As a 1981-er, Kang Dong-won (Maundy Thursday) will have to enlist in his mandatory military service by the end of this year, which means that his most recent film, Sworn Brothers [의형제], will be his last. (He has another film still to come out, the fantasy-action movie Jeon Woo Chi, but that has already completed filming and will be released later this year.)

The action thriller stars Kang opposite top actor Song Kang-ho (Thirst) — and if the casting weren’t enough to grab your interest, it’s also directed by Jang Hoon, who filmed the So Ji-sub–Kang Ji-hwan action film Rough Cut. After four months of filming, Sworn Brothers finished its final shoot last week at Incheon International Airport.

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Aw, isn’t little Wang Seok-hyun cute?

September 5 saw the end of the 17th Chunsa Film Festival and its closing-night awards ceremony, which was held in Icheon, Kyunggi-do. The winners list was dominated by the popular, recently released sports film Take Off [국가대표, or National Athlete], although vampire film Thirst did well, as did lush period piece Portrait of a Beauty.

Full winners list below:

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With Hollywood remakes planned for Park Chan-wook’s Cannes prizewinner Oldboy (2003) and the follow-up film Sympathy for Lady Vengeance (2005), I suppose it should be no surprise that the precursor to those two, Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance, is also getting the remake treatment.

Film producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura came to Seoul to promote the release of the action flick GI Joe: The Rise of Cobra, and said in a press conference on the 29th that they are currently in talks with CJ Entertainment over remake plans for Mr. Vengeance. As they are still in planning stages, they have not yet fixed on a director or actors. He went on to praise the visual aesthetics of Korean films, singling out Taegukgi as a particularly noteworthy achievement.

Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance was released in 2002 and stars Song Kang-ho, Shin Ha-kyun, and Bae Doo-na. It’s the first in what is called Park’s “Vengeance Trilogy” and had a short, limited U.S. theatrical run in 2005.

Given the high profile of the other two Park Chan-wook remake participants — Steven Spielberg, Will Smith, Charlize Theron — one wonders what kinds of names may end up attached to this one.

Via My Daily

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Kang Dong-won, Song Kang-ho

Song Kang-ho and Kang Dong-won playing friends? (Or frenemies?) Ooh, I like this pairing.

In the upcoming action movie Sworn Brothers [의형제], Song Kang-ho, an ex-agent of the National Intelligence Service who acts before he thinks, is paired with Kang Dong-won, who plays a cool-headed spy kicked out from the north. Song’s character was released from the NIS six years prior following a shootout that took place in the heart of Seoul; however, both men keep their identities hidden from each other.

Sworn Brothers is directed by Rough Cut’s Jang Hoon, and just entered principal photography on June 5. This is Song’s next project following his vampire priest turn in Thirst, while Kang Dong-won (Voice of a Murder, Maundy Thursday) will have to enlist for his mandatory military service sometime this year.

Via OSEN

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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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