Director Ryoo Seung-wan has been hitting major high marks with his latest action flick, Veteran following its domestic release in South Korea on August 5. CJ Entertainment proudly guaranteed its North American base with a limited release as of a few weeks ago, and with well more than $80 million dollars to its current box-office standing, the film is reportedly on par to be the third biggest grossing South Korean film of all time.
Thus, talks of a sequel are already brewing and Ryoo‘s own mention of it now lends some worthy acknowledgement following an interview with Diva Velez posted at Twitchfilm, in which Ryoo also confirmed development of a sequel to his 2012 espionage thriller, The Berlin File. “I don’t think [Veteran 2] will be my very next project. I still haven’t decided whom these guys will fight again.” he says. “Currently, I’m working on the sequel to The Berlin File, I’m writing the script. I think we are on track for release next year.”
The Berlin File was written and directed by Ryoo with Ha Jung-woo, Han Suk-kyu, Jun Ji-hyun and Ryoo Seung-bum principally leading the story of a North Korean spy forced on the run following a botched weapons deal with intelligence operatives from both North and South Korea on his tail. The film did pretty amazing for itself in 2013 with $48 million dollars to its box-office credentials, and rightfully so with a resumé from a director who clearly knows how to tell great stories with tons of action, grit and exploratory moments of character development. Look at films like Arahan: Jangpung Daejakjeon, Crying Fist and The City Of Violence and you’ll see what I mean.
In the meantime, what Ryoo will be filming next is a World War 2 biopictoral escape thriller inspired by the events that took place on Hashima Island. That film will commence shooting next sumer for a 2017 release while we await more info on the respective sequels to The Berlin File and Veteran.
Stay tuned!