News bites: November 8, 2014

by awcoconuts

Kim Sung-ryung, Lee Jong-hyuk

• Kim Sung-ryung (Heirs) and Lee Jong-hyuk (Dating Agency Cyrano) might be pairing up as a married couple in the upcoming weekend drama Equator’s Flower. Sadly, the spouses don’t care too much for each other; their union is all for show. As a result of growing up in a poor hillside village, Kim Sung-ryung’s character is driven to succeed. Instead of accepting life as a single mother, she abandons her daughter and moves to the States, but after suffering from financial ruin, she’s forced to return to Korea. She marries the character offered to Lee Jong-hyuk, a chaebol who’s the director in a leading food conglomerate who doesn’t have time for love. The show will be about the ambitious woman’s power struggle with a chaebol family (her husband’s?) and her reunion with the daughter she previously abandoned. Equator’s Flower airs after Legendary Witch on MBC in February. [Osen, Osen]
• Kang Haneul (Misaeng) is returning to his theater roots: He’s been cast as Harold in the play 19 And 80. Based on the novel Harold and Maude (which spawned the cult classic film), Harold is the son of a wealthy family who is fascinated with death. He meets the elderly Maude at a funeral, and their relationship turns romantic as she helps him find happiness in life. 19 And 80 opens in January at Kooklib Theater. [Star News]
• Park Shi-hoo (Alice in Cheongdam-dong) is confirmed for After Love, where he’ll play a cold and heartless former pilot who now works at an airline company. The film will be a melodrama about Park’s character failing to appreciate his love when she was by his side, but realizing his love for her only after her departure. We’ve yet to receive confirmation from Yoon Eun-hye (Mi-rae’s Choice), who was offered the co-starring role, but we should have her decision soon. Filming begins this month on Jeju Island and After Love is targeting a May 2015 release. [Star News]
• Oh Chang-seok (Jang Bori Is Here) has scored the lead in the upcoming comedy movie Mission, Steal A Top Star, in which he’ll play an immature top star who has everything — until he’s suddenly kidnapped by an unknown assailant. As a result of the experience, he reflects upon his life and begins to understand the heart of the person he loves. Oh Chang-seok’s in demand these days; his name has also been floated as the male lead of the upcoming drama Goddess of Sales. [Joongang]


Kang Haneul

• Jung Yumi (Discovery of Romance) has been offered the role of Jung Woo’s wife in Himalaya. The upcoming film, based on the true story of Uhm Hong-gil, a South Korean climber who embarked on a Mt. Everest expedition in 2004 and struggled to retrieve a fellow climber’s body, has suffered its share of setbacks, but production is now finalizing the supporting cast. Jung Woo (Answer Me 1994) will play the deceased climber, so expect an emotional performance by Jung Yumi if she takes the role. Shoots begin for Himalaya at the end of the month and the movie will finally hit theaters next year. [Osen]
• JTBC is launching a new high school detective drama called Seonam Girls High School Investigators. Based on the eponymous novel, the show will follow a group of five high school girls who make up an investigative team, and the hijinks that ensue as they go about their inquisitive business. Idol Lee Hyeri (of Girl’s Day) and actress Jin Ji-hee (Can We Love) have already been cast as two of the five, with the latter being saddled with twin genius oppas whom she’ll have to live up to. The group will try to solve problems running the gamut from bullying to abortion, and since I haven’t read the novel, I’m looking forward to a preview — I love a good Nancy Drew story. The celebrated variety PD Yeo Woon-hyuk has signed on to direct, and the show is expected to begin airing in December. [Osen]
• A sequel to Bong Joon-ho’s The Host, which still holds the second-place all-time domestic box office record, is finally on the horizon: The Host 2 will enter production next year and is targeting a 2016 release. The sequel is taking shape as a joint Korean-Chinese production, and will mark Park Myung-chun’s directorial debut. A production source emphasized that The Host 2 will be strongly correlated to the first movie, and that the story will continue in the second film. Casting is still underway. [OBS]

Jung Yumi

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