New York, NY – July 17, 2008 – IFC Films announced today the acquisition of North American rights to Kim Jee-Woon’s Asian Western, The Good, the Bad, the Weird. The film, inspired by Sergio Leone’s classic 1966 "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly," premiered in the official selection at the Cannes Film Festival this year. Kim’s feature will screen again for an international audience in the Gala section at the Toronto Film Festival in September. IFC Films plans to release the film simultaneously in theaters and on VOD in 2009 through their day and date model.
"Kim Jee-Woon has taken the action-western to a new level," said Jonathan Sehring, President of IFC Entertainment. "It is a film that both in size and scope looks and feels like Hollywood studio production; a tremendous achievement in filmmaking that solidifies Kim’s status as a major international talent. "The Good, the Bad, the Weird will thrill American audiences and will become and instant classic."
Set in the 1930s in the Manchurian desert, at a time when outlaws ruled the frontier, The Good, the Bad, the Weird follows three men all in pursuit of one goal, a treasure buried in the desert. Do-won (JUNG Woo-sung) is a hunter who hunts anything for money including criminals with rewards on their heads. Chang-yi (LEE Byung-hun) is the leader of a group of bandits who cannot stand to be second best. Tae-goo (SONG Kang-ho) is a train robber with nine lives. These three strangers start off on a chase after each other and the treasure.
Currently one of the most talented and recognized writers and directors in the Korean film industry, Kim Jee-woon was a theater actor and director before debuting with his self-written and directed film, The Quiet Family in 1998. Following his self-proclaimed genre, ’Comic Theater of Cruelty’, in The Quiet Family, Kim trekked on to explore new genres such as comedy (The Foul King), horror (A Tale of Two Sisters), and film noir (A Bittersweet Life) and showed his unique twists on storytelling, style, and other well-established forms.
Arianna Bocco, Vice President of Production and Acquisitions for IFC Films and Jeff Deutchman, Manager of Production and Acquisitions for IFC Films negotiated the deal with CJ Entertainment.
About CJ Entertainment
CJ Entertainment is Korea’s leading entertainment company, with a business that
encompasses film production, investment, distribution and exhibition, Entertainment’s business lines are extensive, operating in a broad spectrum of entertainment fields. Through its array of films, network of premier multiplex cinemas, wide selection of video and DVD titles, the company is providing an outstanding entertainment experience to all customers, realizing its vision of becoming a truly comprehensiveworld-classentertainmentgroup.
About IFC Entertainment
A multi-platform leader in the independent film industry, IFC Entertainment operates a group of companies devoted to bringing the best of specialty films to the largest possible audience: IFC Films, IFC Productions, and the IFC Center. Through an innovative day-and-date distribution model, IFC Entertainment makes films available to a national audience through theatrical release by IFC Films, while ’IFC In Theaters,’ an on demand service, simultaneously releases these titles to cable and satellite. IFC Productions is a feature film production company that provides financing for select independent film projects. IFC Center is a three screen, state-of-the-art cinema with luxurious seating and HD digital and 35mm projection that shows art-house films in the heart of New York’s Greenwich Village. IFC Entertainment’s companies are subsidiaries of Rainbow Media Holdings LLC.
Rainbow Media Holdings LLC
Rainbow Media Holdings LLC is a subsidiary of Cablevision Systems Corporation (NYSE: CVC). Rainbow Media is a leading producer of targeted, multi-platform content for global distribution, creating and managing some of the world’s most compelling and dynamic entertainment brands, including AMC, IFC, WE tv, Sundance Channel, LIFESKOOL, SPORTSKOOL, and VOOM HD Networks. Through IFC Entertainment, Rainbow Media also owns and manages the following: IFC Films, a leading distribution company for independent film; IFC Productions, a feature film production company that provides financing for select independent film projects; and IFC Center, a three screen, state-of-the-art cinema in the heart of New York’s Greenwich Village. Rainbow Media also operates Rainbow Advertising Sales Corporation, its advertising sales company; Rainbow Network Communications, its full service network programming origination and distribution company; and 11 Penn TV, a company that manages Rainbow Media’s NYC studios and post-production facilities.