'Good News', led by Sul Kyung-gu, Hong Kyung and Ryu Seung-bum, has locked Oct. 17 for release and dropped a teaser poster alongside a date announcement trailer.
Set in 1970, 'Good News' follows a clandestine, do-whatever-it-takes plan to force a hijacked passenger jet to land. The latest from director Byun Sung-hyun ('The Merciless', 'Kingmaker') has been officially invited to the Special Presentations section at the 50th Toronto International Film Festival, stoking early buzz.
The teaser poster grabs attention with a bold image of the Korean Peninsula behind a shadowy fixer known only as “Mr. So-and-so” (Sul Kyung-gu) and elite Air Force First Lt. Seo Go-myeong (Hong Kyung).
In the story, a Japanese leftist group hijacks an airliner bound for Pyongyang, sending the governments of Japan and South Korea scrambling. The nameless fixer―his identity and past completely masked―receives an order from KCIA Director Park Sang-hyeon (Ryu Seung-bum): get that plane on the ground, no matter what. Armed with a razor-sharp mind, quick improvisation and coolheaded flexibility, he launches a covert op. His unreadable expression hints that this mission will be anything but easy.
Meanwhile, First Lt. Seo is roped into the operation and handed a near-impossible task: deceive the hijackers and “re-hijack” the plane from the ground. Following the fixer’s playbook as if reading his mind, Seo’s steely resolve raises the question of whether he can pull it off―and claim the bright future dangling in front of him.
The date announcement trailer amps up the intrigue with the fixer’s line, “Facts, a little creativity, and the will to believe―when those three come together…,” before racing through the ground team’s breathless efforts to bring the jet down on Korean soil. Set to a snappy beat, the footage shows Gimpo Airport transformed to pass for Pyongyang, teasing the audacious lengths the fixer, Seo and Park will go to in order to make the impossible work.
“Sometimes the truth lies,” Seo says. “And sometimes lies tell the truth,” the fixer counters, capped by the tagline “That unbelievable ‘'Good News'.’” The question lingers: can this operation actually deliver on its title?
'Good News' will screen first at TIFF, running Sept. 4-14, before debuting on Netflix on Oct. 17.
(SBS Entertainment News | Kim Ji-hye)