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Filmmaker KIM Sung-soo’s The Flu has become the first Korean film to be directly distributed in the UK & Ireland. On November 22nd, CJ E&M released The Flu in the British Isles on 10 screens, making it the largest release of a Korean film since Thirst back in October, 2009.

Through an exclusive distribution deal with England’s largest theater chain ‘Cineworld,’ The Flu was released on nine theaters in England and one in Dublin, Ireland. JEONG Kwang-pil of CJ E&M’s Marketing Team stated that “The Flu’s release marks our first step in entering the British market. This will be a steppingstone towards raising the awareness of Korean films in the UK & Ireland as well as a demonstration of our continued efforts to theatrically release Korean films in non-Korean markets. The latest feature project of KIM Sung-soo, who directed Beat (1997), City of the Rising Sun (1998) and Musa-The Warrior (2001), The Flu was released domestically on August 14th and drew 3.1 million admissions at the box office.

CJ E&M has been focusing on the direct distribution of Korean films in international markets including the U.S. and China. Beginning with its first direct distribution business in China in 2005, CJ E&M released Haeundae (2009), Sector 7 (2011) and Deranged, while since 2010 the company has directly distributed films in the U.S. and Japanese markets, such as The Berlin File and Masquerade. The business reached out to Vietnam in 2011, starting with the direct distribution of Quick, and this year began operations in Indonesia with The Berlin File, The Spy: Undercover Operation and Snowpiercer.