Big three studios join to promote Im’s latest film

Korea’s three major distributors have joined together to promote veteran director Im Kwon-taek’s new production, “Hanji,” in a tribute to the celebrated filmmaker, according to a joint press release by the companies Monday.

In an unprecedented case, Lotte Entertainment, Showbox and CJ Entertainment will team up to invest, distribute and promote Im’s 101st film, which is slated to be released in November.

The distributors said the joint project “comes as our expression of admiration and respect for the virtuoso and director, Im Kwon-taek, and carries the significance that it will be setting the springboard for the future of Korean cinema.”

“Hanji,” named after Korea’s traditional handmade paper, tells the story of a group of people who try to restore the sole surviving collection of the Joseon Dynasty’s royal records, called “Sillok,” at a storage facility in the southern town of Jeonju after all of the other archives were destroyed during the 16th century invasions by Japan. With a 2 billion won ($1.7 million) production budget, the film stars Park Joong-hoon, Kang Soo-hyun and Ye Ji-won.

Yonhap