MOVIES

Busan: South Korea's Finecut Closes Slew of Deals Including Liam Neeson's 'Operation Chromite'

7:48 PM PDT 10/19/2016 by Lee Hyo-won

The sales banner has sold 'Queen of Walking,' 'Hide-and-Never Seek,' 'One Step,' 'Seoul Station' and 'The Net' to multiple territories.

Seoul-based sales banner Finecut announced on Thursday a slew of deals from the Busan Asian Film Market, which wrapped earlier this month. It inked multiple deals for new titles including Queen of Walking, Hide-and-Never Seek, and One Step, as well as Seoul Station, The Net and Operation Chromite.

Queen of Walking, a cheerful and uplifting coming-of-age drama starring Shim Eun-kyung (Miss Granny) has been sold for the Philippines (Viva Communications), Taiwan (AV-JET) and worldwide inflight services (Emphasis). "More deals are expected at the coming markets, including Tiffcom and the American Film Market," said a rep from Finecut. Presented by CGV Arthouse and produced by Indistory in association with A.N.D., Queen of Walking opened on approximately 400 South Korean screens on Wednesday and will have its international premiere at the Hawaii International Film Festival.

Hide-and-Never Seek, a new horror directed by Doo Lee and starring Ryu Deok-hwan (Nobody's Daughter Haewon) and Jo Bok-rae (Roaring Currents) sealed multiple deals for Asian territories including Taiwan (AV-JET); Singapore, Malaysia and Brunei (Hwa Yea Multimedia); the Philippines (Viva Communications); and Vietnam (Lottecinema Vietnam). Presented by Jconcompany and produced by Movie Square Pictures, Hide-and-Never Seek is set in the world of Korea's online broadcasting, and is due in Korean cinemas on Oct. 27.

The Net, the latest title by maverick filmmaker Kim Ki-duk that premiered at the Venice Film Festival this summer, has been sold to Italy (Tucker Film) and Taiwan (AV-JET), in addition to its pre-sales to Benelux, Japan, Norway, Poland and Turkey. The film about a North Korean fisherman who accidentally crosses over to the South, also showed at Toronto.

One Step, a music drama by Juhn Jaihong (Poongsan, produced by Kim Ki-duk) starring K-pop star Sandara Park was picked up by Intercontinental for Hong Kong and Macau, Viva Communications for the Philippines and AV-JET for Taiwan. Produced by MCC Entertainment, the film will be released in Korea in spring 2017.

Seoul Station, the animated prequel by Yeon Sang-ho to his hit zombie live-action feature Train to Busan, has also been sold to France (ARP Selection), Italy (Tucker Film) and Spain and Andorra (A Contracorriente Films) in addition to its previous sales to multiple territories including Austria, Benelux, Germany, Japan, Myanmar, North America and Switzerland.

Seoul Station, meanwhile, has been released across Asia, including Thailand (Sept. 15 via Sahamongkolfilm), Hong Kong (Sept. 22, Edko Films), Malaysia (Sept. 28, Mega Films Distribution),  Singapore (Sept. 29, Clover Films Distribution). It is slated to open on Oct. 21 by Moviecloud in Taiwan and will also soon be released in the Philippines.

Operation Chromite, a hit war actioner starring Liam Neeson, which drew more than 7 million admissions this summer, has secured additional deals for France (First International Productions), India (Soundspace International), Latin America (Sun Distribution Group), Scandinavia (Starmedia) and Spain (La Aventura).