Dramabeans » Kwon Sang-woo

TOP and Kwon Sang-woo take over “71″

javabeans — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 18:23:55 +0000

The movie 71 had first caught my interest for starring young actors Kim Bum and Yoo Seung-ho as student soldiers in wartime, but problems arose when the movie encountered budget issues and the like. The stars dropped out and the production halted for an extended period. Now, the project has changed production companies and been revived with a new title and new stars: TOP and Kwon Sang-woo will be meeting onscreen as the two leads of Into the Gunfire [포화 속으로].

The old title referred to a real incident during the Korean war when North Korean soldiers had invaded and 71 South Korean students had banded together to defend their home (in Pohang, Gyeongsang-do). Kim Bum’s former character had risen to lead the students in the pivotal battle.

With this new casting, Kwon Sang-woo plays a man who enlists in the military after being suspected in a murder and volunteers for the student forces; TOP plays another, more junior student soldier. Actors Cha Seung-won (City Hall) and Kim Seung-woo (IRIS) are in contention for other roles: Cha as a North Korean officer and Kim as a lieutenant leading the 71 young soldiers. Directing is Lee Jae-hwan of A Moment to Remember and writing is Lee Man-hee of A Turtle Runs.

(I’ve made the joke before, but this time I’m honestly perplexed: Does Kwon Sang-woo really not know what his image and/or generation is? I’m not saying that a man can’t take leading roles with younger actors, because Kwon can totally still do the sexy leading man thing. But the role in question is of a student and had previously been filled by Kim Bum — thirteen years younger is a big leap, even if the character has been tweaked. I’m puzzled.)

The film will begin shooting at the end of November or early December, and plans for a mid-2010 release.

Via Now News, Hankook Ilbo

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Where Kim Bum leads, Yoo Seung-ho follows

Cinderella Man gets its apology

javabeans — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 19:06:34 +0000

The fighting is over for drama series Cinderella Man, which had been accused of plagiarism in May by the production company of another proposed drama. On July 24, nearly two months after the drama limped to its June 4 finale, Cinderella Man and its production company, Core Contents Media, got an official apology and retraction.

Back in May, production company LK had said in an interview that Cinderella Man had ripped off a drama it had been developing called Fashion King. Core Contents immediately countered the claims and jumped to defend Cinderella Man’s producers and writer, going so far as to sue both LK and the media source for defamation.

On July 24, the paper issued a correction, while Fashion King writer and representative Kim Ki-ho publicly stated, “After examining Cinderella Man, there is too weak of a basis for the claim, so it is not plagiarism.” And thus concludes this chapter in fashion-drama sniping.

Via Star News, No Cut News

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Post tags: Cinderella Man, Kwon Sang-woo, lawsuits

Kwon Sang-woo looking to make Hollywood debut in Green Hornet

javabeans — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 08:02:03 +0000

WHAT????? OMGOMG.

Hallyu heartthrob Kwon Sang-woo is looking to make his Hollywood film debut… in a Michel Gondry film???

I’m trying not to get too excited about this because they’re still negotiating… but this is Really Big Stuff. I don’t mean that it’s big that Kwon Sang-woo is trying to make his Hollywood debut, like other Hallyu stars before him (Lee Byung-heon, Rain, Gianna Jun). No, it’s big because this is Michel Freaking Gondry, and he is a genius.

(Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind was half the genius of Michel Gondry’s directing, and half the genius of Charlie Kaufman’s screenwriting. Thankfully there’s enough genius in that film to go around. Gondry also has a celebrated filmography in short films and music videos, like this one of Cibo Matto’s “Sugar Water,” and the Lego video for the White Stripes, and the Foo Fighters’ “Everlong,” among many others.)

Gondry is the director attached to the upcoming film version of The Green Hornet, which was originally created for a 1930s radio program, then also turned into a movie, a television series, and comic books. The new film stars Seth Rogen and is currently negotiating to attach Cameron Diaz. Last week, Kwon Sang-woo flew to Los Angeles, where he is currently staying, to meet with Gondry to discuss working on the film.

Originally, The Green Hornet was to be directed by Stephen Chow (Shaolin Soccer), who would also fill the role of the Green Hornet’s sidekick Kato (the role Bruce Lee played on the TV show). However, Chow dropped out due to “creative differences” with the studio, and now here we are with Kwon Sang-woo possibly filling in.

Again, this is not final, but if it happens, it would be Big! It would also be the first of all these Korean-stars-gone-Hollywood attempts that I would actually be really, really excited about.

Via Asia Economy, Star News, Newsen

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Kwon Sang-woo would like more viewers, please

javabeans — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 18:20:22 +0000

And wouldn’t we all?

Oh, Kwon Sang-woo. I understand that you’re in something of a career slump after being one of the hottiest hotties of the early 2000s, and yeah, both your best buds Song Seung-heon and So Ji-sub came off pretty strong series in the past two months… but is bargaining for more viewers really the way to go about it?

Ratings for his new trendy drama Cinderella Man have been low, and Kwon offered that if they rose above 20% (ha!), he’d personally ask co-star Yoon-ah’s girl pop group Girls Generation (SoShi) to make a cameo.

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Read the rest of Kwon Sang-woo would like more viewers, please (648 words)

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Post tags: Bad Love, Cinderella Man, drama ratings, Han Eun-jung, interviews, Kwon Sang-woo, Sohn Tae-young, Song Chang-eui, Yoon-ah

Dead project Daemul to be revived

javabeans — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 21:54:35 +0000

A highly anticipated drama project that fizzled last year may get a second chance at broadcast life: producers are hoping to give Daemul (aka Big Fish, or 대물) a second go.

The 10 billion won drama production had been a big-buzz project, first of all because it was based off a popular comic, and second of all when it cast A-list stars in the roles of the female president and high-class gigolo: Go Hyun-jung (HIT) and Kwon Sang-woo (Bad Love) in what was to be his big comeback project.

However, Daemul encountered numerous problems with its budget, PDs, and filming locations; SBS then dropped it from its schedule; and eventually it fizzled.

Now, Lee Kim Productions is hoping to get the drama back into production and on the air sometime this year. Interestingly, they say they want to continue with the same actors, but that might be tough, as both are now headlining their own series (Kwon in the current Cinderella Man and Go in the upcoming Queen Seon-deok). LKP is currently working on adapting scripts from the manhwa, which was created by Park In-kwon. Park also created the manhwa War of Money, which was turned into a hit drama in 2007 by the same production company.

I’ve always been more interested in the premise with Daemul than its producers or cast, so I’d actually like to see this one make it to air. Probably won’t be with SBS, though — although, I wonder if the broadcast station will put aside its squabbles with the production company and attempt to woo Lee Kim’s upcoming Lady Castle, starring Yoon Eun-hye.

Via Joy News

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Post tags: Daemul, drama production, Go Hyun-jung, Kwon Sang-woo, manhwa adaptations

First impressions: MBC’s Cinderella Man

javabeans — Sat, 18 Apr 2009 02:50:51 +0000

On Wednesday, Cinderella Man premiered to a disappointing 9.3% rating, which dropped further to 6.7% on its second day. (It was up against Cain & Abel and I Hate You But Let’s Try Again, which both pulled in numbers in the 15%-19% range.)

I’ll always take the stance that ratings aren’t strictly indicative of a show’s quality, so I don’t think the numbers automatically say the show sucks. However, after seeing the first two episodes, I can see why the show received such a lukewarm response. Articles discussing the show’s first week point out the shaky quality, which range from complaints of Kwon Sang-woo’s muddy diction (”It requires subtitling!”) and exaggerated accent, as well as Yoon-ah’s acting and insufficient range of expression.

Personally, I didn’t think Cinderella Man was actually bad. It was okay. Inoffensive. It just… wasn’t very exciting.

SONG OF THE DAY

Biuret – “Dreams Come True.” Hm, maybe this song is too energetic for this post… Oh well. Just know that the drama ain’t anywhere near as upbeat as this fun song by Biuret, whose second album released a couple months ago. [ Download ]

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Read the rest of First impressions: MBC’s Cinderella Man (1,837 words)

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Post tags: Cinderella Man, episode recaps, Han Eun-jung, Kwon Sang-woo, Song Chang-eui, Yoon-ah

Cinderella Man production press conference

javabeans — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 23:02:00 +0000

I admit to poking a bit of fun at MBC’s upcoming series Cinderella Man, but I will say from photos of the drama’s production press conference, it does have one good-looking cast. (Of course, merely casting pretty actors never ensures quality, but when you’re approaching a drama with low expectations of the body-switching, weirdly-cast, cliché-ridden story, eye candy becomes important.)

Kwon Sang-woo and Yoon-ah, above, still look a little more like “Daddy’s little girl” than romantic counterparts, but I’m willing to give it a shot.

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Read the rest of Cinderella Man production press conference (293 words)

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Post tags: Cinderella Man, Han Eun-jung, Kwon Sang-woo, press conferences, Song Chang-eui, Yoon-ah