South Korean director Kang Je-gyu is inthe final stage of negotiations to sign on with Creative Artists Agency (CAA),which would make him the first Korean filmmaker to work through one of themajor Hollywood talent agencies.

According to production/sales company MKB, Kang isalso fielding multiple offers from major Hollywood studios regarding his as-yetunannounced next project.

Kang has become a box-office legend in his homecountry for the action film Shiri (1999) - a record-breaking hitcredited with jump-starting the commercial boom in Korean cinema - and hislatest film Tae Guk Gi: The Brotherhood Of War which is Korea's bestselling film of all time with a $65m local gross on 11.7m admissions.

Set during the Korean War, Tae Guk Gi hasearned $1.1m to date in a North American release through IDP Distribution, andis South Korea's official entry for the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar.

Earlier this year, Kang's company Kang Jegyu Films waspurchased and merged with one of Korea's leading production houses MyungFilms. Rebranded as MKB, the company iscurrently preparing several big-budget productions including Shiri 2,which is to be shot by another director.

CAA was founded in 1975, and includes among itsclients Steven Spielberg, Oliver Stone, Tom Cruise, Tom Hanks, Nicole Kidman,and Julia Roberts. Kang is expected tosign a contract with the company by the end of this month.