Park Chan-wook Nearly Took No Other Choice to Hollywood — The Real Reason It Didn’t Happen
Snubbed by Hollywood, Park Chan-wook went independent, turning No Other Choice into a Korean-made comedy-thriller adapted from Donald Westlake’s The Ax; it lands this Christmas and is already generating buzz.
Park Chan-wook tried to make his new movie in the U.S. The studios said no. So he went home, made it in Korea, and now it is not only finished, it is already picking up praise before most people have even seen it. Sometimes the door that slams in your face ends up being the best thing that can happen to a film.
How a U.S. rejection turned into a very Korean production
Park told Deadline he originally set out to mount this one with American backing. No luck. Despite being, you know, the guy behind 'Oldboy' and 'The Handmaiden', nobody wanted to fund it. That pushed him to rethink the whole thing as a Korean production. Upside: that move let him team with Lee Byung-hun, who plays the lead, Man-soo.
'At the time, I had no other choice but to change this into a Korean film. Thanks to that decision, I was able to work with such a great actor [Lee Byung-hun], so I really view it as a blessing today.'
The end-credits thank-you he almost wrote
Park also admitted he toyed with a very dry joke in the credits: giving a special thanks to the American studios that passed. He did not actually do it, but the thought was there, and you can feel the sting beneath the humor.
'In the credits, when you see the special thanks section, I almost considered putting in the American studios that turned me down but I didn't.'
What the movie is
'No Other Choice' is a satirical black comedy/thriller based on Donald Westlake's novel 'The Ax'. Park has updated the hook in a way that is uncomfortably current. Man-soo (Lee Byung-hun) is laid off from a paper company after 25 years. The company says it has to downsize. He needs another job, fast. In a very bleak, very Park way, he starts eliminating his competition by literally eliminating his competition. One by one, he murders the other applicants going for the same position. And just when he thinks he has cleared the field, he runs into a competitor he cannot kill: an AI system. Park says he brought AI into the story because it is a real, present-day anxiety — and in the film, it is the scariest opponent of all.
- Source material: Donald Westlake's 'The Ax'
- Lead: Lee Byung-hun as Man-soo
- Tone: satirical black comedy with a thriller engine
- Status: already drawing worldwide praise ahead of wide release
- U.S. release: December 25, 2025
It is a sharp concept with a mean streak — classic Park — and the behind-the-scenes path to get it made is almost as darkly funny as the movie sounds. Rejection turned into leverage, a killer star pairing, and maybe a better version of the film than the one he would have made if those studios had said yes.