A poster for the 1999 action spy film “Shiri,” which will be re-released in theaters in a 4K remastered version on March 19. Courtesy of CJ ENM By Baek Byung-yeul "Shiri," the 1999 action spy film that became a massive hit at the Korean box office, will return to theaters. Distributor CJ ENM said Thursday that a 4K remastered version of the 1990s film directed by Kang Je-kyu will be released in theaters on March 19. "Shiri," named after a fish species found in freshwater streams in the country, is Korea's first Hollywood-style blockbuster movie, depicting an action-packed spy war between South Korean special agents Yu Jung-won (Han Suk-kyu) and Lee Jang-gil (Song Kang-ho), and North Korean special forces commander Park Mu-young (Choi Min-sik), North Korean spies and a mole. The film attracted over 6.2 million viewers nationwide, marking the beginning of the renaissance of Korean cinema and serving as the starting point for the spread of the multiplex system, where multiple screens are in operation in one theater. It also became the most-watched film of the 1990s, attracting 2.43 million viewers in Seoul, surpassing the 1.97 million viewers of the 1997 Hollywood film "Titanic." Until the 1990s, the Korean cinema scene, which ranked box office performance by audience numbers, relied on audience figures from only Seoul because it didn't have accurate numbers for the whole country. Lead actor Han Suk-kyu in a scene from “Shiri” / Courtesy of CJ ENM The lead actors in "Shiri" are now mainstays of the Korean film industry. In addition to Han, who was already a top actor at the time, Choi starred in the 2003 film "Oldboy," which won the Grand Prix award at the 2004 Cannes Film Festival. Song gained global acclaim when he starred in the 2019 movie "Parasite," which earned director Bong Joon-ho the Palme d'Or prize at the 72nd Cannes Film Festival and the Best Picture at the 92nd Academy Awards. Song also won the Best Actor award at the 75th Cannes Film Festival with the 2022 movie "Broker." The film also features supporting roles played by current star actors such as Hwang Jung-min, Kim Su-ro, Lee Jong-hyuk and Jang Hyun-sung, providing a foundation for the rise of the Korean film industry.
