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Veteran actor SUL Kyung-gu and new star IM Si-wan are teaming up for Hoodlum, a new prison drama that went into production on August 18th. From director BYUN Sung-hyun, the film is the latest in a series of Korean prison-set features.

Watcha Wearin’ (2012) director BYUN will helm the story about a detective who goes undercover in a prison for revenge and gets close to a crime captain who lords over the establishment. SUL will play the mobster and will also soon be seen in the thrillers Lucid Dream and Memories of a Murderer. IM, a major pop star who has become a movie star through roles in The Attorney (2013) and A Melody to Remember (2016) and will soon release crime film One Line, will play the undercover detective.

Earlier this year, the smash hit of Lunar New Year A Violent Prosecutor, with HWANG Jung-min and GANG Dong-won, was largely set in a prison while production was completed in May on The Prison, another prison-set drama featuring dual male (one younger, one older) protagonists, this time HAN Suk-kyu and KIM Rae-won.

Prison dramas have been a potent force at the Korean box office in the past, including Jail Breakers (2002), Maundy Thursday (2006), Harmony (2010) and Miracle in Cell No. 7 (2013), not to mention PARK Chan-wook’s Sympathy For Lady Vengeance (2005), which is partly set in a prison.