News bites: May 30, 2024
by tccolb
Jeon Ji-hyun, Kang Dong-won
- Disney+ confirmed that Tempest (previously Polaris) has been lined up for their 2025 schedule, with Jeon Ji-hyun (Jirisan) and Kang Dong-won (Dr. Cheon and the Lost Talisman) headlining the spy romance. Along with the noteworthy return of Kang to dramaland after a shy 20 (!) years, the series reunites Little Women’s writer Jung Seo-kyung (Mother) and PD Kim Hee-won (Queen of Tears), with co-directing by filmmaker Heo Myung-haeng (The Roundup 4: Punishment). [MBC]
- Casting news continues on ENA’s crime-thriller Your Honor, as we await for the brewing battle between Sohn Hyun-joo (Captivating the King) and Kim Myung-min (Law School) to unfold this summer. Along with Kim Do-hoon (7 Escape – Resurrection) playing the former’s son, the latter will have Heo Nam-joon (The Impossible Heir) as his son and Park Se-hyun (Knight Flower) as his youngest daughter. [Newsen (1), (2)]
- Also diving into crime but on a white-collar level, the first poster has dropped for tvN’s upcoming The Auditors, with Shin Ha-kyun (Evilive) and Lee Jung-ha (Moving) starting their corporate corruption clean out in July. Also starring Jin Gu (Shadow Detective) and Jo Ah-ram (Doctor Cha), the office comedy has PD Kwon Young-il (Wedding Impossible) at the helm and scripts by Choi Min-ho (Poong the Joseon Psychiatrist 1). [Sports Donga]
- tvN’s promo team is keeping busy with Player 2: Master of Swindlers as well, coming out with a new highlights reel ahead of the action-caper’s premiere next week. Come June 3 in the Monday-Tuesday slot, Song Seung-heon (Black Knight) will once again be assuming the mantle to lead the heist operations for Season 2. [Newsen]
- Catching up with JTBC’s My Sweet Mobster, the newest teasers (found here and here) take us for an innocent (?) ride through the playground as a fumbling Uhm Tae-gu (Hometown) and Han Sun-hwa (Work Later, Drink Now 2) fall in love. Taking over the Wednesday-Thursday slot following Frankly Speaking, the rom-com and webnovel adaptation will be broadcasting on June 12. [JTBC]
- JTBC’s The Woman Who is Different by Day and Night delivered another pack of stills, where bestie Kim Ah-young (Welcome to Samdal-ri) shows her support, while Choi Jin-hyuk (Numbers) – for now – remains unaware that our two leading ladies are actually one. With Lee Jung-eun (A Bloody Lucky Day) and Jung Eun-ji (Work Later Drink Now 2) as our body-changing heroine, the fantasy rom-com will be airing on weekends, premiering on June 15. [JTBC (1), (2)]
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Tags: Choi Jin-hyuk, Han Sun-hwa, Jeon Ji-hyun, Jin Gu, Jo Ah-ram, Jung Eun-ji, Kang Dong-won, Kim Do-hoon, Kim Myung-min, Lee Jung-eun, Lee Jung-ha, news bites, Shin Ha-kyun, Sohn Hyun-joo, Song Seung-heon, Uhm Tae-gu
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1 peiyeelai
May 30, 2024 at 11:17 PM
Tempest is high on my list. Disney+ definitely keeps getting better and better with its list of dramas. I am so going to put Tempest high on my list.
As for the other dramas, I am super excited for them, though I am going to put them on a 4-episode test. Too many dramas, too little time.
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2 Reply1988 -❣️Mother Bean❣️
May 30, 2024 at 11:30 PM
Looking forward to the new batch of dramas and hoping they live up to expectations. Also hoping for a nice spread throughout the week as three dramas on a Monday or over the weekend with empty spots during the rest of the week meant saving one drama to watch in the quiet zone and joining the fan walls and recaps days after everyone else had moved on.
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3 spazmo
May 30, 2024 at 11:31 PM
Kang Dong Won on the small screen!!!!!! one of my favs.....
*swoons*
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kiara
May 31, 2024 at 12:37 AM
My action sageuk oppa.❤️
I can't wait to see him wielding a weapon. He was stunning and lethal in "Duelist," and "Kundo."
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pogo - sailing HMS Queen of Tears and HMS Sailboat Lovely Runner🍉
May 31, 2024 at 3:19 AM
It's been ten years since Kundo and I still haven't recovered from him in villain mode <3
I'm a bit bummed this is going to be on Disney+ as they suck at promoting their kdramas and even at making them available (what is with the 'in certain territories only' business?) Moving was great though so I hope this will be too, Kim Hee-won made a fan of me for life with Vincenzo and I really enjoyed Little Women.
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kiara
May 31, 2024 at 8:29 AM
You are not alone @pogo1.
I haven't watched any of his dramas, so this is like Han Suk-kyu returning to dramaland. I've always known them as film actors.
I agree with you about D+, which means that we might be unable to watch it live with these territorial restrictions.
Dong-won is doing the film vet thing. Not only acting but also a producer.
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kiara
May 31, 2024 at 9:30 AM
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Diana Hansen
May 31, 2024 at 9:12 AM
So stunning!
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daeguowl
June 1, 2024 at 3:12 AM
And there'll be a sex scene between him and JJH.
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spazmo
June 2, 2024 at 12:51 AM
WUT... has KDW done any thus far? if so, i've not seen such a scene... most times i really don't need to see such scenes, i like to just experience the feels...
this is my chagrin with american tv, movies and especially music videos. so much nudity and suggestive sex, twerking, etc. leaves nothing to the imagination and there's no romance.
good ol' sweet romance.... please make a comeback.
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daeguowl
June 4, 2024 at 8:24 PM
It's in the script. Mind you, who knows how they'll film it.
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4 kiara
May 30, 2024 at 11:40 PM
I didn't expect Kang Dong-won to return to dramaland, but if the great Song Kang-ho is doing it for the first time, then I shouldn't be surprised. While I'm always excited to see film actors in dramas, I can't help but wonder who in Dramaland's talents would have benefitted from these roles.
It's interesting that Dong-won is cast in a spy drama (Tempest - Disney+) with writer Jung Seo-kyung and a movie ("Uprising" - Netflix) with Jung's famous co-writer and director Park Chan-wook.
Jung Seo-kyung and Park Chan-wook's last project together was the film "Decision to Leave"(2022), which starred the amazing Tang Wei and Park Hae-il.
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peiyeelai
May 31, 2024 at 12:42 AM
Only the best of the best when it comes to Disney+. Good, they can afford it.
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PYC
May 31, 2024 at 7:24 AM
Kang Dong-won’s return to dramaland makes Tempest a must-watch. And there are so many big pluses in Jeon Ji-hyun, PD Kim Hee-won and Writer Jung Se-kyung whose Decision To Leave was the best movie for me in recent years.
@kiara - I read that Writer Jung told Park Chan-wook that Tang Wei has to be the FL of DTL. Perfect choice by the production team and perfect delivery by Tang.
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kiara
May 31, 2024 at 8:56 AM
It's the same for me, too. I wasn't waiting for Kang Dong-won to return to dramaland. I discovered him in Chungmuro, and this will be his first drama for me.
"Decision To Leave" was my favorite from 2022. I didn't know Jung hand-picked Tang Wei. She's the type of actress Park Chan-wook would cast in his films, so I thought it was his choice. I love Tang Wei's acting so much! I hope she'll continue to improve her Korean. I'd love to see more of her in K-movies. If anyone can be as successful as Jeon Do-yeon at that level, it would be Tang Wei. I won't be surprised if she works with either Bong or Lee Chang-dong in the future.
I'm excited to see her in "Wonderland." Her husband is directing it, so I don't know whether it's a significant role. The younglings' fangirls are much too noisy in every promo. Dramaland fans are so dedicated to their idols.
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PYC
May 31, 2024 at 9:36 PM
Decision To Leave was pretty much written with Tang Wei in mind. If she continues to pick the right projects, I personally think her achievements could surpass Jeon Do-yen due to her broader range, versatility and natural charisma. It’s not only moody artsy pieces that she excels in, she does comedy like nobody’s business eg Crossing Hennessy, Finding Mr Right.
Wonderland is shaping up to be an anticipated movie now that I’ve seen the latest trailer: https://youtu.be/mkF5R87Yr3s?si=UFK9bdhaZ7ku0szm
It is however an omni movie that her screen time may not be much. Gong Yoo has a guest role as her husband but he hasn’t appeared in any of the trailers yet… Watching the different stories in the trailer already made me cry!
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kiara
June 1, 2024 at 7:44 AM
This looks like a good role for Park Bo-gum, and even Suzy might not annoy me. I think Gong Yoo has a strong presence more in dramas. Chungmuro's supporting actors (Yoo Hae-jin, Kwak Do-won, Ryu Seung-ryong, Cho Jin-woong are just as good as the top actors, so the competition is tough for drama actors trying to make it there.
5 Soyesterday
May 30, 2024 at 11:57 PM
The talent behind tempest is stacked!!
I am interested in all these dramas..... and so my "watch" list expands
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6 redfox
May 31, 2024 at 12:12 AM
Choi Jin Hyuk went from meh actor to eagerly anticipated for me. I already feel sincerity in his interest
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redfox
May 31, 2024 at 2:01 AM
oh yeah, about corruption: it is not possible to get rid of it. People who have not woken up to Life, will always cheat, lie and steal.
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7 sonai
May 31, 2024 at 12:23 AM
How am I so intrigued by THE AUDITORS? 😂 Wondering how “serious” this is going to be. Ah, the magic of kdramas - taking an occupation most people just shrug about at best, and turning it into a (hopefully hilarious) ensemble cast show worth watching. (Did I jinx it now? 😅)
Also definitely giving the lobster a chance (🦞🦞🦞), and starting to wonder whether THE WOMAN WHO’S… might not be as OTT silly as I first suspected it to be. 🤔 Will have to find out.
☕️☕️☕️
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jillian
May 31, 2024 at 4:02 AM
I hope The Auditors will turn out great too.
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HopefulRomantic 🦋 Tigermoth 🦞
May 31, 2024 at 5:58 AM
I'm interested in these three, too!!! 😊 Will Auditors be Numbers 2.0? That's my hope! Lovely Lobster yes ✔️ and also curious about the tone and direction that Woman Who's will take... Choi Jin-hyuk definitely piques my interest here 🤭
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sonai
May 31, 2024 at 8:10 AM
🙌 I have yet to watch NUMBERS! 😅 (I guess I didn’t have a Viki subscription when this aired, but it’s on the watchlist now!) It really fits the bill of “weird job, fun show”, right? 😂 (À la Chief Kim, On the verge of insanity, etc.)
Fun fact: THE WOMAN WHO’S… is just called MISS NIGHT & DAY on MDL. What’s up with the titles…?!
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Diana Hansen
May 31, 2024 at 9:09 AM
Numbers was very watchable. I think it had to do a lot with the actors in it.
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HopefulRomantic 🦋 Tigermoth 🦞
May 31, 2024 at 9:22 AM
Yes absolutely!!! 💯 🙌 It's a very vibe-y drama, so if you like the tone it sets up, you'll enjoy it. And it had a great ensemble! Lol dramas have a knack for making me interested in things I have no interest in in real life (accounting, sports, etc) 😂
sonai
May 31, 2024 at 11:03 AM
👏 Thank you!! Sounds really promising.
@hopefulromantic LOL, yes, sports. *snores* 😂 I had no trouble at all enjoying every minute of STOVE LEAGUE though, for some reason! Kdramas…!
HopefulRomantic 🦋 Tigermoth 🦞
May 31, 2024 at 11:07 AM
@sonai - lol yes - I'm in the middle of watching Like Flowers in Sand, and I'm like, hold on - do I like ssireum now?? 😂 and Stove League made me care about baseball!
Seon-ha
May 31, 2024 at 2:02 PM
Wait what, @sonai has never seen Numbers? I don't know that it's a good drama on its own, but it certainly has a certain quirky je-ne-sais-quoi that allows for a fun "I'm not quite paying all the attention but @alathe's recaps will explain it all to me while I watch the pretties" attitude...
But also what WHAT @hopefulromantic isn't done with The Baek-du Show??? You're gonna looooove it all the way to the endy-end, Hopeful!!!
Now, to be clear, I'm not saying this because I've seen ALL the dramas. Recently I've been feeling like I've seen ZERO dramas, and am on the look out for more that can hit it out of the park (baseball) or pin me to the ground (ssireum? Wait, is that what I want?) Um...I'm gonna hit send now.
HopefulRomantic 🦋 Tigermoth 🦞
May 31, 2024 at 3:08 PM
Lol @attiton I'm saving Baek-du for a rainy day!! I watched the first 6 episodes (loved them of course) and then checked and realized it was only TWELVE EPISODES TOTAL and not 16 like I assumed and PANICKED because there were only six episodes left and saved them because I don't want it to end!!!
Kathryn51
May 31, 2024 at 9:48 AM
I finally watched Numbers over the last couple of weeks and really enjoyed it although I had to pause and read the subtitled explanations of certain concepts to process for a moment. Not familiar any of the cast members in this one, but I'll give it a try if it's available.
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sonai
May 31, 2024 at 10:59 AM
👏 Thanks, yes, it’s still on Viki! 😃
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8 jillian
May 31, 2024 at 1:23 AM
I am most excited to watch Kang Dong Won's comeback drama after 20 years! ☺️
Also My Sweet Mobster is on my list. I hope it is as fun as the posters and teasers.
I am also very happy that Lee Jung Ha has a drama lined up with Shin Ha Kyun.
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spazmo
May 31, 2024 at 2:03 AM
i was even watching Kang Dong Won's LA lifestyle videos, after watching all of his movies that i could find after i discovered him... hey, what was the first thing i saw him in... i think it was Temptation of Wolves.
my fav movie was probably Vanishing Time: A Boy Who Returned - only because of his long hair. my other fav movie would be Kundo: Age of the Rampant, cuz he looked so good in sageuk wear....
; )
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jillian
May 31, 2024 at 3:59 AM
I loved him in Kundo too. He does look great in sageuk. I also watched Peninsula and Illang for him. I enjoyed watching him in Something About 1%.
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PYC
May 31, 2024 at 7:45 AM
Haha I also watched the LA Lifestyle show. KDW’s Temptation of Wolves is a truly breakout role and I like his Something About 1% too (although his acting then was not the best) but he’s someone with charisma in spades.
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kiara
May 31, 2024 at 9:02 AM
I was trying to get a good picture of him for my Mane of Glory post, but they were so old.
Oh yes, he has one of the best manes of glory in "Duelist." That type of artsy film is a feast for the eyes.
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jillian
May 31, 2024 at 12:29 PM
I am not sure if I have seen Duelist but I looked up photos and he does look great with his mane of glory
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kiara
May 31, 2024 at 9:05 PM
It's a different, artsy, quirky film, but it's a thing with this director. I didn't get it initially, but our dear @pakalanapikake kept raving about it, so I gave it another watch.
I enjoyed Ha Ji-won and Kang Dong-won's pairing. They do action well, but it's visual storytelling, and it's thin on everything else.
It's almost 2 decades old so I can't tell you where to watch it. 😔
welh
May 31, 2024 at 6:43 AM
The possible reason for Kang Dong-won's return was his last movie, Dr. Cheon and the Lost Talisman, did not do well at the box office. The producers were hoping that it would create a major franchise of several films like Don Lee's Roundup series. Perhaps that idea is on hold.
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PYC
May 31, 2024 at 7:49 AM
Guess scoring a Disney+ or Netflix series is a prestige these days especially with the big budget. And Tempest’s cast and crew are all top tier. (I just had a look into MDL - Oh Jung-se is cast as well.
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kiara
May 31, 2024 at 9:28 AM
"The Plot" didn't do well either, but he's got a movie with YAI, written by Park Chan-wook, that hasn't been released yet.
"Exhuma" would make a better franchise. I was glad I watched "Shogun" first because I still had that era of Japan's history fresh in my memory.
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spazmo
May 31, 2024 at 10:29 PM
i think the chungmuro actors realized in the past 10 years or so that the Hallyu Wave exposed the world to korean artists/actors/musicians via the internet and movies were not being distributed/accessible to global audiences.
so the "smart thing" is to come back to the small screen to gain international exposure.
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mindy
June 1, 2024 at 3:24 AM
Interesting. I personally think it’s more that streaming services (and, to a degree, cable channels) offer directors who usually do film the flexibility of telling longer stories without having to worry as much about standard episode counts, ratings, and TV censorship rules. These directors then hire the Chungmuro actors.
People sometimes talk about dramaland and Chungmuro as if they are two completely different, separate places but that just isn’t the case anymore.
I also wonder if the fact that nearly every drama these days is pre-produced makes them more appealing to actors than back when they had to live-shoot. Shooting schedules are probably less hurried/demanding now.
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spazmo
June 2, 2024 at 12:59 AM
exactly! the dramas today are not filmed in such a time-flurry as was illustrated in King of Dramas that showed the dangerous last minute pace (because they used to change the scripts to accommodate the netizens' fury about the direction of the story, etc) of production that resulted in so many casualties on set or in the delivery of (then) actual video cartridges to the studios for editing - sometimes minutes prior to scheduled airing, right?
that's why, if i remember reading articles before, chungmuro actors did not want to do weekly dramas. the pace was too hurried and the demands were sometimes so unreasonable - rewriting scripts to appease netizens...
but now they can preproduce dramas to market to distributors, thankfully! the actors used to suffer tremendously under the former time constraints, right...
Sim
June 2, 2024 at 7:57 PM
Yeah and OTT dramas have the same flavour as movies these days. But having said that Netflix dramas aren’t always well written. They are thin on plot and high on violence, gore and visuals but at the end of the day it’s bland. Disney does a better job of telling stories but my gripe with these super big budget dramas is that most of it goes to the leads and very little into anything else. The rest of the cast and crew still get paid peanuts.
9 Diana Hansen
May 31, 2024 at 9:06 AM
Every one of them are on my I want to watch list. Good thing a couple of them are for later and not all of them now!
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Diana Hansen
May 31, 2024 at 9:07 AM
Fell in love with Kang Dong won all that shy of 20 years ago and its quite a treat to have him back in a kdrama even if its a year away!
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10 🌸 Seeker 🌸
May 31, 2024 at 10:42 AM
1. 🙌 but why these random name changes. 🤷♀️
2. Order in the court. 👨⚖️ I do have high expectations for this one.
3. 🙌 also 🤞
4.
5. *screams and jumps up and down in joy* Saranghae
neighborhoodOppa!!6. Another Oppa to sarang!!
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🌸 Seeker 🌸
May 31, 2024 at 10:45 AM
4. Was that Lee Soo-hyuk in Grim Reaper-y catwalk!! Why do I feel this is going to be one of my top dramas of the year. 🥰
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11 Doppelganger
May 31, 2024 at 12:27 PM
Why in the world is Tempest / Polaris on Disney? It's like shooting yourself in the foot in terms of success. We all saw how Disney handicapped Moving's success.
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panshel
May 31, 2024 at 1:11 PM
Because only Disney can afford Ryu Seung-ryong, Ryoo Seung-bum, Kang Dong-won, Jun Ji-hyun, Song Kang-ho, AND Choi Min-sik. Moving is still plenty successful from popularity to critical acclaim to awards and nominations.
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peiyeelai
May 31, 2024 at 4:28 PM
Because, it has the budget and the ability to persuade the big stars, while Netflix prefer to go with comedies or romance only these days.
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