Fresh off the success of kidnap thriller Seven Days - to which Summit Entertainment recently acquired remake rights - Korean director Won Shin-yeon is gearing up to work on a live-action version of iconic Korean animation Robot Taekwon V.

ShinCine Communications, which produced watershed pan-Asian hit My Sassy Girl and earlier CGI hit Gingko Tree Bed, is producing the $20m film which is currently in development.

Notably, seven of Korea's top computer graphics companies, including DTI, Mofac and Insight Visual, have formed a consortium to work on the film.

'Seeing the work they've been doing on the characters, I can promise you we'll come out with an amazing film,' said Won.

Directed by Kim Chung-gi, the 1976 original was a theatrical series that captured the hearts of generations of Korean youngsters with its Taekwondo martial arts-wielding robot, maneuvered by a young boy and girl. The film has since become a classic that was recently restored by the Korean Film Council (KOFIC).

Won's version will be based on the web cartoon V which has been serialised on Media Daum since Jan 2007.

'But as a live-action film, it will be more realistic and have multi-dimensional characters. I want to make a film that will fun and interesting enough to satisfy both children and grown-ups,' said Won.

ShinCine CFO Kang Bo-sik said: 'We have a highly talented director in Won Shin-yeon, and Robot Taekwon V is an iconic character that holds much nostalgia for Koreans. Add top-notch CGI to that, and we're confident we can recoup enough from the local market, but we're also in discussions to take the project global.'

The film has yet to attach a sales agent.

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