Netflix Locks Theatrical Date For Burning Director Lee Chang-dong's Next Film, Possible Love

Netflix has announced that Possible Love, directed by Korean auteur Lee Chang-dong, will receive a theatrical release in Korea, U.S. and other select territories following its premiere at the Venice and Toronto film festivals.

The ensemble cast is headed by Jeon Do-yeon, Sul Kyung-gu, Zo In-sung and Cho Yeo-jeong. The film centers on the intertwined lives of two married couples — a laid-off worker and his wife and an affluent documentary filmmaker and her husband — and the story that unravels as they meet. Possible Love is Lee's first feature film in eight years following the critically acclaimed Burning (2018).

Possible Love will open at Korean theaters in September two months before its release on the global streaming platform, the streaming platform said Tuesday. The Korea release on September 23 is followed by Australia on October 22, and the U.S., Canada, UK, Ireland and Japan on October 23. It will then be streamed worldwide on Netflix from November 6. The theatrical release dates indicate that Netflix will be giving the film, which was financed by the streamer as an original, an awards campaigning pitch as it will qualify for the Best International Feature category at next year’s Academy Awards, as well as for other categories.

Much like Asghar Farhadi’s Cannes-premiered Parallel Tales, this is another part of producer Maciej Musiał’s new Dekalog project inspired by Kieślowski—only eight more to go. Possible Love will premiere at the 83rd edition of the Venice International Film Festival, scheduled for September, where it will compete for the Golden Lion, and later have its North American premiere at the 51st edition of the Toronto International Film Festival the same month. At TIFF, Possible Love is chosen for the Special Presentations section.