Lee Byung-heon out of John Woo film, Ha Ji-won possibly in

17 May 10, 2016

Lee Byung-heon out of John Woo film, Ha Ji-won possibly in

by tineybeanie

There was a bit of a hullabaloo, but we finally have the facts on Hollywood film director John Woo’s (Mission: Impossible II) new international project, Manhunt. When it was first announced, a whole bunch of names were thrown around as potential leads and up until March, Lee Byung-heon (Inside Men) was one of the strongest contenders.

However, Lee has officially declined to be in Woo’s new film citing scheduling conflicts. His agency, BH Entertainment, confirmed that Lee would be too busy promoting his two upcoming films, Master and The Magnificent Seven, to fit Manhunt into his schedule.

On the other hand, actress Ha Ji-won (The Chronicle of a Blood Merchant) announced that she has received the script, and is currently in the process of reviewing it. Part of the controversy resulted when Hong Kong media source Apple Daily reported mistakenly that both actors had confirmed their participation in the film. In addition, this source announced that Korean stars Ha Ji-won, Shin Mina, and Ji Jin-hee had all joined a talent agency under the Chinese entertainment conglomerate the Media Asia Group. However, this has also been proven false, as Ha’s current domestic agency, Moon and Stars Entertainment, revealed that she is only considering signing on with the Media Asia Group.

Manhunt is a loose remake of the Japanese film of the same title, which is about a small district office prosecutor who has been framed for a crime he didn’t commit and then sets out to prove his innocence. Filming is set to start in Osaka, Japan, this June.

Via TV Daily, TV Report

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Tags: Ha Ji-won, Lee Byung-heon

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1 WickedBiccie

May 10, 2016 at 1:52 PM

So......the moral of the story is, it's not just Korean media outlets who run with crazy rumors instead of doing a basic fact check.
Got it.
Heh.

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cozybooks

May 10, 2016 at 3:21 PM

It does make you wonder, though--do they ever do it on purpose? Maybe that's just the enterprising criminal in me, but I'd feel awfully pressured to pay more attention to the situation if the media had "made the decision for me". Oof, I would not like to be an entertainment star manager.

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lolabeans

May 10, 2016 at 4:01 PM

That's definitely not specific to K-media. All media is like that. The point isn't to get the true story, but to get the story quickly and release it first, so your site gets all the traffic. Inaccuracies can be corrected later or just plain forgotten once the the main goal is achieved.

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2 Grapes

May 10, 2016 at 2:07 PM

The story is overused nothing new

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3 BA

May 10, 2016 at 2:17 PM

Sigh. I wish more Kactors were fluent in English language so they could get a shot other then Santa Lee!

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Chiisan

May 10, 2016 at 5:00 PM

Hopefully I'm not offending some die-hard fans, but I'm glad he's out. I might be the only one thinking that Lee Byunghun's acting is one of the most overrated in K-biz. He's better than the pretty oppas Song Seunghoon and Kwon Sangwoo, but Lee is still pale in comparison to his co-stars in almost ALL of the blockbusters he's involved in.

Honestly, I've disliked his screen presence long before he's caught up in the scandals. I don't find his characters believable because he always seems to try so hard to flaunt a charisma he doesn't have. The emotions come off as disingenuous and annoying.

This is very different from Song Kangho's or Jung Woosung's acting. I love these ahjushi because their characters always seem to possess a sense of tragic heroism, and at the same time, vulnerability. I just never found those qualities portrayed seamlessly by Lee Byunghun.

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Kiara

May 10, 2016 at 5:33 PM

Watch them all in "The Good, the Bad and the Weird" and the two of them can't hold a candle to Song Kang Ho.

I think Lee Byung-heon is perfectly fine where he is at, (between Hollywood and Korea) doing the type of movies that fits his style.

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Chiisan

May 10, 2016 at 6:02 PM

I watch The Good, The Bad, and The Weird and though I agree that Song Kangho is undoubtedly the strongest actor, the film really separated Jung Woosung's and Lee Byunghun's acting for me.

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Parkmisoo

May 11, 2016 at 6:19 PM

Lee certainly has a strong film prescence in A Bittersweet Life. He expresses the isolation and anger in that role well.

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jooheejoo

May 10, 2016 at 6:05 PM

I'm not disagreeing with your comment here, but I just wanna say that these are people who aren't English.. They speak another language fluently like how we speak english. If you were learning korean, there's a high chance that you won't be fluent (not saying you won't be, just saying its hard to), and it's the same to them..so maybe you should give them a break? At least they can speak some-what English. (I'm not objecting your opinion but stating that we should think about it in their perspective)

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Hwari

May 10, 2016 at 7:29 PM

Yeah, I agree with you. Beside that, there also actors that don't want to work with Hollywood production just because of language. Also, why must they bother to work with foreign productions if they're role is small and typical for American movies where they can be the lead actors in home grown box office movie.

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gala

May 10, 2016 at 6:39 PM

there are many asian-americans/canadians actors available, tbh. Hollywood just needs to give them a shot.

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fab

May 11, 2016 at 3:15 AM

Right. Language is the least of their problems.

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4 trekkie

May 10, 2016 at 10:57 PM

I believe the movie's dialog will be mostly in Chinese and some Japanese... If not mistaken Jung Woo Sung was dubbed in Chinese in John Woo's movie Reign of Assassin

John Woo seem to stop directing and producing Hollywood movies since Red Cliff...

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5 rubie

May 10, 2016 at 10:57 PM

Thanks tineybeanie for the update. Too bad that Lee Byung Hun won't be joining the movie, may have been a great project with John Woo. He's still filming Master and would be busy when #Mag7 premieres in September. There seem to be news that he will collaborate with Kim Yun Seok in a movie of something, not sure though. Maybe that comes later.