News bites: March 25, 2017

by awcoconuts

Lee Je-hoon, Na Mun-hee

• I’m getting warm fuzzies just thinking about this age-gap friendship: Lee Je-hoon (Tomorrow With You) and Na Mun-hee (Father I’ll Take Care of You) are confirmed for the film I Can Speak. Na’s character cannot stand the way her town is being run and files endless civil complaints to the city office. Lee’s a rookie civil servant who’s on the receiving end of her many objections, but the two will form an unlikely friendship when they find themselves the only two people taking an English language course. I Can Speak will be directed by Kim Hyun-seok (Cyrano Agency, the movie). [My Daily]
• It comes as no surprise that there is a reward vacation in store for the cast and crew of Strong Woman Do Bong-soon, which is on track to reach impressive cable viewership ratings of 10%. Only two previous JTBC dramas have earned vacations, last year’s Ms. Temper and Nam Jung-ki (making this PD Lee Hyung-min’s second JTBC vacation) and 2013’s Childless Comfort. The cable station’s newest crown jewel concludes April 15, and the team is expected to leave the following week for their trip. [Newsen]


Sohn Ho-joon, Kim Hae-sook

• Speaking of vacations, KBS’s Chief Kim may earn one as well, although the destination and length are still being negotiated. The broadcast show is inching closer to the coveted 20% mark, and if the vacation is confirmed, the cast and crew are expected to depart shortly after the show’s finale on March 30. [Osen]
• Sohn Ho-joon (Blow Breeze) and Kim Hae-sook (Father Is Weird, Retrial) have been cast as the leads in Mom, a warm human story set in Jeolla province about the loving relationship between a mother and her son. The film will be directed by Kang Ji-eun (Love Phobia) and cameras will begin rolling at the end of March. [TV Report, Xports News]
• Aww, PD Choi Gyu-shik has bowed out of Drinking Solo 2 after all, and his hoobae director Hang Sang-jae (the latter seasons of Rude Miss Young-ae) will take his place. The show is still on the schedule to air this fall on tvN, but instead of being an 2-cha to the first, the second season will head in a new direction. [Osen]


Kim Ji-hoon, Kim Yoon-seok, Joo Ji-hoon

• Kim Ji-hoon (The Man Living in Our House) has received an offer to complete the leading triangle for MBC’s upcoming weekend drama Thief-nom, Thief-nim. Seohyun (Ruby Ruby Love) was confirmed for the role of a police investigator early, and Ji Hyun-woo (Wanted) has also confirmed he’ll play an operator of an errands center by day, and a burglar at night. The show about thieves collaborating to take from the corrupt will fill the spot vacated by Father I’ll Take Care of You in May. [My Daily 1, 2]
• Chungmuro veteran Kim Yoon-seok (Will You Be There) is mulling over an offer to appear in Deception and Murder, the film that’s also courting Joo Ji-hoon (Mask) to play a killer. [My Daily]
• Despite viewers’ complaints about the most recent season, tvN’s Rude Miss Young-ae is coming back for another, and the 16th is expected to be remarkably different from seasons past (although I think we’ve heard that before). [Sports Chosun]


Choi Tae-joon, Ahn Jae-hong, Song Ha-yoon

• Bringing their real-life bromance to the screen are Choi Tae-joon (Missing 9) and buddy Ji Chang-wook (The K2) in SBS’s Beware This Woman. Choi’s character grew up under complicated family circumstances and first met Ji’s character, Noh Ji-wook, when they were 12. Now an attorney, he thinks of Noh as his only family, and they’ll lean heavily on each other. The mixed-genre show is still searching for a lead actress (Han Ji-min turned the offer down) and hopes to begin table reads in early April. Beware This Woman will air after the conclusion of Saimdang, Light’s Diary on Wednesdays and Thursdays in May. [Joongang]
• Pairing up in KBS drama Third-Rate My Way are Ahn Jae-hong (Answer Me 1988) and Song Ha-yoon (My Daughter Geum Sa-wol). Their characters have dated for six years, and largely due to Song’s efforts, Ahn has landed a permanent position at a home shopping network. He keeps putting off marriage due to various reasons and he begins to take interest in a new employee, Ye-jin, who’s actually the daughter of a wealthy household (that runs a jokbal chain). Song’s a consultant to the home shopping company, and even though Ahn has his faults (he’s the eldest child and has two sisters), she thinks he’s the best and is proud that he’s a permanent employee. She’s so careful with the money that Ahn has worked hard for that she never asks him to spend a penny, and she doesn’t realize that she’s beginning to look shabby to him. (Ahn’s character sounds peachy.) Ahn’s about to abandon Song, who’s like his wife, to climb the social ladder and go after Ye-jin, and Song will learn that his heart is leaning towards another woman. The realistic and comical youth romance will air on Mondays and Tuesdays on KBS after Perfect Wife. [Osen]


Nam Bora, Im Soo-hyang, Do Ji-han, Bora, Seo Ji-seok

• Nam Bora (Twinkle Twinkle My Heart) is joining Im Soo-hyang (Blow Breeze) and Do Ji-han (Hwarang) in daily drama Moo Goong-hwa Has Bloomed. Im plays Moo Goong-hwa (which also means rose of Sharon), a constable who was previously a boxer. She’s lived a life of ups and downs since her husband passed away, and the show will be about her fighting back against various obstacles. Do’s the eldest grandson of a tight family and an elite police officer who graduated from police academy, and Nam is a 28-year-old cooking instructor. Moo Goong-hwa Has Bloomed will follow Shining Eun-soo on KBS in mid-May. [Xports News 1, 2]
• Sistar’s Bora (Doctor Stranger) may be expanding her repertoire to the big screen. She’s positively considering an offer to appear in a movie called Sunkissed Family. [Osen]
• Following up one daily drama with another is Seo Ji-seok (Witch’s Castle). Nameless Woman is about a woman (Oh Ji-eun) who was forced to give up her child and who had her whole world taken from her. In the drama, she’ll punish evil and achieve revenge, which sounds makjang but oh-so satisfying. Seo plays Oh’s first love and a corporate director who betrayed his woman in order to succeed. The cast recently held its first script reading, and Nameless Woman will premiere at the end of April on KBS. [Joy News 24]

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