Lee Yeon-hee offered new drama from Chuno, Pirates writer
by javabeans
Good news, bad news! The good news: There’s a new drama in the works, which is always cause for interest since I’m always eager for more material to look forward to in the near future. The bad news: Well… let’s keep reading.
The project is called The Package and it’s currently got an offer out to Lee Yeon-hee to headline, which isn’t bad news in and of itself. She’s put in some admittedly poor performances in the past, but I came ’round with her career-redefining back-to-back roles in Gu Family Book and Miss Korea, where she came to life… even if she then followed those with a lackluster role in Hwajeong.
But what has me apprehensive is hearing that The Package is the next drama from writer (and production company CEO) Chun Sung-il — or, as I think of him by now, the flashy, action-loving screenwriter whose understanding of women characters and their motivations leads me to think he has never met one in real life, or at least spoken to one at any great length, and no, talking at women doesn’t equal talking with them.
He’s written some entertaining projects, so I’ll give him some credit for that; his resumé includes the original movie version of spy rom-com Level 7 Civil Servant (My Girlfriend Is a Secret Agent), slave-hunting action sageuk Chuno, globe-trotting spy-action drama Runaway Plan B, the drama version of Level 7 Civil Servant, and historical action flick The Pirates. There is a definite trajectory of quality there, and it’s not the good trajectory. It’s the other one, the one pointing down. Level 7 Civil Servant may have the distinction of being one of the worst (the worst?) dramas we’ve recapped here on Dramabeans, although I suppose it did lead to some pretty awesome recap experiences — but that was you guys being awesome, not the show in any way.
The Package will be set in Paris and unfolds amidst the travels of tourists and the tour guides there, and is looking to shoot entirely in France. It’ll be the first pre-produced drama by JYP Pictures, a new production company offshoot of JYP Entertainment, and is in talks to air on JTBC. All of those things sound very odd to me when put together. And yet, I suppose it’s all so odd that I’ll have to check it out, even if I might later regret that. I’d like to think I’m being overly pessimistic, but why bet against history?
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1 PeepsLeAwesomePotato
May 26, 2016 at 3:17 AM
An SME actress in a JYPE production while the JYPE idol-actor is pushed into a drama elsewhere that has everyone wailing at the news. Hm...
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2 Hwari
May 26, 2016 at 3:20 AM
Thank you for the news. Saw someone tweet about JYP Pictures new project. They sure busy this year with new movie with Song Kang Ho and this drama. This is their first drama beside 2 web dramas.
I thought they would secure JYP Actors (rookie, veterans, child) but here we got actress from SM. Keep us update.
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3 agree
May 26, 2016 at 3:32 AM
"Chun Sung-il — or, as I think of him by now, the flashy, action-loving screenwriter whose understanding of women characters and their motivations leads me to think he has never met one in real life, or at least spoken to one at any great length, and no, talking at women doesn’t equal talking with them. "
your description of writer is hilarious JB...
I'm fortunate enough to not to have come across any of his works..
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4 pogo - sailing HMS Queen of Tears and HMS Sailboat Lovely Runner🍉
May 26, 2016 at 3:49 AM
/sigh
Lee Yeon-hee was perfect in Miss Korea, but this doesn't look promising.
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bd5
May 27, 2016 at 12:53 AM
LYH was captivating in MK, but "Chuno" was very average as sageuks go.
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5 Bùi Quốc Khánh
May 26, 2016 at 3:50 AM
Now have less and less chance for talent actress...
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6 Caffeine Ninja
May 26, 2016 at 4:18 AM
I like Lee Yeon Hee including her acting. I mean, she's no Im Soo Jung, but i find the hate for her acting OTT. Is the criticism unwarranted? No. Does she have her weaknesses? Absolutely. Is she as bad as some people say she is? Not in my (personal) opinion.
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7 paroles
May 26, 2016 at 4:24 AM
We're probably, for one, going to hear really really poor French being spoken. Why shoot something entirely overseas when it costs a shit ton plus the actors can't speak in that language?
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Grapes
May 26, 2016 at 5:55 AM
+1
I don't like watching Kdrama out of Kdrama land,
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8 W
May 26, 2016 at 4:26 AM
tv cable jtbc?? wow doesn't have enough money JYP??? for air on atleast KBS or mbc??? Like FNC Entertaiment did with their production drama who are you school 2015.
who's the lead male? is someone for 2pm members?
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Hwari
May 26, 2016 at 5:00 AM
Yes, they don't have enough money for sure. They just barely gain profit so maybe they being cautious.
It's nothing wrong to air on jtbc.
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9 meowingme
May 26, 2016 at 4:52 AM
The links! Why give links! It is 8 pm in the office and haven't gone home coz stuck reading and gasping and rotfl-ing over the Level 7 Civil Servant recaps!
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10 Mandy
May 26, 2016 at 5:04 AM
I actually like/love of the dramas mentioned here like Chuno and Plan B. Both really had my heart and pumped me with adrenaline even though looking back, I'm not entirely sure why I loved them. One thing is certain, the writer writes his male leads with so much charisma - Dae-gil and Ji Woo are amongst my favourite male leads ever.
Lee Yeon-hee though - no thank you. Pass. Whatever I've seen her in, she was so goddamn awful and even GFB which so many counts as her "amazing" performance made me cringe with the excessive amount of eyes-widening, teeth-grinding overacting. She's plain no-go for me so despite liking the writer somewhat, I'm out.
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sumi
May 26, 2016 at 6:24 AM
I, too, found her acting in GFB wanting. I did think it was better than her previous work, but I felt like I was watching her try reeeally hard to act well. It still felt very unnatural to me.
But Miss Korea is another story. She really impressed me with how good she was in that.
I don't know if this is the case for her or not, but I think some actors are only good when working with a director who knows how to bring out their best. Gu Hye-sun's acting drove me crazy until she did Angel Eyes (in which she gave a much more natural and restrained performance), then she went back to her affected acting style and got a ton of criticism while doing Blood. (But at least she got a new hubby in the process-- I think they should just focus on being a force for good in the world, 'cause they rock in that regard.)
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juniper
May 26, 2016 at 10:01 AM
I think loving Chuno might have had a little something to do with the PD and Jang Hyuk? Not saying the writing was bad, but it was the directing and intense performances made that drama such a ride imo. Plan B was also directed by Kwak Jung-hwan.
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Mandy
May 26, 2016 at 6:26 PM
It definitely had a lot to do with the PD, but I really liked the writing in Chuno too - the suspense at every episode's ending really did me in and while not extremely intricate, the plot really made me feel sucked into the world.
As for Plan B, I think the second half's writing was strong but I can't argue that it was a lot more the directing and the acting that wowed me. The writer isn't as bad as Level 7 might suggest but he does need an extremely powerful cast and PD to make his work shine. Obviously, Lee Yeon-hee fails miserably in that regard.
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juniper
May 26, 2016 at 6:49 PM
Yeah, I agree that Chuno had decent writing--it was way more developed thematically than your average kdrama script. For instance a lot of people weren't fond of the slave rebellion, but I think it was one of the best/most important parts of the drama, and not just because of Gong Hyo-jin being a badass. I'm just a Kwak Jung-hwan fangirl, so I had to give him props. And the performances were so immense across the board I have trouble separating out where the writing was most effective lol--Jang Hyuk, Sung Dong-il, Gong Hyung-jin, Kim Eung-soo, Lee Jong-hyuk, Jo Jin-woong...there were so many unforgettable moments thanks to them. Hell, even Lee Da-hae and Kim Ha-eun acted the crap out of pretty limited roles. The only sour note was Oh Ji-ho.
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juniper
May 27, 2016 at 5:50 AM
*Gong Hyung-jin lololol sorry. *facepalm*
bd5
May 27, 2016 at 12:57 AM
LYH was great in MK.
Chuno's writing, otoh, was very average.
Basically one long chase which really didn't go anywhere and the writing had several actors repeat the same mannerisms over and over again (Jang Hyuk and even Sung Dong-il - who I absolutely love, but that was the worst I've ever seen him).
And don't even start me on Lee Da-hae.
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11 kanz
May 26, 2016 at 5:17 AM
If Lee Yeon Hee keeps her acting level in Hwajung, I'm out..
Not even Paris would make me glance a second to this drama, unless they cast truly my fave oppa.
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Kiara
May 26, 2016 at 8:37 AM
She is terrible in sageuks. Gu Family Book was a halfass dress up sageuk and she was only in it for a few episodes. She was totally out of her element in old school sageuks like Hwajung.
Rom.com fits her better with a solid leading man.
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juniper
May 26, 2016 at 10:08 AM
Agreed. Hwajung wasn't even a very complicated sageuk, either. Maybe if she'd had a leading man with sageuk experience it could've been different, but she and the rest of the younger cast were completely out of their depth.
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MapleSilver
May 26, 2016 at 10:11 AM
I knew it! Acting along side Lee Seon-kyun brought out the best natural acting in her. :-) Just kidding. She deserved all credit for her performance in Miss Korea. Not sure what other rom-coms she had done where she did well. I thought Paradise Ranch was awful.
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kanz
May 27, 2016 at 2:28 AM
I only watched her in probably 2 or 3 eps of Hwajung.. Gosh, she and SKJ is one of the most inept leading couple in sageuk history. Can't finish the rest because bad acting + story going nowhere.
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12 Grapes
May 26, 2016 at 6:00 AM
It's probably going to air after Mirror of the Witch
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Bùi Quốc Khánh
May 26, 2016 at 6:03 AM
'Man To Man' will broadcast after 'MofW'
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Grapes
May 26, 2016 at 6:20 AM
Is it the one with PHJ as a bodyguard?
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13 dramafan
May 26, 2016 at 6:16 AM
Love Lee Yeon Hee
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14 mindy
May 26, 2016 at 6:54 AM
I've never seen any of this writer's works, but from what you're saying about it, I'm glad. I've only seen Lee Yeon-hee in Ghost and was not impressed with her there at all, so I'll probably be skipping this one.
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15 Trinity 🍆
May 26, 2016 at 8:38 AM
I haven't seen his dramas but I did see Level 7 Civil Servant the movie and The Pirates which I both really liked. Pirates was quite funny and entertaining.
Seems like he is better at writing screenplays for movies then he is for dramas from what I've seen on this site.
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16 Lindy
May 26, 2016 at 8:59 AM
Chuno was my first k-drama ever after several years being obsessed with Korean films so it will always retain a soft spot in my heart. Now with some experience as a fairly dedicated viewer, I can see its limitations and I have never managed to complete a sageuk since. But the time Chuno was overwhelming to my beginner's sensibility. The scenery! The sheer incomprehensibleness of the plot! And the men - omfg, the men! I decided then and there that S Korea must have the best looking men on the planet.
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17 Sganarel
May 26, 2016 at 9:08 AM
I liked her in "Ghost" and "Gu Family Book". In other dramas, well, not so much.
I'm suddenly very interested, though, because of the fact that it's going to be filmed in Paris.
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18 am1993
May 26, 2016 at 9:28 AM
Level 7 Civil Servant is still the worst drama I have ever had the misfortune to watch and also is still the only drama that I have ever officially dropped. I still shudder at the mention of it and it's been over a year...
Runaway Plan B and Chuno are both on my to-watch list...but now that I know they all have the same writer... should I still bother?
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Sganarel
May 26, 2016 at 10:15 AM
I actually don't care much about the writer or the plot (it has to be decent enough, though) as long as the drama is well directed and the actors know how to portray their characters.
"Level 7 Civil Servant", "Runaway Plan B" and "Chuno" were equally bad, in my opinion.
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bd5
May 27, 2016 at 12:59 AM
Don't bother - as sageuks go, "Chuno" is very average (and that's being a bit generous).
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19 juniper
May 26, 2016 at 10:20 AM
I mean, I'd say that 90% of kdrama writers appear to have no interest in or understanding of women (pretty sad in an industry dominated by women), but I agree, this guy has his issues. Chuno was actually a solid script, though, imo. Not a great one--it had serious structural issues and gained most of its credibility from the directing/acting--but thematically, it was on point, providing pretty sharp social commentary on the Joseon class system and using action/violence to forward a kind of radical, in-your-face critique that is very rare for the genre.
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20 جدیدترین سریال کره ای در کره کده
May 26, 2016 at 11:44 PM
I Hope that she can act good in this new role recommended for her. she is a good actress and her acting is getting better every day. so this project can be a good experience for her.
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21 goldeng
May 27, 2016 at 1:11 AM
Idk why at first I read Honey Lee! I was excited to watch her again so soon but then i saw LYH's picture... Ive seen her get praised for MK but to think she has soo many years 'acting' and just improved recently is underwhelming. I avoid her like the plague but im curious why is a SM actress headlining a JYP project so I might watch..
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22 Mumu
May 27, 2016 at 9:07 PM
She is a beauty, one of Korea's top beauties (imo;-).
I liked her in GFB. I wish they would have extended the storyline & showed more scenes with CJH. I loved the both of them.
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