Warner Bros has bought the remake rights to Lee Hyun-seung's Korean melodrama Il Mare from South Korean production company Sidus Corporation, making it the fourth film to be acquired for adaptation by a major Hollywood studio.



The terms of the deal provide for an initial $500,000 plus a further 2.5% of the remake's worldwide revenues. Although the contract has not yet been signed, all the conditions of the deal have been agreed upon announced Sidus.

Featuring popular stars Jeon Ji-hyun (My Sassy Girl) and Lee Jung-jae, the original film was shot by veteran director Lee Hyun-seung and opened in September 2000. It tells the story of a man living in the year 1997 and a woman in the year 1999 who are able to communicate with each other through a mysterious mailbox that delivers letters across time.

The film drew 253,000 admissions in Seoul and went on to have successful releases in Hong Kong, Japan, and Singapore.

Il Mare is the fourth Korean film to which a major Hollywood studio has bought remake rights. Last autumn Miramax bought My Wife Is A Gangster for $1.1m, and at this year's AFM, deals were signed with DreamWorks SKG for My Sassy Girl for $750,000 plus 4% of global revenues and MGM for Hi, Dharma for a reported $300,000 plus 5% of global revenues..