South Korean movie Assassination will hit mainland cinemas on Sept 17. [Photo provided to China Daily]

While some parts of the storyline resonate with Chinese because of wartime memories, shooting major parts of the film in China should make it easier to win the Chinese market.

"When I was conceiving the script, I had been worried about the shooting locations, as most of the historical buildings from that period are hard to find in present-day South Korea," Choi explains.

The filmmaker found the atmosphere of that period during a visit to Shanghai Film Park, one of China's largest filming sites.

A number of buildings and streets re-creating 1930s Shanghai in the park impressed Choi.

As a longtime market favorite, Choi is known for his talent to combine commercial appeal with artistic pursuit. His previous four movies－three crime thrillers and one fantasy epic－are all smash hits. Choi's heist adventure film The Thieves in 2012 was among the highest-grossing films in South Korea.