Magnolia Pictures Picks Up Rights to ‘Squid Game’ Star Lee Jung-jae’s Directorial Debut ‘Hunt’

Gregg Goldstein Becoming Nicholas Sparks’ literary agent and then film production president might not seem like the best preparation for making a romantic drama about cannibalism, but Per Capita Prods. founder Theresa Park is transitioning to a wider, edgier range of projects with ease.  Park is producing an animated children’s show based on Michael Buckley’s bestselling fantasy novel series “The Sisters Grimm” for Apple TV+. And she arrives in Venice for the Sept. 2 world premiere of “Bones and All,” Luca Guadagnino’s adaptation of Camille DeAngelis’s novel about a couple (Timothée Chalamet and Taylor Russell) whose tastes run more towards hand eating than the hand holding found in Sparks’ works. The MGM/UA feature follows two other offbeat projects in Per Capita’s first year of releases: A24’s robot drama “After Yang” starring Colin Farrell and the Apple TV+ female-centered series “Roar” with Nicole Kidman. 

Korean actor Song Kang-ho, who starred in Parasite and won best actor at this year’s Cannes film festival for his role in Broker, is set to make his debut in a Korean series with Uncle Sam Shik for Seoul-based production company Slingshot Studio.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Song Kang-ho, known for his roles in “Memories of Murder” and “Parasite,” has signed up to make his TV series debut. He will star in indie-produced drama “Uncle Sam Shik.” “Uncle Sam Shik” is a 1960s-set tale of two men, their pride, greed and bromance, local Korean media reports. Song’s co-lead actor has not been disclosed. The series is to be directed by Shin Yeon-shick, with whom Song has recently shot feature films “Coweb” and “One Win.” Both films have completed physical production but have not yet been released. The series is reported to be a ten-episode drama, produced by Slingshot Studio. A broadcast or streaming partner has not yet been announced.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Intra-Korean espionage actioner “Hunt” claimed a third weekend as the top film at the South Korea box office, while “Bullet Train” managed only a fourth-place opening. “Hunt,” directed by and starring “Squid Game” star Lee Jung-jae, earned a lowly $2.91 million in its third weekend of release. The figure was a 48% weekend-on-weekend decline and saw the film’s market share decline to 33%, down from 47% the previous weekend. “Hunt” now has a cumulative of $28.7 million, making it the fifth-highest grossing film of the year to date and the third biggest Korean title.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Lee Jung-jae, the star of hit Netflix series “Squid Game,” is to reprise his role as a manic killer in “Ray,” a TV series spun off from 2020 Korean action-horror film “Deliver Us From Evil.” Korean media sources report that Lee will star in and co-produce the series through his own Artist Studio company and Hive Media, producer of “Deliver Us From Evil.” Variety has reached out for further details. In the original movie, Hwang Jung-min played In-Nam, a former black ops agent who travels to Thailand to investigate an abduction. There he is pursued by Lee’s character Ray, a Korean-Japanese ruffian whose brother had been killed by In-Nam. Both heavily tattooed and charming, Ray embarks on a bloody rampage of revenge.

After a hiatus, we’re back with a new episode of Deadline Hallyuwood. Joining us is actor Jang Hyuk, star of the movie The Killer: A Girl Who Deserves to Die. 

EXCLUSIVE: 20th Television has re-upped the deal for Milo Ventimiglia and Russ Cundiff’s DiVide Pictures, the company behind the studio’s drama The Company You Keep, headlined by the This Is Us alum. The drama just received a series order by ABC.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief“Hunt,” the period political thriller directed by “Squid Game” star Lee Jung-jae, held top spot at the South Korea box office for the second weekend. “Nope” was the highest opener, landing in third spot.“Hunt,” made $5.68 million over the weekend, down 35% compared with its opening score a week earlier.

EXCLUSIVE: Mammoth Pictures has acquired film and TV rights to the bestselling novella Diary of a Murderer from award-winning Korean author Young-ha Kim. The company’s Creative Director Kourosh Ahari (The Night, Parallel) is set to direct an English-language feature adaptation, marking the first production under the deal, from a script by Henry Chaisson (Searchlight’s Antlers, Apple TV+’s Servant).

Hunt will get a US theatrical release in December.On August 15, Deadline reported that film distributor Magnolia Pictures has acquired US rights to the South Korean film Hunt and is currently planning a December theatrical release.The spy-action film notably marks the directorial debut of veteran actor Lee Jung-jae, who gained significant international recognition for his role in Netflix’s 2021 hit series Squid Game. He also wrote the screenplay for Hunt, which is set in the ’80s at the height of South Korea’s military dictatorship.Lee also stars in the film alongside with Jung Woo-sung as intelligence agents tasked with hunting down a North Korean spy embedded in their agency.

EXCLUSIVE: Magnolia Pictures has snapped up domestic rights to Hunt, the feature directorial from Squid Game Emmy nominated star Lee Jung-jae, which made its world premiere at this year’s Cannes Film Festival in the Midnight section.

Squid Game could expand to other countries, in line with his original intentions for the story.The record-breaking Netflix show revolves around a survival game called the ‘Squid Game’, in which participants take on a series life-or-death challenges based on children’s playground games for prize money. It is later revealed in the series that the games are held yearly for the entertainment of wealthy VIPs, and it is implied that other editions of the games exist.In a recent interview with Deadline, its creator Hwang Dong-hyuk shared that he had written the series, which is set in Korea, keeping possible international editions of the titular ‘Squid Game’ in mind.

EXCLUSIVE: Camilla Belle (Carter, The Ballad of Jack and Rose) and Gus Halper (Fear the Walking Dead, Love Life) have joined the cast of NBC’s Law & Order: Organized Crime for its upcoming third season. Belle and Halper will portray New York City power couple Pearl Serrano and Teddy Silas, respectively.

Joe Jonas has a lot on his plate these days.

Welcome to Deadline’s International Disruptors, a feature where we’ll shine a spotlight on key executives and companies outside of the U.S. who are shaking up the offshore marketplace. This week, we’re speaking with Korean super-agent Soyoung Lee, who represents some of the nation’s biggest stars and talked to us about her experiences of the Korean content boom.