Action film starring Lee Hye-young set for limited North American run

<"The Old Woman With the Knife," starring Lee Hye-young (left) and Kim Sung-cheol (Next Entertainment World)>

Theater locations across the United States and Canada for Korean action thriller "The Old Woman With the Knife" have been confirmed ahead of its Friday release, public relations firm Blade Vista announced Wednesday.

The film will open across downtown and suburban venues throughout major metro areas, including CGV Los Angeles in LA's Koreatown, AMC River East 21 in downtown Chicago, AMC Raceway in Long Island's Westbury in New York and Cinemark Legacy in Plano, Texas, part of the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex. Additional screening locations cover the Greater Houston area, San Francisco Bay Area, Atlanta suburbs, Las Vegas and the Seattle region.

Canadian audiences can catch the film in select venues across Toronto, Vancouver, British Columbia, and Montreal, as the thriller expands its reach throughout North America for its limited run. Additional theaters may join the lineup in the coming weeks, Blade Vista noted.

Well Go USA Entertainment, a key distributor of Asian cinema in North America, is handling distribution for the film. The Texas-based company has previously introduced a number of Korean titles to US audiences, including this year's "Dark Nuns" and "Yadang: The Snitch."

Directed by Min Kyu-dong and starring veteran female actor Lee Hye-young, the film centers on Hornclaw, an aging assassin who crosses paths with a reckless young assassin named Bullfight, played by Kim Sung-cheol. Complications arise when Hornclaw finds herself marked for elimination and drawn into a deadly game of survival and retribution.

The 125-minute character-driven fare gained traction on the festival circuit earlier this year. It premiered at the 75th Berlin International Film Festival in February and picked up official selections at the Brussels International Fantastic Film Festival and Beijing International Film Festival in April.

Released in South Korea on April 30, the film had drawn 419,612 admissions as of Tuesday, according to the Korean Film Council's latest box office data. It has received a generally positive audience reception, with a rating of 8.05 out of 10 on local search platform Naver and a 93 percent approval rating on multiplex chain CGV's website.

Following its North American debut, the film is scheduled for release across Europe, Asia and South America in the coming months, according to Next Entertainment World, the film's Korean production company.

By Moon Ki-hoon

The Korean Herald (Click)