‘The Great Flood’ director Kim Byung-woo “Release on Netflix? Theaters are in a situation where conservative choices are unavoidable”

Director Kim Byung-woo speaks at the production briefing for the Netflix original film ‘The Great Flood’ held on the morning of the 16th at CGV IPark Mall in Yongsan-gu, Seoul. Photo Yonhap News

Director Kim Byung-woo, who directed the Netflix original film ‘The Great Flood’, shared his thoughts on releasing it on Netflix.

On the morning of the 16th, Kim Byung-woo attended the production briefing for ‘The Great Flood’ held at CGV Yongsan IPark Mall in Yongsan-gu, Seoul. Lead actors Kim Da-mi, Park Hae-soo, and Kwon Eun-sung joined him.

After ‘The Terror Live’ in 2013, Kim released ‘PMC: The Bunker’ and ‘Omniscient Reader Viewpoint’. With this work, he teamed up with Netflix for the first time.

However, some have wondered whether the film, which presents itself as a disaster movie but shifts toward SF fantasy in the latter half with challenging transitions and structure, could only be released to the public because it was on Netflix. This question was in fact raised at the production briefing that day.

From left, actor Park Hae-soo, director Kim Byung-woo, actor Kwon Eun-sung, and Kim Da-mi pose at the production briefing for the Netflix original film ‘The Great Flood’ held on the morning of the 16th at CGV IPark Mall in Yongsan-gu, Seoul. Photo Yonhap News

In response, Kim said, “Not necessarily, but in the current environment theaters seem unable to avoid making conservative choices. Even so, I felt this story could appeal to many people overseas. That is how I was fortunate to work with Netflix.”

He added, “I thought motherhood might be too difficult a theme, and as I wrote the script and filmed, since I do not have children and am not a woman, even the figure of ‘mom’ felt distant and daunting at the start,” and “Still, I have a mother and memories from childhood, so I relied on those memories to make the film.”

‘The Great Flood’ is an SF disaster blockbuster that portrays the struggle inside a flooding apartment complex by those who place the last hope of humanity on the final day of Earth overwhelmed by a great flood. It has already drawn a positive response through its screening in the ‘Korean Cinema Today- Special Premiere’ section at the 30th Busan International Film Festival.