EXCLUSIVE: South Korean sales agent Opus Pictures has locked a raft of deals on surveillance thriller Cold Eyes.
The film sold to Japan (Klockworx), Hong Kong and Macau (Sundream), Indonesia (RAM Entertainment), Singapore, Malaysia and Brunei (Purple Plan), Vietnam (Lotte Cinema) and in-flight rights (Emphasis).
Co-directed by Cho Ui-seok and Kim Byung-seo, Cold Eyes is the Korean remake of the Johnnie To-produced Hong Kong thriller Eye In The Sky. Directed by Yau Nai-hoi, the original premiered at the Berlin International Film Festival in 2007.
Cho, who previously directed films such as The World Of Silence, wrote the remake screenplay and Kim, whose credits as a cameraman and cinematographer include Kim Jee-woon’s I Saw The Devil and Hur Jin-ho’s Dangerous Liaisons, shot the film.
The Korean version features starlet Han Hyo-joo (Love 911) as a gifted rookie surveillance detective who joins a team headed by a veteran detective played by Seol Kyung-gu (The Tower). Jung Woo-sung (Reign Of Assassins) plays the elusive criminal they are tracking throughout the Seoul metropolis.
Released locally on July 3, the film quickly scored an impressive 5.5 million admissions and $35.1m at the box office, according to the Korean Film Council. Distributed locally by Next Entertainment World (N.E.W.), the film was produced by Eugene Lee’s Zip Cinema.
Cold Eyes is set for a Gala Presentation at the Toronto International Film Festival on Sept 13 with press and industry screenings scheduled for Sept 7 and 12.
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