Fox Atomic will become the first Hollywood group to produce a studio movie in South Korea when it goes ahead with an untitled pic starring Channing Tatum.

Project was bought as a pitch by the Debbie Liebling-headed division from scripter Doug Jung ("Confidence") before the WGA strike. Roy Lee and Doug Davison of Vertigo Entertainment are attached to produce.

The police thriller set in Seoul sets Tatum as a American cop who teams up with a big-time criminal in order to enter the Korean underworld.

Zak Kadison will oversee the project for Fox Atomic. Tatum, Peter Kiernan and William Choi of Management 360 are attached as executive producers. Helmer and a Korean producing partner have yet to be attached.

Pic is not the first sign of Fox interest in Korea, a market where, even after a recent dip, local films dominate the B.O. In April, it was revealed that Paul Hanneman, co-president of Fox Intl., and Kim Woo-taek, CEO of major Korean distrib Showbox, had struck a preliminary agreement that could see the studio co-financing and co-producing Korean pictures. At roughly the same time, Fox exec Mike Heard scouted locations in Seoul and Busan.

Fox Atomic was launched last year as a division of Fox Searchlight to produce and acquire genre films for teen and young adult audiences.

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