'Mount Chiak' horror film causes quarrel between Wonju residents, producers

A fight is breaking out between the makers of upcoming horror film “Mount Chiak” and the city of Wonju, over the name and premise of the film.

Producer Oh Sung-il speaks during a press conference for the upcoming horror film ″Mount Chiak″ at Lotte Cinema Konkuk University branch in Gwangjin District, eastern Seoul, on Thursday. [YONHAP]

A fight is breaking out between the makers of upcoming horror film “Mount Chiak” and the city of Wonju, over the name and premise of the film.

While the regional government claims that using the name of a real mountain in such a movie will lead to a serious disruption of its tourism, producers argue that a fictional story won't deter visitors. The escalating tensions have led to a protest and a request filed to the court to ban the screening of "Mount Chiak."

“Mount Chiak” is based on the urban legend that people were murdered, chopped up and buried at Mount Chiak, an actual mountain in Wonju, Gangwon, in 1980. This urban legend is not founded upon any real events, according to the Wonju Police Station.

Ever since the film's announcement, Wonju City has been demanding that the title of the film be changed and that all mentions of Mount Chiak be removed from the film, because the film could potentially hurt the image of mountain and the city itself. The city government is also demanding that the filmmakers make it clear in the beginning of the film that the events depicted are fictional.

The best that can be done is to change the title of the film, though it is impossible to remove every mention of mountain's name from the dialogue in the film, or to move the disclaimer to the beginning, the producer said.

Main poster for ″Mount Chiak″ [DOHO ENTERTAINMENT]

“We have already finished primary filming and cannot remove the recorded dialogue,” producer Oh Sung-il of Doho Entertainment, the production company behind “Mount Chiak,” said during the press conference for the film at a cinema in Gwangjin District, eastern Seoul, on Thursday.

“I have never heard of a case where the audio was silenced when the characters of a film are speaking. We regret to say that that request will be hard to meet.”

During the screening that took place for “Mount Chiak” on Thursday, the disclaimer stating that the events are entirely fictional was displayed at the end of the film. Editing for the digital cinema package for “Mount Chiak” is currently in process so that the disclaimer can be moved to the beginning of the film, said Oh on Thursday.

Wonju City and four social groups are also looking at the option of applying for an injunction to ban the screening of “Mount Chiak,” according to local reports. The social groups have already applied for such an injunction as of Thursday, while Wonju City is separately considering another application.

The producers still hope to work things out amicably, Oh said.

“We still have some time before the opening of the film, and we wish to resolve this matter on friendly terms,” Oh said. “It depends on the individual audience, of course, but I do not think that people watching our film would be so scared to the point of not being able to visit the actual mountain because of the content of the film.”

Social groups hold a surprise protest against the opening of ″Mount Chiak″ at Lotte Cinema Konkuk University branch in Gwangjin District, eastern Seoul, on Thursday. [YONHAP]

A group of social groups from Wonju held a protest in front of the cinema where the press conference for “Mount Chiak” was to be held Thursday, demanding that the press conference be canceled, the film not premier at all and that the name of the mountain not be used in the film.

Doho Entertainment has so far taken taken down the poster for “Mount Chiak” from the social media accounts of those involved in the film and proposed that the main cast hold a special screening with residents of Wonju.

“We have contacted Wonju City and told the city government that changing the title of the film is possible,” Oh added. “We would like to receive quick feedback from Wonju City, but we haven't gotten any as of yet.”

This is not the first time that issues have risen due to the possibility of a film title or content hurting the image of a region. “Gonjiam: Haunted Asylum” (2018), a horror film about an asylum in a neighborhood called Gonjiam in Gyeonggi, and “The Wailing” (2016), a film whose Korean title is the name of Gokseong County in South Jeolla, are other examples. "Narco-Saints," a Netflix series whose Korean title is the name of the South American country Suriname, was also criticized for hurting the image of the country.

BY LIM JEONG-WON [lim.jeongwon@joongang.co.kr]