Korean Hitmakers Join Forces with INTERSTELLAR Producer

Box office titan JK Youn, the author of not one but two ten million viewer hits in Korea, is setting his sights on America. The Ode to My Father (2014) director has teamed up with Parasite (2019) executive producer Miky Lee and Interstellar producer Lynda Obst to develop K-Pop: Lost in America, a road movie eyeing a 2023 release.

The project will focus on a K-pop boy band that land by mistake in Texas and find themselves with only two days left before their global stage debut in New York. Low on funds and time, they try to make their way to the East coast. Casting is currently underway in Seoul, and pre-production is expected to being in earnest later this month.

Founder of the successful production company JK Films, Youn has been directing for two decades, ever since the 2001 hit gangster comedy hit My Boss, My Hero. He scored two consecutive ten million viewer hits with his disaster film Haeundae (2009) and Ode to My Father, making him the first Korean filmmaker to do so (he has since been followed by Choi Donghoon and Bong Joonho), and has also produced other hits such as The Himalayas (2015) and Confidential Assignment (2017). His upcoming Colonial Era-themed musical Hero is awaiting release.

Miky Lee, a co-founder of Korean powerhouse CJ Entertainment and currently the vice chairwoman of CJ, told trade magazine Variety that “K-Pop and K-culture have never been more in-demand. Combining CJ ENM’s globally recognized production capabilities with the brilliant minds of smash-hit creators Lynda Obst and JK Youn, we have no doubt that we will be able to showcase a very special movie that will appeal to a global audience and K-Pop fans alike.