Annual Top Films Lists

Through the Looking-Glass…Top 200 Most Anticipated Films of 2017: #7. Bong Joon-Ho’s Okja

Published on January 15, 2016

Okja

Director: Bong Joon-Ho
Writer: Bong Joon-Ho

Fans of South Korean auteur Bong Joon-Ho’s 2013 English language debut Snowpiercer will most likely be excited to learn he’s re-teaming with Tilda Swinton for another sci-fi endeavor, Okja, which is the name of a monster befriended by a young girl in a narrative split between New York City and South Korea. Though Snowpiercer received a rather harried theatrical release in 2014 thanks to The Weinstein Company, who wanted to cut the film, Joon-Ho prevailed and the film was a notable VOD moneymaker in the US. In November, Netflix announced it was financing the production for fifty million (Snowpiercer cost forty two million and was one of the most expensive Korean productions ever). With this coin and creative control, we’re looking forward to what Okja is going to look like.

Cast: Jake Gyllenhaal, Tilda Swinton, Bill Nighy, Kelly Macdonald, Paul Dano

Production Co.: Netflix, Plan B, Lewis Pictures

U.S. Distributor: Netflix (domestic/international).

Release Date: With production scheduled for the latter half of 2016, we doubt Joon-Ho will be ready in time for Cannes (his 2006 film The Host, which seems a comparable endeavor, played Directors’ Fortnight), but assume Netflix plans a prestige premiere at Venice then Toronto, as the company did with 2015’s Beasts of No Nation.

Nicholas Bell

Los Angeles based Nicholas Bell is IONCINEMA.com's Chief Film Critic and covers film festivals such as Sundance, Berlin, Cannes and TIFF. He is part of the critic groups on Rotten Tomatoes, The Los Angeles Film Critics Association (LAFCA), the Online Film Critics Society (OFCS) and GALECA. His top 3 for 2021: France (Bruno Dumont), Passing (Rebecca Hall) and Nightmare Alley (Guillermo Del Toro). He was a jury member at the 2019 Cleveland International Film Festival.