Korean sales company Finecut has sold crime thriller New World to TF1 for French-speaking territories and MFA Film Distribution for German-speaking territories.

Directed by Park Hoon-jung, the film stars Lee Jung-jae as an undercover detective in Korea’s largest crime organisation - conflicted between the crime boss played by Hwang Jung-min, who trusts him with his life, and a high-ranking police official played by Choi Min-shik who is willing to sacrifice him to bring the organisation down.

“New World is something extraordinary: never boring, always surprising, a very original plot, great actors. It could become a classic in its genre, a remake with western actors could make it a worldwide success,” said MFA owner Christian Meinke.

Laurent Campagne, TF1 director of acquisitions, said: “Park Hoon-jung achieved a film in the vein of Infernal Affairs and The Godfather. With The Unjust and I Saw The Devil, Park proved he was a terrific writer and story-teller. Today with New World, he proves he is one of the new names in Korean cinema. I am very proud to have this film.”

TF1 in the past has distributed Korean films such as the action thriller The Man From Nowhere and sci-fi thriller Sector 7.

The film was pre-sold to Well Go USA at the European Film Market. The US distributor plans to release the film on March 22 throughout North America.