'Okja' Gets 1st Screening in Korea

Published on 2017/06/13 | Source

Reporters gather for a preview of Bong Joon-ho's Netflix-produced CGI spectacular "Okja" at a theater in Seoul on Monday.

Bong Joon-ho's Netflix-produced CGI spectacular "Okja" had its first screening in Korea on Monday after it premiered at the Cannes Film Festival last month.

Some 1,000 reporters including about 30 from Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore and the Philippines attended the preview.

There was even a smattering of staff from CGV, the country's biggest movie theater chain, which has refused to screen the film over a spat with Netflix. CGV is miffed that Netflix wants to release the film simultaneously online and on screens, flying in the face of industry wisdom that gives cinemas first shot at any release.

Lotte Cinema has not yet decided whether to screen the film, but staff also attended the screening.

The film itself is an uncontroversial piece of cheerful hokum in which a girl from a mountain village risks everything to rescue her best friend -- a massive, genetically modified hippo-pig named Okja that has been kidnapped by a multinational company.

It stars Tilda Swinton as the Cruella De Vil character and Ahn Seo-hyun as the girl, with support from Paul Dano and Jake Gyllenhaal.

Netflix invested US$50 million in the film, which is scheduled for release here on June 29.