EXCLUSIVE: Jameela Jamil (The Good Place) and Won Ji-an (Squid Game) have been tapped for key roles in Pyongyang Home Video, a new drama inspired by true events, which centers on two North Korean sisters reenacting Hollywood movies to escape the perils of their young lives.
Hailing from Imagine Entertainment and South Korea’s Desert Bloom Pictures, the film will be directed by award-winning Korean filmmaker Eric Yoon (Bleak Night).
The story follows sisters Nari (Ji-an) and Hana, who have grown up watching illegal Hollywood films. Following their forced escape from North Korea, when their neighbor tips off the police about their father’s black market VHS business, the sisters use their imagination to escape into fantastical reenactments of their favorite films, in order to survive the journey. Five years later, older sister Nari finds an unlikely ally in American talk show host, Serena (Jamil), who promises to reunite the siblings on live television. But the broadcast reveals far more than anyone expected.
Script is by Liz Kerin, the screenwriter, author and award-winning playwright known for the vampire saga, Night’s Edge. The film will be produced by Janice Chua (Crazy Rich Asians) for Imagine Entertainment and by Desert Bloom Pictures, led by CEO and founder Jennice Lee (Along With the Gods), with Co-CEO Hugh Cha and producer Hyoungjin Park (Exhuma).
In a statement on the project, producer Chua said, “Pyongyang Home Video is a powerful testament to the resilience of imagination—something Jennice Lee of Desert Bloom immediately connected with when I first shared it with her. Our creative partnership reflects what this film stands for – it celebrates the transformative nature of storytelling: how it entertains, liberates and heals. It is a dream to help bring this vision to life with such a remarkable team of creative voices from the U.S. and Korea.”
Commented Desert Bloom’s co-CEOs, Lee and Cha, “This project hits at the core of what we care about—telling locally grounded stories that speak to the world. Pyongyang Home Video is both timely and human, and we believe its emotional truth will resonate far beyond borders. We’re excited to be partnering with Imagine and Janice, whose creative vision aligns closely with our mission.”
Best known for starring in NBC’s The Good Place, Jamil will next be heard voicing Questa in Pixar’s Elio, which releases June 20. She can also be seen in the upcoming Netflix Christmas movie A Merry Little Ex-Mas, opposite Alicia Silverstone and Oliver Hudson, and People We Meet on Vacation for Netflix and 3000 Pictures.
Recently seen playing Se-mi — aka Player 380 — in the second season of Netflix’s Squid Game, as well as the streamer’s South Korean action series D.P., Won will next appear opposite Park Seo-joon in JTBC’s drama Waiting for the Right Moment, as well as in two Disney+ series: the international co-production Made in Korea and the spy thriller Tempest.
Yoon made his feature debut with Bleak Night, a coming-of-age drama that swept up Best New Director awards at numerous international festivals. Other credits include Netflix’s Time to Hunt, which premiered at the Berlinale in 2020, and Amazon’s post-apocalyptic zombie fantasy romance Newtopia, starring Blackpink’s Jisoo and Park Jung-min (Hellbound).
Upcoming projects for Imagine Entertainment, the shingle of Brian Grazer and Ron Howard, include Luca Guadagnino’s anticipated Amazon MGM thriller After the Hunt, Netflix drama The Gringo Hunters, a doc helmed by Howard on renowned photographer Richard Avedon, and Barbara Walters: Tell Me Everything, which premieres at the Tribeca Festival in June.
Jamil is represented by UTA and 3 Arts; Won by Hiin Entertainment; Yoon by UTA and Black Bear; and Kerin by Verve.
