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Cast members from the Vietnamese version of “Sunny

The 2011 South Korean film “Sunny” is set to be made into Vietnamese, Japanese and American versions.

“We started shooting the Vietnamese version of ‘Sunny’ in July and the Japanese version in October with the goal of releasing the films next year,” CJ E&M announced on Oct. 25. The casting of the director and the actors for the American version is expected to begin soon, once CJ and a Hollywood studio wrap up the screenplay.

For “Sunny,” CJ has chosen the strategy of “localization” – local productions in overseas markets – rather than exporting a completed film or selling the rights to a remake. This means that “Sunny” will be produced in different ways in each country. “Splendid Days” (the Vietnamese version of the film) will be directed by Nguyen Quang, a music producer, composer and columnist. The film will be produced by CJ HK Entertainment, a joint venture established by CJ E&M and HK Film, a Vietnamese film studio.

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For the Japanese version of “Sunny” (called “Sunny: Strong Feelings, Strong Love”) , Hitoshi Ohne, the filmmaker behind “Love Strikes” and “Bakuman” will be sitting in the director’s chair. “Hitoshi Ohne won the Outstanding Achievement in Music in the Japanese. Academy Prize for ‘Bakuman.’ We chose him to direct ‘Sunny’ because we think he’ll be the ideal director, considering the importance of music in the film,” CJ said.

The screenplay for the American version of “Sunny” is being developed in partnership with the media and entertainment company RatPac Entertainment. RatPac is run by Brett Ratner, the executive producer of “The Revenant.”

“Several other countries are also showing interest in producing ‘Sunny.’ It has a great deal of winning elements that can move an audience regardless of nationality such as memories of school days, friendship, first love and music,” said Lim Myeong-gyun, CJ’s overseas project director.

CJ adopted a similar approach for the film “Miss Granny,” which was produced in the local language in China, Vietnam, Japan, Thailand and Indonesia and pulled in about 78 billion won (US$69.3 million) in the box office.

By Kim Mi-young, staff reporter

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