20th Century Studios is in development on an untitled K-Pop film, and the studio has tapped Seoul Searching director, Benson Lee to direct, Deadline has learned.
According to the Trade, the film will follow a young Asian- American college student from the U.S. who becomes a top competitor on South Korea’s toughest k-pop competition show and chases her dreams of becoming a K-Pop star, despite the disapproval of her family.
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Record executive and producer Scooter Braun will producer the project under his SB Projects banner and Epic Magazine. Elyse Hollander (Blonde Ambition) is attached to write. James Shin is also attached as producers with Scott Manson as executive producer on behalf of SB Projects. Joshua Davis and Arthur Spector are producing on behalf of Epic Magazine with Epic’s Joshuah Bearman executive producing. John Zaozirny is attached as executive producer on behalf of Bellevue Productions.
In 1998, with his first feature film Miss Monday, Benson Lee became the first Korean-American filmmaker to be accepted to the Dramatic Competition of the Sundance Film Festival where his film was awarded a Special Grand Jury Prize for Best Actor. In 2011, Lee directed the 3D Hollywood adaptation of his documentary Planet B-Boy titled Battle of the Year for Sony Pictures / Screen Gems, which stars Josh Holloway, Laz Alonso, and Chris Brown. The film was released September 20, 2013.
Lee’s last project Seoul Searching, is an 80s Teen Comedy about a group of diverse Korean high school teens from around the globe, coming together in 1986 to experience the most important summer of their lives. They meet at a special summer camp in Seoul where they were sent by their parents to learn what it means to be Korean; a side to them they know little about. Although the intentions of the camp were honorable, the activities of the teens were not. The film made its premiere as an official selection of the 2015 Sundance Film Festival, and also stars Justin Chon and Jessika Van.
Source: Deadline
