South Korean film The Himalayas will be released at home and in the U.S. next week, before hitting theaters in other parts of the world, CJ Entertainment announced Tuesday.
CJ Entertainment America will distribute the movie, which is set to bow on screens in major U.S. cities on Dec. 18, two days after it premieres in South Korea. The Los Angeles-based company began directly distributing films in the U.S. in 2009 and is one of the largest distributors of Asian films in the region, handling around 20 to 24 titles per year.
At home, it will also be offered in ScreenX, an immersive theater technology by CJ CGV that offers panoramic visuals through three screens.
The mountain-climbing adventure pic is also set to open in theaters across Australia, Japan and Middle Eastern regions. Himalayas was pre-sold to 63 territories including France, India and Thailand following its showcase during AFM last month.
“While there have been successful sales for Korean films that were box-office hits at home, this marks a rare example of a local title being pre-sold to so many territories since Snowpiercer,” said a spokesperson for the film. Another CJ Entertainment title, Snowpiercer, directed by Bong Joon Ho and starring Tilda Swinton and Ed Harris, was pre-sold to a record 167 countries.
Himalayas, helmed by Lee Seok-hoon and based on true events, centers on a renowned mountaineer who risks all to retrieve the body of his late colleague in Mt. Everest’s notorious “death zone.”