News bites: December 10, 2016

by awcoconuts

Yoo Ah-in in Fragile

• The ten-minute artsy short film Fragile, a collaboration between Yoo Ah-in (Six Flying Dragons) and Bleak Night director Yoon Sung-hyun, dropped on NaverCast and YouTube today. Yoo served as creative director and Yoon brought his sought-after directorial skills to the space exploration short. More stills down below! [Sports Chosun]
• Making good on his promise, Jung Il-woo quietly entered the Nonsan Training Center on December 8. He’ll receive basic training for four weeks, then become a public service officer (as many noted last week, due to the injuries sustained from his auto accident a decade ago and because of his cerebral aneurysm, he cannot serve in active duty). Come back healthy and well! [Joongang]

  
  Jung Il-woo, Noh Min-woo

• Speaking of enlisting quietly, it turns out singer/actor Noh Min-woo (Greatest Marriage) also began his mandatory service, but at the end of October! [E Daily]
• The web drama adaptation of hit webtoon Sound of the Heart has become a hit in and of itself. Ten episodes were released via Naver TVCast and Sohu.com, and views have now surpassed 20 million. The web drama was turned into a broadcast which debuted December 9, and ten additional episodes are being added to supplement the ten that were released on the web. The twenty short episodes will be bundled to produce four episodes of an hour’s length for broadcast. [Joongang]


Honey Lee, Chae Soo-bin, Kim Sang-joong, Kim Ji-suk

• Confirmations are in for Rebel Hong Gil-dong, and more character details have been revealed. Kim Sang-joong (Jingbirok) will play father to the titular Hong Gil-dong (Yoon Kyun-sang). He was descended from slaves but through business savvy he was able to build up assets and become a power broker in the world of smuggled goods. His love for his son will force him to join the dark side in order to hide a secret — that his son has superhuman strength. Kim Ji-suk (Oh Hae-young Again) is cast as the tenth king of Joseon, Yeonsangun, a notorious tyrant. Honey Lee (Come Back, Ajusshi) plays his famous siren of a royal consort, Jang Nok-su, who rose from the ranks of gisaeng with her ambition and beauty. She alone understands the king’s loneliness and lunacy, and she captures the hearts of everyone around her. Chae Soo-bin (Moonlight Drawn By Clouds) plays Hong Gil-dong’s lover, a slender but plucky heroine who enters the palace and inextricably gets mixed up with the king and his consort. Rebel Hong Gil-dong will air on Mondays and Tuesdays in January on MBC. [Osen 1, 2]


Ryu Hwa-young, Shin Jae-ha

• Yay for Ryu Hwa-young (Age of Youth), who’s scored the lead in a trilogy of web dramas based on the popular webtoon Trace of the Hand. In the first web drama of 2017, she’ll star opposite Shin Jae-ha (Memory, Wanted) in a story about an app that allows access to other people’s text conversations. Shin will play the suspicious returning student who’s able to peer into the lives of strangers. Ryu will also star in the second season, about a girl group survival program, and in the third, about a shaman’s secrets. All three seasons have finished filming and the first will debut on Naver TVCast in January. [TV Report, E News 24]
• Our Gap-soon, the weekend drama starring former We Got Married couple Song Jae-rim and Kim So-eun, is in talks to receive a ten-episode extension. SBS had shifted its programming recently, focusing on airing dramas on Saturdays and variety on Sundays, a plan which has been moderately well-received by viewers. Since moving from airing Saturday-Sunday to back-to-back episodes on Saturdays, the drama’s viewership has increased from single digits to the mid-teens, and it has steadily received viewership ratings in the 10-15% range in recent weeks. [DongA]


Choi Tae-joon, Jung Chae-yeon, Changjo, Hyemi

• Choi Tae-joon (Flower in Prison) has been cast as a male robot from the future and Jung Chae-yeon (Drinking Solo) his human love in the web drama 109 Unusual Things Have Happened. Jung’s in her fourth year of unemployment and also has to shoulder the burden of a thoughtless family who depends on her financially. Through six episodes, we’ll view the cohabitation hijinks that ensue when robot and job-seeker come to live together. The youth romance sci-fi web drama will air early next year on Naver TVCast. Sports Chosun]
• Filming has officially begun on Oppa’s Gone Missing, which stars Teen Top’s Changjo (Sweden Laundry) as a powerblogger and private eye and Nine Muse’s Hyemi as a client who employs him to find her brother. Hyemi’s character was long in a coma and is unfamiliar with the ways of the world, and at the same time, she’s an enigmatic character who doesn’t reveal much about herself to her hire (maybe she doesn’t remember because she was in a coma?). The mystery melodrama will debut on Naver TVCast. [Xports News, DongA]

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