Jang dong-gun, left, and Jo Odagiri in a scene from "My Way"

By Lee Hyo-won

``My Way,’’ starring Korean superstar Jang Dong-gun and Japanese heartthrob Jo Odagiri, will be released simultaneously in Korea and Japan this year, the film’s local distributors CJ Entertainment and SK Telecom announced Tuesday.

The film is set to make a wide release in more than 250 theaters in the neighboring Asian countries via Doei Entertainment and CJ Entertainment Japan. Few local films have secured nationwide exposure overseas, such as for Shim Hyung-rae’s 2007 sci-fi adventure ``D-Wars.’’

Directed by Korea’s Kang Je-gyu, the film made headlines for spending 30 billion won on productions ― a record amount for homegrown works. It is story about two friends whose lives take a turn amid the Allied invasion of Normandy during World War II.

``My Way” is Kang’s first film in eight years since the 2003 Korean War (1950-53) blockbuster ``Tae Guk Gi,’’which also stars Jang. Jang has previously starred in a Korea-Japan joint project, ``Lost Memories: 2009’’ (2001) and recently made his Hollywood debut in ``Warrior’s Way’’(2010). Odagiri on the other hand has made his Korean cinema debut in ``Dream’’ by award-winning filmmaker Kim Ki-duk.

China’s popular singer and actress Fan Bingbing is also set to appear in ``My Way.’’ Fan has previously appeared with So Ji-sub and Zhang Ziyi in the 2009 romantic comedy ``Sophie’s Revenge.’’

``My Way’’ went into production last year on Oct. 15 and will be released in December.