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Written by Darcy Paquet

Tuesday, 24 July 2007

Story Categories: Avex, Film, Japan, Korea, music,

SEOUL ? Japanese firm Avex Entertainment has picked up rights to its first Korean film, musical comedy "Highway Star" starring Cha Tae-hyun ("My Sassy Girl").

The deal with Korean seller Studio 2.0 comes during a time when Korean sales to Japan have shown a sharp drop from the stratospheric levels of 2005. Pic is a remake of Japanese feature "Enka no Hanamichi".

Avex, best known for its music division, recently moved into the film industry, and through its Avex Asia subsidiary is an investor in John Woo's epic co-production "Red Cliff".

"Highway Star" tells the story of a struggling rock musician who is conned into singing traditional Korean country music. Pic earned $11.7 million on its local release in February.