After the Passing of 'My Mister'
3 Billion Won Film Escape and Land of Happiness
Decided Not to Release This Year
Actor Lee Sun-kyun has passed away, but his films remain. He left behind two posthumous works that he had completed filming before his death: CJ ENM's movie Escape: Silence (directed by Kim Tae-gon, hereafter 'Escape') and NEW's Land of Happiness (directed by Chu Chang-min). The combined investment in these two films amounts to 30 billion KRW. Distributors CJ ENM and NEW have no plans to release the films this year. The financial burden of the production costs will be jointly borne by the production companies and distributors.
Escape is a film depicting people trapped on an airport bridge on the verge of collapse, shrouded in thick fog so dense that one cannot see an inch ahead, struggling to survive against unforeseen threats lurking within. It was invited to the Midnight Screening section of the non-competitive category at last year's Cannes Film Festival. The production cost invested in making the film was approximately 18 billion KRW. Including marketing expenses, the total expenditure exceeds 20 billion KRW. A significant amount was spent on special effects (CG) to portray the disaster. Since the late Lee Sun-kyun played the lead role and carried a substantial portion of the story, editing or reshooting is practically impossible.
Screening of the film 'Escape: Project Silence' at the Cannes Film Festival last May [Photo by Lee Iseul]
Land of Happiness, which cost about 9 billion KRW, is a film that tells the intense story of a soldier (played by Lee Sun-kyun) caught up in a historical event that shook modern history, and a lawyer (played by Jo Jung-suk) who fights desperately to save him. Lee Sun-kyun portrayed the soldier Park Tae-joo. Lee’s scenes amount to about 15 shooting days, and since Jo Jung-suk’s role is larger, there was some discussion about editing or reshooting. After careful consideration, it was decided to complete the film using Lee Sun-kyun’s footage, and post-production is underway, expected to finish by the end of March.
Escape has completed post-production and was screened at the Cannes Film Festival, and since Land of Happiness will also be completed this spring, Lee Sun-kyun’s two posthumous films may eventually be released in theaters. However, CJ ENM and NEW have not included these two films in their release plans for this year. Typically, distributors roughly set the release schedule at the beginning of the year and prepare marketing accordingly, so the likelihood of these two films being released this year is very slim.
The release of the film Cross, in which Lee Sun-kyun’s wife Jeon Hye-jin stars, has also been postponed. A representative from the Cross production team stated that the film’s original release date, scheduled for February of the new year, has been delayed. Although the specific release date has not been decided, since other scheduled releases are already set, it will be difficult for the postponed film to be released anytime soon.
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