South Korean-Japanese co-production invited to Cannes' noncompetition section

SEOUL, April 19 (Yonhap) -- A South Korean-Japanese co-produced film got selected in a noncompetition category of the 70th Cannes Film Festival, the film's Korean production said Wednesday.

South Korea's leading media and content company CJ E&M said it has produced "Blade of the Immortal" jointly with Warner Bros. Japan.

Directed by Japan's Takashi Miike, the movie starring Takuya Kimura, who was a member of the popular Japanese idol group SMAP, is set to open April 29 in Japan.

It is a screen-adaptation of a sensational Japanese manga of the same name that follows a cursed samurai named Manji, who has to kill 1,000 evil men to regain his mortality.

This marks the director's sixth foray into the festival.

sshim@yna.co.kr
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