South Korean filmmaker Park Chan-wook is set to begin shooting his adaptation of US novel The Ax on Saturday (August 17), according to distributor CJ ENM.
An English-language title has yet been revealed but the Korean title directly translates as I Can’t Help It.
It will mark the first feature from the Oldboy director since 2022 noir melodrama Decision To Leave, which premiered in Competition at Cannes where Park won best director and subsequently secured nominations at the Baftas and Golden Globes. The upcoming film is based Donald E. Westlake’s 1997 novel which was originally adapted for screen by Costa-Gavras in 2005, titled Le Couperet.The Korean adaptation centres on Man-soo who is a middle-aged paper worker fired after many years of work and The lead role will be played by Lee Byung-hun, who previously worked with Park on 2000 mystery thriller
Joint Security Area and the Korean part of 2004 horror trilogy
Three… Extremes.The cast also includes So Ye-jin as Man-soo’s wife and Lee Sung-min and Yeom Hye-ran as a couple who have dealt with the same experience of unemployment. Park Hee-soon will play the lead role. Cha-Seung-won, Yoo Yeon-seok and Park’s Moho Films will round out the cast. A release date has yet to be decided.Park is one of South Korea’s most acclaimed filmmakers who broke through with Joint Security Area
in 2000 before directing the Vengeance trilogy comprising
Sympathy For Mr. Vengeance
, Oldboy and Lady Vengeance. Revenge thriller Oldboy became the first Korean film to win the Grand Prix at Cannes in 2004.He subsequently made horror Thirst, psychological thriller The Handmaiden
and romantic mystery Decision To Leave, all of which played in Competition at Cannes. Further credits include English-language feature Stoker and TV miniseries The Little Drummer Girl.In April, it was revealed that Park had partnered with Lionsgate Television to develop an English-language series based on Oldboy.Tving closing gap on Netflix in growing Korean streaming market
