Song Seung-heon and Lee Min-ki have been cast as the leads of a Korean remake of Hong Kong noir film A Better Tomorrow, the classic 1986 John Woo crime thriller that starred Chow Yun-fat, Leslie Cheung, and Ti Lung.

The remake, Invincible [무적자], boasts a blockbuster budget of more than 10 billion won and comes from film company Fingerprint, which bought the rights to remake the film in 2006. At the time, director Jang Hyung-soo was attached; he is known for films like Rules of the Game and Everybody Has Secrets. However, now directing is Song Hae-sung of Maundy Thursday and Failan. Director Song and Song Seung-heon are reteaming after having once worked together a decade ago in 1999’s Calla. The film has been invested in by Japan’s Formula Entertainment, making this a multinational production that plans to release simultaneously throughout Asia.

Song Seung-heon will take the role originally acted by Chow Yun-fat, while Lee Min-ki takes Leslie Cheung’s. Ti Lung and Waise Lee’s roles are currently being cast. While the original was set in the Hong Kong gangster underworld, the remake features a North Korean defector who settles in the South and gets caught up in the world of organized crime.

This is Song Seung-heon’s next project after his drama comeback met with widespread success in East of Eden. Lee Min-ki, meanwhile, has had a great year with blockbuster Haeundae (as well as smaller films like Oishii Man) and also put out his first solo album.

Invincible hopes to begin filming at the end of the year in order to release in 2010.

Via My Daily

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I say this without snarkiness (a quality I think is growing far too overrated these days anyway): One would have thought that idol singer Kim Hyun-joong’s stiff, uncomfortable acting debut in Boys Before Flowers earlier this year would have convinced people to STOP casting him in high-profile projects, but alas ’tis not the case. He has just been cast as the lead in the film adaptation of popular Japanese manhwa-turned-drama Kimi wa petto, or You’re My Pet. The j-dorama aired in 2003 on TBS.

Like Boys Before Flowers, the Japanese original starred the popular idol-actor Matsumoto Jun (opposite Koyuki). The romantic drama unfolds as a woman fashion-magazine editor who is perfect in looks and talents comes to live with a good-looking young man. She and the man, who is first taken in and affectionately called her “pet,” gradually fall in love. The female lead is still currently casting.

The contract has yet to be finalized, according to Kim’s management, but should be made official soon. The film will begin shooting as soon as the casting is complete, and aims for a release date next year.

(I really thought Kim Hyun-joong would go the way of Se7en, as in, he’d realize that he was sorely limited in the acting arena and focus on his music. Coupled with his seemingly indifferent attitude toward acting in the first place — he had to be persuaded to take the BBF role by management who were eager to heighten his name recognition — I figured he’d fade from acting, not be cast as the lead in another high-profile remake. Again, I mean this without sarcasm, but I sincerely hope he hies himself to some intensive acting training if he wants a career in the field.)

Via OSEN

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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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Hyun Bin has announced his next role, and like Jeon Do-yeon’s latest, it will be a remake of a 1960s film. This one is the 1966 classic Late Autumn (also called Manchu, 만추), by “genius director” Lee Man-hee. Currently, actress Tang Wei (Lust, Caution) is said to be considering the female lead role.

The remake is a co-production with an American production company and will be filmed entirely in the U.S. with English dialogue. (Eep! How good is Hyun Bin’s English?)

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One of Korea’s top actresses, “Cannes Queen” Jeon Do-yeon, is returning to film her next project following a yearlong break (during which she’d given birth to her first child). She’ll take on a remake of the highly regarded 1960 film The Housemaid [하녀], which gets updated with a modern take.

The original sounds pretty fascinating: a housemaid moves in with a family of four and things take a dark turn. Seducing the husband is only the beginning of the trouble, as the maid’s bizarre behavior escalates and the wife tries to assert her place. Although its themes may seem familiar today — adultery, murder, twisted ambition — the provocative thriller was made in the “Golden Age” of Korean cinema, back before the censorship code descended upon the film industry. Jeon will play the maid character.

The Housemaid, widely seen as one of the top Korean movies of all time, is noted for its solid structure, shocking and erotic storyline, and the casting of top actors of the day (Kim Jin-kyu, Joo Jeung-nyeo — and even a young Ahn Sung-ki as the son, who is now a respected veteran actor).

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