The new movie from South Korean director Bon Joon-ho, "Okja," is the latest move by Netflix in expanding its global reach.
The streaming giant has just invested $50 million in "Okja," according to The Hollywood Reporter, which is Bong's follow-up to his hit 2013 movie "Snowpiercer."
Currently in pre-production, the film stars Jake Gyllenhaal and Tilda Swinton and follows a friendship between a girl and an animal/monster named Okja (but for anyone who knows Bong's work, the story is likely more complex than that).
This is on the heels of Netflix committing last spring to a $60 million investment in the upcoming Brad Pitt project "War Machine." That's the company's largest deal to date.
Pitt's Plan B Entertainment has also come onboard the "Okja" project as a co-producer, according to THR.
Netflix is in more than 50 countries with 69 million subscribers around the world.
With the company's plan to launch its service across Asia in 2016, collaborating with one of South Korea's biggest filmmakers is a smart move.
Bong's "Snowpiercer" was a critical success here in the US, but overseas it was a much bigger hit, grossing over $82 million at the foreign box office. The largest territory was Bong's homeland of South Korea, where it earned $59.8 million. At a $40 million budget, it's the biggest-budget Korean movie of all time.
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