Drama Casting & News
Poseidon faces ticking clock to get production going
by | July 27, 2011 | 33 Comments

Oh, Poseidon, will you EVER get off the ground?

The troubled drama was already rescued once from cancellation, and picked up for a fall broadcast after its plans for a spring premiere fell by the wayside. Yet with its September broadcast just over a month away, the drama still doesn’t have a cast after losing most of their original actors. Eep!

Cold weather and production delays pushed back filming this past winter, and with the stars unable to keep their schedules on hold indefinitely, Poseidon slowly began dropping actors: Eric, Kim Kang-woo, Kim Ok-bin, Jeon Hye-bin

Re-casting has been a tough process; there has been talk of some possible names up for roles, but none have been finalized. One rep with KBS said, “After the drama was given a timeslot on the broadcast schedule, the producers contacted several actors and singers, but with the urgency of the proceedings, it’s not an easy situation.” And with casting in limbo, shooting is impossible.

The timeline is such that even if a cast were to be finalized immediately, the production would be facing mighty tight filming schedules to get everything ready in time. Many trendies do begin filming about a month prior to first airdate, but action dramas like Poseidon require more time for filming in unusual locales and conditions (at sea) and for post-production work.

Another rep said, “Poseidon has gone through a stormy voyage, but following its pickup for the broadcast schedule, it will need to make its premiere no matter what, and currently its feet are being held to the fire. Even if shooting were to commence, it’s uncertain whether it’ll proceed smoothly. The producers and actors will all have to bear a heavy burden.”

Originally intended to be an SBS series, Poseidon was dropped by that broadcaster and then picked up by KBS. It is currently slotted to air on Monday and Tuesdays after Myung-wol the Spy wraps up, which puts its first episode in the first week of September or thereabouts. Why do I feel like that’s an impossibly tall order?

Via Newsen

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33 Comments from the Beanut Gallery
  1. Biscuit

    Poseidon, maybe you should just R.I.P. Or just push your broadcast date a little further. I know you want to get this goin’, but as a viewer, it’s gonna impact the quality, which will y’know… impact the viewership.

    • 1.1 Ani

      I agree. They just need to let the poor dog die already. Why try to keep alive something that has no life left in it? Yeesh.

  2. Biscuit

    Poseidon, maybe you should just R.I.P. Or just push your broadcast date a little further. I know you want to get this goin’, but as a viewer, it’s gonna impact the quality, which will y’know… impact the viewership. And you might as well get cut if you come out with a crappy drama with scenes crammed together.

  3. Dalena

    wasn’t yunho from dbsk an original cast member in Poseidon or did he drop out?

    • 3.1 danna

      from the previous post on this, JB noted that he hadn’t though it’s unsure that he’d stay…here she only listed the rest of the cast that dropped put

    • 3.2 maldita

      He hasn’t technically dropped out, though I wouldn’t be surprised if he does. His Japanese activities are full swing probably until the end of the year. It’ll be crazy impossible to even fit this drama into his schedule now.

  4. Danna

    Yeah, I’ve pretty much given up hope on this production…I wish broadcasters would instead focus on airing What’s Up…at least that’s completely done

    • 4.1 spazzy06

      I highly doubt What’s Up will be airing anytime soon on any network.

      One of their cast members (Daesung) is having serious legal troubles right now. He was involved in a car accident where a motorcyclist got killed. According to his management, he won’t be participating in activities for the rest of the year.

      Airing What’s Up would cause too much controversy. I can’t see KBS taking a chance on it.

      • 4.1.1 asianromance

        After the Daesung accident, I really wished they had done this drama with a start date and a live shoot instead of having it all pre-shot. It will probably be years or in the black market for this drama to come out. I don’t know how the dead motorcyclist family will feel to see Daesung on tv.

        • 4.1.1.1 Suzieeq_luv

          Read that they want him to live his life and they aren’t pressing charges. (Well I kinda over simplified that but yeah…)
          However I don’t think Daesung is ready to come back to the public. I could imagine Press Conferences and interviews being out of the question.

          But I will be darned if I say that I have given up on Whats Up. One day it will see the light of broadcast >.<

  5. Ace

    eh…now that I saw Eric in Myung-wol, it would’ve been good if he starred in this…but too late dude! The bts pics before were awesome. they already waited a long time, maybe they could wait until the end of the year (but it’ll be so cold) or next summer.

  6. ionizable

    i hope poseidon can get going quickly, or else myungwol the spy might get extended to make time for poseidon. i like the pacing of myungwol right now, i don’t want it to start dragging :[

  7. Cynthia

    This is just ridiculous. There are some projects that just aren’t meant to be.
    How many more signs from TPTB will it take for the proponents of this hot mess to realize that it’s a no-go?!

    This style of kdrama calls for a lot more than knee-jerk casting and producing. This one stinks from a mile away. It’ll be easier to just toss the script, take a breath and come up with a new project. All this because they have a reserved slot to fill? Idiots.

  8. ajewell

    It’s impossible. Drop it and air What’s Up? instead.

  9. YJ

    Maybe they should delay it and air more episodes of Spy Myung wol ;D

    • 9.1 spazzy06

      That’s what they’ll probably end up doing.

      Or perhaps they’ll air a two or four episode drama special. That would delay the follow up drama for a few weeks and give them more time to prepare.

      Although, I’m not sure if those few additional weeks would help Poseidon at all. I find it a bit worrisome that they don’t even have a cast in place yet. Forget about filming- who’s actually going to act in this drama?

      What… a hot mess.

  10. 10 danni

    Hmm, and August is just around the corner. I sort of feel bad for the production, but maybe they should just drop it. It has so many factors against it that I can’t see it doing well, if it ever makes it to the air

  11. 11 crazedlu

    =’(.. how sad.

  12. 12 xiaoSxin

    Please pick up What’s Up instead… I am still waiting

  13. 13 asianromance

    They should wait to get a high profile actor and shoot/air it after winter. or hire a lower profile actor and get started pronto.

  14. 14 Aya

    jesus, what’s up is indefinitely on hold, ppl, stop crying. jb didn’t even mention it, go ask them for a dvd release or tvN to help out

    • 14.1 Aya

      re:this mess
      poseidon makers need to reevaluate their choices, this doesn’t have to end in a disaster, by no means. The teasers were good, big & badass-ish, the team is great, like the PD’s and that one IRIS writer, anticipation was huge last year for Kang-Woo, Ok-Bin, Eric and Yunho, the premise is interesting if handled well and production had months to prepare now, otherwise it would have been dropped long ago, no?

      But a drama of this magnitude needs time and a solid cast, if you don’t have’ em yet, then you sit the hell down and make do with at least 3 back-up plans even if that means to put things on hold for a year. Even if there’s obligations to be fulfilled, KBS needs to fill the slot or whatever, u don’t go in half-assed and re-cast random celebs… and then wonder ’bout bad reviews and bad ratings.

      dear producers, dont repeat 2010, winter is coming up soon and it will be the same thing all over, so think before you act

      however, if they decide to go the kamikaze route, ppl should still give this a chance.
      At least they get an A+ for effort and stubborness

      • 14.1.1 Suzieeq_luv

        “A+ for effort and stubborness” is right
        With the rush this is being put under it is hard to see such a huge project going well…

  15. 15 sPark*

    I understand why so many people want What’s Up over Poseidon because honestly, I do too. Too bad that drama probably won’t get an air date anytime soon since Daesung is not supposed to be doing any activities for the rest of the year. I do hope it’ll somehow… one day… get an air date.

    Back to Poseidon. KBS should find a different, better-prepared drama to air in that time slot. Broadcasting a half-assed, last-minute produced drama will not bode well. People may tune in to see how the drama turned out, but in the long run, I don’t know if the drama will be legitimately good.

    If the staff truly wants to release a good drama, they should give in to their circumstances and take their time. If the premise is really that good, I’m sure they will get another air date at a later time.

    Also, wouldn’t actors will be more willing to participate in the drama if there is more time?

  16. 16 Jomo

    Any movie that has to deal with water usually costs WAY more than estimated. And based on the way this system treats their stars, this can not end well.

    Here is how I see this:

    WATER + RUSHING THE FILMING + TIRED CREW AND ACTORS + PRESSURE TO BE SUCCESSFUL =
    * D * I * S * A * S * T * E * R *

    Don’t do it, Actors! Turn them down flat! Don’t take the bait!

    • 16.1 YY

      I read somewhere that Hollywood normally avoids shows with water as a theme cos of the costs involved. I remember movies like Kevin Costner’s “Waterworld”, Geena Davis’s “Cutthroat Island” and “Sandra Bullock’s “Speed 2″ which bombed at the box office. It’s already tough filming on land, on sea it would be doubly worse.

      • 16.1.1 Jomo

        Exactly, the BTS for all the Pirates in the Car movies talk about how they had to send crews out on boats to the big ships to feed the cast every day, all day.

        Not to mention dealing with weather disruptions, seasickness, WHALES, Krackens and mermaids.*

        The altenative is to go part or all CGI, and that would be annoying.

        *OK, I made some of this up.

  17. 17 mary

    At this point it’s easier to hope that Spy Myung Wol suddenly get 20%+ ratings so that it gets an extension rather than expect the Poseidon team to hustle up a decent group of actors/actresses who’re willing to do this death-shoot system with only a month left…

  18. 18 Jasmin

    Poseidon is one drama but what is with What’s up… is there anything new about a airing date?:-(

    • 18.1 YY

      Nothing’s up….sad.

  19. 19 Phi

    I doubt Poseidon would make its premiere after Spy Myungwol ends Aug.30.

    Even when there’s announcements of it’s airing on KBS, I had a hunch they could not make it. On top of recasting difficulty, this drama needs a lot of planning & corporation with the coastguards/marine folks. There’s no way they could keep up the pace even if they manage to get the 1st few episodes up to hold the airing schedule. They better kill it or plan for next year at the earlier if they’re still keen to keep this going….

  20. 20 Linda

    I feel really bad for this drama.. i’m hoping that EVENTUALLY it’ll get aired and that it will KICKASS, just to prove itself.

  21. 21 well....

    they should just drop it :(

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