David Farnor | On 17, Jul 2021

A TV show based on the Korean thriller The Villainess is in the works at Amazon Studios.

Directed by Byung-gil Jung, the original movie follows Sook-Hee, a trained assassin who was born to kill. She was just a little girl when the training started in China. And after the death of her mentor, when the chance of starting a new life was given to her, she came to South Korea as a government agent. The National Intelligence Service promised her freedom after 10 years of active assignments. So begins her new double life as a theatre actress-cum-hit-woman until the dark secrets from her past start to reappear. Then she gets a new mission and it changes everything.

“Bloody, violent, and absolutely exhilarating, this female-led revenge thriller is guaranteed to get your heart racing,” we wrote in our review of the film.

It premiered at Cannes back in 2017 and went on to debut at FrightFest in the UK. Now, Amazon Studios is developing a small screen remake, with Byeong-Gil attached to direct the pilot – and also exec-produce the project, alongside Star Trek Beyond writer Doug Jung.

Dynasty and Sleepy Hollow writer Francisca Hu is attached to write and exec-produce the pilot, with the project hailing from Robert Kirkman’s Skybound Entertainment and Next Entertainment World.

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