Netflix has taken another big step into financing original content by putting up $50 million to fund Snowpiercer director Bong Joon-ho’s next feature Okja. This is the second-highest amount that the streaming service has paid out for a film after the $60 million outlay they made for the up coming Brad Pitt military satire War Machine. As with War Machine, Netflix is pairing with Pitt’s production shingle Plan B for Okja.
In a statement to the Hollywood Reporter, Bong said –
It really is a fantastic opportunity for me as a filmmaker. For Okja, I needed a bigger budget than I had for Snowpiercer and also complete creative freedom. Netflix offered me the two conditions that are difficult to have in hand simultaneously.
Onkja, which will tell the story of a young girl and the titular animal, will be Bong’s second English-language feature, following last year’s science-fiction thriller Snowpiercer. In his native Korea, Bong has directed the critically acclaimed The Host (2006) and Mother (2009).
Although casting is curently underway for the role of the little girl, the film already has Tilda Swinton, Jake Gyllenhaal, Paul Dano and Bill Nighy attached. The production is set to shoot in both New York and Korea late next year for a 2017 release.
In addition to War Machine, Netflix has been aggressive in financing a number of feature films including a package deal of four films from Adam Sandler and the upcoming Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon sequel, The Green Legend.
