Noir thriller A New World courts megastar trio

16 January 6, 2012

by girlfriday

Choi Min-shik (Oldboy) Hwang Jung-min (The Unjust) AND Lee Jung-jae (The Housemaid) in one movie? I always thought that if you put that many stars together, a movie would spontaneously combust. But apparently, this is the reigning trend in Chungmuro — put ’em all together, whether lawyers, thieves, or spies. The trio of A-listers are currently being courted to star in a noir thriller called A New World, about cops who go undercover in the world of gangsters.

They’re apparently in negotiations with all three actors to seal the deal, though the casting itself is considered final. I don’t know why, but I’m picturing a scenario in which they’re all thrown into separate interrogation rooms, and then told that the others have already signed, so they should too. It’s a wonder how they even got this combo of stars to the table in the first place, but once you put together their filmographies, you see why. New World is being directed by PD Park Hoon-jung, who wrote both Choi Min-shik’s I Saw the Devil and Hwang Jung-min’s The Unjust (he took home a Blue Dragon Award in 2011 for the latter’s screenplay).

They’re calling this film “a Korean Infernal Affairs,” which kind of makes me groan. The thing is, I love that original movie, and it kind of drives me crazy that everyone and their mother tries to make some other version of it. Just say it’s an undercover cop movie. They existed before Infernal Affairs. Not every movie needs to be Infernal Affairs Redux MXVVIII.

If all goes smoothly at the negotiating table, Choi Min-shik will play the world-weary cop, Hwang Jung-min the hardcore gangster, his mob’s Number Two, and Lee Jung-jae the Rat, the gangster working for the cops. Or cop-as-gangster-turned-informant; it’s unclear at this point. Basically, if these guys are in it, I’ll be watching.

A New World begins filming this spring.

Via Osen

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1 ockoala

January 6, 2012 at 3:12 PM

Fabulous, fabulous cast. I just wish every single post-IA undercover movie would stop referring to itself as an IA-esque or IA-inspired flick. The undercover genre is perfectly fine to reference.

As for the all-star cast, I don't think any trio can ever top the star wattage of The Good, The Bad, The Weird in Lee Byung Heon, Jung Woo Sung, and Song Kang Ho. But I'm a sucker for star power combos, so bring it on! *is shallow and easily impressed*

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leonardswench

January 6, 2012 at 3:26 PM

*is shallow and just wants to see them partially undressed*

Ditto.

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Stephanie

January 6, 2012 at 5:38 PM

But if the upcoming movie really is inspired by Infernal Affairs, I feel like producers SHOULD say so. If they didn't, people would complain that they just copied the idea. Honestly, IA was the first thing that popped into my head when I was reading this.

For example, Oldboy can be considered a film about revenge, but I bet there would be even more complaints about the American Oldboy remake if they just called it a revenge movie. Even though remakes are never ideal for fans of the original movie, they do bring free publicity to both sides.

That said, I'm looking forward to this! :)

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2 Curious

January 6, 2012 at 3:17 PM

Woah!!! This is going to be wicked!!! Hope this pushes through.

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3 Lilly

January 6, 2012 at 4:19 PM

Lots of really good acting with lots of action.
Sounds great!

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4 Phuong Nguyen

January 6, 2012 at 4:30 PM

I thought the "City of Dalmations" was also a remake of Infernal Affairs?
I agree with your comments girlfriday. But the whole storyline never really gets old. The cast oozes awesomeness.

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5 canxi

January 6, 2012 at 5:29 PM

WHOOT! Choi Min-Shik. I admit...some of the characters he plays are the most dastardly of villains ...but he is awesome.

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6 just saying...

January 6, 2012 at 6:00 PM

They're all awesome!! Can't wait for this.

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7 huiting

January 6, 2012 at 7:45 PM

But holy shit... the cast. I'm willing to watch anything with Choi Min-shik in it and now there's the other two.

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huiting

January 6, 2012 at 7:53 PM

I mean, this movie needs to be made. Now.

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8 jomo143

January 6, 2012 at 8:02 PM

Can this much MAN fit up there on the screen at the same time?

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9 ilovebinderclips

January 6, 2012 at 9:40 PM

technically, if you have a lot of stars coming together, wouldn't you get a supernova, or at least a multi-stellar cluster? the constituent member stars should already be spontaneously combusting their hydrogen. ;p

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10 anicheung

January 7, 2012 at 12:01 AM

One of Infernal Affairs' selling points had been the star-studded cast; maybe this is what this movie is going for too. *shrugs* I'm a Korean entertainment newbie, so I'm not sure how to make the comparison, really. But Infernal Affairs boasted almost all of Hong Kong's best actors along with its awesome story and direction. The supernova didn't quite go off when Infernal Affairs first came out (although it probably could have), but I'm pretty sure it almost did when the third installment decided to squeeze a few more big stars into the movie.

Although I am in agreement -- almost every other gang/undercover/police movie made after Infernal Affairs (in Hong Kong, at least) seems to be trying to remake that same glory over and over again, indirectly attributing inspiration to Infernal Affairs. It's still fun, though.

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11 gracie

January 7, 2012 at 5:00 AM

If they want to relive the glory of Infernal Affairs and then some, they should try not to kill off the (or one of the) main actor(s). If it's as big a hit as Infernal Affairs was, they may want the option of making a sequel, instead of only having the option of prequels that never quite satiated fans.

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12 Porcelain

January 7, 2012 at 6:20 PM

I agree! Everyone and their mothers should stop doing remakes... sometimes imitation (or not) is not the best flattery...

Infernal Affairs is one of the new classic to come out from a dull HK market in years...

On first view, The Departed, was a-okay, but after rewatching... one realize why are they butchering a movie as fine as that? Does not make sense...

But yeah, star power of these 3 will make me watch too...

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13 haj

May 29, 2012 at 10:27 PM

Oh hey, the company I'm interning for in producing this :D I hope I'll get to meet them!
We're also working on Miss GO and I've seen that cast *_* this is me starstruck.

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