Bae Doona Joining CLOUD ATLAS

The actress reportedly "had meetings with Hollywood producers recently, and they are believed to have finalized her casting." Although known in her native Korea for such films as Barking Dogs Never Bite, Take Care of My Cat and Tube, she is probably more recognizable to international audiences from Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance and The Host, both of which she gave wonderful performances in. But needless to say this would be her biggest project yet.

Doona joins the already impressive cast which includes Tom Hanks, Halle Berry, Hugo Weaving, Susan Sarandon, Ben Wishaw and Jim Broadbent. A shortage of quality actors certainly won't be an issue for the project.

For those of you don't know Cloud Atlas is an ambitious-sounding adaptation of the novel by the same name written by David Mitchell (no, not Peep Show David Mitchell). The novel is made up of six interlinking stories each set in different times and places. Boona is reportedly in line for the role of "Sonmi~451", described by Wikipedia as follows:

"Nea So Copros (Korea), dystopian near future. Sonmi~451, a genetically-engineered fabricant (clone) server at Papa Song's diner (a stand-in for McDonald's), is interviewed before her execution after she rebels against the capitalist totalitarian society that created and exploited her kind."

Aiming for a release sometime in 2012, filming is set to begin in Berlin in September with a budget of $150 million. Not exactly a small chunk of change, I think you'll agree (it will reportedly be the biggest ever production in Germany). Fans of the book out there: does the adaptation require such a huge budget?