News bites: January 23, 2016

by awcoconuts

Yoon Shi-yoon

• Hooray! Yoon Shi-yoon (Prime Minister and I) will be released from military service (in the Marine Corps, no less) on January 27. His contract with his current agency, Taxi Entertainment, is expiring and the press is anticipating that he’ll branch off on his own. While I might side-eye others starting up their own agency, I’m sure Yoon will do just fine — now if he’d only hurry and select a new project! [Joongang]
• I just can’t see these two together right now, but maybe the film will be a pleasant surprise? Gong Hyo-jin (The Producers) has agreed to play the wife of Lee Byung-heon in Single Rider. In the suspense drama, Lee’s a father living alone in Korea to support his family overseas, while Gong’s in Australia to raise and educate their son. When Lee’s on the verge of losing everything, he’ll travel to Oz to meet his family. The movie will be distributed by Warner Brothers. [Osen]


Gong Hyo-jin, Lee Byung-heon

• Con Artists 2 (or Technicians 2) has been greenlit with a 15-billion won budget financed by Alibaba Pictures, and production is currently negotiating with Kim Woo-bin, Go Chang-seok and Lee Hyun-woo to reprise their characters. For the second edition, director Park Hong-soo (Commitment) will take the helm. [MBN]
• This sounds fun and a little out-of-the-norm for Seo In-gook (I Remember You), but it’s being labeled an in-between project for him before he starts work on Police Unit 38. He and Kim Ji-won (Hidden Identity) are starring in a web drama together called Romance Island, a fantasy romance in the vein of You From Another Star and Secret Garden. It will air on Sohu.com in China. The pair’s upcoming projects share something in common: Police Unit 38 will be entirely pre-produced, while Kim Ji-won’s pre-produced Descended From the Sun airs next month. [Joongang]


Seo In-gook, Kim Ji-won

• You can count CBS’s Criminal Minds among the group of American shows (1, 2) being remade for Korean TV. The rights were snapped up by Taewon Entertainment (Sweet Savage Family, IRIS) and the remake will air late this year on SBS. [DongA]
• Congrats to the cast and crew of Cheese in the Trap — they’ve earned a trip to Phuket, Thailand as a result of their high ratings. (It’s a popular destination for tvN; some of the Answer Me 1988 cast just returned from their own Phuket vacation, while the rest were kidnapped on the way back.) The show averaged 6.4% viewership ratings this past week, and those involved with the show will head off for their well-earned break in early February (filming could wrap as early as this week). [DongA]


Joo Jin-mo, Ahn Jae-hong

• Joo Jin-mo (Beloved Eun-dong) is positively considering playing a villain in manhwa adaptation King’s Case Files. Lee Seon-kyun’s been attached to play the king for some time, and while we previously heard that Yoo Yeon-seok might play his sidekick, another Answer Me alum might be replacing him. In recent reports, Ahn Jae-hong (Jung-bong Oppa) has been confirmed as Lee’s accomplice. [Star News, News 1]
• Musudan, the military film starring Lee Jia (Thrice Married Woman), hits theaters February 26. About the 24 hours following an incident in the DMZ, Kim Min-joon (Hidden Identity), Do Ji-han and Park Yoo-hwan round out the cast. [TV Report]


Lee Jia, Ryu Soo-young

• Kang So-ra has confirmed Neighborhood Lawyer Jo Deul-ho (yay!), and the show has its second leads in Ryu Soo-young (Strange Daughter-in-Law) and Park Sol-mi (Dear You), the latter in her first role since her 2014 wedding. Ryu’s character is a hotshot prosecutor who competes with Jo Deul-ho (Park Shin-yang) on everything from households to women. The webtoon adaptation follows the conclusion of Moorim School in March on KBS. [TV Report]
• Heirs writer Kim Eun-sook has been tasked with penning the Chinese film remake of the 2013 Korean drama. It’s comical how the Chinese drama Billion Dollar Inheritors (basically, Heirs) was first thought of as an Heirs remake, but due to an uproar from zealous Chinese fans, the show and its star, Choi Siwon, quickly had to clarify that the concept for Chinese Heirs had been in motion before the Korean show, and that the plot was completely different. Billion Dollar Inheritors concluded in 2014, but some members of the press are still confused, writing as if the Chinese drama was part of Heirs’ pan-Asian popularity, which prompted alternative sources to quickly issue statements that Heirs had never before been remade in China and that this film would be the first official remake. [Xports News, TV Report]

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