Now this looks like a great Summer popcorn flick! The first teaser trailer has dropped for the upcoming Korean movie Pirates, which of course garners the immediate association that it’s going to be a Korean version of Pirates of the Caribbean. A bit of yes and no in that connection, yes it has Joseon era pirates but no it doesn’t seem to have a lot of supernatural fantasy elements. This one appears closer to a good old-fashioned chase movie but set on the seas and involving Korean bandits and pirates. What’s even better is casting against type in elegant wispy Son Ye Jin playing a female pirate leader while casting totally on type in having Kim Nam Gil play a land lubbing bandit leader trading his horse for the high seas. Who doesn’t immediately want to shout “Bidam is back! And he’s going out to sea!” Kim Nam Gil is one of those actors that broke out late in his career with Queen Seondeok and then hasn’t managed to translate that into continued success once he left the iconic Bidam persona behind. Bad Guy and Shark were both lackluster disappointments but hopefully Pirates will rekindle my lingering Bidam affections for him. The teaser trailer looks fantastic and this movie comes from the director who did Dancing Queen and See You After School but the scriptwriter has a mixed bag of hits and misses under his belt having written awesome Chuno and the fun movie of 7th Grade Civil Servant but also did bombs like hot mess Fugitive Plan B and the indescribably awful drama version of 7th Grade Civil Servant. Here’s hoping Pirates skews towards Chuno with awesome fight scenes, great angst, and the chase for something truly important to everyone in the hunt. Check out the moody but over-photoshopped official character posters below along with a first exciting taste in the movie teaser.

The sprawling cast also includes Sulli of f(x), Kim Tae Woo (such an awful husband in God’s Gift: 14 Days), Yoo Hae Jin, Lee Kyung Yung, Oh Dal Soo, Ahn Nae Sang, Park Chul Min, Lee Hee Bong, and Lee Yi Kyung (relative newbie and last seen as evil hyung Jae Kyung’s secretary in You From Another Star). What a fantastic cast that promises lots of fun sparks onscreen. Pirates is scheduled to set sail sometime this Summer.

First teaser trailer for Pirates (English-subbed):