Seoul-based sales company Finecut has picked up John H. Lee’s $10m upcoming Korean War movie, currently called 71 – Into The Fire.

The film, which is being produced by Taewon Entertainment, tells the true story of 71 student soldiers who fought an impossible battle against the seasoned North Korean army during the Korean war. It shows the fierce battle against the emotions of the young soldiers as they fought to protect their final line of defence.

Korean Wave star Kwon Sang-woo is joined by Choi Seung-hyun, a.k.a. T.O.P. from the pan-Asian boyband Big Bang, who recently made his acting debut in Iris. Cha Seung-won plays a charismatic North Korean major and Kim Seung-woo plays a South Korean captain trying to save the students.

The production crew includes the special effects team that previously worked on John Woo’s Red Cliff, Feng Xiaogang’s Assembly, and Taegukgi: The Brotherhood Of War.

The film started shooting last December and major local distributor Lotte Entertainment is set to release the film in Korea last this summer. FineCut will be screening the promo reel for the film in Berlin’s European Film Market.

Lee’s A Moment To Remember racked up more than 3 million admissions in Korea and is the biggest grossing Korean film in Japan, where it took over $33m.

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