Goblin writer Kim Eun-sook discusses her next project
by girlfriday
It’s only been a day since her last drama ended, but star writer Kim Eun-sook is already being asked about her next project. I guess there’s no rest when you’re in demand. Kim penned two hit dramas in 2016-17—KBS’s Descended From the Sun and tvN’s The Lonely Shining Goblin—and had a string of successful syndrome dramas before them (Heirs, A Gentleman’s Dignity, Secret Garden, Lovers in Paris), making her arguably one of the most surefire hitmakers in dramaland today. On the heels of her most recent success with Goblin, she talked about possibilities for her next project.
Her agency reported that Kim Eun-sook would be taking a three-month vacation, after which she plans to begin work on her next drama, which may be a sageuk. For now the projection is that the new show will air sometime next year. Can’t you hear the networks taking out their 2018 calendars and making bids already?
According to her agency, Kim has long been in interested in writing sageuk. Goblin was her first foray into a past era, though you might call it more like a toe-dip. The fantasy drama about immortal beings and reincarnated lives had some spectacular sequences and extended flashbacks set in Goryeo, where our characters’ timelines first began. I often thought the historical drama within the drama would’ve made for a great full-length series on its own, and was always happy when we got more scenes in Goryeo. (Also, the one time we briefly saw the goblin in Joseon, it made me want the spinoff drama Flower Scholar Goblin. He could fall in love with a crossdressing scholar!)
Kim reportedly started planning Goblin six years ago, with the desire to create a mythology rooted in Korean folklore that could rival the vampires and werewolves of other supernatural fiction. The historical backstory certainly gave the goblin lore the gravity it needed to make us believe that this character was 900 years old, as did his frequent sageuk manner of speech in the modern day, played for comedy. Overall it makes me pretty confident that she’d write a good sageuk. Besides, this is Kim Eun-sook, so it’s going to be a romance first and foremost anyway.
Kim Eun-sook’s next drama, whatever it may be, is being planned for a 2018 broadcast.
Via Munhwa
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Tags: Descended From the Sun, Mr. Sunshine, The Lonely Shining Goblin
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51 Thatgirl
January 23, 2017 at 1:15 PM
Laughing to myself because I swore I would never watch another KES drama ever again after the train wreck thy is Heirs. But without knowing I watch and loved Goblin.
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52 JSinQueens
January 23, 2017 at 3:13 PM
Kim Eun-sook - You worked so hard in 2016. Please take some time off, take a looooong time off. Come back in 2019, maybe? Absence makes the heart grow fonder!
Aish, I just need some time away from her shows and the relentless hype that accompanies them which is never rewarded by the actual experience of watching her shows. I can't believe she spent six years on Goblin?! It feels exactly like...a rough first draft. There are some interesting ideas there and some great characters, but as always she needs to re-work it extensively to make it great. (I mean, the entire mid-section of the show - episodes 5-11 - could be cut out and it's basically the same story. That's some pretty loose writing!)
Oh, and if she can spend some time thinking about how she doesn't always have to partner a super-powerful male lead with a much weaker female lead, that would be great too. DOTS was an improvement in that regard, but then Goblin was just a step backward again. If she can work on some of these faults and maybe give it some time, perhaps I would be ready for one of her shows again.
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53 asasi
January 23, 2017 at 7:06 PM
I'm just curious whether Kim Eun-sok get a little bit inspiration from The Recipe movie. Does anyone know the link for interview regarding Goblin drama (in English)? thank you in advance
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54 Snowy
January 23, 2017 at 11:46 PM
Wow, I didn't know writers work under agencies, too. I always thought they work freelance. Guess I shouldn't be surprised. Even webtoon writers work under agencies. :o
I hope her next project would maintain the wow factor from start til end. I loved the first two episodes of Goblin but found myself uninterested in the middle part. Just read recaps until the finale.
Sageuk is a hard genre. Would she add fantasy elements like in her other works or just a straight up sageuk? I vote for a normal, epic sageuk with no gimmicks.
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55 alasecond
January 24, 2017 at 7:38 AM
I personally want her to write one on GOD..
just what happens when the ultimate God falls in love :)
and let's say to Ms. Devil..
How does the world to cope up with iit?. What happens when God goes on a strike? Reguses his responsibilities for a day because is so heartbroken..
How the ultimate being with ulitmate maturity and intellect becomes petty in love
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56 legend35
January 24, 2017 at 2:58 PM
To be honest all Kdrama suffer from bad execution even the good ones. Most of the time we get strong episodes and half way through they start to flop. More than 20 years of watching Kdramas and my moments of satisfaction were very rare. My main attraction to Goblin was that the idea was very original.
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57 Bad Cheese Cheddar
January 24, 2017 at 6:46 PM
I had such high hopes for Goblin. I wanted to watch a KDrama that was different than the usual set up of rich guy finds nice girl, nice girl changes guy, bad things happen, amnesia of some sort, then they somehow end up together.
The first few episodes had me hooked with the cinematography and lighting. Then I started thinking...
This reminds me A LOT of the premise from "Beetlejuice" and "Dead Like Me" where someone who commits suicide is punished by being an "employee" for the dead world. For a long time Kim Shin is plotting his own demise, suicide in a way, but won't be punished for it because he has technically already died? Then ET chooses to "sacrifice" herself to save children... she chose to die, cannot that also be seen as a sort of suicide by saving? Shades of Suicide...
This is where my thought process went.
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Gabobobobo
January 25, 2017 at 1:38 AM
Wow, damn, that messed up my mind. If ET's sacrifice was considered suicide, wouldn't she end up living as grim reaper? Hopefully forever with Shin? LOL.
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Bad Cheese Cheddar
January 25, 2017 at 4:05 AM
right? If you think about it his sister Kim Sun committed suicide by being a traitor's sister and letting them kill her to save the king. She wasn't punished!
The punishment scale is not right!
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58 doobeedoda
January 24, 2017 at 7:50 PM
Whenever I watch her dramas, I'd always end up somewhat disgusted with the main couple and straining for more supporting couple scenes.
Grim Reaper-Sunny (Goblin)
Seo Daeyoung-Yoon Myung Joo (DOTS)
Chanyoung-Bona (Heirs)
Her style of writing and her tendency to elongate 'romantic' scenes in exasperating slow-motion is just not my thing I guess.
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59 cranberry
January 26, 2017 at 1:07 AM
The reason why I continue watching her dramas is because of the amazing supporting characters. Reaper and Sunny were what made me finish Goblin, along with Dae-young and Myeong-ju. The Heirs was a catastrophe and only Kim Woo Bin made me get through each episode.
So...still kinda excited for this!
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60 Aki
March 14, 2017 at 1:24 AM
Seriously... You guys only think about the writer.
And don't know anything about the film industry, and is trying to shoot each other down with limited knowledge of something.
Those films are made not just by her.
It is by the director, the producer, the camera man's years of skills in filming a good angle / lighter's skill in providing the right kind of lighting in a scene, and the storyboarding artist's composition in each shot, the production artist / on set crews/ props, clothes and make up artists etc etc.
Yes, she did the story.
But without nice looking actors/ actresses/ without nice lightings in a film, without nice looking scenes, without believable acting, without nice camera angles/ compositions do you really think people would give a chance to watch something that looks like crap?
Why not you film her story, with a mobile phone by your own hands asking your friends to act for you.
Let's see who is gonna watch that?
(provided that you are not a film student nor a photographer with zero knowledge to filming)
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