Korea pair prep superhero film

Choi, Lee team on 'Jeon woo chi'

By HAN SUNHEE

SEOUL -- Choi Dong-hoon, helmer of last year's breakout hit "Tazza," and producer Lee Eugene ("Voice of a Murderer") have greenlit a superhero action movie that is set to be one of the biggest Korean films of the next year.

Superhero in the pic, tentatively titled "Jeon woo chi," is a cursed Taoist magician released 500 years after his imprisonment in a portrait to cure the evils of the modern age. Choi's script adapts and modernizes an anonymous work from the Chosun Dynasty.

Lee and Choi have assembled a top cast headed by Kang Dong-won ("M"), Lim Su-jeong ("I'm a Cyborg, but That's OK") and Kim Yoon-suk in his first major role since this year's smash hit "The Chaser." He plays a dangerous, evil spirit.

Lee's Zip Cinema is producing on a budget of $10 million; lensing is set to start in August, with a release tentatively skedded for summer 2009.