Kwak Jae-young’s “My Sassy Girl,” the 2001 Korean romantic comedy credited as one of the first major international breakthroughs of the Hallyu wave, will reach North American theaters in a new 4K restoration following an acquisition by Film Movement Classics.
The deal was unveiled by Michael Rosenberg, president of Film Movement, and Paul Kim, CEO of Hive Film Works.
The restored print, which Kwak himself oversaw, will have its North American premiere at the New York Asian Film Festival this July. A limited theatrical run will follow, after which the film moves to VOD, digital and streaming platforms, and home entertainment.
Starring Cha Tae-hyun and Jun Ji-hyun, “My Sassy Girl” follows a college student drawn into an increasingly inescapable romance with a headstrong, mercurial young woman he encounters on a subway train. The screenplay was adapted from autobiographical posts that Ho-sik Kim published online about his real-life relationship.
The film was a commercial sensation on its 2001 South Korean release, grossing $26 million locally – at the time placing it among the five highest-grossing films in the country’s history and making it the top-earning Korean comedy of all time. Across East Asia, the total box office surpassed $32 million.
“My Sassy Girl” also swept awards on its release, winning the Grand Bell Award for Best Screenplay and the Popularity Award at South Korea’s top industry ceremony, with additional nominations for Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress and Best Cinematography. Internationally, the film claimed Best Asian Film at the Hong Kong Film Awards, the Most Popular Film prize at Fantasia Film Festival, and the Audience Award at the New York Asian Film Festival – the same event that will host its long-awaited North American theatrical premiere – and earned a nomination for Best Foreign Film at Japan’s Academy Awards.
The film’s reach extended well beyond its initial run, inspiring an American remake, a sequel, and television adaptations in Korea, Japan, Thailand, India and China.
“‘My Sassy Girl’ is one of those rare films that captured the hearts of an entire continent and never let go,” Rosenberg said. “It helped introduce the world to the extraordinary energy of Korean cinema, and to see it restored to its full glory and brought to North American audiences for the first time in theaters is something we’ve wanted to do for a long time. We couldn’t be more excited to premiere it at the very festival where it first won over New York audiences more than two decades ago.”
The acquisition is part of an active restoration push by Film Movement Classics, which has also recently secured new 4K prints of Zhang Yimou’s “Raise the Red Lantern” and “To Live,” Hou Hsiao-Hsien’s “A City of Sadness,” Shunji Iwai’s “Love Letter” and Katsuhito Ishii’s “The Taste of Tea,” among several other titles.
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