Multifaceted Korean film company Acemaker Movieworks will unveil four titles at this year’s Asian Contents & Film Market, which operates alongside the Busan International Film Festival. As unifying themes, action and revenge are prominent.
The Korean film and production industries continue to suffer from the COVID pandemic. Last year’s prolonged theatrical drought meant funds for reinvestment were in short supply and releases postponed. Many of Acemaker’s movies were shot in 2020, but are only now confirming completion and new release dates.
“Remember”Lee Sung Min stars in this action drama film“The Spy Gone North”Nam Joo Hyuk (best-known for his TV series) “Start-Up”And “Twenty-Five Twenty-One”). Lee Il Hyung directed the film“A Violent Prosecutor”The story is about a former soldier with dementia who seeks revenge on the people he feels have caused the death in his family. The film is a remake of Atom Egoyan’s Nazi drama thriller of the same name that starred the late Christopher Plummer. “Remember”The film will be theatrically released in Korea on October 26, 2022.
Another action drama that has a revenge theme is “A Man of Reason,” which premiered last month in the Toronto festival’s Special Presentations section. The story’s protagonist, played by Jung Woo Sung (“Hunt”After ten years in prison, he was released. After he tries to live a normal life, he discovers that his daughter has been abducted by her former boss. He is forced to resort to violence to retaliate. Kim Nam Gil (“Emergency Declaration”) and Kim Jun Han (“Beasts Clawing At Straws”Jung’s directorial debut also features )
Fact-based “Firefighters”It is set at a Seoul fire station, and tells a story of sacrifice. Kwak Kyung Tek directs.“The Classified File,” “Friend”The picture shows Kwak Do-won (“Steel Rain 2: Summit”Joo Won (“Carter”).
This company also serves up a noir crime. “Dirty Money.”Two detectives, struggling to meet their own needs and succumbing to temptation when they have large sums of cash at their disposal, appear in this film. Kim Min Soo directs the picture and Jung Woo stars in it.“Hot Blooded”) and Kim Dae Myeong (“The Drug King”).
Acemaker was founded in 2018 by Jung Hyun-joo, Showbox’s former head of film investment and production, and today spans film investment, production and distribution. It has been a mixed bag of festival success stories and box office hits. They include action thrillers “The Gangster, the Cop, the Devil,”Mystery thriller “The Anchor,” crime drama “The Policeman’s Lineage”Romantic comedy “New Year Blues.”