Netflix Acquires Korean Tentpole 'Wolf Brigade', Will Delay Local Streaming Release

The Warner Bros. film will hit South Korean theaters on July 25.


Netflix has acquired international distribution rights for South Korean film Illang: The Wolf Brigade (previously known by its working title Inlang) but will allow a 10-month holdback time for streaming the actioner at home, a source close to the deal confirmed for THR on Wednesday.


The latest South Korean local production from Warner Bros. is set to hit theaters in the Asian country on July 25. It has yet to be revealed when the film will be made available on Netflix for the rest of the world, but there will be a holdback time of 10 months for South Korea, a source close to Warner Bros. Local Productions Korea said on conditions of anonymity.


Netflix has traditionally premiered its own productions simultaneously on and offline. Last year, this lead to major South Korean exhibitors to ban the Cannes competition piece Okja by Bong Joon Ho.


Directed by Kim Jee-woon, Illang is the live-action version of Japanese sci-fi animation Jin-Roh: The Wolf Brigade. The film transports the story to the year 2029 during a move to reunify the two Korea, and a cat-and-mouse chase unfolds between the police and an anti-government organization opposing reunification.


"It'll be very noir, like most of my films, sort of like The Dark Knight featuring elements of a spy movie," director Kim Jee-woon told THR in 2016 before the start of shooting. "There will also be sci-fi twists featuring special power suits, again like Batman."


Illang brings together a star-studded cast featuring Gang Dong-won, Jung Woo Sung and Han Hyo-joo. Lewis Pictures produced the project.


This is the second time Kim has directed a Warner Bros. local production after 2016's period actioner The Age of Shadows. The film was chosen as South Korea's Oscar contender.