After making her name in drama series like Green Rose, My Girl, and Chuno, Lee Da-hae is ready to make her movie debut. She has been cast in the 3D historical project Song of Springs [현의 노래], a project described as “a movie telling the life story of legendary court musician Woo Reuk, who opened up the world of sound in a world ruled by the sword.”

Woo Reuk was the creator of the gayageum, a classical stringed instrument, and will be played by Lee Sung-jae (Lawyers of Korea). Lee Da-hae’s character is Ara, the top dancer of Daegaya, a city-state of Gaya during the Three Kingdoms era. Film veteran Ahn Sung-ki (The Divine Weapon) plays a Silla general, while Moon Jung-hee (Oh My Lady) portrays a “mysterious woman of Gaya” described as a femme fatale who runs a bar. Speed Scandal‘s young cutie Wang Seok-hyun plays one of Woo Reuk’s students.

Song of Springs is based on a novel written by Kim Hoon and has been in pre-production for six years. It boasts a hefty production budget of 15 billion won and will be directed by Joo Kyung-joong, whose 2002 film A Little Monk won him the best director award at the Asia Pacific Screen Awards.

Via Mk.co.kr, OSEN

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Post tags: Ahn Sung-ki, Lee Da-hae, Lee Sung-jae, Moon Jung-hee, Wang Seok-hyun

It’s that time of year again: awards season!

On December 2, the 30th Blue Dragon Film Awards were held at KBS Hall in Yoido, Seoul, hosted by actors Kim Hye-soo and Lee Beom-soo.

Considering the recent slump in the Korean movie industry, it was a pretty good year for films, with several big hits breaking box office records, like Haeundae and Take Off, both of which amassed a number of nominations. It was also a good year for the smaller, indie movie, with awards being given to actors of Breathless, and both Kim Myung-min and Ha Ji-won pulling in top acting honors for their performances in My Love By My Side (aka Closer to Haeven).

Actress Jang Jin-young, who passed away this year from stomach cancer at the age of 35, was given a special award that honored her career in film, with roles in movies like 2001′s Sorum and 2003′s Singles.

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Read the rest of 2009 Blue Dragon Film Awards (1,513 words)

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Post tags: awards, Cha Tae-hyun, Choi Kang-hee, Chu Ja-hyun, Chun Jung-myung, Go Soo, Ha Ji-won, Ha Jung-woo, Han Ye-seul, Jang Jin-young, Jang Young-nam, Jeon No-min, Jin Gu, Jo Ahn, Kang So-ra, Kang Ye-won, Kim Haneul, Kim Hye-soo, Kim Ji-suk, Kim Min-hee, Kim Min-joon, Kim Ok-bin, Lee Beom-soo, Lee Chae-young, Lee Min-ki, Lee Shi-young, Oh Yeon-seo, Park Bo-young, Sohn Ye-jin, Song Chang-eui, Sunwoo Sun, Wang Seok-hyun, Yoo Sun, Yoon Jin-seo

On October 8, the 14th Pusan International Film Festival, or PIFF, opened in Busan. (Yes, the city takes a different official spelling than the film festival. Blame inconsistent Romanization.)

As the largest film festival in Korea, it drew a large list of attendees, as you can see from the long list of red-carpet walkers. It was definitely a star-studded opening night, and even included one familiar Hollywood face (Josh Hartnett).

This year’s PIFF features its largest lineup to date, screening 355 films from 70 countries, and closes on the 16th.

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Read the rest of Opening red carpet at the 14th Pusan International Film Festival (241 words)

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Post tags: Byun Jung-soo, Choi Jung-won, Eom Ji-won, film festivals, Go Eun-ah, Go Jun-hee, Ha Ji-won, Han Chae-young, Han Eun-jung, Han Hye-jin, Han Ji-hye, Han Ye-seul, Im Joo-hwan, Im Soo-jung, Jang Dong-gun, Jang Hyuk, Jeon Do-yeon, Jeon Hye-bin, Jo Jae-hyun, Jung Ryeo-won, Kang Ji-hwan, Kim Haneul, Kim Kang-woo, Kim Nam-gil, Kim So-yeon, Kim Yun-jin, Lee Byung-heon, Lee Seon-kyun, Min Hyo-rin, Park Hee-soon, Seo Woo, So Ji-sub, Su Ae, Sung Yuri, Sunwoo Sun, Uhm Jung-hwa, Wang Seok-hyun, Yeh Ji-won, Yoo Hana, Yoo Sun, Yoon Kye-sang

Aw, isn’t little Wang Seok-hyun cute?

September 5 saw the end of the 17th Chunsa Film Festival and its closing-night awards ceremony, which was held in Icheon, Kyunggi-do. The winners list was dominated by the popular, recently released sports film Take Off [국가대표, or National Athlete], although vampire film Thirst did well, as did lush period piece Portrait of a Beauty.

Full winners list below:

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Read the rest of 17th Chunsa Film Festival (595 words)

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Post tags: awards, Cha Seung-woo, Choi Jung-won, Choi Jung-yoon, film festivals, Go Eun-ah, Im Joo-eun, Jo Ahn, Jung Jun-ho, Jung Soo-young, Kim Hae-sook, Kim Ji-suk, Lee Mi-yeon, Park Chan-wook, Park Hee-soon, Shin Mina, Song Chang-eui, Song Kang-ho, Wang Seok-hyun

Looks like the upcoming KBS miniseries Lady Castle [레이디캐슬] will probably be broadcasting under a different name, as explained by production company Lee Kim Productions. To that end, they invited online users to vote on the potential new title on the KBS drama homepage on July 2 and 3.

The reason cited was a concerted effort to curtail the unnecessary overusage of English titles by production companies, which is also the reason given for the last-minute title change for the drama Accidental Couple (aka That Fool), which changed its name from its initial “Six Months.”

Top contenders for Lady Castle‘s new moniker include the two selections voted on by netizens: “Oh! My Princess” [오! 나의 공주님] and “Take Care of the Young Lady” or “Take Care of Agasshi” [아가씨를 부탁해]. Of the two, “Take Care of the Young Lady” led in online votes, meaning there’s a good chance that will be the new title. However, there was a group of netizens who preferred the current title “Lady Castle,” while others criticized the reasoning, saying, “If you don’t want English titles, then what about Partner, which is airing right now?”

Meanwhile, filming will begin soon with stars Yoon Eun-hye, Yoon Sang-hyun, Jung Il-woo, and cutie youngster (of Speed Scandal) Wang Seok-hyun. The drama soon-to-be-formerly-known-as Lady Castle is scheduled to follow current Wednesday-Thursday drama Partner at the end of August.

UPDATE:

The new title is confirmed as “Take Care of the Young Lady” [아가씨를 부탁해], which I assure you flows much better in Korean. Personally, I think they should have kept “Lady Castle” — whose meaning refers to the luxurious, castle-like mansion that the three sisters live in — but oh well.

Via Sports Khan

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Post tags: Jung Il-woo, Lady Castle, Wang Seok-hyun, Yoon Eun-hye, Yoon Sang-hyun

Huh. Another one: Scandal Makers (aka Speed Scandal, 과속스캔들), which has enjoyed tremendous success in the past few months, is being remade by Hollywood.

The film has sold over 8.2 million tickets in Korea and catapulted young star Park Bo-young to household-name status (and earned her a Baeksang Award just a few days ago). It also stars Cha Tae-hyun (My Sassy Girl) and a very young Wang Seok-hyun. It is directed by Kang Hyung-chul.

Attached to direct the U.S. remake is Barry Sonnenfeld, director of films like Men in Black and RV and producer of Get Shorty, Ladykillers, and Pushing Daisies, who had the following to say about the Korean movie: “What a fabulous movie. It is funny, intelligent, and full of heart and values. It is also a movie with universal themes. I am honored to have the opportunity…” According to the CEO of M Line, which handles overseas sales and distribution, remake offers came from multiple studios, such as Universal, Sony, Disney, and Paramount.

The thing is, from everything I’ve heard, Scandal Makers is a great, fun, quality movie. The story seems remake-able. But it’s almost TOO remake-able — the plot doesn’t sound all that unusual for an American film: A 36-year-old bachelor finds his life upturned when he is surprised by the appearance of an unknown 22-year-old daughter… and her 6-year-old son. (The reason for the “speedy” scandals? Cha’s character, now a successful DJ and happy bachelor, was once an idol star in his teens with lots of female fans.) What keeps it afloat is its charm, and we know from past experiences that Hollywood tends to kill THAT elusive quality straightaway (case in point: My Sassy Girl, Il Mare, Tale of Two Sisters).

Via Mk.co.kr

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Post tags: Cha Tae-hyun, Hollywood, Park Bo-young, remakes, Wang Seok-hyun

There’s some new comedy coming out, and it’s called Speed Scandal or whatever, and I guess it stars Cha Tae-hyun (My Sassy Girl) and up-and-coming Park Bo-young (King and I), who’s starting to be called the New Moon Geun-young, which comes with both good and bad strings attached.

But whatever! Who cares about the movie when there is such adorableness to be had?

I mean, look at little Wang Seok-hyun, still practically a bebbeh!

I love his chubby cheeks. I love how he barely reaches table height to talk into the mic, below. I love how his head is so large it’s practically the size of his torso (particularly in the movie stills). I love that it looks like the kid dressed himself in the dark on the way to a Harry Potter reading. I love that his hair is curly but not permed, meaning somebody actually took a curling iron to that head of his. I love that his co-stars can’t seem to get enough of how cute he is, even though they’ve already spent months with him on the film set. I love how Cha Tae-hyun is copying the boy instead of the boy copying the adult for once. And I love how, in one set of photos, the kid’s wearing this resigned expression that says, “SIGH. It is such hard work being so cute! When will this end??”

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Read the rest of Speed Scandal turns Cha Tae-hyun into a young grandpa (317 words)

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Post tags: Cha Tae-hyun, Park Bo-young, press conferences, Wang Seok-hyun