14 years after news first surfaced that writer/producer David FRANZONI had acquired the remake rights of PARK Chan-wook’s classic film Joint Security Area /JSA (2000), the project is finally approaching a production start with FRANZONI set to direct and Ana DE ARMAS and Demián BICHIR attached to star. 

News originally surfaced that FRANZONI, who is known for penning Steven SPIELBERG’s Amistad and Ridley Scott’s Gladiator, had picked up the rights for Joint Security Area /JSA (2000) in the spring of 2005, when it was reported that in an unusual move he had reached out to the film’s production and sales company MK Pictures directly to purchase the rights of the film.

The film was intended to be FRANZONI’s directorial debut and that remains the case 14 years later, only now the script is complete and Blade Runner 2049 stars Ana DE ARMAS and Demián BICHIR of The Hateful Eight are joining him for the project.

Sales agent Saboteur Media, which has brought the project to the European Film Market (EFM) in Berlin for presales, described the update’s storyline as “A thriller, and a love story between a US Marine and a female Spanish infantry lawyer, who is sent by The Hague to investigate a shoot-out between US Marines and Mexican Special Forces at the border.”

Terry BOTWICK, Paul YI, Marcus ENGLEFIELD, and George LEE are on board to produce, while Nick QUESTED, David KENNEDY and Mark LINDSAY of Saboteur Media will serve as executive producers. The film is expected to enter production in the fall.

PARK’s original starred SONG Kang-ho, LEE Byung-hun, LEE Young-ae, SHIN Ha-kyun and KIM Tae-woo and became the highest grossing Korean film of all time at the time of its release, launching PARK’s career in the process.