“Pirates,” the swashbuckling action film starring Son Ye Jin and Kim Nam Gil, made such a good impression at the Cannes Film Festival that it will now be shown in at least 15 countries around the world.
Lotte Entertainment has made deals to show the film in North America, Japan, Germany, Belgium, The Netherlands, Luxembourg, Poland, Taiwan, Thailand, India and countries in Eastern Europe and South America.
According to Lotte Entertainment, viewers were impressed with the film’s big budget sets and action sequences. The film cost about $9 million to make and has been called the Korean “Pirates of the Caribbean.”
“Pirates” does differ from “Pirates of the Caribbean” in one important way. The chief pirate in “Pirates of the Caribbean” was a man, played by Johnny Depp. In the Korean “Pirates,” the chief pirate is a woman. Son Ye Jin plays the head of a Joseon-era pirate ship and Kim Nam Gil plays the leader of a group of land-based bandits. The rival rogues battle then band together to recover a lost imperial seal swallowed by a ghostly whale. The person who finds the seal receives unlimited power.
Son Ye Jin looks fierce in the film’s posters. She looks nothing like the meek character she played when she co-starred with Kim Nam Gil in the drama “Shark.” The two had such great chemistry in that drama but they played unlucky lovers, fated never to end up together. In “Pirates” they get a do-over. Even though their “Pirates” characters start out as rivals in pursuit of treasure, viewers can expect a love line to develop after the former enemies join forces.
Their co-stars in the film are f(x)’s Sulli, Lee Kyung Young, Kim Tae Woo, Yoo Hae Jin, Oh Dal Soo, Ahn Nae Sang, Park Chul Min and Jo Dahl Hwan.
Lee Suk Joon, director of the successful film “Dancing Queen” directed “Pirates.”
The movie will be one of several historical films premiering this summer, including “Kundo: The Age of Rampant” and the recently released film “The King’s Wrath.”
It’s not Kin Nam Gil’s first historical film as he became a star playing the character Bidam in “Queen Seonduk.”
Son Ye Jin has no experience in historical dramas but she has had plenty of drama roles, including “Personal Taste.” She also appeared in a dozen films, including “The Tower.” She currently appears on “Infinity Challenge.”
Here’s the film’s teaser trailer. Let us know what you think.