News bites: February 15, 2015

by awcoconuts

Lee Sung-min, Kim Seol-hyun

• Lee Sung-min (Yay, Chief Oh!) is finalizing a contract for the male lead in a new sci-fi movie titled Robot, Sori. He’ll play a father whose daughter goes missing and who refuses to accept the widespread belief that she’s dead. When an artificial intelligence robot makes an emergency landing in Korea, Lee will commission its use in the search for his daughter. It’ll be his first lead in a commercial movie, and Robot, Sori will begin filming during the latter half of the year. [Osen]
• AOA’s Kim Seol-hyun (Watch Out For Fools) is readying her vampire fangs: She’s been cast as the female lead in Orange Marmalade, KBS’s upcoming Friday-Saturday show, in which the heroine is a vampire. Kim will work opposite Yeo Jin-gu (I Miss You) and CN Blue’s Lee Jong-hyun (A Gentleman’s Dignity), and wow, that’s a cast full of beautiful young faces. Orange Marmalade, based on the popular eponymous webtoon, airs after Spy in May. [Joy News]


Sohn Hyun-joo, Eom Ji-won

• Sohn Hyun-joo (Three Days) and Eom Ji-won (Thrice Married Woman) are finalizing contract negotiations to star in The Phone. While the movie’s title lacks a certain ring (hur), the plot is intriguing: A top lawyer is still heartbroken over the loss of his wife, who was murdered the year before. Through a strange disruption in the space/time continuum, he’ll receive a call from her, and when he realizes that he’s speaking with his wife on the day that she was murdered, he’ll try everything in the present to reverse the past. Sohn will play the grieving attorney, while Eom will play the devoted (and doomed) wife. The Phone begins filming next month and is expected to hit theaters in the latter half of the year. [Star News, Sports Chosun]
• The grandpas are back! The third season (technically the fourth, in terms of geography) will take place in Greece, and Na PD and the halbaes embark this very weekend to begin filming there. While tvN had considered filming in Jordan, safety concerns prevented them from doing so. The original cast of Grandpas Over Flowers, all four halbaes and our crotchety Luggage Boy, will be back on the small screen at the end of March. [Osen]


Krystal, Seo Joon-young

• Krystal (She’s So Lovable) has paired up with Seo Joon-young (Secret Door) in one of three short films commissioned by W Korea to celebrate the fashion magazine’s 10th anniversary. Titled Listen To My Song, it will be about a top actress (Krystal) who is rolling out an album. Seo will play a band member, and the two will connect via music. The comedic short runs less than ten minutes long and will be released in mid-March at KT & G’s SangsangMadang multiplex. [Asia Economy]
• Korea’s King of Sitcoms, PD Kim Byung-wook (Potato Star 2013QR3, the High Kick franchise), will be bringing his unique ability to China beginning in 2016. He and Fan Entertainment have partnered with China’s Croton Media, and will consult on the writing and direction of 100 episodes of a new Chinese sitcom. Per the agreement, Fan Entertainment will receive an advisory fee of just over $3.5 million, and if the show is a success, this could be a lucrative, ongoing business relationship. Kim was excited about the opportunity, saying, “I’ll take on this project with the same trepidation and passion as I had when I first started making sitcoms, and will strive to succeed.” [Xports News]


Park Yong-woo, Song Chang-eui

• Park Yong-woo (My Love, Madame Butterfly) has been cast in an SBS drama special akin to the popular film, The Attorney. The two-episoder is called Lifechaser Lee Jae-kyu, and Park is the title character. Initially a materialistic, money-grubbing attorney, a single incident will change him, and he’ll become a lawyer for the people, fighting for those whose lives were wrongly sacrificed. Lifechaser Lee Jae-kyu airs in 3D on February 21 and 22. [Joy News]
• Song Chang-eui (Dr. Frost) is on the verge of taking the lead in MBC’s upcoming weekend drama, Make a Woman Cry. While not a lock yet, he is positively considering the role of a high school teacher stuck in a marriage of convenience. When his wife commits suicide, his son blames him for his mother’s death and begins to act out and to bully other kids. His actions lead to another boy’s death, and Kim Jung-eun will play the mother of the child who died. She’s a detective but when she loses her only son, she’ll quit the police force and set up a snack shop in front of her child’s old school in an effort to hold onto his memory. Her prime position leads her to become an ajumma Hong Gil-dong of sorts, who keeps a watchful eye over the neighborhood children. Make a Woman Cry airs in April after the conclusion of Rosy Lovers. [Osen]

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