Jung Woo-sung, who played “The Good” part of The Good, The Bad, The Weird, is joining his Hallyu colleagues like Lee Byung-heon and Jang Dong-gun in attempting a leap to the global stage: his next project, Rain of Swords, is directed by John Woo (Mission Impossible 2) and co-stars Michelle Yeoh (Crouching TIger, Hidden Dragon).

Filming began this past week in Shanghai on the wuxia (martial arts in ancient China) project, described as “Face/Off meets Mr. & Mrs. Smith set in the Ming Dynasty.” According to the Korea Times, the film “follows a love affair between a retiring assassin (Yeoh) and a messenger (Jung) whose father was killed by the assassin’s former associates. The assassin is initially oblivious of her lover’s history and the fact that he is well-trained in martial arts. Meanwhile a character played by Wang Xue-qi sets out to steal a powerful artifact in her possession.”

Jung Woo-sung has been studying Chinese for the movie, which plans to release in later 2010.

Via Now News, Korea Times

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Add Jung Woo-sung (The Good, The Bad, The Weird) to the list of actors who are seeking to branch out into directing (Yoo Ji-tae and Gu Hye-sun are two who have already put out directorial work). He explained in a recent interview that he had been intending to make his directorial debut for years, but kept pushing it back. To date, Jung has finished three screenplays in the action genre, and plans to take either a lead or a prominent supporting role as well as directing the feature. He is even considering casting close friends to keep the budget down, as he could rely on them to act without pay.

Who would agree to do that? “[Lee] Jung-jae in particular will have to act for free,” he said with a laugh. The two are good friends, and acted together in the 1999 film City of Rising Sun.

Jung is currently promoting his latest film, Rainy Season aka Season of Good Rain. He hopes to film his directorial debut project next year.

Via My Daily

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Jung Woo-sung, like his The Good, The Bad, The Weird co-star Lee Byung-heon, also has a new movie in the works, a romance called Rainy Season [호우시절].

Rainy Season is directed by Heo Jin-ho of Happiness (who also directs one of the segments of Ogamdo). The film shot entirely in China and co-stars Chinese actress Gao Yuan Yuan.

The story begins as Jung’s character, an office worker for a construction company, travels on a business trip to China and happens to run into an old friend, May (Gao Yuan Yuan), from his study-abroad days in America. Back in their earlier relationship they hadn’t realized they’d been in love, and Jung’s character had a difficult time expressing his feelings. In the intervening years, they’d forgotten about each other and went on to live their own lives, but as they rekindle their affections now, they fall in love for real.

[Read more →]

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This seems a bit… odd. Jung Woo-sung (The Good, The Bad, The Weird) has been cast in a Korean-Japanese co-production… of an adaptation a Japanese manga… in a multi-season drama series… for his American television debut. (Nothing wrong with the concept, of course, but talk about multiple layers of risk!)

The series is City Hunter, which I vaguely remember seeing (as an anime) back in Ye Olde Nineties. I remember almost nothing about the actual series, but I do seem to recall it being a little blue — although perhaps racy content is not a big deal in today’s TV climate. The description, from Wikipedia:

The series follows the exploits of Ryo Saeba, a “sweeper” who works to rid Tokyo of crime, and Kaori Makimura, a tomboyish girl who manages Ryo’s business affairs. Their “City Hunter” business is an underground jack-of-all-trades operation, contacted by writing the letters “XYZ” on a blackboard at Shinjuku Station.

Jung takes the lead as Ryo Saeba, who is basically a pervy P.I. (Kaori is not yet cast.) The series is being planned for four seasons — a Seoul version, Tokyo version, New York version, and Paris version — each with its own hero. Shooting is scheduled to begin next year.

I’m still not quite clear on how this is going to work. U.S. television shows do not green-light multiple seasons in advance (shows are lucky if they even make it through their first season intact). While the production team is looking to broadcast on Fox Television (which suggests they have some kind of relationship or preliminary deal there), let’s just keep in mind that the U.S. broadcast machine is vastly different from the Korean one, and a series that is cast and shot does not always make it to air.

Via Hankook Ilbo

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Yet more awards, as we get deeper into December: this time it’s the 11th Director’s Cut Awards, which were presented on December 16.

Awards were determined based on a vote cast by approximately 200 film directors. Actors Ha Jung-woo and Gong Hyo-jin won nods for their roles in The Chaser and Crush and Blush, respectively. The Chaser and The Good, The Bad, The Weird also continued their winning streaks with more trophies. One new name to crop up in this list: Antique Bakery’s (and Strongest Chil Woo’s) baby-faced Yoo Ah-in.

Being mainly a director’s night, this ceremony has the distinction of being substantially less glamorous than the others we’ve seen and will be seeing. Personally, I can dig when the dress code of the night constitutes sneakers, jazzing up that hoodie with a jacket, and maybe trimming that goatee a bit.

Full winners list beyond the cut.

More winners and attendees >>

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