Yogi Bear Director Eric Brevig To Tackle 3D Korean War Epic

The main wealth of Eric Brevig's moviemaking experience has been as an FX guy, though he has now segued through second unit directing to overseeing his own movies. His first feature was the Journey to the Centre of the Earth remake-sequel with Brendan Fraser, which was an early example of live action 3D in the current digital wave, and he's now at work on the barmy-sounding Yogi Bear movie.

And what's next? Well, there's a possible sequel to Journey with Richard Outten, author of the abandoned Goonies sequel screenplay, supposedly updating his spec script Mysterious Travels to fit the Journey characters and situation; and there's also the rather unexpected prospect of a 3D epic set during the Korean War. Wow – there's a sharp turn after his pick-er-nick in Jellystone Park.

There's a little mention of the project in The Korea Times' round-up of 2010 Korean cinema:

Next year the country will be host to not only local projects but also Hollywood films. Erin Brevig [sic], who directed last year's computer graphics-packed Journey to the Center of the Earth, will direct a big-budget 3D film about the Korean War, said Madmedia. The script is set to be ready by early next year and preproduction is to be completed by October. The shooting is scheduled to begin here around November. Brevig is said to have been inspired after watching Kang Je-gyu's Korean War blockbuster Tae Guk Gi: Brotherhood of War. It is slated for release in 2012.

Madmedia would be the production company, and their Linked In page makes reference to working with Brevig, though they're sharing little else:

We are currently in development with our first major feature with Eric Brevig (Director), Charlotte Huggins (Producer).

If you visit their official site, you'll get nothing more than a placeholder logotype. Interestingly, though, they've accented their 3D bent by spelling their name Madm3Dia. I guess that's Brevig's angle, and there's every chance he'll never, ever make a 2D picture in his entire career. Can't say I blame him.

More details of the film had trickled out on News.CN. They tell us that the Battle of Chosin Reservoir is to be the main focus of the film, and that 6 or 7% of the film will be shot in South Korea, the rest completed in New Zealand.

There's a lot of questions to be raised by this project, including some of the old standby alarms about American filmmakers attempting to tell histories they have no personal relationship with or investment in. On the other hand, I applaud Brevig's desire to tell a story that US audiences may know far too little about.