VETERAN 2: I, THE EXECUTIONER Review: Ryoo Seung-Wan’s Crackling Action Crime Sequel Shows Us He Didn’t Forget Us
VETERAN 2: I, THE EXECUTIONER, is now available on Digital and VOD from Capelight Pictures and MPI.
ryoo seung wan
VETERAN 2: I, THE EXECUTIONER Lands On Digital And VOD This Month. Catch The Trailer!
Capelight Pictures and MPI Media Group will release the film on Digital and VOD on February 11.
I, THE EXECUTIONER: North American Official Trailer Revealed For New Korean Crime Thriller
Hwang Jung-min’s return to the role that made director Ryoo Seung-wan’s 2015 crime flick, Veteran, a hit has proven ever to be a treat for fans of Korean action. The Cannes-selected thriller, I, The Executioner, is now poised for a run via Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) for its North American Premiere, while Capelight Pictures has since stepped up with an official trailer and a September 27 theatrical release to break to fans! The veteran detective Seo Do-cheol (HWANG Jung-min) and his team at Major Crimes, relentless in their pursuit of criminals, join forces with rookie cop Park Sun-woo (JUNG Hae-in) to track down a serial killer who has plunged the nation into turmoil. Typically a lot of these releases go to disc or straight to streaming, so if you’re trying to get in on the fun at a theater, your local listings for this one might be your best […]
Ryoo Seung-Wan’s VETERAN 3 In The Works
Director Ryoo Seung-wan is plotting a threequel follow-up to 2015’s Veteran and his latest, I, The Executioner, which just screened Out Of Competition at Cannes. Ryoo confirmed the preliminary details in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter’s Patrick Brzeski on Sunday. “I’m actually already in talks with the actors. A third one will happen. I already have a spin-off story. I’d like to expand this universe and I feel like there are many more stories that I can tell. Of course, there’s a very important precondition for all that though. If Veteran 2 flops, none of this will happen. If you want to see a third one, please give this film your support!” I, The Executioner reunites Ryoo with the prime cast of the first film led by Hwang Jung-min (12.12: The Day). The two previously collaborated on Ryoo’s hit award-winning 2010 crime thriller, The Unjust. Ryoo also dove a […]
I, THE EXECUTIONER Teaser: Hwang Jung-Min Returns For More ‘Veteran’ Cop Action From Ryoo Seung-Wan!
Unbelievably, Ryoo Seung-wan’s Smugglers is yet to make it stateside. Perhaps that will change given the traction the oft-touted action filmmaker is now getting with his next affair, I, The Executioner, which screens out of competion at Cannes this month. Detective Seo Do-cheol (HWANG Jung-min) and his Major Crime Investigation Division tirelessly track down criminals day and night, often at the expense of their personal lives.When the murder of a professor reveals links to past cases, suspicions of a serial killer arise, plunging the country into turmoil. As Major Crimes delves into the investigation, the killer taunts them by publicly releasing a teaser online, indicating the next victim, and intensifying the chaos.To tackle the escalating threat, the team brings in idealistic rookie officer Park Sun-woo (JUNG Hae-in), leading to unexpected twists in the case’s trajectory. CJ ENM is proudly signaling fans with a stimulating teaser to hold folks over until […]
DIE BAD: Ryoo Seung-Wan’s Breakout Makes Its Jeonju Festival Debut In 4K Next Month!
The ceremony continues for anyone ardently following the work of director Ryoo Seung-wan. The hitmaker’s career of more than two-decades is now readying one of Ryoo’s biggest throwbacks for the 25th edition of the Jeonju International Film Festival, with Ryoo’s 2000 feature debut, Die Bad. Sung-bin accidentally commits manslaughter while breaking up his friend Suk-hwan’s rumble. After serving his sentence, Sung-bin reaches out to Suk-hwan but now a police investigator, Suk-hwan avoids Sung-bin. One day, Sung-bin saves a mobster by chance, and follows him into the world of violence. Suk-hwan’s brother Sang-hwan secretly enters the gang finds a place under Sung-bin’s wing, making their relationships even more twisted. As Ryoo’s fans know, the four-part Die Bad was key to solidifying Ryoo in the action genre for years to come. Boxing drama Crying Fist, modern day martial arts fantasy romp Arahan, and gangbuster delight City Of Violence have all earned their place […]
Ryoo Seung-Wan Invites You To The World Of SMUGGLING In The First Teaser
Director Ryoo Seung-wan is following up the ceremony of his most recent political survival thriller, Escape From Mogadishu with another period affair, and it comes by way of Contents Panda/NEW. For this, we turn to Smuggling, which has Kim Hye-soo (A Special Lady), Yum Jung-ah (Alienoid), Zo In-sung (Escape From Mogadishu), and Park Jeongmin (Decision To Leave). In 1970s, at Kunchon (a small village near sea), there were women divers, including two best friends Choonja and Jin-sook, Jin-sook’s brother and Hammer. They always collected seafood under water for living. But, as few factories started to be built near beach, women divers started to have trouble with what they were doing for living. Without any choice, the ship crews decided to join smuggling business in water to seek a way for their living. But smuggling business in their village got too big for Jin-sook’s family to handle and the peaceful village […]
VETERAN 2: Ryoo Seung-Wan’s Crime Thriller Sequel To Film Later This Year
Ryoo Seung-wan will direct a sequel to his 2015 action comedy thriller, Veteran, according to multiple reports now making the rounds online. Plot details are under wraps, while it is known that actor Jung Hae-in (The Age Of Blood, Start-Up, Netflix series D.P.) is in talks for a villain role. Yoo Ah-in portrayed the antagonist opposite leading man Hwang Jung-min in the inital film. The latest developments on the sequel come seven years since its announcement upon the first film’s critical and commercial success. Ryoo has since gone on to direct a trio of projects, including last year’s hit political thriller, Escape From Mogadishu, which took home several Bests during last November’s 42nd Blue Dragon Film Awards. Escape From Mogadishu also took home several more awards along with the Grand Prize from the 58th BaekSang Arts Awards back in May. It was during those festivities that Kang Hye-jeong, CEO of […]
Well Go USA’s ESCAPE FROM MOGADISHU Releases This Week, So Here Are Eight More Hit Ryoo Seung-Wan Movies To Check Out Now!
Well Go USA is proudly releasing Ryoo Seung-wan’s latest period espionage thriller, Escape From Mogadishu this week wherever movies are sold. The film, which based on real life events surrounding the Somali Civil War in 1991, marks yet another level in artistic and creative growth for Ryoo who made his feature debut more than twenty years ago starring alongside his brother in gritty crime noir, Die Bad, and diving further into a variety slate of action titles like 2002’s No Blood No Tears, martial arts comedy Arahan, 2008 spy romp Dachimawa Lee and revenge thriller The City Of Violence to name a few. Depending on where you look, you might get lucky to find all, or at least some of these films on disc in some form or fashion, as necessary as it is. Alas, with streaming staking its claim over much of the commercial film market these days, and […]
NYAFF XX Review: Ryoo Seung-Wan’s ESCAPE FROM MOGADISHU, On Surviving A Political Warzone
I can’t speak for North Korea, but it’s always compelling cinema to watch from Southern directors, with stories featuring parties from both sides of the DMZ. Seeing and observing the mannerisms and dispositions of both parties as they’re forced together in situations that imperil them and implore finding a common ground should be a welcome challenge for almost any filmmaker to tackle. More to the point, director Ryoo Seung-wan facing this challenge head-on is a feat I’m keen on witnessing, as big in scope and scale as many of his productions have grown, from the heydays of Die Bad, Crying Fist and Arahan, to international thriller The Berlin File and explosive period epic, The Battleship Island. Ryoo’s escalation continues this month with Escape From Mogadishu, spotlighting a colossal moment in Somalian history as the African nation became ground zero for the two Koreas, with the South vying for membership in […]
Ryoo Seung-Wan’s ESCAPE FROM MOGADISHU Makes A Run For Well Go USA’s North American Release In August!
It’s been a long while since I’ve seen me a Ryoo Seung-wan flick. Well Go USA all but looks to change that now with their newly-announced acquisition of Ryoo’s new political thriller, Escape From Mogadishu. Based on a true story: as civil war rages in Mogadishu, rival North and South Korean diplomats are left trapped. With no aid from either government, their only shot at survival may require uniting with bitter adversaries to escape. Deadline‘s Jill Goldsmith is reporting the film’s July 28 open in South Korea will precede its theatrical releases throughout North America on August 6. Escape From Mogadishu stars Kim Yoon-seok (The Chaser, The Yellow Sea), Huh Joon-ho (Kingdom, Illang: The Wolf Brigade), Zo In-sung (The Classic, The Great Battle), Koo Kyo-hwan (Train to Busan Presents: Peninsula, Netflix’s Kingdom: Ashin of the North), Jeong Man-sik (The Swordsman, Rampant) and Kim So-jin (The Spy Gone North, The King). “The film […]
ESCAPE FROM MOGADISHU Sets Ablaze In The Official Trailer For Ryoo Seung-wan’s Latest
Staking their claim at the moment with presentations to buyers at Cannes, sales agent Lotte debuted the official international previews for director Ryoo Seung-wan’s latest political thriller, Escape From Mogadishu, which takes its cues from a real life incident in 1991. Diplomats from the North and South Korean embassies in Somalia attempt a daring joint escape from Mogadishu when the outbreak of civil war leaves them stranded. Escape From Mogadishu stars Kim Yoon-seok, Jo In-sung, Heo Joon-ho and Kim So-jin, and is set to release in South Korea from Lotte Cultureworks on July 28. Check out the international sales art below!
Ryoo Seung-Wan To Shoot SMUGGLING In Summer 2021
When Ryoo Seung-wan isn’t acting, he’s purely in his element where the director’s chair is, as he will be reportedly come this summer. Plot details are super thin as of late as reports arise for Smuggling, the current title of director Ryoo Seung-wan’s newest thriller set to roll cameras in June of 2021, according to a Star News exclusive. The film is now circling actresses Kim Hye-soo (The Day I Died: Unclosed Case) and Yum Jung-ah (Another Child) to star, a move that signals what will be Ryoo’s first film with a female-fronted cast since the 2002 pic, No Blood, No Tears. Ryoo, best known for helming martial arts romp, Arahan, period thriller Battleship Island, and crime actioners City Of Violence and Veteran, is currently in post-production with ripped-from-the-headlines diplomacy thriller, Escape From Mogadishu starring Kim Yoon-seok (1987: When The Day Comes), Zo In-sung (The Great Battle) and Huh Joon-ho […]
MOGADISHU: ‘Veteran’ And ‘Battleship Island’ Director Now Filming Somalian War Survival Thriller
For those of you wondering just what the hell director Ryoo Seung-wan is up to, fret not! Lotte Entertainment is currently at AFM launching world sales and representing the celebrated filmmaker’s latest project, Mogadishu. Ryoo has actors Kim Yoon-seok, Zo In-sung and Huh Joon-ho starring in a story set in the late 1980s as North and South Korea are at an impasse over their campaigns to join the United Nations. Diplomats from both Koreas soon find themselves trapped amid Somalia’s explosive civil war in 1990 and must rely on each other to survive. The film was listed in Screen International Magazine’s South Korea column for Hot Projects. Kim stars in 1987: When The Day Comes, and in Well Go USA’s upcoming release, Dark Figure Of Crime, and also broke out into directing with feature debut, Another Child. Zo’s recent credits include The Great Battle and The King, with Huh recently […]
ARAHAN: URBAN MARTIAL ARTS ACTION (2004) – An Appreciation Of Promising Korean Action And Comedy That Still Holds Up
The niche already gained a hold of some of the earlier works of Korean director Ryoo Seung-wan with films like Die Bad and No Blood, No Tears at the time I broke into my own fandom in 2004. It wasn’t until after that year though, as my curiousity found its way into a Korean bookstore, that my first exposure to the director’s craft would be one of the most blistering martial arts comedies ever put before an audience. Enter Arahan: Urban Martial Arts Action, starring Ryoo’s own brother, actor Ryoo Seung-bum; Earlier on, I bought a copy of The Princess Blade from ADV and that disc also contained a trailer for Jo Geun-sik’s film, No Manners, which I haven’t got around to seeing provided it’s still available in a whole-in-a-wall outlet somewhere online. Ryoo plays Sang-hwan, a happless traffic cop who finds himself at the business end of an accidental […]
ESCAPE: ‘The Battleship Island’ Director Plots 90s-Set Somalian Civil War Survival Thriller
Celebrated director Ryoo Seung-Wan (Arahan, The City Of Violence) will make way for Morocco later this year to shoot action film, working titled Escape. Actors Kim Yun-Seok (The Priests) and Zo In-Sung (The Great Battle) are in talks to star in the 1990s-set thriller which centers on a daring attempt by North and South Korean embassy workers to flee the Somalian Civil War conflict. Actor Huh Joon-Ho (Default, Illang: The Wolf Brigade) has already officially joined the cast according to Pierce Conran’s coverage over at KOFIC. Filmmaker R & K, Ryoo’s shared production outfit with Kang Hae-Jung and home to hits like The Unjust, Veteran and The Battleship Island, will produce the new action thriller along with Dexter Studios (Along With The Gods franchise). Ryoo’s resumé, much like that of filmmakers Kim Jee-Woon, Park Jung-Woo and Bong Joon-Ho as of late, is proven collective body of work that’s become signature […]
THE BATTLESHIP ISLAND: Watch The Official U.S. Trailer For Ryoo Seung-Wan's Thunderous War Epic
Lest you think you’re running out of reasons to enjoy your summer at the movies, Ryoo Seung Wan’s new period epic, The Battleship Island is finally rolling out with an official U.S. trailer this week. The film is kicking off with a Buena Park premiere at CGV Cinemas in California ahead of a rollout that will slowly expand throughout the state as well as in Seattle, Washington by August 4. During the Japanese colonial era, roughly 400 Korean people, who were forced onto Battleship Island (‘Hashima Island’) to mine for coal, attempt to escape. The film Hwang Jung-min, So Ji-sub, Song Joong-ki, Lee Jung-hyun and Kim Su-an. Spot the trailer and official U.S. poster below, and visit the official CJ Entertainment USA website for exact exhibitor locations and dates.
BATTLESHIP ISLAND: Catch The Latest Trailer And Poster For Ryoo Seung-Wan's Wartime Escape Thriller
For all intents and purposes, it’s worth reminding not to forget about director Ryoo Seung-Wan’s latest, Battleship Island. Thus, I’m inclined to share the most recent trailer for the film which opens in Korea on June 30 as it boasts a massively entertaining wartime epic from a fine director and cast. That roster is led by actors Hwang Jung-Min, So Ji-Sub and Song Joong-Ki as survivors among hundreds of others held prisoner and forced into manual slave labor on Hashima Island by the Japanese during World War II. The film is already host to over a hundred territories for its roll out including my backyard here in North America so definitely look for this one from your region’s distributor following its South Korean open in early July. You could literally accredit Ryoo for any of his films leading up to this apart from the 2015 action comedy, Veteran, but I […]
BATTLESHIP ISLAND: Catch The Teaser For Ryoo Seung-Wan’s Japanese-Occupation Era Epic
Director Ryoo Seung-Wan’s Battleship Island is coming this summer following the success of his 2015 action comedy, Veteran. That one is already poised for a sequel while here, we are swept into a much darker period in history as the film delves into the lives of three men and their stories among the hundreds of others forcefully taken on Hashima Island during Japanese occupation at the top of the 1900s. Hwang Jung-Min plays a bandmaster desperate to protect his family while So Ji-Sub plays a tough fighter with a warm heart, and Song Joong-Ki stars as an insurgent leading a rescue mission for one of his independence fighters. The film is opening this summer and, as per its brand, may hopefully acquire a release via CJ’s USA shingle, so it’s a waiting game, no less. In the meantime, the latest teaser has already gone viral so take a look below!
Ryoo Seung-Wan's VETERAN And THE BERLIN FILE Have Sequels In The Works
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 […]