‘Train to Busan’ Director Yeon Sang-ho’s ‘Paradise Lost’ Clinches 118-Country Sales Ahead of Hawai‘i Festival U.S. Bow

“Paradise Lost,” the new psychological thriller by “Train to Busan” filmmaker Yeon Sang-ho, has been sold to 118 countries and will have its U.S. premiere at the 46th Hawai‘i International Film Festival. It will play in the Spotlight on Korea section on Nov. 1 and 4.

CJ ENM, which is handling international sales, said overseas sales revenue alone had already topped the picture’s net production budget. The company put the result down to buyers’ faith in Yeon as a filmmaker and to the reach of a distribution network it has built over years of selling Korean films abroad.

“The film combines a distinctive premise with a deeply felt exploration of family and motherhood,” said a representative of CJ ENM’s international distribution team. “These universal emotions are resonating across cultures and generating strong interest in international markets.”

Kim Hyun-joo plays Ryu So-young, whose son vanished nine years before the story begins, along with a busload of children headed to camp. The boy, Ryu Sun-woo, had long been given up for dead. Then he comes home.

Kim has worked with Yeon several times before. Bae Hyeon-seong plays Sun-woo in his first lead role in a feature film, and the knotty relationship between mother and son sits at the heart of the film.

The Hawai‘i slot extends a festival run that has already taken in Toronto and Busan. At the 51st Toronto International Film Festival, the film played in the Special Presentations section and sold out all four of its official screenings, roughly 2,300 seats in total. It then screened as a Gala Presentation at the 31st Busan International Film Festival, where its four screenings also sold out.

HIFF focuses on cinema from Asia and the Pacific and uses film to encourage cross-cultural exchange. This year’s edition will run Oct. 21 to Nov. 15 at venues around the state’s islands.

“Paradise Lost” is produced by Wowpoint and presented by Wowpoint and CJ ENM. It will open in South Korean cinemas on Oct. 21, with CJ ENM distributing at home. Taiwan will follow on Oct. 23 and Singapore on Nov. 5. Well Go USA will release the film in North America on Nov. 6, the same day it opens in Vietnam, and Indonesia is set for Nov. 13.