THE VICTORY: Jo Sung-Hee’s Korea/China-Backed Trailblazing Sci-Fi Shoots Next Month
Developments have been slowly brewing for years for Jo Sung-Hee’s new movie, The Victory. At long last though, it appears the wheels are finally turning for Jo’s long-awaited effort toward shooting South Korea’s first sci-fi feature beginning next month.
Principally backed by Merry Chistmas with an investment upwards of $4.2 million dollars from Huayi Tencent Entertainment, The Victory aims to further cement business between China and South Korea following a three year stalemate that has affected China’s Korean film releases according to Variety‘s own Sonia Kil.
China and South Korea have had frosty political relations for the past three years and the import of Korean films into China has dried up. In its recently published annual report Huayi Tencent said: “We are of the view that the situation may gradually improve.”
There’s next to nothing on story details for The Victory will otherwise reunite Jo with The Battleship Island actor Song Jung-Ki, the star of his 2012 thriller, A Werewolf Boy. They’ll be joined by actress Kim Tae-Ri, lead actress of tVn/Netflix hit series, Mr. Sunshine, and star of Yim Soonrye’s Little Forest.
A 2020 release is in store with Huayi Tencent’s stake landing them distribution rights in China. The deal comes amid Huayi’s recent joint film funding agreement with owners at Huayi Bros Media which expires in the fourth quarter of 2021.
“It means a lot that Huayi has agreed with [my] vision to make ‘Victory’ a super IP that can be developed into various content forms including web cartoon, [TV] series, and game,” said Merry Christmas CEO You Jeong-hun in a statement.
“We are very happy to support Korea’s first space sci-fi film, equipped with an original view of the world that we could see from the script; great directing capabilities proven by director Jo’s previous films; and with an amazing cast,” said Huayi Tencent Entertainment director Hu Jun Yi.