Bad news for Jang Nara: Her film company has decided to pull their recent film Sky and Ocean from theaters a mere twelve days into its run. The company says this is in response to the controversy the film has sparked, but no doubt the abysmal ticket receipts are also to blame.

For being a small, relationship-based music film, the film has been at the center of a lot of noise. Jang’s production company, which is headed by her father Ju Ho-sung, has battled accusations that there was unfair lobbying going on behind the scenes when the film was nominated for a best film Daejong Award.

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With only a day before its airdate, the premiere of Iris was thrown into question as the drama’s production company, Taewon Entertainment, announced a dispute with its broadcaster, KBS. After a day of negotiations, the two sides did reconcile and come to an agreement, meaning that the Wednesday premiere of the high-profile action series will continue as planned. But not without some major issues built in, as we learned from the grievances aired by Taewon.

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Spunky Seo Woo (Crush and Blush) is the latest actor to be caught in a lie about her age (others: Sunwoo Sun, Lee Shi-young, Hyun Young), as it has been revealed that she is three years older than previously believed. She was thought to be 21 (or 22 by Korean count) and born in 1988; in actuality, she is 24, born in 1985. Her real name has also been revealed as Kim Mun-joo, although that’s not such a surprise, since she has acknowledged that Seo Woo is a stage name.

Her management has stated that discrepancy is their fault, and not a result of Seo Woo’s intention to lie about her age: “We hope that criticism will not be directed at her. We’re sorry and ask for your forgiveness.”

I don’t think this is much of a big deal, and I doubt it’ll have much of an effect on her career; it’s more of a matter of interest than a controversy. In this age of the internet, it’s interesting that people continue to try to fudge ages, although Seo Woo’s very youthful face probably helped with the perception.

In the meantime, she is currently acting in Tamra the Island, and has spoken out several times to express her sorrow at the early ending. She’s also apologized to viewers, feeling that the show’s lack of success is largely her fault. Next up, she has the October release of her movie Paju to look forward to, which co-stars Lee Seon-kyun.

Via Segye

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Despite fan furor, the decision to cut Tamra the Island down to 16 episodes still stands, but the MBC drama will be exported abroad with its 20 episodes intact. This mirrors the scenario for MBC’s similarly chopped Strike Love, which was cut to 16 in Korea but exported to Japan with all its original episodes.

Because MBC’s decision came relatively late, Tamra’s production team will be working to cut the remaining material down to size for the remainder of its MBC run. The drama’s first ten episodes were aired intact; beginning with the upcoming weekend, however, Episodes 11 through 16 will show re-worked material of the story that had originally been planned for Episodes 11 to 20. Tamra the Island had filmed much of its show prior to broadcast, but not all of it; the production now has some extra time to complete the filming for the last several episodes according to their original plan, even though those portions will not air in Korea.

What a weird, illogical mess. I’m thinking that if you’re a fan, you may want to wait for the complete version from the overseas broadcasts. Or a DVD release. (The drama has been licensed to air in Japan, China, Hong Kong, and Thailand.)

The fans, meanwhile, are still furious and the campaign to save the show’s original vision is still raging; there are now more than 10,000 posts opposing the decision on the drama’s homepage and street protests have been organized. However, I doubt it will have an effect: If there was the least shot of getting MBC to change its mind, it was dashed over the weekend, when even in the midst of all this attention the drama failed to improve its 5% ratings. Sons of Sol Pharmacy, in the meantime, crushed its competitor as its story heads into its last phases, breaking the 40% ratings mark.

Via Hankyung

RELATED POSTS

• Fans are spitting mad at Tamra’s curtailment
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• Tamra the Island: Episode 1

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Im Joo-hwan

When MBC announced that Tamra the Island was getting cut and ending early, they pissed off fans and even spurred them to publish a large ad in a daily newspaper protesting the decision. (As I said before, the ratings are low but this is a mania drama, meaning that the fans it has amassed are passionate — and vocal.)

The ad, which appeared on September 3, took the broadcasting industry to task for its vice of kowtowing to ratings numbers. It was organized and signed by members of the fan cafes for actors Hwang Chan-bin (who plays William) and Lee Sun-ho (who plays Yan).

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