Sylvester Stallone to Remake South Korean Thriller 'The Gangster, The Cop, The Devil'

Don Lee will reprise his role as a gangster in the Hollywood adaptation, which will be produced by Stallone's Balboa Productions.

South Korean film The Gangster, The Cop, The Devil will get a Hollywood remake, the film's local production company BA Entertainment announced Monday. Balboa Productions, the studio launched by Sylvester Stallone, will helm the English-language adaptation of the crime thriller.

The remake will be jointly produced by Stallone; Braden Aftergood, who executive produced the Jeremy Renner thriller Wind River and co-founded Balboa Productions; Jang Won-seok, CEO of BA Entertainment; Chris S. Lee, CEO of B&C Group; and Don Lee, aka Ma Dong-seok, the Train to Busan star who plays the lead in the original South Korean film. B&C Group is the American management of Lee.

Lee is slated to reprise his role as a gang boss in the remake. Before entering South Korean show biz relatively later than his peers, the 48-year-old is known to have worked as a trainer for such American mixed martial artists as Mark Coleman and Kevin Randleman. In The Gangster, Lee plays the titular gangster who survives a lethal attack by a serial killer. He forms an unlikely partnership with a cop (Lee Mu-yeol) to help track down the murderer (Kim Seong-gyu).

"This partnership [between South Korea and the U.S.] is especially significant in that there hasn't been any South Korean remakes thus far with this level of meaningful collaboration from the original Korean filmmakers and lead actor," said Chris S. Lee.

The $9 million production directed by Lee Won-tae (Man of Will) has been invited to show in the Midnight Screening section of the Cannes Film Festival. It will open nationwide in South Korean cinemas May 15, followed by Singapore on May 23, among other countries. It has presold to 104 territories including the U.S., Canada, Australia, China, France, Germany and India. Encore Inflight is handling worldwide inflight. K-Movie Entertainment handles international sales for the film produced.

Updated May 7, 6:33 a.m. Updated with additional information about co-producers and quote from B&A Entertainment.