Seoul: A prequel story to the hit Korean political thriller "Inside Men" will be developed into a film trilogy, production house Hive Media Corp. announced Monday. The original film, directed by Woo Min-ho and starring Lee Byung-hun, Cho Seung-woo, and Baek Yoon-sik, was based on a webtoon of the same name by Yoon Tae-ho. It drew more than 7 million moviegoers upon its release in 2015, making it one of the country's biggest box-office successes that year.

According to Yonhap News Agency, the upcoming trilogy will serve as a prequel set in the late 1980s, preceding the events of the first film, which took place in the 2010s. The studio revealed that the trilogy will trace the origins of the powerful cartel of politicians, business tycoons, prosecutors, and gangsters depicted in the movie as dominating modern South Korea.

The project will be co-directed by Kim Min-beom and Kim Jin-seok. Kim Min-beom previously served as assistant director on films such as "12.12: The Day" (2023) and "Flu" (2013), while Kim Jin-seok adapted the Disney+ original series "Made in Korea." Hive Media stated that the first and second installments will be filmed simultaneously this year, with the third scheduled to shoot next year. Filming for the initial parts is expected to begin in the first half of the year once casting is finalized.