On September 6, the city of Icheon was host to the 16th Chunsa Film Festival, which found its red carpet walked by film and TV stars and capped off the night with an awards ceremony. Honors were handed out actors including Ha Jung-woo (The Chaser, a big winner that night) and Lee Mi-yeon (Love Exposure).
The red carpet wasn’t as star-studded as the recent Chungmuro Film Festival and its fashions were a bit more subdued (there was a LOT of black), but it had its share of name actors in attendance, such as Kim Ah-joong (above) and Daniel Henney.
While news is quiet of the 200 Pound Beautysequel, plans are under way for a musical version, starring SES lead singer Bada. (The film sequel will be losing the sleeper hit’s original plastic-beauty Hana, star Kim Ah-joong, who opted not to return to the franchise in favor of other projects now that she’s catapulted to stardom.)
This musical version will be the follow-up stage role to Bada’s previous theatrical turn as Esmerelda in Notre Dame de Paris, for which she received favorable reviews. She’ll share the double-cast role of Hana with musical actress Yoon Gong-joo (really, Yoon parents? You named your kid “Princess”?). The male lead role, originated by Joo Jin-mo in the movie, is yet to be cast.
The musical version of 200 Pound Beauty will begin its theatrical run on November 27.
Kim Ah Joong is putting out a book and has announced plans to donate proceeds to a hospital for handicapped children. She’s co-editing with Koryo University’s writing professor Kim Kwang Su, and the book Emotional Communication goes on sale on May 30.
The book is described as dealing with a study on the spectrum of human emotions as classified into several categories such as horror, anger, sadness, love, happiness, etc. It takes a look into several academic fields in its synthesis of the human emotional experience, such as neuroscience, physiology, and psychology.
Professor Kim explains that he’d come up with the concept of the book in early 2007, and was impressed with Kim Ah Joong’s enthusiasm and insight when she attended his lectures on the topic (read: He saw his ticket to publication). He apparently approached her and suggested her participation, and thus the collaboration.
Yeaaaah, I’m sure. A pretty young actress and jeans model, whose claim to fame is a mainstream romantic comedy fluff hit, seemed like the perfect partner for compiling an examination of human emotions using an “academic approach”? A university professor works on a book for more than a year, brings in a student, and now they’re “co-editors”? I wish the workload balance tilted in this direction when I was a college student.
Hey, maybe she has a knack for the subject (also, maybe not) — but no matter how bright a student is, no way does a college intro-lecture-attendee have any sort of business co-authoring a book bearing this description. This is no slam against her — it’s miles away from Horan’s essay collection, Yoon Eun Hye’s craft projects, Jung Ryeo Won’s sketchbook, or Park Jiyoon’s photography. Even pop- and pseudo-science ought to require the bare minimum in the way of academic credentials.
Sleeper romantic-comedy hit 200 Pound Beauty is preparing its sequel, because what’s more natural after a film unexpectedly hits big than to milk that cash cow for all it’s worth? Still, despite my problems with the way the film resolves, it was more entertaining than I’d expected, and the writing was a cut above your average Korean rom-com fluff-fest. So maybe there’s hope for a sequel yet, although first the producers will have to win over the breakout star of its original, Kim Ah Joong.
Kim Ah Joong has had CF contracts and lots of offers post-200 Pound Beauty, but hasn’t struck it big with a follow-up project, so her wariness is understandable. Her management states that “as the lead actress in the original, it’s natural for people to wonder over her role,” but her participation is by no means definite: “The production company is still in the process of making its sequel, and we’ve asked to see the screenplay when it’s completed.” He adds, “Because it’s not yet finished, we aren’t ready to discuss whether she wants or doesn’t want to appear in the film. After seeing the finished script, she will consider it.”
With both actor and director yet unsettled, the screenwriter is currently penning the script. The basic plot outline describes main character Hana, who’d beautified through massive plastic surgery in the first film, undergoing the “yo-yo effect” to regain weight in the sequel.
Hm, sounds an awful like the true life tales of actress-comedian Kim Mi Ryeo — who got slammed for “beautifying” via exercise and surgery (Botox and lipo), then for regaining weight — doesn’t it?
In more casting news, actor Kim Ah Joong has finally decided upon her first project after she skyrocketed to fame after her 2006 film 200 Pound Beauty became a sleeper hit. She’s in early planning stages to appear in director Song Hae Sung’s upcoming fantasy film Melos (meaning “song” in Greek), produced by Crayon Pictures and DRM Entertainment. The director’s former projects include Our Happy Time and Failan.
In the year following her rise to stardom, Kim Ah Joong’s become one of the most sought-after new actresses, and rumors flew that she’d been approached to appear in Oldboy director Park Chan Wook’s next film Bat, Choi Ho’s Go Go 70, and others, but those projects did not materialize.
About Melos:
Melos is a different kind of melodrama that depicts the love between an insurance agent whose wife committed suicide and a visually handicapped woman who’s spent one year in a vegetative state. Communicating via the two characters’ fantasies, they develop a mutual sympathy and understanding. Kim Ah Joong displays deep, sensitive acting as the prickly, visually handicapped character in her first melodramatic role since her acting debut. Top male stars are currently being considered for the lead role opposite Kim, and the film plans to start shooting sometime from late January 2008 to early February. The fantasy elements will require much post-production special-effects and CG work, and the film will release around Chuseok time.
The role sounds like… um… kind of a drastic shift, doesn’t it? Well, give the girl props for not trying to “ease into” her next role after playing a character who wasn’t too much of a stretch in 200 Pound Beauty. Don’t get me wrong, she was good in 200 Pound Beauty — sweet and likable, which is key for a light-hearted romantic movie like that. But I’m interested to see how that translates in playing a damaged and difficult personality in the new project.
