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In the world of South Korean cinema, director Yeon Sang-ho has emerged as one of the premiere names in the space thanks in no small part to critically acclaimed zombie film Train to Busan. The director looks poised to take his talents to Hollywood on the back of his success and has lined up his first film, not straying too far from his roots.
It was confirmed on Thursday at Sang-ho had officially lined up his first major studio production and English-language film with Sony Pictures under its TriStar Studios arm, titled 35th Street. The project is described as an action-horror film and will see Sang-ho serve as the writer and director, according to Deadline.
No plot points about the film were shared and it is not known who will star in 35th Street.
Sang-ho's directing career began in animation with 2011's The King of Pigs, which Sang-ho said was partly inspired by his own experiences in high school. The film was well-received following its release, which was then followed by Sang-ho's next animated feature in 2013, The Fake, which followed a rural village being defrauded by its manipulative church minister.
It was with the release of 2016's Train to Busan, though, that Sang-ho caught the eyes of many avid cinephiles.
Train to Success
The film follows Seok-woo, a cynical fund manager and divorcee, as he takes his daughter on a train from Seoul to Busan to see her mother to fulfill his daughter's birthday wish. In the midst of the train ride, a zombie outbreak takes place all over South Korea and quickly overwhelms the cities before the outbreak reaches the train. Seok-woo, along with his daughter and handful of other passengers, fight for their lives as the train barrels on through the country and the zombie horde slowly spreads inside the train, itself.
Train to Busan received near-universal acclaim for Sang-ho's fresh take on the zombie genre which many audiences and critics felt had grown stagnant due to the sheer glut of zombie content across TV and film. Critics commonly cited the film's ability to balance the action and horror with genuine character moments and meaningful social commentary as some of its biggest strengths, on top of Sang-ho's direction and the cast's performances.
The success of Train to Busan would lead Sang-ho to direct two other features set within the film's world.
First was the 2016 animated feature and prequel Seoul Station, which depicted the start of the zombie outbreak hours before the beginning of Train to Busan. Second was Peninsula, a 2020 live-action sequel set roughly four years after Train to Busan and follows a former soldier as he tries to survive the zombies and rogue militia occupying South Korea in the outbreak's aftermath.
In that time, Sang-ho also has two other live-action films under his belt as a director. The 2018 film Psychokinesis was his immediate follow-up project after Train to Busan and, while it was not as acclaimed, the film was still very well received at release. However, his 2023 science fiction film Jung_E was met with more mixed reviews, making it Sang-ho's lowest scored live-action film among critics.
