Oldboy Director Returns: Squid Game Star Ignites No Other Choice in Pulse-Pounding First Trailer
NEON drops the official trailer for No Other Choice, a pitch-black comedy thriller led by Squid Game star Lee Byung-hun and Crash Landing on You favorite Son Ye-jin. The film opens in select U.S. theaters December 25, 2025, before expanding nationwide in January.
Park Chan-wook has a new one on deck, and NEON just dropped the first trailer for 'No Other Choice' — a black comedy thriller fronted by Lee Byung-hun and Son Ye-jin. It opens in select U.S. theaters on December 25, 2025, then goes wider in January. Holiday counter-programming, to put it mildly.
What the trailer is selling
Lee plays a husband and dad who gets blindsided by a layoff. His family tightens their belts, the mood curdles, and he zeroes in on a new job that could fix everything. The catch: he is prepared to remove the other applicants from the equation. As in, permanently. It is dark, nasty, and very much in Park’s wheelhouse.
Who is involved
- Leads: Lee Byung-hun (G.I. Joe, Squid Game) and Son Ye-jin (The Last Princess, Crash Landing on You)
- Also starring: Park Hee-soon (My Name), Lee Sung-min (The Spy Gone North), Yeom Hye-ran (The Glory), Cha Seung-won (Believer and Believer 2), Yoo Yeon-seok (Mr. Sunshine)
- Director-producer: Park Chan-wook (The Vengeance trilogy, The Handmaiden, Decision to Leave)
- Writers: Lee Kyoung-mi, Don McKellar, and Jahye Lee, adapting Donald Westlake's 1997 novel 'The Ax'
- Producers: Back Jisun, Michele Ray Gavras, Alexandre Gavras
- Executive producer: Miky Lee
Release plan
NEON is rolling it out in the U.S. on December 25, 2025 for a limited run, then expanding nationwide the following month. Not exactly a cozy Christmas movie, but sure, why not.
Why this pairing matters
It is another team-up between Park and NEON after their 2023 20th-anniversary push for 'Oldboy' — a fresh theatrical run plus a limited deluxe 4K UHD Blu-ray. Park’s most recent project was HBO’s 'The Sympathizer' last year, which earned Robert Downey Jr. an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actor.