Drama news bites: December 23, 2015

by javabeans

I know we usually post our weekly round-up of news bites on the weekend, but I’m tossing out another set this time since there were lots of minor stories piling up mid-week. May as well get to them!

• Lee Jong-seok is heading to China in a Korean-Chinese joint production drama, which will reunite him with his Doctor Stranger director Jin Hyuk. (That drama may have been nutballs, but both are way better at their respective jobs than that, so I’m looking on this news favorably.) The drama is a fantasy romance called Jade Lovers and the project will be quite the blockbuster, with a production budget of 40 billion won and a partnership with DMG Entertainment (Iron Man 3). Set in the 1930s, the drama is looking to cast a top Chinese actress to co-star opposite Lee Jong-seok, to begin filming in Shanghai and Hengdien in January. [DongA]
• Yong-pal may be getting a Russian remake. The deal is not finalized, but Sony Pictures is reportedly involved in making the offer. There has also been mention of Yong-pal getting a second season, based on comments made by an executive with HB Entertainment at a recent forum at the 2nd Story Awards & Festival in Seoul, who said that the producers are currently in talks about a season format. Um, what more story is there to tell, for the drama that should have been half as long to begin with? [Joy News, Sports Chosun, MBN]


Rain, Joo-won

• Speaking of Yong-pal, its star Joo-won recently commented on a recent V-app Christmas message that his favorite character that he’s played is Shi-on from Good Doctor, which he called an entertaining, good-natured drama. Well, it’s not my favorite of his characters by far, but I suppose I wouldn’t want him to actually like being tortured and dark a la Gaksital, right? [Herald]
• Rain has officially confirmed taking that body-possession drama formerly titled Goodbye My Beloved, which feels a bit anticlimactic since we already knew he was mostly-basically-virtually doing it weeks ago. The drama based on the Japanese novel Mr. Tsubakiyama’s Seven Days has now changed the title to Please Come Back, Ajusshi. I think I prefer the new one, which feels lighter and more upbeat than the melo-sounding Beloved; I hope this means the “teary comedy” will lean more toward the humor side, as it tells its story about a group of fellow deceased folks making their triumphant (albeit temporary) returns from the afterlife. The drama premieres in February following Remember—Son’s War. [My Daily]
• This is no surprise, but the cast of Answer Me 1988 will be getting a visit from the cast of Answer Me 1994 (which itself received a drop-in from the cast of Answer Me 1997) in an upcoming episode, which corresponds to the show’s timeline moving forward to 1994. These cameos are usually just fun fanservicey Easter eggs rather than plot-dependent moments, but I do love the intentional mind-bend you get when actors meet their parallel-world self in the other drama (say, 1997 dad Sung Dong-il meeting 1994 dad Sung Dong-il, or perhaps Kim Sung-kyun going face-to-face with Samcheonpo). The producers are keeping their mouths shut about the details, but Go Ara and Jung Woo did visit the set not long ago, so they seem a likely bet. [IS Plus]


1988 meets 1994

• And despite the massive newfound success tvN has had with phenoms like the Answer Me franchise, Misaeng, and the Over Flowers and Three Meals a Day variety shows, their history of drama hits does extend farther back, and Rude Miss Young-ae has been greenlighted for its fifteenth season. Fifteen! Granted, its first season was back in 2007 so those season span eight years rather than fifteen, but that is still pretty impressive staying power for its quirky, low-key, comedic slice-of-life drama. [XSportsNews]
• Last but not least: a friendly heads-up that next week is awards-apalooza for the main broadcasters, who will be broadcasting a whole slew of ceremonies like their Gayo Daejeon and Entertainment/Variety Awards and, of course, our favorite, the Acting Awards. That means a lot of dramas are facing pre-emptions for one or both episodes next week. We’ll update our handy airing schedule over in the sidebar when we know more details. It may be tough hanging in there an extra week to get your drama fix, but think of all the pretty stars looking pretty at fancy ceremonies that you’ll get to ogle in the meantime. [Sports Chosun]

Rude Miss Young-ae

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