This is pretty cool: Park Chan-wook’s recent Cannes jury prize winner, Thirst, will have a U.S. theatrical release.

Film distributor Focus Features (a division of Universal Pictures) has picked up the vampire thriller; it will open in theaters in Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, and other large cities on July 31. The film has already been sold to approximately 20 countries throughout Europe, South America, and Asia.

Via Chosun, Ain’t It Cool News

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Director Park Chan-wook had won the Grand Jury Prize at Cannes Film Festival in 2004 for Oldboy (the second-place award, below the Palme d’Or); this weekend, he won another award for his vampire horror movie Thirst as the festival closed on Sunday.

The film starring Song Kang-ho (The Good, the Bad, the Weird) and Kim Ok-bin (War of Money, Dasepo Naughty Girs) took the jury prize, the third-place honor (top prize went to The White Ribbon by Austrian director Michael Haneke; second to French film A Prophet).

Director Park said he would share his honor with his lead star Song, with whom he has worked several times already in Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance, Sympathy for Lady Vengeance, and Joint Security Area: “I enjoy making movies from the very beginning through the end, and the last step of that enjoyment is the Cannes Film Festival. I’d like to share this honor with my dearest friend and colleague, actor Song Kang-ho.”

Via Festival de Cannes, Yahoo News, My Daily

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• Thirst’s preview attracts A-list VIPs
• Thirst: The vampire chic version
• Park Chan-wook unveils Thirst
• Vampire priest thirsts for love in “Bat”
• Director Park Chan-wook’s latest muse

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Whoaaa. Check out this new still from the vampire film Thirst [박쥐], which recently confirmed that it will be screening at Cannes International Film Festival later this year.

The much-buzzed-about film held its press conference and VIP preview screening on the afternoon of April 24 in Seoul. Given the movie’s high profile (and its director and lead actor), the screening attracted some big names, such as Lee Byung-heon, Jeon Do-yeon, Won Bin, Rain, and Song Hye-gyo.

Lead actor Song Kang-ho, playing the vampire priest who falls for his friend’s wife (Kim Ok-bin), discussed some of the film’s more provocative scenes, one of which serves as the crucial point of the film. He had discussed the scene in some depth with director Park Chan-wook and had no qualms shooting it, as he agreed that it was essential to the story.

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These new photos themed around Oldboy director Park Chan-wook’s latest film, the vampire horror movie Thirst [박쥐], take a decidedly less shocking approach than the previously released teaser poster, which had received a bit of criticism for being too provocative.

(In response to the public reaction, the bat-like imagery of the legs — as the Korean title literally translates to “bat” — were removed digitally to produce a more toned-down version, although personally I think the original is striking and badass.)

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Whoa. That sure is… eye-catching, to say the least. Here’s the new poster for Oldboy director Park Chan-wook’s upcoming vampire-priest film, Thirst.

The poster is kind of awesome for evoking not only the dark and provocative aspect of the film (check out the trailer below), but also the “bat” imagery of its title, which is how the Korean name [박쥐] literally translates.

The film stars Song Kang-ho (The Good, the Bad, the Weird and The Host) and Kim Ok-bin (of Over the Rainbow and Dasepo Naughty Girls, who’s been progressively cultivating her sexy image).

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