Lee Byung-hun and Squid Game Creator Hwang Dong-hyuk Reunite for Sci-Fi Thriller ‘K.O. Club’

Summary

Lee Byung-hun is reuniting with Squid Game creator Hwang Dong-hyuk to lead the sci-fi thriller K.O. ClubThe film is Hwang's first feature in nearly ten years and centers on a near-future generational war over the ability to buy biological youthFellow Squid Game alum Park Hae-soo joins an ensemble that also includes Oh Jung-se, Cho Yeo-jeong and Kim So-jin

Lee Byung-hun is reuniting with Squid Game creator Hwang Dong-hyuk, this time on the big screen, to headline the sci-fi thriller K.O. Club. The project marks Hwang's first feature film in nearly a decade, with his production company Firstman Studio, which he runs with producer Kim Ji-yeon, confirming the casting and targeting a filming start in the first half of 2027.

Lee is stepping back into Hwang's orbit after playing the Front Man across the Squid Game franchise, and he is not making the jump alone. The lineup also features Park Hae-soo, another face from the Squid Game world, alongside three actors coming into Hwang's fold for the first time: Oh Jung-se of It's Okay to Not Be Okay, Cho Yeo-jeong of Parasite and Kim So-jin of The Man Standing Next.

The story trades the deadly playground of Squid Game for a dystopian near-future, but keeps the class conflict that runs through Hwang's work. In K.O. Club, wealth can purchase biological youth, and the film sets an aging elite that hoards money and power against a younger generation shut out of both. The title itself lays the premise bare: K.O. Club is shorthand for "Killing Oldmen Club," a name that names the generational war at the center of the plot.

Firstman Studio made its name helping carry Squid Game to a worldwide audience and has since moved into television with the series Affairs Not the Only Secret. K.O. Club now stands as the company's return to feature production, made hand in hand with its founder.

For Hwang, the film caps a period of enormous visibility. Squid Game ran for three seasons on Netflix and became one of the platform's most-watched titles anywhere, and it leaves him one of Korean entertainment's most closely tracked names as he pivots back to cinema.

K.O. Club is targeting a filming start in the first half of 2027. Stay tuned for an official trailer and release date.

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