
Space Sweepers

Space Sweepers () is a 2021 South Korean space Western film directed by Jo Sung-hee, starring Song Joong-ki, Kim Tae-ri, Jin Seon-kyu and Yoo Hae-jin. Regarded as the first Korean space blockbuster, it was released on Netflix on February 5, 2021.
Plot.
In the year 2092, Earth has become nearly uninhabitable. The UTS Corporation builds a new orbiting home for humanity that mimics the natural processes on Earth; however, only a chosen few are permitted to ascend and become UTS citizens, while those remaining on Earth breathe polluted air. 
To regulate the population in orbit and keep an eye on the non-citizens, UTS governs them via a strict set of rules and taxes. Many non-citizens from all across the globe work as space sweepers, collecting space debris floating in Earth's orbit and selling it to the company factory for survival. The plot follows such a crew of space sweepers and their ship, the Victory.
Victory's crew has Kim Tae-ho, Tiger Park and Bubs (an android), all led by Captain Jang. Tiger Park handles the ship's machinery and was a drug baron on Earth. Bubs used to be a robot soldier but now helps repair the ship and cast the net for space junk while saving up to get a complete skin graft. Captain Jang was one of the child geniuses sponsored by UTS and created several hi-tech inventions for the company but, after discovering the company's true workings, became a pirate and tried to assassinate James Sullivan. Her crew was killed and Sullivan survived, so she changed identities and had an eye transplant. Tae-ho, once a child soldier, is on a search for his daughter (Su-ni); who was lost and ejected into space after a space debris collided with the station they were staying at. His sole life aim is to pay for the authorities' recovery team to locate her body tracker before she drifts out of orbit and gets lost in space forever.
After picking up a car floating in orbit, they discover a child in it. News reports say that she is a robot named Dorothy, and has a weapon of mass destruction inside her created by the terrorist group Black Fox. The crew also finds a smartphone in Dorothy's bag with several missed calls from someone named Kang Hyeon-u. They call back and, assuming the other party to be part of the Black Fox group, negotiate two million dollars for returning Dorothy. Tiger finds Dorothy drawing in his cabin and starts a conversation with her, as he finds himself drawn to her. 
Tae-ho and Tiger carry Dorothy to a night club to collect the ransom, but she wanders off in the crowd. UTS soldiers have lain in wait, and a massacre ensues. Tiger and Tae-ho locate Dorothy when Soldier 01 zeroes in and shoots at them. Dorothy's eyes change color, and the trio are protected from the blast by a sort of force field around them. Captain Jang is watching everything through a feed on the ship. She also notices the man who came to collect Dorothy shouting after her and calling her Kot-Nim. The trio make it back to the ship, and Dorothy busies herself drawing and playing. When asked by Jang what her name really is, Dorothy says Kot-Nim is her Korean name. Tae-ho ignores her, thinking she is a robot, while Tiger becomes friendly with her and suggests keeping her. Tae-ho dismisses the idea and goes to set up another call with Kang Hyeon-u to rearrange the exchange. 
Dorothy and Tae-ho find tomatoes on the plant that Dorothy had helped revive from a dead tree, and sell them. Captain Jang finds papers in Dorothy's backpack and goes through them. Bubs puts makeup on Dorothy and tells her the story of Tae-ho. As a child soldier, Tae-ho was Soldier 01 at the age of 17. On one of his voyages, Tae-ho shot and boarded a ship that carried several fleeing non-citizens and killed them all. He noticed a baby still alive in the arms of a dead woman and adopted the girl. She rekindled his humanity and Tae-ho found himself unable to hurt others - as a result, he was dismissed from the force, made homeless and reduced to a non-citizen. After one year of homelessness, Tae-ho became desperate and gambled, neglecting Su-ni. She wandered away to find a snack, and while outside there was a debris impact that caused her to be blown into space, with Tae-ho desperately witnessing it from an airlock.
A masked man follows Kot-Nim to the toilet in the factory. Her screams alert Tae-ho and Tiger, who rush to save her but are ambushed by a group of masked people. Tiger beats them all and Captain Jang intervenes, discovering they are other space junk collectors. Their leader explains that Black Fox is not a terrorist organization, but rather an environmental group, and that Kot-Nim is not an android but a human child. Born with a congenital disease, her father Kang Hyeon-u injected her with nanobots found in space debris to save her life. The nanobots helped Kot-Nim, but they also gave her a unique power: Kot-Nim could now communicate with other nanobots and heal and protect things. Sullivan found this out and used Kot-Nim to turn Mars into a healthy, green planet. He plans to kill Dorothy in a hydrogen bomb explosion (since nanobots can only be destroyed by breaking them into atoms through extreme high temperatures). Given its proximity to Earth, the explosion would cause the factory to fall onto the planet, destroying the Earth and making Mars the only viable option for all humans.
The crew decide to unite Kot-Nim with her father and disable the bomb, with the help of the Black Foxes who will locate and take Dr. Kang to the meeting point. Soldiers attack them, but Tae-ho and Kot-nim manage to flee on the Victory. They enter a space debris field, where nanobots begin to consume their ship. Kot-nim communicates with them, and the nanobots disperse. They enter the factory where the meet-up is scheduled, only to be ambushed. The UTS soldiers kill all the Black Foxes and Dr. Kang before kidnapping Kot-Nim. Sullivan leaves Tae-ho four million dollars in return for abandoning Kot-Nim. Tae-ho takes the money, but the rest decide to save Kot-Nim – even if it kills them. Tae-ho goes to give the money to the UTS officers, and they hand over Su-ni's last found remains to him – her clothes, crayons and Korean writing book. In it, Su-ni had written that she wanted to be a good person like her father. This reminds Tae-ho of the promise he made to Su-ni, to be the best man she had ever known. He takes back the money, and returns to the ship with a new zeal before they all go to save Kot-Nim. 
Sullivan goes live, announcing the Mars program. The bomb has been armed in the factory, and Kot-Nim is strapped to it on a chair. The team free Kot-Nim, but Captain Jang discovers that the bomb can not be defused. It will not only destroy anything in its blast range, but also destroy any nanobots in the vicinity of 5,000 kilometers. The only way Kot-Nim's nanobots (and her life) can be saved is if she is out of range. The team sets off to fly 5,000 km away, but are interrupted by Soldier 01; Tiger fights her and ejects her from the factory. The team send out a message to the rest of the Space Sweepers, who come to their aid, fighting the attacking troops. The population of Earth learns of Sullivan's true goals when they hear him recount his plan through the Space Sweepers' emergency comm channel. The Victory is intercepted by Sullivan himself, who tries to fight the crew to get back Kot-Nim. When it seems they have lost the battle, Tiger and Tae-ho manage a final boost that puts the ship just out of the blast range. The crew reveal their real plan: Kot-Nim was left safely with other Space Sweepers. The Victory had removed the bomb from the core and carried it away, ready to sacrifice their lives to save Earth and Kot-Nim. The bomb explodes; however, Kot-Nim has summoned the nanobots to protect the Victory, keeping the crew safe. 
In the aftermath of the battle, UTS apologizes for the cover-up of the true goals and promise to help make Earth more habitable. Kot-Nim is adopted by the crew and, using her powers, enables Tae-Ho to say goodbye to Su-ni. Bubs gets her skin graft. Tiger and Tae-Ho take Kot-Nim down to Earth to help grow trees and they all continue space sweeping.
Production.
Development.
The early working title of the film was "Lightning Arc" ().
Jo Sung-hee started writing the story 10 years prior to the film's release, after a friend talked to him about the dangers of space junk. He said that "It started with the idea of space travelers collecting space junk. I heard about how these fast-moving fragments of space debris are growing and leading to in-space collisions. I realized that this subject has already been dealt with in animations and games, but never in a film. I started writing the script wondering how Koreans, who possess a tenacious mentality, would approach this problem."
In May 2019, the Chinese multinational entertainment company Huayi Tencent invested $4.2 million in the film. The visual effects company Dexter Studios, which was behind the production of the films "", "Ashfall" and "Wandering Earth", was hired for "Space Sweepers".
Casting.
In June 2018, it was reported that Song Joong-ki agreed to star in Jo Sung-hee's next film, making it their second collaboration after "A Werewolf Boy" (2012). Kim Tae-ri was offered the role of the spaceship captain in January 2019, followed by Jin Seon-kyu for the role of the keeper in April. The final lineup was confirmed in June 2019, with Yoo Hae-jin joining the main cast in the form of robotic motion capture and voice acting. English actor Richard Armitage also revealed through his Instagram account that he would start filming in July 2019, making "Space Sweepers" his first Korean film.
Filming.
Principal photography began on July 3, 2019, and filming was completed on November 2.
Release.
In June 2020, it was announced that the release was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic with a plan for the film to premiere during the Chuseok holiday. In August 2020, the release was once again postponed due to the rise of COVID-19 cases in South Korea.
In November 2020, it was announced that the film would be released exclusively on Netflix. "Space Sweepers" was released on February 5, 2021.
In May 2021, "Space Sweeper"'s second film is scheduled to be produced.
Reception.
Audience viewership.
The film debuted at No. 1 on Netflix in at least 16 countries including France, Malaysia, Croatia, South Korea and the Philippines. The movie also dominated Netflix's daily top 10 rankings in 80 countries upon its premiere. Space Sweepers also gathered more than 26 millions household viewers on Netflix during the first 28 days of its release.
Critical response.
On the review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 72% based on 25 reviews, with an average rating of 6.7/10. The site's critics consensus reads, "As a story, "Space Sweepers" isn't as adventurous as its star-navigating protagonists -- but relatable characters and impressive effects keep it from drifting out of orbit". On Metacritic, it has a weighted average score of 64 out of 100, based on reviews from 4 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".
Adaptations.
A webtoon based on the film premiered on May 26, 2020 on Daum and KakaoPage. It premiered globally on February 8, 2021.