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It is no exaggeration to say that Korean BIG 4 films this summer are the best lineup ever in terms of size and issue. Let’s focus on analyzing the power of Korean BIG 4 films, which burn up the summer of 2022 with their distinct charms as weapons.

BIG 1_Alienoid 

Director Choi Donghoon, the Master of Two ’10-million-viewer Movies,’ Has Opened a New World of Fusion SF that Transcends Time and Space

Director Choi Donghoon, the representative ‘Box Office Hit Master’ in Korea, will release his new film, Alienoid, in 7 years. It can be a new world that has compiled Choi Donghoon's genre experience. Alienoid conveys fantastic imaginations of the past, modernity, fantasy, science fiction, Taoist wizards, and robots in the movie. The 1st part of Alienoid, which will be released on July 20, deals with the adventures that take place at the end of the Goryeo Dynasty when the Taoist wizards trying to take the legendary sword and the figures chasing alien prisoners imprisoned in the human bodies in 2022 are connected through ‘the Door of Time.’ Director Choi Donghoon said, "I wanted to talk about an alien story that I have loved since childhood. Here, I wanted the world of ‘Korean wizardry or sorcery’ that I love to meet the SF world where spaceships and aliens appear. I think the audience will enjoy a new pleasure that arises when the two disparate worlds combine,” revealing his ambition. 

5 years ago, Director Choi Donghoon planned a series of the 1st and the 2nd part to complete the scale of this huge storyline. From sorcerous actions to spacecraft, aliens, and robots flying in downtown Seoul, it took 387 days of the longest production period in Korean cinema history to complete the visuals. In addition, as the secrets of many characters that seem to have no contact at all are revealed one by one, the detailed storytelling, which eventually gathers into one story, is also the strength of the Alienoid series. 

The lineup of the actors who participated in this huge world is also interesting. Ryu Junyeol, a Taoist wizard and troublemaker, Kim Taeri, a woman who shoots a ‘pistol’ in the Goryeo Dynasty, Kim Woobin, an alien manager in the future world, So Jisub, a detective chasing aliens, Yum Jungah and Jo Woojin, the best Taoist witch and wizard in Goryeo, Kim Euisung, a man with a mysterious mask, Lee Hanee, a future tracker, Shin Junggeun and Lee Sihoon, the mysterious cat duo, etc., a variety of actors transcending generations have been cast. Also, the production staff members are spectacular. Production Designer Ryu Seonghee, who won the Cannes’ Vulcan Award, Production Designer Lee Hajun, who won the SAG for PARASITE, and Dexter Studio, which participated in the Along with the Gods series and Space Sweepers, are in charge of the visuals of the SF and fantasy of Alienoid. A new world we have never seen before will be opened in Korean theaters in 2022. 

BIG 2_HANSAN: RISING DRAGON 

The Prequel of The Admiral: ROARING CURRENTS, Korean Box Office's Unprecedented Box Office Hit with 17 Million Viewers, Put the Turtle Ship for a More Powerful Naval Battle

In 2014, Director Kim Hanmin's The Admiral: Roaring Currents became a legend when it broke all the box office records of Korean cinema upon its release. The record of 17.61 million spectators set by The Admiral: Roaring Currents is a milestone that will not be easily broken, but Director Kim Hanmin challenges the record with another ‘victorious war at sea.’ In HANSAN: RISING DRAGON, which will be released on July 29, the main character is Admiral Yi Sunsin in his 40s, who goes to the battlefield only to protect the people in the early days of the Japanese Invasion of Korea in 1592. 

From the time he made The Admiral: Roaring Currents, Director Kim Hanmin planned a trilogy project about Admiral Yi Sunsin: the Battle of Hansan in 1592, Myeongnyang in 1597, and Noryang in 1598. Through these three naval battles, Director Kim Hanmin began the challenge of portraying different ‘Yi Sunsin’ and finished filming both HANSAN: RISING DRAGON and NORYANG: THE SEA OF DEATH (working title) even under the COVID-19 situation. Director Kim said, "The three naval battles show the different images of Admiral Yi Sunsin. If he is a brave general in The Admiral: Roaring Currents, a wise one in HANSAN: RISING DRAGON, and a prudent one in NORYANG: THE SEA OF DEATH. The Battle of Hansan was the most overwhelming victory during the 7-year war of the Japanese Invasion of Korea in 1592. I wanted to show that victory.” 

For Yi Sunsin’s rising, Actor Park Haeil starts the beginning. Director Kim Hanmin expressed his confidence in him, saying, "The wise image from Park Haeil’s eyes is exactly the image of Admiral Yi Sunsin that I wanted to depict." Along with Park Haeil, who plays wise Yi Sunsin, the powerful box office point of ‘HANSAN’ is the appearance of the Turtle Ship. It is said that it was like a legendary monster in the sea, and the dignity of the Turtle Ship that scared the Japanese navy during the Japanese Invasion of Korea in 1592, will finally be revealed in HANSAN: RISING DRAGON. To convey the catharsis of the victory as much as possible, ‘HANSAN’ vividly embodies the images of the Turtle Ship and the Hakikjin formation (a crane wing formation) on the screen, which have been piled up in the veil. Since there are few historical materials left, it is expected what kinds of spectacular scenes will be made by the Turtle Ship, which has been completed with cinematic imagination, and the Hakikjin tactics, which was called the ‘Castle on the Sea.’ 

BIG 3_EMERGENCY DECLARATION 

There Has Never Been More Spectacular Casting. Korea's First Aviation Disaster Blockbuster with the Star-studded Cast Will Fly.

Director Han Jaerim's Emergency Declaration has attracted great attention in two ways since it was invited to the out-of-competition section at the 2021 Festival de Cannes. One is the star-studded cast among Korean actors, which could not be more spectacular than this. First of all, Actor Song Kangho is the backbone of the film, who won the Best Actor for Broker at the 75th Festival de Cannes, and who starred in PARASITE, the winner of the Oscar and the Palme d'Or. He plays a detective trying to save everyone from the unprecedented disaster. Global star Lee Byunghun plays the father who boards the plane for his daughter, and Jeon Doyeon, the ‘Queen of Cannes,’ who won the Cannes Best Actress for Secret Sunshine, plays the Minister of Land, Infrastructure, and Transport. From Kim Namgil, the co-pilot who has to land the plane safely, Kim Sojin, a veteran flight attendant, and Park Haejoon from the Blue House, to Im Siwan, a mysterious young man at the center of the disaster, the film boasts a super-luxury casting. The fact that the two actors, the winners of the Best Actor and the Best Actress at Cannes, appear in one movie is an amazing attraction.

Another charming point is that it is the first 'aviation disaster blockbuster' in Korea. The mission of Emergency Declaration is to show the most realistic aviation disaster. Due to the nature of the ‘aviation disaster’ occurring on the plane, the key is to show the situation in a tense manner that numerous figures are connected on the ground and in the sky. Director Han Jaerim challenged the entire set to rotate 360 degrees using the actual body and parts of a plane for the most realistic spectacular ‘aviation disaster.’ Thanks to the challenge, the actors confidently said, "I was able to express the situation for real as if I were in an actual aviation disaster."

Director Han Jaerim said, "I was proposed to direct a movie about an airplane terror case 10 years ago. 10 years have passed since then, and we also have experienced small and big disasters for real. In the process, the COVID-19 Pandemic hit us, too. I was sure what to depict through the movie. I hope this movie will be a comfort and hope for all of us who have proudly endured the pandemic disaster for more than 2 years.” 

Emergency Declaration will be released on August 3.

BIG 4_HUNT 

The world's Hottest Actor, Lee Jungjae's Directorial Debut 

He Has Returned as a Box Office Hunter Following Cannes’ Favorable Reviews

HUNT is Actor Lee Jungjae's directorial debut and has been in the spotlight from the production stage. And after the huge success of the Netflix series Squid Game in 2021, he is receiving even greater expectations. Since his debut as an actor in 1993, Actor Lee Jungjae has been a representative Korean actor for 30 years, crossing TV series and movies and is standing as a global star through the Netflix series Squid Game. Following Hollywood's Golden Globe Awards, the Screen Actors Guild Awards, and the Critics’ Choice Awards, he has been nominated for the Emmy Awards, now called the Academy of TV Series. As such, the global film industry is paying keen attention to Director Lee Jungjae's debut film, HUNT. 

Director Lee Jungjae wants to convey both the pleasure of a commercial film and the message to the audience through his first directing film. He said, “I thought about the reason the audience should watch HUNT. We focused on the pleasure of the spy action blockbuster in the genre, but we also wanted to talk about the 'wrong beliefs' that make us constantly confront and conflict by reflecting on the times of the 1980s," revealing the purpose of his direction. 

As he intended, the director succeeds in capturing both the exhilaration of spy action and the tense psychological warfare of the two men who are confronted by false beliefs. HUNT shows the high-level psychological warfare between two spies, who have to find spies hiding in organizations in the 1980s. For each reason, the two, who were swept away by the huge incident of ‘Korea's No. 1 assassination operation,’ are in an urgent situation where they die as prey if they fail to become hunters. For this tension, Actors Lee Jungjae and Jung Woosung reunited for the first time since City of the Rising Sun, creating an amazing sense of immersion. The film also didn’t miss the excitement of the spy action blockbuster. From restoring the vibe of the 1980s as it was vividly, car chasing scenes running through the center of the city, the scene of a large-scale bombing, to Lee Jungjae and Jung Woosung’s hand-to-hand fight without sparing their bodies, the film is like an assorted gift set. HUNT, the successful debut film of Director Lee Jungjae, who did not miss the message and genre pleasure, will be released in Korea on August 10.