As Bong Joon-Ho‘s “Okja” gears up to hit Netflix, the debate around the company’s impact on theatrical releases and cinema chains refusing to book their movies if they’re going day-and-date on the streaming service continues to unfold. Even in the director’s native South Korea, cinemas are gearing up to block the movie, but Bong Joon-Ho believes this is short sighted thinking.
“I fully understand the multiplexes asking for a minimum three-week hold back,” the filmmaker said about the demands being made by cinema owners. “Netflix’s principle for a simultaneous release should also be respected. The film is, after all, financed by Netflix users and I don’t think we should deprive them of their privileges.”
“I think the problem is that the film arrived before local industries set their rules about this,” he added.
Starring Tilda Swinton, Paul Dano, Byun Heebong, Steven Yeun, Lily Collins, Giancarlo Esposito, Jake Gyllenhaal and An Seo Hyun, Bong Joon-Ho’s film is the most ambitious of his career and certainly made for the big screen. That being said, only Netflix was courageous enough to give him the budget to make it. Here’s the official synopsis:
For 10 idyllic years, young Mija (An Seo Hyun) has been caretaker and constant companion to Okja—a massive animal and an even bigger friend—at her home in the mountains of South Korea. But that changes when a family-owned multinational conglomerate Mirando Corporation takes Okja for themselves and transports her to New York, where image obsessed and self-promoting CEO Lucy Mirando (Tilda Swinton) has big plans for Mija’s dearest friend.
With no particular plan but single-minded in intent, Mija sets out on a rescue mission, but her already daunting journey quickly becomes more complicated when she crosses paths with disparate groups of capitalists, demonstrators and consumers, each battling to control the fate of Okja…while all Mija wants to do is bring her friend home.
“Okja” arrives on Netflix on June 28th.