Bong Joon-ho and Park Chan-wook Start the Year of the Blue Dragon Carrying 'Trillions'

Warner Bros. and Netflix Join Forces
Massive Budgets Poured into Sci-Fi and Historical Dramas
Two Masters Sweeping Cannes Film Festival... Foreign Media Also Interested

Last year, the movie theaters were gloomy, but the actor Ma Dong-seok's starring film Crime City 3 and Seoul Spring, which deals with the December 12 military coup, attracted 10 million viewers, offering a glimpse of hope. The Year of the Blue Dragon has dawned. This year, Korea's representative film directors Bong Joon-ho and Park Chan-wook are bringing new works with massive production budgets. They will each present films made in collaboration with Hollywood studio Warner Bros. and the online video service (OTT) Netflix, respectively.

Bong Joon-ho (left) and Park Chan-wook [Photo by Yonhap News, AP·Yonhap News]

Bong Joon-ho's New Film Has a Production Budget of 194 Billion KRW

Director Bong Joon-ho won the Palme d'Or at the 72nd Cannes Film Festival in 2019 for Parasite and swept four Oscars at the 92nd Academy Awards the following year. After five years, he is presenting a mega-scale sci-fi film, Mickey 17, as his next project. Based on Edward Ashton’s novel Mickey7, it tells the story of a clone human pioneering an unknown planet. The cast is also star-studded. Actor Robert Pattinson plays the lead role, with Mark Ruffalo, Toni Collette, Naomi Ackie, and Steven Yeun among the cast.

The production budget is approximately $150 million (about 194 billion KRW). This is double the budget of Bong’s film Okja (77.7 billion KRW), which he made with Netflix in the U.S. It is a major production presented in collaboration with the Hollywood studio Warner Bros., drawing attention overseas as well.

'Mickey 17' image [Photo by Warner Bros.]

Major U.S. media outlets such as Variety have named Mickey 17 as one of the most anticipated films of the year, expressing high expectations. At an internal screening attended by some insiders, reactions included comments like "It felt like David Fincher’s Fight Club" and "It smartly and thrillingly shows Bong’s previous film atmosphere and unique characteristics."

Although it was announced to be released in March, industry insiders speculate that it might have its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival in May.

Park Chan-wook’s First Collaboration with Netflix

Director Park Chan-wook, who won the Best Director award at the 75th Cannes Film Festival last year for Decision to Leave, is producing the action historical drama Jeon, Ran with Netflix. Park, who directed the American HBO drama The Sympathizer, is participating only in production and screenplay. He has been writing the screenplay for Jeon, Ran since 2019. Because it is a long-prepared script, he has a special affection for it. He completed the screenplay through co-writing with writer Shin Cheol. The director’s chair is taken by Kim Sang-man, who directed the film Midnight FM (2010).

Jeon, Ran is Park’s first film with Netflix. It is interesting that it is a traditional historical drama rather than a fusion historical drama. Set in the chaotic Joseon Dynasty during the Japanese invasions, it tells the story of the son of Joseon’s top military family and his servant, who grew up together but become enemies as military officers and militia under King Seonjo, meeting again on the battlefield. Actors Kang Dong-won, Cha Seung-won, and Park Jung-min star in the film.

Script reading scene of 'Jeon, Ran'
[Photo by Netflix]

Ted Sarandos, CEO of Netflix, said about Jeon, Ran, "It has a theme closely related to Korea, and it is a project made by the master Park Chan-wook, so expectations are high." Park said, "It is a large-scale martial arts action genre historical drama, and Netflix has negotiated well on the production budget."

He added, "With more studios emerging, the range of choices for filmmakers has broadened. In creative decisions, how productive the dialogue is and what the culture and sentiment of the studio are is important, and in that regard, the collaboration with Netflix is progressing well."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.