Park Chan-wook’s 2000 drama, Joint Security Area, is now the subject of Gladiator and Amistad screenwriter David Franzoni’s latest directing push according to Andreas Wiseman at Deadline.
Actress Lee Yeong-Ae led the 2000 original as it centered on a Swiss/Korean investigator’s impartial inquiry into a violent incident at the Demimilitarized Zone between North and South Korean soldiers. The film is inspired by Park Sang-yeon’s own 1996 novel, DMZ.
Franzoni’s treatment, titled officially JSA, will instead see its story unfold about a love affair between a U.S. Marine and a female Spanish infantry lawyer who is sent by The Hague to investigate a shoot-out between Marines and Mexican special forces. Starring with The Hateful Eight actor Demián Bichir is Blade Runner 2049 actress Ana de Armas who will play the lawyer.
Terry Botwick, Paul Yi, Marcus Englefield, and George Lee are producing with Saboteur Media’s Nick Quested, David Kennedy and Mark Lindsay exec producing. Saboteur/Goldcrest is launching sales this month at EFM with pre-production plans slated this coming Fall.
Lindsay stated, “We are thrilled to be working with such a talented writer-director as David Franzoni on what we believe will be a must have project for buyers. This is a story that is eerily similar to the border issue we are dealing with today in the US and is perfectly timed for worldwide audiences.”
Producer Botwick added, “David Franzoni and I are frequent collaborators. His writing is powerful, filled with emotion and resonance. We are so pleased to have actors as accomplished and passionate as Anna and Demián helping to translate the vision for this timely film. The original JSA is one of Korea’s most successful and precious movies and we hope our adaptation is an important contribution to the cultural dialogue.”
