News bites: December 13, 2014

by awcoconuts

• Yoon Hyun-min has been confirmed for Falling For Innocence, which stars his good buddy Jung Kyung-ho and Kim So-yeon (I Need Romance 3) as a heart transplant patient and the woman his heart is in love with. This will be the third collaboration between Yoon and Jung, who became good friends on the set of Heartless City, then went on to support each other in the drama special House, Mate. Yoon, in sharp contrast to his cute Discovery of Romance character, will play a smooth guy who oozes charisma, and who becomes Jung’s rival for the heroine’s attentions. Knowing about their real life bromance should make the onscreen tension fun to watch. Falling For Innocence will air after the conclusion of Maids next year on JTBC.[TV Report]


Jung Seok-won, Jung Hye-sung

• Jung Seok-won (Mr. Back) will play a coldhearted Japanese soldier in the upcoming film Daeho (which translates to “a loud cry”). Set in the period of Japanese occupation, Jung will begin a desperate struggle to capture the last tiger in Joseon, and he’ll use hunters and military force to accomplish his goal. Veteran Choi Min-shik (Roaring Currents, Oldboy) is also slated to star, and he expressed his excitement for the film, saying, “It’s a story that’s never been told on film before.” That’s all we know so far about the movie, but with these two on board, I’m already sold. Daeho begins filming at the end of December. [XSports News]
• Jung Hye-sung (Pride and Prejudice) has been cast as the heroine’s bestie in the upcoming vampire medical drama Blood, but she sounds like the type of friend you wish you didn’t have — she’ll get in between the developing loveline between Gu Hye-sun and Ahn Jae-hyun. Blood begins airing in February on KBS on Mondays and Tuesdays. [Star News]
• The second trailer is out for Gangnam 1970, which isn’t all that different from the first trailer, but I enjoyed seeing a little more of Kim Rae-won and the increased emphasis on the bromance-turned-bitter-rivalry between him and Lee Min-ho. The brief snippets of their emotional performances are gripping, and I’m looking forward to the heady match-up. [FN News]
• In a recent interview, manhwa creator Yoon Tae-ho offered up some details on the first three episodes of season 2 of Misaeng (the webtoon). The first will focus on everything it takes to keep a company running, while in the second, Jang Geu-rae heads to a used-car dealership and tries to negotiate a deal. The third episode will deal with the responsibilities that come with getting hitched, as marriage becomes an issue for the youths in their late 20s. When asked if Jang Geu-rae would be involved in a romantic storyline, cartoonist Yoon said, “Of course! He can’t stay single forever.” Misaeng 2 (the webtoon, with the drama hopefully soon to follow) premieres in March. [My Daily]



• Hyun Bin’s enormous salary for Jekyll and Me has been a recent source of controversy: He’s been guaranteed over 90,500 USD per episode, and assuming there will be 20 episodes, he’s guaranteed to earn roughly 1.8 million USD. (A guarantee is not the total revenue earned, but the amount guaranteed to be earned even if the project doesn’t get made.) He also is involved with production and gets a cut of overseas export revenues, so he could earn up to 136,000 USD per episode, meaning that his income alone could account for a third of the per-episode production budget of just over 400,000 USD. In the post-You-From-Another-Star-era, revenues earned from exporting dramas to China have skyrocketed, but most of that income hasn’t translated to greater profits for broadcasters or for production companies. [Munhwa]
• The posters are out for the newest project from Park Se-young (Feel-Good Day), another based-on-webtoon film (her last movie, Fashion King, was also based on a popular webtoon) called Cat’s Funeral. In it, she plays a cartoonist who wears her heart on her sleeve, while Kang In (of SuJu) plays a musician who struggles to express his emotions. While I haven’t seen the original material, Cat’s Funeral looks like a cute romance. The movie hits theaters in January 2015. [Enews 24]

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