Korean Actor Choi to Co-star with Robert De Niro

The Korean actor Choi Min-soo will co-star with Hollywood stars Robert De Niro and Andy Garcia in the film "Street of Dreams", Korea's Yonhap news reported Tuesday (March 18).

"Street of Dreams" is a 40 billion won co-production between U.S.-based FR Productions, Korea's Hyun Jin Cinema and Japan's Wides Japan. The film will be produced by Fred Roos, the producer of "The Godfather: Part II" and "The Godfather: Part III".

Hyun Jin Cinema has produced Korean films such as "Holiday" and "My Wife is a Gangster 3". Wides Japan has previously made "Deep Love" and "26 Years Diary" that showed the story of a Korean-Japanese man who sacrificed his life to save a Japanese passenger in the subway.

"Street of Dreams" is based on the true story of Montana Joe, a legendary Japanese-American gangster in the 1960s in the United States. Choi will play the role of Montana's Korean friend, Eddie. This will be Choi's first Hollywood movie.
According to FR Productions, De Niro has been cast as an Italian mafia leader. De Niro, who has won two Academy Awards, is known for remarkable performances in "The Godfather Part II", "Taxi Driver" and "The Untouchables". Garcia, who also appeared in "The Untouchables", "The Godfather: Part III" and the "Ocean's" series, will also play a mafia boss against De Niro.

So far, however, no actor has been cast in the leading role of Montana. Large-scale auditions are scheduled for the role in April and May in Japan.

Raymond De Felitta, who was nominated for an Academy Award for a live-action short film "Bronx Cheer", will direct the film. Roger Towne, who won an Academy Award for "Chinatown" in 1975, wrote the script. "Street of Dreams" is slated for release in 2009.