As you might have heard, Park Chan-wook has been festival-hopping over the past few months, traveling from Venice to Toronto to New York to London to promote his latest film, “No Other Choice.”
Park is having a moment, moving further into the mainstream with cinephiles thanks to the acclaim he’s received for his last three films (“The Handmaiden,” “Decision to Leave,” and “No Other Choice”), not to mention the well-reviewed HBO series “The Sympathizer,” starring Robert Downey Jr.
Yet he admits he’s having a hard time finding financing for his next film, which is down to two projects, both in English. He currently has no Korean script lined up. He wants to work next in Hollywood.
Park tells Deadline that he needs the money.
Since finishing “No Other Choice,” Park is in development mode, again struggling to find investors for two potential American films, a sci-fi action movie and a western.
If you’re a regular reader, then you might already know that the two projects Park is referring to are “Brigands of Rattlecreek,” a western written by S. Craig Zahler, and “Genocidal Organ,” based on a Japanese novel by Project Itoh about the surveillance state built up by world powers after a nuclear bomb’s destruction of Sarajevo.
“Genocidal Organ” seems to be the newer project, with “Rattlecreek” having been stuck in development for around ten years. Park’s potential team-up with Zahler (“Bone Tomahawk”) on a new “ultraviolent Western” is what most piques my curiosity. A few years ago, Amazon acquired the rights to the film and seemed set on having Matthew McConaughey star in it. Since then? Radio silence.
Given Park’s surge in popularity these last few years, not to mention the consistent acclaim, it’d be foolish for Amazon not to greenlight ‘Rattlecreek.’ Park has been trying to get the film made since 2015. It would be only his second English-language film, following “Stoker.”
As Park navigates this crossroads in his career, his growing international recognition may finally give him the leverage he needs. His next project has the potential to push him deeper into the global mainstream—if the industry is willing to meet him halfway. Or he could just cast Adam Driver or Leonardo DiCaprio.