Park Hoon-jung’s Assassin Noir ‘Tristes Tropiques’ Sells Wide

“Tristes Tropiques,” the latest genre outing from “New World” and “The Witch” director Park Hoon-jung, has been picked up for North America by Well Go USA as Finecut, which is carrying the film in its AFM line-up, closes a fresh round of deals ahead of the film’s Nov. 25 theatrical release in Korea.

Swift Distribution, whose president and CEO Didier Costet called the film “an exciting new cinematic journey,” has acquired French-speaking territories. Alfa Pictures will handle Spain and Andorra, Blue Swan Entertainment has Italy and CaiChang International, Inc. has taken Taiwan.

The new pacts build on sales unveiled earlier to Splendid Film for Germany, Austria and Switzerland; Media4Fun for Poland; Multivision India for the Indian subcontinent; PT Prima Cinema Multimedia for Indonesia; and Izagur Media for Mongolia.

The story centers on a band of young killers trained by Master, who holds absolute sway over a tropical rainforest. Then Master turns up dead. Nobody knows who killed him, and the assassins begin to distrust one another.

The cast features Lee Sin-young (“Rebound”), Park Yu-rim (“Drive My Car”), Kim Myung-min (“Your Honor”) and Park Hae-soo (“Squid Game”). Taiwanese actors Austin Lin (“96 Minutes”), Chen Yi-Wen (“The Pig, the Snake and the Pigeon”) and Wang Po-Chieh (“Eye of the Storm”) are also part of the ensemble.

Well Go USA has a track record with the filmmaker, having released “The Witch” films and “The Childe” in North America. Doris Pfardrescher, the company’s president and CEO, said: “We’re thrilled to continue our relationship with Park Hoon-jung. ‘Tristes Tropiques’ takes his signature blend of style, emotion, and hard-hitting action to a whole new level.”

Park’s other credits include “Night in Paradise” for Netflix and “The Tyrant” for Disney+. Gold Moon Pictures, Park’s own company, produced the film, with Studio&New co-producing. Mindmark Inc., the Shinsegae Group’s creative content studio, presents.

The film has already won over genre festivals abroad. The Brussels International Fantastic Film Festival gave it the Silver Raven Award from its International Competition, and in September Paris’ L’Étrange Festival named it winner of its Grand Prix Nouveau Genre Canal+. It has also been chosen to close the London Korean Film Festival.

Finecut is also bringing animated feature “Long Long Night” to AFM, where an English-dubbed version will get its first market screening. The film’s festival run includes a Toronto Film Festival premiere and a Busan International Film Festival screening.