News bites: April 27, 2023

24 April 27, 2023April 27, 2023

by tccolb

Im Shi-wan (Summer Strike) is considering a new drama, which curiously has the same title as the film Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon in Korean. Taking place in dramaland’s new favorite era, the 1980s, the suspense story will be set around a high school in the South Chungcheong province. Still in the planning stages, PD Lee Myung-woo (One Ordinary Day, The Fiery Priest) is attached to direct. [JTBC]

The first poster has arrived for Wavve’s Park Ha-kyung’s Travels, giving us the ticket to our melancholy heroine’s journey. Starring Lee Na-young (Romance Is a Bonus Book) in the title role, the melodrama is slated to premiere on May 24 with production led by the Samjin Company English Class team, writer Sohn Mi and filmmaker Lee Jong-pil. [News1]
Stills from the first script reading were released for the new youth drama Cheongdam International High School, lining up a fresh-faced cast of Lee Eun-saem (Cheer Up), Red Velvet’s Yeri, Lee Jong-hyuk (Cheer Up), and Yoo Jung-hoo among others. Launching next month on May 31, the series will be available to stream on Wavve and Netflix. [Xports News]

Park Joo-hyun (The Forbidden Marriage) is in talks for a new coming-of-age drama called Reporter’s Notebook (roughly translated). If she accepts, Park will be playing a rookie reporter, who failed the qualifying exam five times before finally passing on her sixth try. The story then follows her growth as she starts work at a high-ranking news company. [Star News]
Kim Dong-joon (More Than Friends) announced his first post-army project, joining Choi Su-jong (My Only One) and Ji Seung-hyun (Curtain Call) in KBS’s upcoming sageuk The Goryeo-Khitan War. Kim will be playing the revered King Hyun-jong, who was the eighth ruler of Goryeo and had a very interesting parentage. [KBS]

A new poster and video teaser have been released for Disney+’s Race, featuring our office foursome: Lee Yeon-hee (Welcome to Wedding Hell), Hong Jong-hyun (Stock Struck), Moon Sori (Queenmaker), and Yunho (Meloholic). With directing by PD Lee Dong-yoon (Sunbae, Don’t Put on that Lipstick) and scripts by Kim Ru-ri (Hyena), the workplace drama will be clocking us in on May 10. [News]
The first script reading stills have come out for JTBC’s King the Land, showcasing the main cast led by Junho (The Red Sleeve Cuff) and Yoon-ah (Big Mouth). Also starring Go Won-hee (Love to Hate You), Kim Ga-eun (Under the Queen’s Umbrella), Ahn Se-ha (The Heavenly Idol), and Kim Jae-won (Stealer: The Treasure Keeper), the rom-com will be coming to our screens this June. [News1]

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I wonder if Kim Dong-joon is not too green for this kind of role. I was pretty happy to get a Goryeo area drama but now I'm skeptical. I liked him in More than Friends, his character was far nicer than the ML. But sageuks are different.

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kiara

April 28, 2023 at 4:57 AM

*sigh*

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2 DancingEmma

April 28, 2023 at 1:05 AM

“King the Land” makes no sense in English. What is going with these English titles? Are they deliberately cryptic?

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kellie

April 28, 2023 at 3:23 AM

The case of the missing preposition?

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Unaspirated

April 28, 2023 at 5:18 AM

I kind of like it better than some other titles where they just make up something random in English. My partner always jokes that they must have a random name generator that just spits out keywords in English (his latest fav to poke fun at is "True to Love", which, fair, honestly has nothing to do with the drama outside the word "love").

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mindy

April 28, 2023 at 5:25 AM

The “official” English versions of titles are always more boring than the Korean ones and tell you nothing about the show. Never over “This Week My Wife Will Have an Affair” turning in to “Listen to Love” 💀

Also as a kdrama watcher for 12 years I still find the nonsensical English titles charming lmao

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Kurama

April 28, 2023 at 6:43 AM

At least, they don't change the titles to make everything about sex like they do for the French. The most stupid thing, it's they keep them in English...

No Strings Attached ==> Sex Friends
What's Your Number ==> Sex List
Step Up ==> Sexy Dance
Not Another Teen Movie ==> Sex Academy
Etc.

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mindy

April 28, 2023 at 7:45 AM

Oh my god that’s hilarious

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Kurama

April 28, 2023 at 8:49 AM

I stop trying to understand how they chose the title of movies/dramas for a different language since a long time...

DancingEmma

April 28, 2023 at 4:29 PM

These are both appalling and funny. The old stereotype of everything to do with the French language is sexy and then some is mighty. Why can’t just a bit thinking take place before such moronic decisions are made (a rhetorical question)?

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hacja

April 28, 2023 at 2:03 PM

At least there is one word that is relevant in that one. Whereas I still have no idea what "Our Blooming Youth" referred to, unless the early 30s are now considered part of youth, which could be, I suppose.

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Unaspirated

April 28, 2023 at 7:19 PM

Yeah I have no idea about that one. The only thing I could come up with is that all the middle-aged and older folks in that drama were almost completely useless and/or antagonistic, so it certainly left room for the youth to bloom.

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DancingEmma

April 29, 2023 at 6:30 AM

Well, according to the evil Rupert Murdoch, being 95 is only half way through his life span (to wit:
“We’re both looking forward to spending the second half of our lives together”, on the occasion of his engagement which is no more. So by this horrifying yardstick, to be in one’s thirties would be the equivalent of being a tween.

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OldLawyer

April 28, 2023 at 10:35 AM

You mean like JOSEON ATTORNEY: THE MORALITY?

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Elinor is trapped in the timeslip

April 28, 2023 at 2:32 PM

Viki calls it JOSEON ATTORNEY: A MORALITY, which is even worse. I keep wanting to delete the space after ‘A’.

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OldLawyer

April 28, 2023 at 4:21 PM

You are both more accurate and linguistically correct as well.

I have to ask: Is your avatar Elinor of Aquitaine? One of Katherine Hepburn's greatest roles was playing her in THE LION IN WINTER, which is a great historical movie that I would recommend to everyone.

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Elinor is trapped in the timeslip

April 29, 2023 at 3:00 AM

It is indeed Eleanor (alternate spellings abound) of Aquitaine! And that’s a wonderful movie. Hepburn attended the same college I did and I once had the great and rare pleasure of seeing her speak there.

bong-soo

April 29, 2023 at 6:17 AM

O/T. I am back in NYC for a week and Thursday afternoon I waited with a friend for the crosstown bus at 2nd Ave and E 49th St. The stop is diagonally across from Kathrine Hepburn’s Manhattan townhouse (1931-1990s).

hacja

April 28, 2023 at 2:08 PM

Maybe the story is about real estate agents playing checkers with some agricultural plots? Instead of "king me" they say "king the land" when they move it into development?

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3 OldLawyer

April 28, 2023 at 10:34 AM

GORYEO-KHITAN WAR sounds like the title for a documentary. Perhaps the title will change before it airs. In any case I am glad to see another non-Joseon sageuk.

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4 ys

April 28, 2023 at 11:06 AM

The Cheongdam school post -- Lee Jonghyuk is currently my unhealthy obsession after watching him in Our Dating Sim. He’s done 3 web dramas and I’ve watched 2 of them so far. It’s not easy being an imo fan.

Dongjunie playing a Goryeo king. I’ve loved him since his ZE:A days and happy that he has a leading role but…

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5 Elinor is trapped in the timeslip

April 28, 2023 at 2:34 PM

3. Ages of fresh-faced main cast in this ‘high school’ drama: 23, 24, 25, 25, 26, 27. Nope.

4. Sigh. This suddenly looks much less intriguing.

7. Yoona’s smug smirk is fully on display in these shots and I am NOT amused. The title is super-awkward and it seems to be a back-transliteration into Korean of those words in English; I’d bet it changes before the premiere. But it cracks me up that Ahn Se-ha and all of the women are so tiny they make *Junho* look tall. I mean, he’s not short, but the obsession with being able to show an ML as tall becomes ever more absurd.

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6 Reply1988 -❣️Mother Bean❣️

April 28, 2023 at 3:07 PM

There are quite a few potential long listers here. It will be good to get more details nearer the release date to see if anything is hidden behind the fun exteriors.