released early next year.

By Joo Jung-wan JoongAng Ilbo [estyle@joongang.co.kr]

Source: English JoongAng Daily

http://joongangdaily.joins.com/article/view.asp?aid=2874537