Park Chan-Wook’s ‘No Other Choice’ Wraps Production, Stars Lee Byung-hun & Son Ye-jin

Veteran Korean filmmaker Park Chan-wook has wrapped production on No Other Choice, which stars Lee Byung-hun (Squid Game) and Son Ye-jin (Crash Landing on You).

The five-month shoot kicked off in August 2024, with Moho Film attached as the production company and CJ ENM as distributor.

Based on the 1997 novel “The Ax” by Donald Westlake, the film follows Man Soo (played by Lee), a man who is suddenly fired from a paper company. He is determined to find a new job and deals with those standing in his way.

Park Hee-soon (Moving), Lee Sung-min (The Spy Gone North), Yeom Hye-ran (The Glory), Cha Seung-won (Uprising) and Yoo Yeon-seok (Hospital Playlist) are also part of the cast for No Other Choice.

Park first talked about his plans to adapt Westlake’s novel during the Busan International Film Festival in 2009.

Park won Best Director at the Cannes Film Festival in 2022 for Decision to Leave and has achieved both critical and commercial acclaim for films like Joint Security Area, Oldboy and The Handmaiden, among others.

“The Ax” was previously adapted by Z and Missing director Costa-Gavras in 2005 into a French-language film titled The Axe.