Sayart.net - Park Chan-wook Returns to Small Screen with HBO′s “The Sympathizer“

Adaptation of Pulitzer Prize-Winning Novel to Premiere in Korea and US

Courtesy of HBO

▲ “The Sympathizer” / Courtesy of HBO

 

"The Sympathizer," a new HBO original series directed by acclaimed filmmaker Park Chan-wook, is set to premiere on local streaming platform Coupang Play in Korea in April. The series, based on Viet Thanh Nguyen's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel of the same name, will debut on HBO and its streaming platform, Max, in the US on April 14.

Featuring a star-studded cast including Oscar-winning actor Robert Downey Jr., Korean-Canadian actress Sandra Oh, and Vietnamese-American actor Kieu Chinh, the series portrays the story of the Captain, a man raised by a French father and Vietnamese mother, who serves as a North Vietnamese mole within the South Vietnamese Army. Fleeing to the US as the Vietnam War draws to a close, he becomes a double agent for the CIA before returning to Vietnam to fight for the Communist cause. 

▲ Korean poster for “The Sympathizer” / Courtesy of Coupang Play

Robert Downey Jr. also serves as executive producer for the seven-part series, which marks Park Chan-wook's return to television as co-showrunner alongside Don McKellar. Park directs the initial three episodes, with Fernando Meirelles directing the fourth and Marc Munden overseeing the final three. This project follows Park's success at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival, where he won the Best Director Award for "Decision to Leave," and represents his second foray into global drama series following the BBC original "The Little Drummer Girl" in 2018.

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