Jung Woo-sung, who played “The Good” part of The Good, The Bad, The Weird, is joining his Hallyu colleagues like Lee Byung-heon and Jang Dong-gun in attempting a leap to the global stage: his next project, Rain of Swords, is directed by John Woo (Mission Impossible 2) and co-stars Michelle Yeoh (Crouching TIger, Hidden Dragon).

Filming began this past week in Shanghai on the wuxia (martial arts in ancient China) project, described as “Face/Off meets Mr. & Mrs. Smith set in the Ming Dynasty.” According to the Korea Times, the film “follows a love affair between a retiring assassin (Yeoh) and a messenger (Jung) whose father was killed by the assassin’s former associates. The assassin is initially oblivious of her lover’s history and the fact that he is well-trained in martial arts. Meanwhile a character played by Wang Xue-qi sets out to steal a powerful artifact in her possession.”

Jung Woo-sung has been studying Chinese for the movie, which plans to release in later 2010.

Via Now News, Korea Times

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The movie 71 had first caught my interest for starring young actors Kim Bum and Yoo Seung-ho as student soldiers in wartime, but problems arose when the movie encountered budget issues and the like. The stars dropped out and the production halted for an extended period. Now, the project has changed production companies and been revived with a new title and new stars: TOP and Kwon Sang-woo will be meeting onscreen as the two leads of Into the Gunfire [포화 속으로].

The old title referred to a real incident during the Korean war when North Korean soldiers had invaded and 71 South Korean students had banded together to defend their home (in Pohang, Gyeongsang-do). Kim Bum’s former character had risen to lead the students in the pivotal battle.

With this new casting, Kwon Sang-woo plays a man who enlists in the military after being suspected in a murder and volunteers for the student forces; TOP plays another, more junior student soldier. Actors Cha Seung-won (City Hall) and Kim Seung-woo (IRIS) are in contention for other roles: Cha as a North Korean officer and Kim as a lieutenant leading the 71 young soldiers. Directing is Lee Jae-hwan of A Moment to Remember and writing is Lee Man-hee of A Turtle Runs.

(I’ve made the joke before, but this time I’m honestly perplexed: Does Kwon Sang-woo really not know what his image and/or generation is? I’m not saying that a man can’t take leading roles with younger actors, because Kwon can totally still do the sexy leading man thing. But the role in question is of a student and had previously been filled by Kim Bum — thirteen years younger is a big leap, even if the character has been tweaked. I’m puzzled.)

The film will begin shooting at the end of November or early December, and plans for a mid-2010 release.

Via Now News, Hankook Ilbo

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Casting has been confirmed and Hyun Bin will in fact be acting alongside Lust, Caution actress Tang Wei in his new movie, the remaking of 1966’s classic Late Autumn (aka Manchu, 만추).

The plot features a three-day love story between a woman who is let out of prison on a special leave and a young man who is on the run from pursuers. The original, now lost, is considered one of the best of its lauded director Lee Man-hee’s prolific but short-lived career. It had been remade twice before (in 1975 as Promise of the Flesh and 1981 as Late Autumn) and even once in Japan as 1972’s Promise. (In fact, Promise of the Flesh was directed by the famous Kim Ki-young, who had previously made The Housemaid, which is regarded as one of Korea’s best films and is the source material for Jeon Do-yeon’s upcoming remake.)

Late Autumn/Manchu will be shot in the U.S. by Korean director Kim Tae-young, but both stars will be acting in English. CEO Lee Joo-ik of production company Boram Films said, “We’ve thought carefully about what we can do to make our film connect with the rest of the world, and it seems like just yesterday that we’d gone to the U.S. to location scout five years ago, but now that we’re really going to the States to begin filming, the feeling is remarkable.”

The film will begin shooting at the end of the month and release in 2010.

Via OSEN

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Concept artwork for “The Host 2″

The Host [괴물] is one of Korea’s top box office hits of all time, and now a sequel AND a video game have been announced, to be produced simultaneously. Given the success of the predecessor, it appears producers are going all-out — their plan is to release The Host 2 in 2011 as a blockbuster film as well as on online, console, and mobile gaming platforms. Producing the movie version is film company Chungeorahm, while Queen’s Soft takes on the game.

Queen’s Soft is commencing development to correspond with the film’s release; the game features mutant humans with special skills as a first-person shooter. It is a 10 milllon dollar “global project” which has already raised 2 million dollars in investments from Singapore’s Media Development Authority. This past July, MDA also revealed it would invest in the film sequel through Boku Films, the nation’s largest film company.

The CEO of Chungeorahm Films, Choi Yong-bae, said, “There are instances where the game is made after the film has been completed, but this is the first time in Korea that both are being made at the same time.” The film’s script is in the finishing stages, and soon the director and casting will take place in order to begin production early next year.

I dunno… I know that The Host was a big hit, but you’ve got to attribute much of that to its director Bong Joon-ho (who went on to direct Mother), as well as actors like Song Kang-ho, Byun Hee-bong, Park Hae-il, Bae Doo-na… Without them, I’m not sure how much you can count on a follow-up to recapture that success. We shall see.

Via CBS.co.kr

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King and the Clown director Lee Jun-ik’s latest movie, Like the Moon Escaping from Clouds [구르믈 버서난 달처럼], has released character posters for its four leads, and they are simply gorgeous.

Based on a manhwa created by Park Heung-yong, this movie is set in the Joseon era as a revolutionary attempts to upend the social order and become king. The year is 1592 as the three lead males “are forced to wield their swords at each other in a fateful showdown.”

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