Expanding its production operations, Korean sales house E Pictures has put together one of the first British-Korean co-productions and acquired two key properties for adaptation.

The $15m action title Four For The Kings is a project by Korea's Zenith Entertainment and the UK's Spice Factory.

The film sees a gang of multi-talented Asian thieves attempt to steal three giant statues from a Paris museum. A third co-producer is likely to be added depending on the final locations needed for the shoot - Canada or Luxembourg seem the most likely candidates. Locations already set include Paris, London and Seoul.

The film has been in development for several months and E Pictures principal Paul Yi said he hopes to announce a director by the end of the festival. Spice Factory, which is allied with tax and equity fund group Movision, has already presented the film to Momentum as a possible UK distributor. Four For The Kings will be sold by Arclight Pictures and E Pictures.

Yi also announced that E Pictures has optioned The Bridge At No Gun Ri, a novel based on an Associated Press/New York Times article about an incident when US troops were ordered to shoot civilians. The 1999 story won its authors the Pulizer Prize. It will be made as a $5m picture in English and Korean.

The other project is a $6m-$7m comedy drama The Game Of Their Lives, about the incidents surrounding when a North Korean football team beat Italy during the UK-set World Cup. E Pictures has optioned the rights to adapt from a documentary of the same name.

* Movision announced that its Movision 1 sub-fund has raised its full compliment of $100m of production funding. Films that Movision 1 has invested in include Norman Jewison's The Statement for Summit Entertainment, John Duigan's Head In The Clouds for Arclight, Mary McGuckian's The Bridge Of San Luis Rey for Senator International and Marek Kanievska's A Different Loyalty for Arclight.