CJ Pitches SUPERFAN With Ivanhoe and SKE

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NEWS & REPORTS

CJ Pitches SUPERFAN With Ivanhoe and SKE

Jul 07, 2016

Writer by Pierce Conran
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Baseball Drama Follows Fandom of LEE Sung-woo

CJ Entertainment is on board to finance and produce the baseball movie Superfan, along with Ivanhoe Pictures and Sidney Kimmel Entertainment. From a script by KIM Young-il, the film will be based on the true life story of LEE Sung-woo, a passionate fan of the Kansas City Royals who became a local celebrity from his devotion to the team.

He achieved this prominence despite not living in the area but eventually made a dream trip to Kansas City in 2014 during which fans credited his support for a winning streak that leads to the team’s first World Series qualification in 30 years.

“We are looking forward to seeing such a natural U.S./Korea co-production dealing with a rare true story that can only happen in our current day,” said CJ Entertainment CEO JEONG Tae-sung. “We are excited to be taking on this endeavor with Ivanhoe.”

Ivanhoe president John Penotti said: “We are very excited about this terrific, heart-warming story, a tale of two cultures linked by a shared passion, and social media. We couldn’t have a better partner for this project than CJ.” He added: “In terms of both content and execution, the project uniquely lends itself to an organic U.S.-Korea collaboration, and we look forward to critical and box office success in both Korea and throughout the globe.”

The venture will mark the second collaboration between Ivanhoe and SKE through their joint venture SK Global. The Chinese-language basketball title My Other Home is currently shooting in Beijing with Stephon Marbury, star of the NBA and CBA. Ivanhoe has previously found success in Korea with Fox International Productions, having invested in NA Hong-jin’s Cannes-invited hit THE WAILING.

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