# Choi Dong-hoon

Choi Dong-hoon (Korean: 최동훈; born February 24, 1971) is a South Korean film director and screenwriter. He ranks as one of the most consistently successful directors working in contemporary Korean cinema, with all first five of his films becoming commercial hits -- The Big Swindle attracted 2.12 million viewers, Tazza: The High Rollers at 6.84 million, Jeon Woo-chi: The Taoist Wizard at 6.13 million, The Thieves at 12.9 million, and Assassination at 12.7 million.

## Career

After graduating from the prestigious Korean Academy of Film Arts, Choi Dong-hoon first worked as an assistant director on Im Sang-soo's Tears (he subsequently appeared in acting cameos in several of Im's films).
After working on the screenplay for two years, Choi made his feature film directorial debut in 2004 with The Big Swindle and single-handedly re-imagined the heist and crime thriller genre into something uniquely Korean. His follow-up Tazza: The High Rollers, a gambling flick adapted from Huh Young-man and Kim Se-yeong's manhwa, was the second highest grossing Korean film of 2006, and producer/Sidus FNH CEO Cha Seung-jae praised Choi as "a genius storyteller for his spectacular ability to develop elaborate stories." 2009's Jeon Woo-chi: The Taoist Wizard was lauded as the first Korean fantasy/superhero blockbuster movie, earning Choi a reputation as an artistically innovative and commercially successful writer-director.
He returned to the heist genre in 2012 with the star-studded crime caper The Thieves, which attracted almost 13 million viewers in 70 days to become the second all-time highest grossing movie in Korean film history. Tazza and Thieves leading lady Kim Hye-soo described him as "a genius who also works extremely hard. I think he knows who he is, the exact kind of films that he wants to make, and how to make them."
Choi made his first period film with 2015's Assassination, about freedom fighters during Japan's colonial rule, and it was once again a box office hit, crossing the 10 million admissions milestone on the 70th anniversary of South Korean independence.
In 2017, Choi began production on his next film Wiretap, a remake of the 2009 Hong Kong film Overheard. However, production was halted so Kim Woo Bin could undergo treatment for cancer. At the end of 2019, the director was then reported to be working on a two-part science fiction film. The first part titled Alienoid which depicts a story unfolding as the door of time open between late Goryeo and the present day, when aliens appear, was released in July 2022.

## Filmography
### As director

* A Short Trip (short film, director; 2000)
* The Big Swindle (director, screenwriter; 2004)
* Tazza: The High Rollers (director, screenwriter; 2006)
* Jeon Woo-chi: The Taoist Wizard (director, screenwriter; 2009)
* The Thieves (director, screenwriter; 2012)
* Assassination (director, screenwriter, producer; 2015)
* Alienoid (director, screenwriter, producer; 2022)
* Alienoid: Return to the Future (director, screenwriter, producer; 2024)
* Wiretap (director, screenwriter; TBA)

### Other

* Tears (assistant director, cameo; 2000)
* A Good Lawyer's Wife (cameo; 2003)
* Boy Goes to Heaven (screenwriter; 2005)
* The President's Last Bang (cameo; 2005)
* The Restless (screenwriter; 2006)

## Awards

| Year | Award | Category | Recipients | Result |
| 2004 | 3rd Korean Film Awards | Best New Director | The Big Swindle | Won |
| 2004 | 3rd Korean Film Awards | Best Screenplay | The Big Swindle | Won |
| 2004 | 25th Blue Dragon Film Awards | Best New Director | The Big Swindle | Won |
| 2004 | 25th Blue Dragon Film Awards | Best Screenplay | The Big Swindle | Won |
| 2004 | 7th Director's Cut Awards | Best New Director | The Big Swindle | Won |
| 2004 | 24th Korean Association of Film Critics Awards | Best New Director | The Big Swindle | Won |
| 2004 | 41st Grand Bell Awards | Best New Director | The Big Swindle | Won |
| 2004 | 41st Grand Bell Awards | Best Screenplay | The Big Swindle | Won |
| 2005 | 2005 SBS Gayo Daejeon | Music Video of the Year | MV | Won |
| 2006 | 14th Chunsa Film Art Awards | Best Film | Tazza: The High Rollers | Nominated |
| 2006 | 14th Chunsa Film Art Awards | Best Director | Tazza: The High Rollers | Nominated |
| 2006 | 27th Blue Dragon Film Awards | Best Film | Tazza: The High Rollers | Nominated |
| 2006 | 27th Blue Dragon Film Awards | Best Director | Tazza: The High Rollers | Nominated |
| 2007 | 43rd Baeksang Arts Awards | Grand Prize (Daesang) | Tazza: The High Rollers | Won |
| 2007 | 43rd Baeksang Arts Awards | Best Film | Tazza: The High Rollers | Nominated |
| 2007 | 43rd Baeksang Arts Awards | Best Director | Tazza: The High Rollers | Won |
| 2007 | 8th Newport Beach Film Festival | Best Feature | Tazza: The High Rollers | Won |
| 2007 | 8th Newport Beach Film Festival | Best Director | Tazza: The High Rollers | Won |
| 2007 | 44th Grand Bell Awards | Best Director | Tazza: The High Rollers | Nominated |
| 2007 | 8th Busan Film Critics Awards | Best Screenplay | Tazza: The High Rollers | Won |
| 2007 | 6th Korean Film Awards | Best Film | Tazza: The High Rollers | Nominated |
| 2007 | 6th Korean Film Awards | Best Director | Tazza: The High Rollers | Nominated |
| 2007 | 6th Korean Film Awards | Best Screenplay | Tazza: The High Rollers | Won |
| 2012 | 21st Buil Film Awards | Best Director | The Thieves | Nominated |
| 2012 | 21st Buil Film Awards | Buil Readers' Jury Award | The Thieves | Won |
| 2012 | 49th Grand Bell Awards | Best Director | The Thieves | Nominated |
| 2012 | 33rd Blue Dragon Film Awards | Best Film | The Thieves | Nominated |
| 2012 | 33rd Blue Dragon Film Awards | Best Director | The Thieves | Nominated |
| 2012 | 33rd Blue Dragon Film Awards | Best Screenplay | The Thieves | Nominated |
| 2012 | 33rd Blue Dragon Film Awards | Audience Choice Award for Most Popular Film | The Thieves | Won |
| 2012 | 20th Korean Culture and Entertainment Awards | Best Film | The Thieves | Won |
| 2013 | 49th Baeksang Arts Awards | Best Director | The Thieves | Nominated |
| 2015 | 24th Buil Film Awards | Best Film | Assassination | Nominated |
| 2015 | 24th Buil Film Awards | Best Director | Assassination | Nominated |
| 2015 | 35th Korean Association of Film Critics Awards | Best Film | Assassination | Nominated |
| 2015 | 35th Korean Association of Film Critics Awards | Best Director | Assassination | Nominated |
| 2015 | 35th Korean Association of Film Critics Awards | Top 10 Films of the Year | Assassination | Won |
| 2015 | 52nd Grand Bell Awards | Best Film | Assassination | Nominated |
| 2015 | 52nd Grand Bell Awards | Best Director | Assassination | Nominated |
| 2015 | 52nd Grand Bell Awards | Best Screenplay | Assassination | Nominated |
| 2015 | 36th Blue Dragon Film Awards | Best Film | Assassination | Won |
| 2015 | 36th Blue Dragon Film Awards | Best Director | Assassination | Nominated |
| 2015 | 36th Blue Dragon Film Awards | Best Screenplay | Assassination | Nominated |
| 2016 | 52nd Baeksang Arts Awards | Best Film | Assassination | Won |
| 2016 | 52nd Baeksang Arts Awards | Best Director | Assassination | Nominated |
| 2016 | 52nd Baeksang Arts Awards | Best Screenplay | Assassination | Nominated |
| 2015 | 21st Chunsa Film Art Awards | Best Director | Assassination | Won |
| 2015 | 21st Chunsa Film Art Awards | Best Screenplay | Assassination | Nominated |
| 2015 | 11th Max Movie Awards | Best Film | Assassination | Nominated |
| 2015 | 11th Max Movie Awards | Best Director | Assassination | Nominated |
| 2015 | 11th Max Movie Awards | Best Poster | Assassination | Nominated |