Deadline’s Anthony D’Alessandro is reporting that filmmaker Jung Byung-gil will step to the helm for DMZ military thriller, Havoc. Production is slated for the Spring with a script inspired by actual events, penned by Eric Tipton and based on an original idea by Steve Barnett and Daniel Myrick.
As D’Alessandro notes, Havoc “tells the story of a U.S. helicopter crashing on the North Korean side of the DMZ. With tensions between the North and South already on the verge of war, the surviving U.S. Army Reservists must work together to protect a civilian tech-specialist and find their way across the DMZ, without the possibility of U.S. military support.
Both Jung and [Monarch Media’s Lewis] Kim served in the South Korean military, performing several missions with U.S. soldiers, and plan to bring their experiences to Havoc.”
Bernie Goldmann is producing alongside Monarch Media’s Barnett and Alan Powell, and Kim, with Monarch’s Vicky L. Patel exec produce. Quotes from Deadline:
“I’ve been thinking about doing an action thriller set in the DMZ since I served in the ROK army,” said Jung. “I’m excited about the unique opportunity to make a film that not only draws upon my own experiences while also providing me with a setting that is one of the most interesting and dangerous areas on the earth. The film will not take a political position, but instead follows characters thrown into an extraordinary situation who must use their instincts and training to avoid tensions escalating to full-blown war.”
“It’s incredible to us that the dangerous strip of land separating North and South Korea has rarely been explored on film,” said Barnett and Powell in a joint statement. “The Monarch team and our partner, Bernie Goldmann, couldn’t be more excited about director Jung and his team joining us and bringing their innovative storytelling and unique visual style to ‘Havoc.’”
“I am thrilled to be working with director Jung and my good friends at Monarch Media,” said Goldmann. “Director Jung’s style has been appropriated by Hollywood for years, it’s exciting to now bring his filming prowess to a worldwide audience.”
Jung best known for his award-winning feats in the director’s chair following his own career, namely taking to audiences for his 2012 box office hit crime mystery thriller, Confession Of Murder. For his most recent 2017 venture on assassin thriller, The Villainess, he earned praise out of Cannes, as well as the Daniel E. Craft Award for Excellence in Action Cinema at the 16th New York Asian Film Festival (NYAFF). The series has since inspired a television drama in the works as of last year.
More at Deadline.