Park Chan-wook's Fingersmith adaptation confirmed

Park Chan-wook (Oldboy, Stoker) is set to make a Korean-language thriller based on Sarah Waters’ novel Fingersmith, his producers have confirmed, and will start casting this month.

The original crime novel, first published in 2002, was set in Victorian London and centred on young women who are petty thieves (fingersmiths). Park’s adaptation will be set in Korea during the time of Japanese rule.

The film’s Korean title phonetically reads “Agashi”, meaning ‘young lady’ or ‘miss’. The English title has yet to be decided.

This new project, Park’s first feature since the English-language Stoker starring Mia Wasikowska, Nicole Kidman and Matthew Goode, will mark the director’s return to Korean features after six years.

He has intermittently made shorts including A Rose Reborn, which will screen in the upcoming Busan International Film Festival’s Wide Angle section, but today’s announcement marks the end to the speculation surrounding the director’s next move.

The new feature will be produced by Park’s Moho Film, whose credits include Snowpiercer and Thirst, and Oldboy producer Syd Lim’s Yong Film, which recently made Cannes title The Target.

They are looking primarily for two lead actresses whom they expect will follow in the footsteps of Gang Hye-Jung, who was launched onto the international stage with her performance in Oldboy.

The producers plan to start shooting in the first half of 2015.

The BBC produced a miniseries titled Fingersmith in 2005, starring Sally Hawkins, Imelda Staunton, Elaine Cassidy, Rupert Evans and Charles Dance.