Based on Sarah Walters' novel 'Fingersmith', The Handmaid stars Ha Jung-woo (The Yellow Sea, 2010) as a swindler looking to get his hands on the fortune of a young noble women (Kim Min-hee). To do so he enlists the help of a young pickpocket, played by Kim Tae-ri, a new actress who beat out 1500 other applicants in auditions. The film also features Cho Jin-woong (A Hard Day) as the target's uncle, Moon So-ri (Oasis, 2002) and Kim Hae-sook (The Thieves, 2012). Park also worked with his longtime DP Chung Chung-hoon, whose work on Stoker got him a foot in the door in America, where he recently shot Me and Earl and the Dying Girl.
In addition to the location change, Park's adaptation also brings the action to 1930s Korea, when the country was occupied by Japan. Known as the Colonial Era (1910-45), this time period is quickly becoming the go-to setting for top Korean directors. This year already gave us Choi Dong-hoon's Assassination (also starring Ha), the second biggest film of the year in Korea, and the all-girl high school mystery-thriller The Silenced. Park's contemporary Kim Jee-woon is currently shooting the Colonial Era war film Secret Agent with Song Kang-ho and last month Park Heung-sik wrapped the music drama Hae-eo-hwa (no English title as of yet).
Korean press is reporting that CJ Entertainment will deliver the film in the second half on 2016 but it's a safe bet that the distributor will at the very least submit it to Cannes next May.