New Korean Creature Feature Coming Next Year Author: Kim Song-ho Source: Ozone Film Co., Ltd. and CJ Entertainment
The Korean motion picture companies Ozone Film Co., Ltd. and CJ Entertainment have jointly announced the principal cast members of GORDIAN WORM (???, Yeongasi, tentative title), a new creature feature that will be released next year. Inspired by real-life parasitic animals known as "horsehair worms", the movie is about mutated parasites that infest the brains of humans and manipulate them. A man struggles to save his family, who became victims of the titular parasites, as the disaster rages on. GORDIAN WORM is the latest movie by director Park Jeong-woo, who began as a successful screenwriter of such action/comedies as ATTACK THE GAS STATION (??? ????, Juyuso seubgyuksageun, 1999), JAIL BREAKER (??? ??, Gwangbokjeol Teuksa, 2002) and BREAK OUT (???? ??, Lightereul kyeora, 2002). In 2004, he directed his first feature film DANCE WITH THE WIND (??? ??, Baramui jeonseol), a romantic comedy starring Lee Seong-jae and Park Sol-mi. He continued his directing career with the action comedy BIG BANG (??, Ssonda) in 2007. Hence, GORDIAN WORM will be a change of pace for Park as he challenges a completely different genre this time, and a very rare one at that in Korea. Acclaimed Korean actor Kim Myung-min stars as Jae-hyeok, a former professor and now a salesperson for a third-rate pharmaceutical company. In the movie, he desperately tries to find a way to save his parasite-infected family. Kim is very well-known in Korea with his orthodox, powerful performances. His works include the TV series IMMORTAL ADMIRAL LEE SOON-SIN (??? ???, Bulmyeol ui Yi Soon-sin, 2004), WHITE TOWER (?? ??, Hayan Geotab, 2007) and BEETHOVEN VIRUS (??? ????, 2008) and the movies SORUM (??, 2001), INTO THE MIRROR (?? ???, Geowul soguro, 2003), CLOSER TO HEAVEN (? ?? ? ??, Nae sarang nae gyeotte, 2009) and DETECTIVE K (?????: ?????? ??, Joseon myungtamjeong: Gakshitugukkot ui bimil, 2011) among others. INTO THE MIRROR, a horror movie directed by Kim Seong-ho, was remade in the US as MIRRORS by Alexandre Aja in 2008, starring Kiefer Sutherland. Other principal players include Kim Dong-wan, Moon Jeong-hee and Lee Ha-nui (also known as Honey Lee). Kim Dong-wan began his career as a member of Shinhwa (??), a famous six-member boy band that debuted in 1998. He starred in SPIN KICK (????, Dolryeochagi) in 2004 and several other Korean TV series. He plays the role of Jae-pil, a detective and younger brother of Jae-hyeok. He uncovers an important clue during his investigation on the gordian worm disaster, which leads him to help his brother. Moon Jeong-hee plays Jae-hyeok`s wife Kyoung-soon, who gets infected by the parasite and suffers a terrible condition (it is not known yet if her appearance will change, but based on the premise, we can assume that she will behave very differently after the infection). Moon, who starred in all of director Park`s previous movies, also appeared in LOW LIFE (????, Haryu insaeng, 2004), RUNNING WILD (??, Yasoo, 2006) and CAFE NOIR (?? ???, 2010). Lee Ha-nui`s role is Yeon-joo, a researcher at the National Institute of Health and Jae-pil`s fiancee. When the disaster breaks out, she tries to find its cause at the crisis center. Lee is a former Miss Korea and one of the five finalists for Miss Universe 2007. After that, she began to work as an actress and a TV personality. She played Elle Woods in the Korean version of the LEGALLY BLONDE musical and starred in HIT (??), a 2011 action comedy. GORDIAN WORM will be produced by Ozone Film and distributed by CJ Entertainment. Shooting will begin in early November and the finished film will be released in 2012 in Korea.
