Mubi has acquired the North American, UK and other territories rights to “Decision to Leave,” the new film from “Oldboy” and “The Handmaiden” director Park Chan-wook, an individual with knowledge told TheWrap.
Park’s film is a Korean crime drama and is playing in the main competition at Cannes next month. “Decision to Leave” tells the story of a detective investigating the death of a man in the mountains, only to develop an interest in the dead man’s mysterious wife once she becomes a suspect in the case.
“Decision to Leave” stars Tang Wei (“Lust, Caution”) and Park Hae-il (“The Host”). The film is a presentation of CJ ENM (“Parasite”) and was produced by Moho Film.
Mubi is also planning a theatrical release for “Decision to Leave” in the U.S. and the UK for the fall of 2022, followed by an exclusive streamer premiere on the Mubi platform.
The art-house streamer Mubi last year was a surprise buyer at Cannes, picking up North American rights to films “Lingui, The Sacred Bonds” and “Unclenching the Fists,” the latter of which won the Un Certain Regard in 2021.
In addition to North America, Mubi also acquired the film’s distribution rights in UK, Ireland, Turkey and India. The Korean giant CJ ENM is handling international sales rights and negotiated the deal with Mubi.
Park’s last film, the BAFTA-winning “The Handmaiden” from 2016, also played in competition at Cannes, as have his films “Oldboy” and “Thirst.” And he also made his English-language debut with “Stoker” back in 2013. Most recently he worked on the TV series “The Little Drummer Girl” from 2018.
Mubi is also a co-producer on the next film from director Mia Hansen-Løve called “One Fine Morning,” which will play in the Directors’ Fortnight section at Cannes.
Deadline first reported the news.
