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12.02.2010

park chan-wook in talks to direct english-language debut

Here's some interesting movie news from couple of weeks back... Word is, acclaimed South Korean director Park Chan-wook, the auteur behind such films as Oldboy and Thirst, has apparently been in talks to direct his first English-language film: Oldboy auteur Park Chan-wook could make his English-language debut ... directing Carey Mulligan.

Park is reportedly in negotiations to direct Stoker, a dramatic thriller starring Carey Mulligan and Jodie Foster, about "a young woman whose eccentric uncle comes back into her life after the death of her father." The project has some fairly significant names attached to it:
Stoker," you may recall, is the first film from "Prison Break" star Wentworth Miller, who penned the script in his other life as a screenwriter, and is being produced by Ridley and Tony Scott's company, as well as Carey Mulligan is playing the young woman, and Jodie Foster is costarring in the movie (the uncle part has yet to be cast, but it's likely to be a boldfaced name too, according to sources). There's no known major genre element in the film, which is being developed by "Juno" and "Slumdog Millionaire" studio Fox Searchlight, but the tone sits right in Park's wheelhouse.
As a fan of Park's work, I'm curious to see what happens when he sinks his teeth into some Hollywood material... but honestly, I don't think he has anything to prove. He could get along just fine making awesome Korean films. If you haven't seen any of his work, and you can stomach the shock, I recommend checking out his dark revenge thriller Oldboy.