Official poster for "Gangnam 1970"

Rising Hallyu star Lee Minho proved his brand power by pre-selling the distribution rights of his first lead-role movie in 11 major Asian countries.

“Lee’s film, ‘Gangnam 1970’ has been confirmed to be distributed in 11 Asian countries including Japan, China, Taiwan, Hong King, Vietnam, Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia,” Showbox, the main distributor for the movie, said.

The overseas film distributors who bought the rights of Lee’s movies turned out to be big and powerful distributors in their own countries, boosting the success of the movie.

Lee Min-ho in the movie "Gangnam 1970" (Showbox)

“I sincerely thank all of my fans from overseas for supporting me. Your support helped me and the film staff and guided us to do our best,” Lee was quoted as saying.

The movie “Gangnam 1970” portrays two men’s desire for money and friendship in Gangnam district of Seoul in the 1970s, when the region began undergoing historic changes with a boom in real estate investment. The film is scheduled to be released in January.

By Kim Min-jin (minjin103@heraldcorp.com)