태극기 휘날리며 (Taegukgi) Director to Helm Normandy War Epic

For a while, it seemed like the director of 쉬리 (Shiri) and 태극기 휘날리며 (Taegukgi) would take a now familiar road, that of leaving cash-strapped Chungmuro for a brief foray into TV Drama land, in the form of KBS' upcoming blockbuster 아이리스 (Iris). It's been quite the trend the last few years, with Park Jong-Won of 영원한 제국 (The Eternal Empire) directing the fantastic cable TV sageuk 8일 (Eight Days) in 2007, and the same happened last year, with Park Heung-Shik and his eclectic romcom 달콤한 나의 도시 (My Sweet Seoul), and king of comedy Park Jung-Woo's badass martial arts fest 맞짱 (Road Fighter). This year it went even better, with Kwak Kyung-Taek's glorious 친구 - 우리들의 전설 (Friend - Our Legend), in many respects even better than the original 2001 film. But Kang Je-Gyu Entertainment left Taewon Entertainment on its own to produce the 20 billion won blockbuster drama, exactly because the veteran director was preparing his Hollywood debut. Kang has been preparing for this the last five years, so it's quite understandable. Then again, maybe he saw Choi Wan-Gyu's script, and mentioned the proverbial ten foot pole maxim.

What we're sure of is that Kang will work alongside Kim Yong-Hwa of 국가대표 (Take Off) fame, the sports drama with Ha Jung-Woo which is soon to enter the all time Top 10. Believe it or not, one of the offers Hollywood execs threw on Kang's table was a romcom - yeah, by Kang Je-Gyu. Are they even watching these people's films, or what? That'd be like asking John Woo to direct Dude, Where's My Car? But of course he turned it down, to focus on two tentative projects, one of which seems to be headed for a very possible green light. Pending conclusion of his negotiations with a Hollywood major, it seems like Kang will get his chance to film his own D-Day, as the subject will be the invasion of Normandy during WWII, but this time with a Korean star as the lead - with pretty much 99% chances of him being Lee Byung-Heon.

Certainly not the first or last Korean director attached to Hollywood projects, with Kim Jee-woon's Max and the Junkmen set to begin shooting soon, Ahn Byung-Gi directing firsthand the Phone remake, and Park Chan-Wook adapting Costa-Gavras' The Ax.

[Star News] [Star News]