Movies
Uni Sinks Their Teeth Into Park Chan-wook’s ‘Thirst’
One of my favorite directors is Park Chan-wook, who blew my mind with his trilogy of OLDBOY, SYMPATHY FOR MR. VENGEANCE and SYMPATHY FOR LADY VENGEANCE. It was revealed about a year ago that his next feature will be a vampire tale entitled Thirst, which is currently in production. Today some great news comes in via the trades as it was reported that both Universal Pictures and Focus Features have come onboard to distribute the film here in the States (no wait, woo!). Read on for the story.Universal Pictures and Focus Features have boarded “Oldboy” director Park Chan-wook’s in-production vampire movie “Thirst.”
It’s the first time a Korean film has received U.S. studio coin and a Stateside distribution commitment before its local release.
Universal and Focus will invest in and co-produce the pic, which has so far been steered by Korean major CJ Entertainment.
Focus will bow the film in North America with CJ handling the remaining international sales rights. CJ also will distribute the film in South Korea.
The deal was announced Thursday by UPI Studio prexy Christian Grass, Focus CEO James Schamus and CJ CEO Kim Joo-sung.
“Thirst” stars Song Kang-ho (“Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance,” “The Host,” “The Good the Bad and the Weird”) and Shin Ha-kyun (“Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance”). Involving unusually risqué elements, pic also stars Kim Ok-bi (“Dasepo Naughty Girls,”) as leading lady.
The pic is about a priest who participates in a medical experiment to find a cure for a deadly disease with traumatic repercussions.
It is skedded to be completed in time for a festival bow in mid-2009.
“ ‘Thirst’ is especially exciting for us, as it’s the first time a major studio has co-produced with a South Korean entertainment company in this way,” said Grass. “Park Chan-wook is one of the most talented and influential Korean directors working today. We’re really pleased to be partnering with CJ on this production.”
“First, this is a vote of confidence in CJ and director Park, but also having a film of this scale get the backing of a major studio in North America opens up an opportunity for all Korean films,” said Katharine Kim, exec VP and head of international at CJ. “Second, it is important to us to have Universal and Focus’ financial commitment while the film is in production.”
Park is best known for “Old Boy,” which won the Grand Jury Prize at the Cannes in 2003 and 2005 hit “Lady Vengeance,” both of which sold internationally after their domestic release.
The co-production is being overseen by Grass; Jason Resnick, senior VP and general manager of worldwide acquisitions for Universal Pictures; and CJ’s Kim.
Two things that have proven to be pretty dependable at the box office in recent years are horror movies and Christopher Nolan movies. With Nolan’s The Odyssey absolutely dominating the box office this past weekend, many fans of Nolan’s work have been left hungry for a Nolan-directed horror movie. After all, The Odyssey does whet the appetite for Nolan nightmare fuel.
Christopher Nolan has brushed up against the horror genre in the past with 2002 thriller Insomnia, but does he have any interest in someday making a full-on horror movie?
Nolan tells the Empire Podcast in a new chat, “I’ve always been interested in doing a horror film.”
“But horror is most successful when the conceptual framework of whatever the story is is just so undeniable. I think there are very few really great horror movies,” Nolan continues.
So why hasn’t Christopher Nolan directed a horror movie yet?
He explains to Empire, “I’ve never clicked with a particular idea or concept that worked for me. I love the genre. Of all genres, it’s the most visceral. Where the direct response to the audience is the most important. That is to say, you’re trying to make people literally feel something in their bones about what’s going on on-screen.”
Nolan calls horror “a genre in which experimentation is demanded.” He explains, “I go to see a lot of horror films with my kids these days, and you’ll see things in the first half an hour, 45 minutes of any horror film that you’d never see in another genre. Risks that are taken. Dangerous approaches to things. Admittedly, a lot of movies can’t sustain that to the end. But in the horror genre, that kind of innovation is not just respected – it’s really demanded.”
Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey is now playing in theaters.
Cillian Murphy as Scarecrow in Christopher Nolan’s ‘The Dark Knight’ (2008)
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