Lee Min-ki as underworld upstart in For the Emperor
by girlfriday
It wouldn’t be a complete season in Chungmuro without a Busan gangster flick on the roster. Here’s Lee Min-ki (Monster) and Park Sung-woong (Tabloid) facing off in the stylish noir For the Emperor, about a mob boss and the young protege who grows dangerously ambitious and starts to covet the boss’s life. I suppose that’s the problem with teaching a man how to be the perfect criminal. Though we’ve seen this setup many times before, I’d say Lee Min-ki and Park Sung-woong are pretty solid reasons to get my hopes up.
Lee Min-ki stars as a washed-up baseball player who gets caught fixing a game and loses everything, becoming a debt-ridden wastrel with zero prospects. Park Sung-woong is the boss of a criminal organization built on the loan shark business called Emperor Capital, who takes pity on Lee Min-ki and rescues him, giving him a second chance at life. Though everyone around him opposes the idea, Park Sung-woong takes him under his wing and teaches him everything he knows, including sharing a piece of the good life.
But the deeper he goes into the underworld, Lee Min-ki’s appetite for power grows, and the competitive drive he once lost comes back in full force as he seeks to take everything the boss has, including his bar madam girlfriend (Lee Tae-im, The Punisher, Special Investigation Unit), and his seat at the head of the table.
I like that the trailer makes the story seem sufficiently epic, because it can be disappointing when gangster movies don’t quite live up to the scale of power that’s implied. But this looks like one man’s bloody quest to rule an entire city, which is exciting. Plus yunno, Lee Min-ki smolders, which can never be a bad thing. The copy in the trailer: “Baseness becomes technique. Betrayal becomes skill. A world like a gambling game. Everyone dreams of becoming the emperor.”
For the Emperor hits theaters June 12.
Via My Daily
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Tags: Lee Min-ki, Park Sung-woong
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1 mary
June 1, 2014 at 4:07 AM
That Evil Chairman from Cruel City... O___O
I feel like he just waltzed into the movie set straight from CC shooting.
Same look, same accent, same evil vibes......
(Also, a tiny squee for Lee Min Ki. :D)
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mary
June 1, 2014 at 4:15 AM
That Byung Hee hair though... I wish Lee Min Ki changed it.
(Just like I wish Song Jae Rim gets a project soon. But we can't all get our wishes, eh? *sigh*)
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creidesca
June 1, 2014 at 10:22 AM
guess you haven't seen him sporting the new hairstyle for movie Shoot My Heart.
The last time his hair was mentioned here on dramabeans, I knew it was because of For the Emperor.
His latest style, for Shoot My Heart makes him feel soooo young.
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2 Mama J
June 1, 2014 at 4:18 AM
THIS is one big bowl of Yes Sir, is what this is. Can't wait for more of OMGLee Minki!
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hoaa
June 1, 2014 at 7:23 AM
Lee Min-ki in dramaland, amen..
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Mieosa
June 1, 2014 at 9:20 AM
Lee Min Ki looking damn fine. Excited!
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Mama J
June 2, 2014 at 3:38 PM
I saw some photo spread of him for a magazine on Tumblr this morning, can't remember which mag but current issue - and all I could do was tell the truth:
I would like to have vicious sex with that man.
Just once. Rock his world, then walk away.
Alas, I'm in another hemisphere and pretty much another generation. Aging, round women have fantasies too, though. Remember that!
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3 redfox
June 1, 2014 at 4:20 AM
the hair is exactly the same in some shots as Sung Joon in INR3 so I even got confused at the leather jacket picture thinking : "Oh? What? " being prematurely happy of a reunion. But ahh, no. just similar hair.
so with just a little time apart we get news on two dark toned movies.
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4 Denali
June 1, 2014 at 4:31 AM
So... TOP's North Korean spy daddy in "Commitment" did not die but became a mob boss taking a surrogate son under his wings instead? *sheds a tear*
The pic of LMK on the baseball filed had me mistake him for Lee Jong Seok.
If only people could devote time and energy filling their own seat instead of wanting someone else's...
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5 maldita
June 1, 2014 at 4:41 AM
I'm always here for more Lee Minki. :) He seems to have a lot of films lined up to be released before or after he enlists. Doing things the Hyun Bin way, I see.
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skelly
June 3, 2014 at 12:14 PM
Yes and No. I think I would remember if Hyun Bin had done a poster with his head between a woman's legs. Lee Minki is a lot edgier, more willing to take risks, IMHO.
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6 Petmink
June 1, 2014 at 4:56 AM
That hair makes him look like Domyoji from hana yori dango.
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TJ
June 1, 2014 at 6:00 AM
LMAO!
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7 Deliane
June 1, 2014 at 5:03 AM
Yes Yes Yes anything from Lee Min Ki is a yes in my books. :) He seems to be very on point with script choices.
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8 aly
June 1, 2014 at 5:04 AM
That busan accent makes a girl swoooooon <33 i'm in for anything with Lee Min ki. Also waiting on your gapdong review for ep 14. Shizz is gonna go down!!!!!
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9 coloures
June 1, 2014 at 5:06 AM
Kang Tae Bong!
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girlatsea
June 1, 2014 at 6:26 AM
Kang Tae-bong!!!
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10 Firdhiye
June 1, 2014 at 5:56 AM
The pics looks very noirish, the girl very femme fatale. I hope the film is as good as the trailer.
I know and like Park Sung Woong from The Legend, Baker King.
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11 TJ
June 1, 2014 at 5:59 AM
So many great stills! The trailer is awesome. I keep forgetting about Lee Min ki because he doesn't do lots of projects. I like this cast. K gangster movies are one of my big weaknesses. Too bad it'll be months before we see it sub titled. Korean movies don't come out sub titled the next day like dramas. This is a terrible tease. Shame on you!
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12 girlatsea
June 1, 2014 at 6:22 AM
Omg yesssssss, Lee Min-ki!!!!! In a a noir film based in Busan!!!!! I was so happy but now I'm so sad because it'll probably be months before I get to watch it T__T
Praying to the drama gods that he has a drama comeback (preferably a rom-com pls) before he enlists ?
P.s. I wasn't very familiar with the actress but I just realized she's Da-had from Wild Chives and Soybean Soup. So pretty *__*
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girlatsea
June 1, 2014 at 6:23 AM
Oops, Da-hae*
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john
June 1, 2014 at 7:11 AM
Wow, Da-hae's (Lee Tae-im), is smoking hot in that dress. Had no idea.
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dfwkimchi
June 1, 2014 at 1:41 PM
Aah - thanks. Since the adults in Wild Chives just started to appear last weekend - i thought the lady looked familiar and could not place her.
Adult Da Hae is so different from teen Da Hae - but so are the rest of the other characters except for Danny Ahn's character.
The only Lee Minki movie i have seen n also enjoyed is Romantic Island. He is one sexy dude even though he had 'bad' hair in that movie.
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amber
June 1, 2014 at 4:38 PM
And she did lots of surgeries to the point, I couldn't recognise her anymore. I used to like her in Don't hesitate.
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JD
June 2, 2014 at 2:41 AM
Yeah, agree, Lee Tae Im so beautiful in Don't Hesistate, perfect couple with Lee Sang Woo. Sadly.... she overdo her face with plastic surgery.... I loves her face before plastic surgery *...*
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13 Tara
June 1, 2014 at 7:22 AM
Oooh, sexy ahjussi Park Sung-woong!!! ;) And of course, can't forget about the always great Lee Min-ki ;)
So I guess that's why he's had that ahjumma perm-like thing going :/
BTW...I had no idea he's a 85er!! Saw the comments on here about him enlisting and I was like, huh? I thought he'd be older but to be a year younger than me? That surprised me because it seems like he's been around a while...
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mary
June 1, 2014 at 7:36 AM
I was surprised by that army duty reminder too!
For some reason, despite him playing that high school role in SUFBB, I thought he's in his early 30s now...
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Tara
June 1, 2014 at 8:08 PM
That's exactly what I thought...I figured he'd be like 33/34 by now! He's age dongap with Song Jae-rim :) ...and younger than Lee Jun-ki?!
I remember thinking when he was in SUFBB, "wow they cast him with guys who are 10 years younger..." haha
And, btw...I love reading your Song Jae-rim comments, no matter the actual topic of the post! :) i do hope he gets cast in a drama very soon! :)
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poulpion
June 1, 2014 at 9:33 AM
Omg! I thought he would be older too! So he hasn't gone to the army yet! Well, that will be a good opportunity to gain some weight!
he doesn't really look old but the ajummah hair sure is not helping ^^
Or maybe that's because I saw him in I Really Really Like You ages ago (it seems)
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Tara
June 1, 2014 at 8:13 PM
That's the first drama I saw him in, then Dal-ja's Spring...so that's why I thought he was older too!
I would hope he'd gain some weight during his military service, rather than the trend of this getting discharged as of late :(
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14 Quiet Thought
June 1, 2014 at 9:51 AM
Okay, not clear about that lead photo at first glance. Thought he was wearing a black lace undershirt with the suit, but he's apparently really, really, really good friends with the woman who's lap he's crying into.
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skelly
June 3, 2014 at 12:17 PM
He's crying? I thought he just looked busy.
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15 Julia the Berkshire Beanie
June 1, 2014 at 5:21 PM
I am always shocked at how much LEG Korean actresses show. That shot with the stockings ... oh my! So sexy.
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16 xianzhongfan
June 1, 2014 at 7:42 PM
Park Sung Woong was quite a scary mob boss 'wannabe' in New World (which was quite an epic mobster movie). So now he gets to be mob boss finally, for a short while maybe...
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17 D's handphone
June 1, 2014 at 10:38 PM
Ajushi.. y u so hot? Can u do a rom com next? Or something not so scary? Where you have a happy ending and not dead?
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18 browncoat_78
June 2, 2014 at 10:33 AM
OOOOOOHHHHH to be the owner of that leg.
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19 Iza
June 2, 2014 at 1:18 PM
Lee Min Ki is sooo sexy!!! Can't wait *_____*
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