Wide Lens Pictures and Shaw Entertainment shared exclusively with Collider a first look at their upcoming American-Korean co-production The Killer. The story follows a ruthless assassin who goes on a vengeful rampage and shows no mercy to his enemies. In addition to the teaser trailer, the production companies also gave Collider access to some stills and allowed us to reveal that the action-thriller will hit theaters on July 13 in the United States.
The movie stars Korean superstar and action veteran Jang Hyuk, who was recently in the investigative series Tell Me What You Saw and in the movie Tomb of the River. Currently, the actor is best known for his role as Park Gye-won in the hugely popular historical drama TV series Bloody Heart. In The Killer, he showcases his fighting skills once again and plays a character who you’re probably not going to want to cross.
Mark W. Shaw, Producer and CEO of Wide Lens Pictures, celebrated the movie coming to US theaters and revealed Jang Hyuk’s preparations for the role:
“We are very excited to be able to announce the day-and-date release on July 13th of ‘The Killer’ in the U.S. and with our partners in South Korea, Ascendio/iHQ. Jang Hyuk, the lead actor, is an action veteran with a huge global following. He has trained particularly hard for this film, and meticulously choreographed all the fight sequences and stunts. Audiences are already huge fans of gritty Korean action films, but combined with the tremendous growth in popularity of Korean web-comics which ‘The Killer’ is based on, we are sure fans will love our movie.”
As Shaw suggested, The Killer looks like an exciting blend of ultraviolent and gritty Korean action films like Oldboy and The Villainess, with a good dose of The Raid in some fight scenes – and that’s just what we get from a 30-second preview! Considering the release date is fast approaching, we can look forward to a full trailer to get a better sense of the story and seeing Jang go John Wick on thugs for a bit longer. However, since the story is based on a popular webtoon comic, it’s safe to assume it’ll follow the general lines of the source material: a retired hitman who is forced to take on the underworld of South Korea when a teenager falls victim to criminals’ whims.
The Killer is directed by Choi Jae-hun, who previously helmed the horror film The Hypnosis. The screenplay is adapted by Nam Ji-woong, who makes his feature film writing debut. The movie is a landmark title, as it represents one of the first times that a movie has a joint launch in the U.S. and Korea.
The Killer premieres in U.S. theaters on July 13. You can watch the teaser trailer and check out more images below:
