| A poster of "A Man of Reason," left, and "Honey Sweet" / Courtesy Acemaker Movieworks, Mind Mark |
By Kwak Yeon-soo
Jung Woo-sung's directorial debut film "A Man of Reason" will be in direct competition with Yoo Hae-jin's romantic comedy film "Honey Sweet" as both movies will hit theaters on Aug. 15, Korea's Liberation Day.
"A Man of Reason" follows a man named Su-hyuk (Jung), who is released from prison after serving 10 years on behalf of his boss. He wants to cut ties with his old gang and live a normal life, but is dragged back into the underworld as his old boss takes his young daughter hostage.
Jung is known for his roles in "The Good, The Bad and the Weird" (2008) and "Steel Rain 2: Summit" (2020). His most recent appearance was in Lee Jung-jae's directorial debut feature "The Hunt." The cast also includes Kim Nam-gil, who starred in "Closet" (2020) and "Emergency Declaration" (2022) and Park Sung-woong, known for "New World" (2013) and "OK! Madam" (2020).
The action thriller premiered at the 47th Toronto International Film Festival as part of the Special Presentations section. In addition, it was invited to the Sitges Film Festival and Hawaii International Film Festival.
Romantic comedy film "Honey Sweet" centers on a genius confectionery scientist named Chi-ho (Yoo) who falls in love with Il-young (Kim Hee-seon), an optimistic loan company spam caller. The cast lineup includes Cha In-pyo, Jin Sun-kyu and Han Sun-hwa.
"The movie is funny, heartfelt and emotional in all the right ways," said Yoo, who is taking on his first romantic comedy since his debut. Yoo is best known for portraying comedic roles in "Confidential Assignment" film franchise (2018, 2022), "Space Sweepers" (2020) and "Luck-Key" (2016).
It is directed by Lee Han, behind the drama film "Punch" (2011) and "Innocent Witness" (2019), and written by Lee Byeong-heon, who most recently directed "Dream."
"We expect Korean blockbuster films that are created at a cost of more than 20 billion won ($15 million) and Hollywood tentpoles will attract audiences to the big screen in the latter half of this year," a CGV official said.
In fact, a string of films are being readied to fill theaters in the next few weeks alone, heating the summer blockbuster season. They include director Ryoo Seung-wan's crime action thriller "Smugglers" (released on July 26) director Kim Yong-hwa's sci-fi blockbuster "The Moon" (on Aug. 2), director Kim Seong-hun's action drama film "Ransomed" (on Aug. 2) and director Um Tae-hwa's disaster thriller "Concrete Utopia" (on Aug. 9).