Paramount and Hybe America ’s K-pop Movie Adds Ji-young Yoo and Eric Nam, Lands February 2027 Release
Paramount and Hybe America’s untitled K-pop film has found its stars and landed a release date, Paramount announced Tuesday.
Ji-young Yoo (KPop Demon Hunters) and Eric Nam (The Legend of Aang: The Last Airbender) are set to star in the Benson Lee-directed film. Eileen Shim wrote the script’s latest draft.
“This film is my love letter to K-pop – its energy, passion, magic, and the incredible community behind it,” Lee said in statement. “I’m deeply grateful to Paramount Pictures for championing the project, to our producers for their unwavering dedication, to our talented and dynamic cast, and to the legends of the genre helping us bring this story to life.”
In North America, the movie will open in theaters Feb. 12, 2027, the beginning of the lucrative Presidents Day/Valentine’s Day weekend, opposite TriStar’s buzzed-about book adaptation The Nightingale, starring Elle and Dakota Fanning (that film’s date was announced Tuesday as well).
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Lee’s untitled film, set in the world of K-pop music survival shows, is expected to be the first major American studio film shot entirely in South Korea. “The film centers around a young Korean-American woman, who defies her family’s wishes to compete in a televised competition to find the next K-pop girl group,” the logline reads.
Yoo recently voiced the role of Zoey, a member of K-pop girl group Huntrix, in Netflix’s KPop Demon Hunters, which has become a hit on the streamer both in and outside the world of K-pop. Several of the songs from the film, which were voiced by a separate group of performers, have landed on the Billboard Hot 100 and topped Spotify’s charts.
Nam is well-known in the world of K-pop, having performed in the Korean entertainment space since his on MBC’s music competition series, Star Audition: Birth of a Great Star 2, which launched his music career. He was an original host of the K-pop talk show After School Club and frequented Korean variety shows. He’s also slated to appear on season four of Peacock’s Emmy Award-winning reality show, The Traitors.
Hybe America’s president of film and TV James Shin is producing the film alongside Arthur Spector and Joshua Davis of Epic Magazine and Scooter Braun. Executive producers include Joshuah Bearman of Epic Magazine, John Zaozirny and Scott Manson.
“This film captures the incredible dedication and artistry that defines K-pop and its insatiable popularity, while showcasing the universal themes of chasing your dreams against all odds,” Shin said in a statement.
Hybe America is the U.S. branch of K-pop giant Hybe, which acts as the parent companies to several labels that house massive acts including BTS, Seventeen, Le Sserafim and Enhypen.
Paramount’s Bryan Oh will oversee production on behalf of the studio. Paramount Pictures’ president of the motion picture group Michael Ireland originally oversaw the project throughout its development at 20th Century Fox before acquiring it in turnaround from Disney and bringing it to Paramount under current studio head Brian Robbins.
Yoois repped by Entertainment 360, Gersh, Viewpoint and Del Shaw Moonves, while Nam is repped by WME, 3 Arts Entertainment and The Lede Company.
Epic is repped by CAA and Linda Lichter at LGNA.
July 22, 2:30: Updated with additional release date details for Presidents Day weekend in 2027.
—Pamela McClintock contributed to this story.