EXCLUSIVE: South Korea’s Barunson E&A will launch sales in Cannes on Stoneborn, an occult mystery from the creators of horror blockbuster Exhuma.
The film centres on a mysterious and sacred stone, said to grant any wish, which draws people into its dark pull. The cast is led by Sul Kyung-gu of Netflix hijack thriller Good News and Jongseo Jeon of Cannes 2018 drama Burning and Chad Stahelski’s upcoming Highlander reboot.
It marks the feature directorial debut of Lee Deok-chan, who has previously won acclaim with shorts such as Leo, for which he won the best director prize at Jeonju in 2019.
Stoneborn began shooting on March 12 and is set to wrap filming in June. A local release is due in 2027 through Acemaker Movieworks.
It is produced by Cinematic Moment (Troll Factory, Because I Hate Korea) and Pinetown Production, the company behind blockbuster Exhuma, which led the South Korea box office in 2024 with $78m from 11.9 million admissions.
In Stoneborn, Jeon plays Hee-jin, who returns to her hometown with her sister – played by Seo Eun-soo – after the sudden and suspected suicide of their younger sister. There they find their younger brother and dominating mother, who has long revered a large, ancient stone on the outskirts of the town.
At the funeral, Hee-jin encounters a shaman, Eul-seok (Sul Kyung-gu), who is also devoted to the stone. In the days that follow, increasingly disturbing events begin to unfold, as an unseen presence slowly closes in. While Eul-seok insists that her younger sister’s restless spirit is to blame, Hee-jin senses a far more sinister truth.
Sul is one of South Korea’s leading actors, known for roles in Lee Chang-dong’s Peppermint Candy and Oasis, the Public Enemy film series and Memoir Of A Murderer. He attended Cannes in 2017 with crime action film The Merciless, was at Toronto with Good News and A Normal Family, and the Berlinale with Kill Boksoon and Idol.
Following her breakthrough acting debut in Lee Chang-dong’s Burning, Jeon has starred in psychological thriller The Call; US fantasy thriller Mona Lisa And The Blood Moon, which premiered at Venice in 2021; Netflix action thriller Ballerina; and Toronto 2025 crime drama Project Y. She is also known for Netflix series Money Heist: Korea – Joint Economic Area.
Stoneborn further bolsters the Cannes slate of Barunson E&A, the South Korean studio known for producing Oscar-winner Parasite.
Its titles include Thai horror Inherit, directed by Banjong Pisanthanakun whose credits include box office hits The Medium, Shutter and Pee Mak, and starring Davika Hoorne of last year’s Cannes Critics’ Week top prize winner A Useful Ghost. Barunson E&A handles Inherit’s non-Asia sales.
Further features include Indonesian zombie horror Zona Merah: Dead City, a spin-off based on popular Vidio Original series Zona Merah, and Indonesian animated feature Garuda: Dare To Dream, an adaptation of Ifa Isfansyah’s 2009 box office hit Garuda Di Dadaku.Japan’s ‘Fujiko’ wins best film at Udine’s Far East Film Festival 2026
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