Paramount Pictures has picked up Korean drama The Way Home (Jibeuro) from CJ Entertainment.

The studio has grabbed rights for all English-language territories and will release the film through UIP in the UK, Australia and South Africa.

The film, the story of a boy sent to live with his deaf grandmother in the countryside, was made on a $2m budget by director Lee Jung-hyang and was released in Korea at the beginning of April. After five weeks in the number one and two slots it has been seen by 3.5 million spectators.

CJ acquired the film when it took over Tube Entertainment at the beginning of the year.

Korea has become a rich hunting ground for the Hollywood majors, which have bought several films for remake, but CJ's vice president of international sales and acquisitions, Mark Yoon claims that The Way Home is the first to get a wide theatrical release via a major.

In the last months Warner Bros bought remake rights to Lee Hyun-seung's Korean melodrama Il Mare from Sidus Corporation; Miramax bought My Wife Is A Gangster for $1.1m; DreamWorks SKG grabbed My Sassy Girl while MGM nabbed Hi, Dharma from Cineclick Asia.