‘Online streaming will not stop moviegoers’
Bong Joon-ho’s ‘Okja’ to premiere on June 29
Korean director Bong Joon-ho’s first project film with Netflix, “Okja” (2017), will premiere both online and in theaters worldwide on June 29 (KST).
“Okja” became Netflix’s first original content to join the competition category for the Palme d’Or award at the Cannes Film Festival, along with “The Meyerowitz Stories” (2017) by Noah Baumbach.
Controversy broke out earlier when National Federation of French Cinemas (FNCF), declared its position against inviting Netflix productions to Cannes.
Cannes’s organizing committee later confirmed it will maintain the two Netflix productions in the competition program for this year, but the festival will only invite films screening in French theaters starting next year.
Bong and Ted Sarandos, the chief content officer for Netflix, said Cannes should understand the new global ecosystem of the film industry and that online streaming ser- vices will not discourage moviegoers from going to theaters.
“In the end, I believe people will watch a movie both in the theater and online by a streaming service. It is only that Netflix has a short history, but I believe Ted is going to the theater with his family and officials of FNCF watch movies on Netflix,” Bong said during a press conference for “Okja” at the Four Seasons Hotel Seoul, Monday.
“We are only privileged to have more convenient ways of watching movies and it is no serious concern. I watched an old French film from the 1960s recently, and one of the lines in the scene said theaters are dead that we have TV now. But we still have theaters.”
Ted agreed Netflix is not competing with movie theaters and he would love to have all Netflix content simultaneously screened in theaters.
Netflix has been providing original content through its streaming service only and collected over 98 million subscribers worldwide, including more than 50 million in the United States.
However, Netflix has agreed to release “Okja” in theaters in the U.S., U.K. and Korea and also stream it worldwide. In Korea, the movie will face no restrictions in screening time at theaters and it will be available as long as audiences are paying.
It is the first time for Bong to work with Netflix and the filmmaker said he had no reason not to work with the U.S. media giant as it invested 60 billion won ($53.4 million) in his film and gave him full control over content creation.
“Okja” is Bong’s first film in four years since 2010’s “Snowpiercer,” and he has once against cast Tilda Swinton and Jake Gyllenhaal.
The story depicts Mija, played by Ahn Seo-hyun, travelling to New York, in search of her lost pet Okja. Mija grew up with Okja for 10 years in the countryside of Gangwon Province in Korea and one day, Lucy Mirando, played by Swinton, brings Okja to the U.S. to pursue a secretive project.
‘Villainess’ depicts deadly female killer
Another Korean movie director Jung Byung-gil’s “The Villainess” is also joining the Cannes film festival next month to highlight the midnight screening category.
“The Villainess” is an action film starring Kim Ok-bin as the murderous Sook-hee, who seeks revenge while facing secrets revolving around her after she joins the national secret agency.
This is Kim’s second time visiting Cannes since she last walked on the red carpet at the French film festival with esteemed Korean filmmaker Park Chan-wook’s “Thirst” in 2009.
Kim, who is a black belt holder in taekwondo and hapkido, suffered great physical pain while shooting the film as she had to deal with various deadly weapons like swords, pistols, axes and machine guns. She also hung onto a fast-moving car during an action scene and did her own stunts.
“Action in film and martial arts in real life are very different and I had to go to action school for three months, training to become a deadly killer,” Kim said during the press conference for the film at CGV Apgujeong in Seoul, last Thursday. “It was a strenuous job. There is a scene in the rain and it was during the winter. I thought I could die of hypothermia.
“But a week after we wrapped, I wanted to go back to shooting action. I had so much fun.”
The actress also emphasizes that the female killer is the main character of the story. There have not been many female killers in Korean films and Kim said her role was important in paving the way for future Korean movies for more female antagonist roles.
“I thought I had to do a really good job so more Korean action films could be based on female characters. I felt that burden and responsibility,” Kim said.
Actor Shin Ha-kyun, who appears as Joong-sang raising Sook-hee as a killer in the movie, said he knew instantly that no other actress could play the killer better than Kim when he saw the scenario.
Shin added that “The Villainess” could be a refreshing film for audiences who are fed up with action movies starring male actors and they can look forward to Kim’s delicate but aggressive acting.
“The Villainess” is set for release on June 8.