‘No Other Choice’ – Park Chan-wook’s Adaptation of ‘The Ax’ Wraps Production

Park Chan-wook, the Award-winning Korean filmmaker behind The Vengeance Trilogy, Thirst, and Stoker, has just wrapped principal photography on his latest feature, No Other Choice, Variety reports today.

The film began filming in August 2024 and is slated for release sometime later this year. 

No Other Choice is an adaptation of Donald E. Westlake’s mystery thriller The Ax and follows “a middle-aged man named Man-soo who embarks on a determined job hunt after being unexpectedly terminated from his position at a paper company.”

The novel’s synopsis gives a fuller picture: “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 ne never knew ne had — and that come to him far too easily.”

In other words, expect corporate downsizing to get deadly. We can likely expect a dark sense of humor about it, too. The novel previously received a French adaptation in 2005.

“Squid Game” star Lee Byung-hun (I Saw the Devil) is set to play the lead role of Man-soo, while Son Ye-jin portrays his resilient wife A-ra. Lee Sung-min (“Handsome Guys”), Yeom Hye-ran (“The Glory”), Cha Seung-won (“Believer 2”), Yoo Yeon-seok (“Hospital Playlist”) and Park Hee-soon (“The Policeman’s Lineage”) also star.

The news comes with a first look image of the leads in what appears to be happier times. Lee Byung-hun previously collaborated with Park Chan-wook on breakout feature Joint Security Area and horror anthology Three Extremes. 

No Other Choice marks Park’s return to the silver screen after the 2022 romance mystery Decision to Leave. Stay tuned for additional details as they arrive.