Author: Kim Song-ho Source: Live Action Korea, The Seoul Economy Newspaper
On May 9th, CJ Entertainment officially confirmed financing for SECTOR 7 (Je chil gwanggu, aka MINING AREA 7), a 3D monster movie that will be directed and produced by Youn Je-kyun. CJ reportedly was very impressed by a creature effects demo shown at a recent presentation and expects the film will be successful in the wake of the 3D boom caused by James Cameron`s mega-blockbuster AVATAR (2009). Fiming is scheduled to begin next month. The amount of money CJ Entertainment will invest is expected to be 10 billion Korean won (about 8.67 million USD). CJ previously financed, co-produced and distributed Youn`s 2009 disaster film HAEUNDAE with great success. HAEUNDAE attracted 11.3 million admissions last year to top the domestic box office and become the 4th highest-grossing Korean film of all-time. SECTOR 7 is about a mutated deep sea creature that runs amok in an oil rig. Award-winning actress Ha Ji-won, who also starred in Youn`s HAEUNDAE and MIRACLE ON 1ST STREET (1 Beon-ga-eui Gi-jeok, 2006), is slated to join the director once again. It marks the second Korean feature film that will be shot in 3D after THE SONG OF THE STRINGS which began production in March, but is the first to be financed by a major company. Production company JK Film first announced SECTOR 7 back in 2008. At that time, American FX studio Polygon Entertainment (HAEUNDAE, CHAW) stated that the film would be "shot in the United States with a Korean director and cast, and an American crew". JK reps also met with potential business partners about shooting SECTOR 7 in New Zealand, where government subsidies can make large-scale film production more affordable. With Youn Je-kyun and Ha Ji-won tentatively attached to SECTOR 7, CJ Entertainment and JK Film decided last year to postpone the project in order to focus their time and resources on HAEUNDAE. In the wake of HAEUNDAE`s success, Youn considered a number of projects including a sci-fi melodrama and a family fantasy before finally committing to SECTOR 7. Director Youn said that SECTOR 7 will be a Korean equivalent of the ALIEN films. The 3D visuals will mainly be realized by converting the footage in post-production, but a considerable amount of material will also be shot in 3D.
