Casting for Japan-Korea Co-prod 彼岸岛 (Higanjima) Announced
We already mentioned a live-action 彼岸岛 (Higanjima) was in the planning stages, for a Summer 2009 release. This adaptation of the supernatural-horror manga by クーデタークラブ (Coup d'État Club)'s Matsumoto Koji will be written by Oishi Tetsuya of デスノート(Death Note) and directed by Kim Tae-Gyun. Perhaps a peculiar choice, only on the strength of his 화산고 (Volcano High), particularly considering the rest of his career has been all over the place. He's directed passable comedies -- 박봉곤 가출 사건 (The Adventures of Mrs. Park) in 1996; proto-Hallyu romcoms -- 키스 할까요? (First Kiss) in 1998; trendy crowd pleasers -- 늑대의 유혹 (Romance of Their Own) in 2004 and 백만장자의 첫사랑 (A Millionaire's First Love) in 2006; and recently even a drama about the divide, 크로싱 (Crossing). A tad "fish out of water" for something like Higanjima, you'd think. But, then again, Volcano High is perhaps the closest to a live-action manhwa Chungmuro has ever gotten, so it also makes kind of sense.
Anyhow, the top tier casting has been finally announced. Leading the list will be Yamamoto Koji, recently seen in the masterpiece パンドラ (Pandora), and Watanabe Dai of クローズZERO (Crows ZERO). What's interesting is that producers Courage Pictures are also involved in another Korea-Japan co-production, 보트 (Boat) starring the great Cha Su-Yeon, Ha Jung-Woo, and Tsumabuchi Satoshi. Total budget is set at 6 Billion yen (roughly 57 million US$), to be split between Korea and Japan (crew will also be mixed). The film starts shooting on October 1 until mid December, for an August double-header in Korea and Japan.
