Earlier, the Seoul court released an order for the film Time to Hunt to be on a halt after an order for an injunction was filed while everyone tries to reach for negotiations and due process. Then, the court and the concerned companies finally reached an amicable agreement, making it possible for the film to be on air soon.
Time to Hunt was initially scheduled to make its theatrical release on February 26 in selected theatres in South Korea. However, it was postponed due to the pandemic COVID-19. After a while, Little Big Pictures finally acquired the enormous world rights agreement with Netflix. The deal will allow the movie to premiere in 190 countries on April 10.
Unfortunately, before the film's set on air, representatives from Contents Panda filed a case for an injunction in court. They claimed rights and opposed to the production company. Also, they cited that they are holding an existing agreement with Little Big Pictures, leading to yet another standby of the Netflix original, waiting for the results if they will ever have the chance to release.
Time to Hunt made a widespread release in Berlinale early this year. Written and helmed by Sung-Hyun Yoon, it revolves around a group of young men working together to survive the crises in Korea. They committed crimes and creates chaos to supply their needs to live.
An official statement was released on Thursday by the CEO of Little Big Pictures, Mr. Kwon Ji-Won. Being the film's local distributor, they honored and apologized to the foreign sales distributor company, Contents Panda.
"First of all, we are deeply sorry to those who have been interested in 'Time to Hunt.' As the distributor of the film, we feel sorry and responsible for the confusion being caused. We though showing 'Time to Hunt' on Netflix to 190 countries around the world was a chance to promote Korean moviemakers, producers, and actors to the world," he stated.
"However, we ignored to promote the efforts of Contents Panda, who contributed greatly to the foreign sales of 'Time to Hunt' for the past year and, as a result, was prohibited from screening the film overseas. We respect the court's decision and we ask for an apology to Contents Panda," Kwon added.
Kwon shared that their company and Contents Panda reached an agreement with requisite fees to settle. This settlement leads the court to issue a positive order for both companies.
On the other hand, a conclusive announcement from Contents Panda came out after it finalized within the court.
"Since signing an overseas sales contract with Little Big Pictures in January last year, we have faithfully fulfilled our responsibilities to promote the film to the world. When the common sense procedures were ignored and the contract was terminated, we confirmed our legitimate rights and obligations with the court," Contents Panda stated.
"To prevent our trust with overseas buyers who signed the contract believing in the legitimate rights of Content Panda. To protect ourselves from being undermined by speculations based on false information. Since then, after renegotiating with overseas buyers, we have reached an agreement with Little Big Pictures to withdraw injunction and to assume that there is no problem to release 'Time to Hunt' through Netflix," the company went on.
