South Koreancomedy Everybody Has Secrets -- an official remake of GerardStembridge's Irish-UK co-production About Adam (2000) -- has clinchedKorea's biggest ever sale to Japan.

Amuse Soft Entertainmentbought the title for a $2.5m guarantee together with a commitment to spend atleast $3m in p&a costs.'The salewas handled directly by Chung Tae-won, head of the film's production companyTaewon Entertainment, on a recent trip to Japan.'Amuse Soft (not to be confused with Amuse Pictures which has since been renamed Toshiba Entertainment) bought it on the basis of a 30-minute collection offootage.

The terms follow atrend among recent sales to Japan in which a sizeable guarantee is accompaniedby incentives or commitments to spend a significant sum on p&a costs.

Internationalsales to other territories are handled by the film's distributor CinemaService, which will release the film in Korea on July 30.

The high sum paidfor a film that cost only $3m to make points to the increasing drawing power ofKorean stars in Japan.'Two of thefilm's leads, Lee Byung-heon and Choi Ji-woo have starred in TV dramas that havescored high ratings in Japan.

Everybody HasSecrets tells the story ofa suave charmer who gets engaged to one woman while simultaneously seducing hertwo older sisters.

Chung said hebegan negotiating remake rights to About Adam shortly after the originalfilm's release.'

"I knew thisconcept would work well in Korea, but it took us 2-3 years to finally get therights sorted out."

The film is thefirst example in recent years of an English-language film being remade for theKorean market.'Remake deals in theopposite direction have been far more common, with Hollywood studios picking uprights to such hits as Old Boy, My Sassy Girl and Taewon's MarryingThe Mafia.

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