Paramount and Hybé America, Hybé America’s film K-Pop found its stars and won a release date, announced Paramount on Tuesday.
Ji-Young Yoo (Kpop demon hunters) and Eric Nam (Aang’s legend: the last Airbender) are ready to play in the film led by Benson Lee. Eileen Shim wrote the last script project.
“This film is my love letter to K -Pop – her energy, her passion, her magic and the incredible community behind her,” Lee said in a statement. “I am deeply grateful to Paramount Pictures to have defended the project, to our producers for their unshakable dedication, to our talented and dynamic cast, and to legends of the genre helping us to give life to this story.”
The film, which takes place in the world of K-Pop musical survival shows, should be the first major American film entirely shot in South Korea. “The cinema focuses on a young Korean-American woman, who challenges her family’s wishes to participate in a television competition to find the next K-Pop girls group,” said The Logline.
Yoo recently expressed the role of Zoey, member of the K-Pop Huntrix girls group, in Netflix Kpop demon hunterswhich has become a success on the streamer both in and outside the world of K-pop. Several of the songs in the film, which were expressed by a distinct group of performers, landed on the Billboard Hot 100 and exceeded the SPPOTY’s charts.
Nam is well known in the world of K-pop, having played in the Korean entertainment space since his series of MBC musical competitions, Stars hearing: birth of a large star 2who launched his musical career. He was an original host of the K-Pop talk show After School Club and frequented Korean variety shows.
Hybé America’s cinema and television president James Shin produces the film alongside Arthur Spector and Joshua Davis of Epic Magazine and Scooter Braun. Executive producers include Joshuah Bearman from Epic magazineJohn Zaozirny and Scott Manson.
“This film captures the incredible dedication and the artistic talent that defines K-Pop and its insatiable popularity, while presenting the universal themes of the pursuit of your dreams against all expectations,” said Shin in a press release.
Hybé America is the American branch of the K-Pop Hybi giant, which acts as parents with several labels that are home to massive acts, including BTS, Seventeen, Sserafim and Enhhypen.
Bryan Oh from Paramount will supervise production on behalf of the studio. The president of Paramount Pictures from the Michael Ireland film group initially supervised the project throughout its development at 20th Century Fox before acquiring it in Disney recovery and bringing it back to Paramount.
—Pamela McClintock contributed to this story.
