SEOUL, May 18 (Yonhap) — Netflix on Thursday unveiled the main trailer for “Okja,” South Korean director Bong Joon-ho’s new film competing for the top prize at this year’s Cannes Film Festival.
In the trailer lasting a little over two minutes, viewers for the first time get a clear image of the titular fantastical beast Okja, whose birth is shrouded in mystery. The video was made available on Naver and other South Korean Internet portals.
The movie follows Mija, a girl from a rural town in South Korea, who risks everything to prevent a multinational company from kidnapping the massive beast.
Okja looks like a mix between a pig and a hippo. Oscar winner Erik-Jan De Boer, who won an Oscar for his work in “Life of Pi,” is at the helm of the visual effects of the US$50 million film.
Tilda Swinton, Paul Dano and Giancarlo Esposito make appearances in the trailer, along with Ahn Seo-hyun, who plays the main protagonist Mija, and South Korean actor Byun Hee-bong.
The sci-fi film was produced by three Hollywood studios — Plan B, Lewis Pictures and Kate Street Picture Company — while the U.S. video streaming service Netflix covered the film’s entire budget.
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