CG-animated dragons attack Los Angeles in Dragon Wars, the English-language South Korean film that broke box office records in its native country, where it was released under the title D-War in August. Freestyle Releasing is unleashing the creature feature in 2,275 theaters in North America in hopes of scoring a late-summer hit.
Directed by Hyung-rae Shim (2001 Yonggary a.k.a. Reptilian), Dragon Wars is based on a Korean legend which holds that dragons will return one day devastate the planet. The plot revolves around a beautiful young woman who possesses the power to transform a legendary giant serpent into a mighty dragon that can only ascend into heaven with her ultimate sacrifice. With forces of darkness out to claim the young woman as their own, her reincarnated lover and his aged mentor must work together to ensure that goodness prevails. The cast includes Jason Behr (Skinwalkers, The Grudge), Robert Forster (Firewall, Jackie Brown) and Aimee Garcia (The George Lopez Show).
Korea’s most expensive movie to date, Dragon Wars was budgeted at $32 million, but the liberal use of CG animation and other visual effects reportedly drove that number up to around $75 million. The pic follows on the scaly heels of fellow Korean monster movie The Host (Gwoemul), which got a limited release in the U.S. earlier this year after becoming Korea’s highest-grossing film ever. It’s now available on DVD and remake rights have been bought by Universal Pictures.
Dragon Wars is up against the Jodie Foster revenge thriller The Brave One from Warner Bros. and the Billy Bob Thornton comedy Mr. Woodcock, released by New Line Cinema. Meanwhile, Universal is sneaking Michael Mann’s political thriller The Kingdom, starring Jamie Foxx and Jennifer Garner, into 850 theaters on Saturday.
Among the plethora of films opening in limited release this weekend are Focus Features’ Eastern Promises from director David Cronenberg, Sony Revolution’s Beatles musical Across the Universe, Warner Independent’s Tommy Lee Jones/Charlize Theron war drama In the Valley of Elah and First Look’s Michael Douglas dramedy King of California.
