Four Men in danger of being shelved (again)

45 July 9, 2018July 9, 2018

by girlfriday

This drama just can’t catch a break. It’s been one tumultuous road for mystery-romance drama Four Men, the Park Hae-jin vehicle and prequel to his JTBC spy comedy Man to Man: The series was initially picked up by SBS and then dropped last fall, around the time it lost its first director, PD Oh Jin-seok (My Sassy Girl, Yong-pal). Then it was revived just a month later with You From Another Star PD Jang Tae-yoo. Things were looking up at that point, and filming for the fully pre-produced drama began in November of last year.

But according to recent reports concerning the production, only four episodes’ worth of footage has been shot, and production halted back in mid-May and has yet to resume. Some sources are saying that the cast and crew have not been paid, and there are rumors of PD Jang Tae-yoo disappearing without contact. The director (whose star-worthy credits also include Painter of the Wind and Tree With Deep Roots) reportedly sought psychiatric treatment due to the stress and suffering caused on set, and is not in contact with the production company, Victory Contents. Some say PD Jang even dipped into his personal funds to pay some of the crew members.

Victory Contents denied the allegations and stated that production would resume soon, and that the crew had been paid. In their version of events, PD Jang demanded a higher salary. (I honestly don’t know who’s telling the truth at this point, as the story changes every half hour.) The drama began as a coproduction between Mountain Movement Entertainment (which is also Park Hae-jin’s agency) and Victory Contents, but problems arose in funding the production budget and Victory took over as the sole production company in January. In the four months following, there were allegedly three incidents of staff salaries going unpaid.

Four Men was being planned for a November broadcast and was initially in talks with both SBS and MBC for a time slot, and later TV Chosun. It tells the story of a man digging into his mother’s death, only to come across other men who look identical to him. Nana (The Good Wife), Kwak Shi-yang (Chicago Typewriter), and Lee Ki-woo (Just Between Lovers) co-star.

There was excitement over Park Hae-jin’s reunion with You From Another Star’s PD Jang, not to mention curiosity over how he’d manage to play four different characters in one drama. Now I’m not sure we’ll ever get to see these things come to pass on the small screen. It’s a shame, but these don’t sound like small problems to be swept under the rug. I’d say having a director or a broadcaster is pretty high up there on my list of priorities, if I were a drama. I know they’re always saying that the show must go on, but maybe some dramas just aren’t meant to be?

Via YTN, Sports Chosun, Xports News

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1 Amarilis17

July 9, 2018 at 11:30 PM

This is sad.... really looking forward to Park Hae-Jin new drama... hopefully the production continue soon..
thanks for sharing the news....

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2 greenfields

July 10, 2018 at 12:51 AM

"Four men in danger of being shelved again." You mean all four? Can't at least one make it through? 🙈

Sorry for that poor joke. This sounds like a complete mess. Looks like we won't be seeing this drama at all.

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3 Wise

July 10, 2018 at 1:13 AM

I was thinking this drama have a very bad story so no station want to buy and sell it.

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weirder13

July 10, 2018 at 4:32 PM

Same thought here. It reminded me of My Ahjussi's youngest brother where he came across a script that was good in paper but terrible on screen and it totally ruined his career.

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4 frabbycrabsis loves KBS Drama Specials

July 10, 2018 at 1:25 AM

This reminds me of all the Beautiful Mind problems, and THAT eventually made it to the screen so why not this? Seriously, what is it about this drama that's making everyone jump ship??

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giocare 🌻💛

July 10, 2018 at 6:02 PM

To this day i'm still bitter about Beautiful Mind being cut by 2 episodes

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5 ILoverain&coffee

July 10, 2018 at 1:56 AM

Why is things are not settling down for Park Hae-jin? I really want to see him in another drama again but things are rocky isn't it? Is there any other dramas he signed up for or 'Four men' is the only one for now?

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6 LT is Irresistibly Indifferent, Dame Judi

July 10, 2018 at 2:27 AM

PHJ can't seem to catch a break at the moment.

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7 Jas

July 10, 2018 at 2:29 AM

I pity the actors who have signed a contract with the production company and can't leave the production. This seems to be a mess created by PHJ's agency from the comments I've read. Honestly, who would dare to work with him at this point?

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Keller

July 10, 2018 at 3:44 AM

Exactly.... and the revenge movie his company produced called Cheese in The Trap debuted to 1/2 star reviews and bombed super bad at the box office despite aggressive media play. I think at this point delulu fan girls should wake up. Says alot when no one wants to work with him.

Thank goodness the production company behind the drama survived and continues to be supported by the big boys at CJ and the other actors and actresses thrown under the bus has gone on to find work at every other station/chungmuro. Time will always reveals the truth...

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alasecond

July 10, 2018 at 10:06 PM

what about fans.. gues smissed some gossip... did PHJ do somehting that no one wants to work with him?

didn't he do netflix's buster recently..

cheese in the trap was announced when the hullabaloo over the drama was at its peak. everyone was dissatisfied and it made sense to have something that would do justice to manga.. people supported the idea..
but well movie's treatment/editing or maybe the movie itself wasn't meant to be a 1 part movie..

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Keller

July 11, 2018 at 4:03 AM

He mediaplayed the whole saga playing victim so much - dominated the CF scene and milked it dry the ensuing months after. His delulu fans claimed seo kang joon had a sponsor, threw kim go eun under the bus when she spoke up about the situation and basically he turned the whole saga into Im the victim... everyone else is against me. Production company went under fire, director, scriptwriter were all not spared by the fan bashing but TVN stayed resolute to being on team production. They even put SKJ as a lead in their next remake Entourage. Long story short, PHJ and his company think they are all the shit after the saga and started producing their own ego productions where PHJ is the only superstar. Four Men bought by Netflix at a crazy price turned out horrible, OCN Bad Guys changed a whole new cast and didnt use him again. His diss movie flunked and now this ego production about FOUR of him produced by his company has no home... for every cast, staff and person thrown under the bus during the whole CITT saga... i hope this is vindication for them all...

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alasecond

July 11, 2018 at 10:33 AM

But that's the thing... SKJ will be lead in Entourage, decision was taken when CITT was airing. CITT broke records with initial episodes..it touched 8% (feat back then before goblin surpassed it .. and ofcourse even 1988 took time to reach 8%).. and the suddenly, this is went back and confirmed, Yj parts from manga were being given to the second lead character.. and these were all those decisive moments that build seol and YJ's relationship.
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So i don't know about secret sponsor, but TVN had vested interest in SKJ because entourage was a very costly investment, and they wanted to use CITT platform to bring as much limelight on him as they could. Unfortunately, SKJ got the hatred when he really wasn't involved.
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Comments of lead actress were offensive to fans because her entire point was contrary to the inception of this drama itself. When you have a literary piece and when you claim you are going to not make changes to it except the ending because manga hasn't ended and then if you do a 180 deg turn.. there are going to be questions.
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PHJ's playing victim card could be justified if it was him. But essentially the one to start this was the author herself. And that pretty much proved that shady business was going on.

My personal opinion, TVN arm twisted the production team. A pre-produced drama, ending was changed, scenes were reshot, scripts were distributed again. PD who spent so much thought planning her drama of such high quality, went against fans to cast the lead actress, gave her liberty to play seol the way she wanted, made crazy OTT character for the sister... that shows planning. Then why would they reshoot everything ??? Unless TVN came in.

The unfair part is TVN got away unscathed.. and everyone else paid for it..

Keller

July 11, 2018 at 4:11 PM

Nope. Everyone was happy and positive when they first scored Park Hae Jin as lead. It was working with him that led to the whole thing unravelling. The PD of you who came from the stars, is now threatening to throw a press con to reveal everything if Victory Content and Mountain Movement insist on twisting the facts. No one in these companies will be negatively affected as they work behind the cameras but the star of the vehicle is only one attached to MM. Who do you think the threat is indirectly levied at. OCN belongs to CJ as well. Same holding company as TVN. I smell blacklist and it makes you wonder why a giant will bother itself with anybody unless things were that sour.

Alessar

July 11, 2018 at 12:23 PM

Oh the movie version already came out? Huh. The thing about that was I was always skeptical they could do a movie adaptation that would have a satisfying story since it's a long series ... but I thought they'd at least put something good together.

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8 YY Chats with Toast Between Bites

July 10, 2018 at 3:15 AM

I am devastated. I practised being a backpack for hours and hours to prepare for my cameo. I stayed up nights and watched Dora the Explorer to hone my backpacky skills. I spent hours in front of the mirror schooling my face into the best rubbery expressionless mask. All that hard work reduced to dust....*cries*

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bbstl 🧹

July 10, 2018 at 2:31 PM

😫 it ain't right! A future star, stopped before she started!

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YY Chats with Toast Between Bites

July 10, 2018 at 9:19 PM

😢

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Rukia wants melona

July 14, 2018 at 6:46 AM

There will be other roles for you.
I'm always your fan! 👏

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YY Chats with Toast Between Bites

July 14, 2018 at 8:29 AM

Thanks....*cries*

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Le

July 16, 2018 at 3:43 PM

Maybe you'll get a breakout role like that piano in citt. Best love triangle and scene stealer by an inanimate object.

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Flightey Gazelles

July 21, 2018 at 12:16 AM

Lmao!!!

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9 ⭐ Sera The Ms Temper ⭐

July 10, 2018 at 4:11 AM

I wish all the best for this team. It's not just the hardwork of one or two people. Hopefully they find the best solution. Flexibility of all related parties might be helping to find the right solution.

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10 mindy

July 10, 2018 at 4:24 AM

Yikes. I feel terrible for the cast and the crew. I was really looking forward to seeing Park Hae-jin and Nana together, too.

I’m hoping that somehow this will work out for them all. I can only imagine how stressful it is for everyone.

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11 Kurama

July 10, 2018 at 7:13 AM

I'm not sure about the last choices of Park Hae Jin. In the drama Cheese in the Trap, he was older that other actors and for me it was visible. The movie was a bad idea, they had less time to tell the story than the drama and the casting was too old and not better. And now this drama...

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12 Ek Ladhki Thi

July 10, 2018 at 9:08 AM

Why do bad things happen to good people?😔😔😔😔

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13 Tazzo

July 10, 2018 at 10:22 AM

the last time heard problems like these on set, a PD died....i am referring to "Faith". i hope everything goes well and nothing bad happens.

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14 Giegie

July 10, 2018 at 11:02 AM

This is sad news because I was looking forward to this drama. :(*

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15 callie

July 10, 2018 at 5:31 PM

The universe really doesn't want this drama to be made. I think it's time production listened to her.

Hope the crew members get paid for their work.

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16 bbstl 🧹

July 10, 2018 at 9:59 PM

Honestly, I thought there was a new show coming titled "Four Men in Danger of Being Shelved (again)".
And I thought, a work drama? Romance drama? Library drama? I might watch that show.

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Ek Ladhki Thi

July 10, 2018 at 10:56 PM

A tragi-comedy about the four horsemen of the apocalypse escaping from the pages of the bible and having to navigate pre-apocalyptic world and ultimately deciding to bring about the apocalypse because the world is way screwed up? I'm there.

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bbstl 🧹

July 11, 2018 at 9:26 AM

Very timely, that one!

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Alessar

July 11, 2018 at 12:30 PM

Yeah and the casting for it is phenomenal. It's going to star Cha Seung Won as War, Lee El as Famine, Kang Ji Hwan as Pestilence (in a comic turn, he's gonna look like a dirty hobo), and Jung Hae-In as Death. Inexplicably, the female lead will be played by Uee.

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bbstl 🧹

July 11, 2018 at 3:34 PM

(Hooting)

Dare I say it, her casting as the lead is always inexplicable.

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suk

July 11, 2018 at 1:23 AM

Library Drama! We need that!

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chingu

July 11, 2018 at 11:01 AM

Reminds me of the Korean movie, Heartbreak Library.

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librarianerin

July 12, 2018 at 7:45 AM

Oh, Heartbreak Library. One of my favorites, even though it makes me cry.

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chingu

July 12, 2018 at 9:50 PM

It's been so long since I've watched it, all I remember is how cute Lee Dong-wook looked with that long, shaggy hair of his.

17 suk

July 11, 2018 at 1:24 AM

There's so much drama happening before the actual drama is supposed to happen! I really hope whoever is telling the truth will be acknowledged and that everybody will get paid and compensated.

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18 HANI

July 11, 2018 at 3:36 AM

Dont kill me for saying this tho, as much as I like PHJ, the premise is meh, so maybe it is a good sign? Having said that, I hope everyone get paid for all the work done.

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19 chingu

July 11, 2018 at 11:25 AM

Yikes.

I agree with Girlfriday--maybe this drama just wasn't meant to be. It's been in-the-works for so long and kept going back and forth between stations. While I give the people involved props for trying to keep it alive and going all this time, all this newfound drama behind/before the drama is telling. At this point, I just hope the cast and crew gets paid for all their work.

I guess the idea of having FOUR Park Hae-jins was always too good to be true...

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20 fab

July 12, 2018 at 12:28 PM

Poor, poor Park Hae-jin!

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21 kiyomipink

July 15, 2018 at 9:44 PM

Well this is just sad, but it sounds like there is a lot of issues that need to be addressed.

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22 Francis Turner

August 16, 2018 at 2:35 PM

Stop being a Park Hae Jin HATER😣 He's awesome and he's not responsible if SAJA gets panned😥You CLEARLY aren't a fan of PHJ SO GO AWAY AND STFU ALREADY 😣 Any Actor would be honored to work with such a beautiful person you MISERABLE HATER

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23 Samantha

September 24, 2019 at 10:07 PM

It's really too bad that agreements could not have been met. And not enough resources for the show
I was really looking to a Park Hae-Jin is great in making characters come to life and you can tell he's passionate about his work how unfortunate. As an English fan I was looking forward to it. Loved Man 2 Man.

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