Korean film master Park Chan-wook is keeping on moving. The internationally acclaimed 60-year-old auteur begins production on Saturday on his 12th film, an adaptation of the 1996 novel by American writer Donald Westlake. The AxeThe film, which currently has the working title I can’t do anything about itKorean screen greats Lee Byung-hun and Son Yejin are in the lead roles. Financing and distribution are provided by local heavyweight studio CJ ENM.

Westlake’s novel was adapted into French by Costa Gavras in 2005. The Couperet (The Axee). Like its predecessor, Park’s adaptation is about a man – this time Man-soo, played by Lee – who is suddenly fired from the paper company where he has worked tirelessly for many years. The man becomes increasingly desperate in his search for a new job and eventually decides to kill his competitors. Son will play the man’s wife, the warm-hearted Mi-ri.

I can’t do anything about it will be Park’s first feature film since his critically acclaimed romantic mystery drama Decision to leave (2022). Between his big screen projects, he co-directed the HBO miniseries The sympathizerbased on the 2015 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel of the same name, which also stars Robert Downey Jr. Last year, his ultra-violent, global breakthrough film was also re-released for its 20th anniversary. Old boy (2003).

Park and Lee celebrated an early career success with the mystery thriller Common security area (2000), a milestone of Korean millennial cinema (Quentin Tarantino once called it one of his favorite films since the 1990s). Lee has since become known as one of his country’s most versatile actors, and has recently gained even more global attention thanks to his recurring role as the frontman in the Netflix series The Last Man. Squid GameWith her radiant, warm personality and hugely popular early film roles, Son became known in Korea as the “nation’s first love.” I can’t do anything about it will be her first collaboration with Park.

Rounding I can’t do anything about itThe cast consists of Lee Sung-min (The Spy Who Went North) and Yeom Hye-ran (Life), who co-star as a couple who have had similar experiences with unemployment. Park Hee-soon (The fraud) will play the team leader of the paper company, while Cha Seung-won (An ordinary day) appears as one of Man-soo’s job competitors. Yoo Yeon-seok (Mr Sunshine) plays a colleague of the wife, Mi-ri.

CJ ENM has said the film’s planned release date has not yet been set. However, Park is a regular at the Cannes Film Festival, held every May, and has premiered four of his films there.