Actor Lee Byung-hun overcame the ‘Yoo Ah-in risk’ and led the box office success of the movie ‘Match’, and is now aiming for the global market with the Netflix original series ‘Squid Game’ Season 3, in collaboration with directors Hwang Dong-hyeok and Park Chan-wook, and the movie ‘There’ s No Way Around ‘.

According to the integrated computer network for movie tickets on the 8th, “Match”, in which Lee Byung-hun plays South Korea’ s “Baduk legend” Cho Hun-hyun 9-dan, maintained its top spot at the box office from its release on the 26th of last month until the 7th despite the release of several new films, attracting close to 1.4 million viewers. Some say that this box office success of the “warehouse movie”, which is returning to theaters after 4 years due to COVID-19 and Yoo Ah-in’s drug allegations, is thanks to Lee Byung-hun’s outstanding acting skills, which showed “100% synchronization” with Cho Hun-hyun 9-dan.

Following ‘Match’, Lee Byung-hun will present the final chapter of the global mega hit ‘Squid Game’, ‘Squid Game Season 3’ on June 27. Season 2 also set an unprecedented record by simultaneously reaching #1 in all 93 countries where Netflix is available.

In particular, as the role of the frontman, played by Lee Byung-hun in a special appearance in season 1, grew bigger, he attracted attention by virtually forming a ‘two-top’ with Lee Jung-jae. In season 3, the specific past of the frontman who got involved in the game of death and his confrontation with Lee Jung-jae are expected to be depicted, and the possibility of Lee Byung-hun being nominated for a major American award ceremony such as the Emmy Award is also cautiously leaked.

Following ‘Squid Game’, he is also aiming for the international stage with the film ‘No Choice’, which he collaborated with director Park Chan-wook, a ‘world-famous masterpiece’. It has been 21 years since he worked with director Park in the omnibus film ‘Three, Monster’ in 2004, where the three directors worked together.

‘No Choice’ is based on the novel ‘The Axe’ by author Donald Westlake, which was previously adapted into the 2005 film ‘Axe: A Dangerous Guide to Getting a Job’ directed by Costa-Gavras. It tells the story of Man-su(Lee Byung-hun), a company employee who prepares for his own battle to find new employment in order to protect his wife, two children, and the house he worked hard to build after being fired.

In particular, this film is known as Director Park’s ‘life’ s work project’ that he has been preparing for a long time, and is attracting extraordinary attention from fans both domestically and internationally. It is already highly likely that it will advance to the competition section of the Venice International Film Festival in August.


Reporter Seungmi smlee@donga .com

This article is automatically translated using Google AI. If you notice any inaccuracies, please let us know at allkstar@donga.com.