CJ E&M has announced that director
BONG Joon-ho’s (
<The Host>,
<Memories of Murder>) latest project,
<Snow Piercer>, wrapped shooting in Prague over the previous weekend. Nearly all of the shoot was carried out on location at the Czech Republic’s spacious Barrandov Studio, with only one day of filming in Austria for scenery purposes.
With a budget of KRW 45 billion (approx. USD $39.2 million), <Snow Piercer> will set the record for most expensive Korean film produced to date. The previous holder of the record was KANG Je-gyu’s <My Way>, with a budget of KRW 28 billion (roughly USD $24.5 million).
The film, which is based on the French graphic novel <Le Transperceneige>, is about a group of survivors stranded on a train in a post-apocalyptic world, endlessly circling a desert of snow and ice. It features an international ensemble cast, with <Captain America> star Chris EVANS playing the lead, along with BONG regular SONG Kang-go, John HURT, Ed HARRIS, Tilda SWINTON, Octavia SPENCER, Jamie BELL and Ewen BREMNER.
Director
PARK Chan-wook’s Moho Film is producing. Investor and local distributor
CJ E&M also grabbed the film’s international sales rights just before this year’s Cannes Film Market. BONG will now take the film to Korea for post-production. A release date has not yet been set.