Park Chan-wook, the South Korean auteur behind Oldboy, The Handmaiden, and most recently Decision to Leave, is coming to small screens with the Max series The Sympathizer. But after that, he’s set for a new feature film, The Ax, an adaptation of Donald E. Westlake’s book that Chan-wook has been trying to launch for years.
The Film Stage caught wind of a Korean outlet confirming news of Chan-wook’s adaptation of The Ax with stars Lee Byung-hun (I Saw the Devil) and Son Ye-jin (The Negotiation).
Here’s a synopsis of Westlake’s novel: Burke Devore is a middle-aged manager at a paper company when the cost-cutting ax falls, and he is laid off. Eighteen months later and still unemployed, he puts a new spin on his job search — with agonizing care, Devore finds the seven men in the surrounding area who could take the job that rightfully should be his and systematically kills them. Transforming himself from mild-mannered middle manager to ruthless murderer, he discovers skills he never knew he had –, and that come to him far too easily.
Many of Westlake’s novels have been adapted by Hollywood. He’s the creator of the popular Parker character, played by Jason Statham in a 2013 film. The Ax served as the basis for the critically-acclaimed Costa-Gavras movie Le Couperet released back in 2005
