...even if you're Im Sang-Soo, it seems.
We reported during the weekend the latest casting news on the remake of 1960 classic 하녀 (The Housemaid) - to make a long story short: yes, Im Sang-Soo is directing, and Jeon Do-Yeon will lead - but if you notice, I edited the article a little bit, because of one detail: the fact Kim Soo-Hyun was no longer going to write the script for the film. At first I thought it was just some last moment switcheroo which had not previously been announced, but hearing the real reason warrants a post of its own.
Kim Soo-Hyun is arguably the most famous TV writer in Korea, starting in the late 1960s and pretty much creating genres on her own (most adultery dramas in the country use her traditional blueprint), with her works in the 1980s for MBC drawing insane ratings (hard to trust data without any real nationwide barometer, but Seoul ratings often surpassed the 70%), and even in a current environment were scoring a 15% is already a big feat, she is still bringing home 2-30% averages with every new show. The reason why a pairing with Im Sang-Soo would have been controversial is because Kim is notoriously a war general type: she participates in every single script rehearsal, and has been known for reproaching actors who can't follow her AK-47 styled dialogue, no matter how experienced they are - not to mention rendering every director who works with her a virtual puppet, sometimes even requesting a certain kind of music to support certain scenes. Famous is a tirade with her higher ups on one of her very first, and incredibly controversial dramas: the boss wanted her to tone down a storyline, and she just grumbled: "do that, and it's the last time you'll see me work here."
Weeell, what do you know, she's done it again. With a rather bombastic post on her homepage written on October 31, she confirmed her complete withdrawal from the project, post she emphatically titled "they ruthlessly stabbed me in the back."
This would have marked the first time Kim was writing a film script firsthand since 1992 (some of her work has been adapted since then), but when Im Sang-Soo replaced Gina Kim at the helm, seems like problems started to emerge. The most curious element of this entire affair? She actually recommended Im as director (sounds a bit suspect to my ears, but unless Im says otherwise, we'll just take it as the truth). Kim had completed the script in two months, while taking a break from TV writing, and when she signed the contract, she promised that any script revision - if based on solid and understandable reasoning - would be accepted. What Im graced her with during the Chuseok holidays was something tremendously altered, enough as she states to "call it a Im Sang-Soo script. The only thing he left intact is a scene at the beginning, and the name of the characters."
Kim continued: "if his revisions were really effective, I just would have told him to go ahead and use this, since it was better than mine, but such was not the case." Sensing that producer and director would go their own way, she called Mirovision and said she would abandon the project, after which Im sent her an e-mail asking for forgiveness, and noting that he deserved reproach. Her reply? "No need for apologies or reproach, nor do I have any intention of forgiving you." Meow.
Not the first time Kim does this, and she clearly seems to be a little out of touch with the changes the industry has gone through since she last worked there, but curious nonetheless. What this all means is that Im will probably use his revised script, which in a sense might actually make it an even better film.
[Asia Economy]
We reported during the weekend the latest casting news on the remake of 1960 classic 하녀 (The Housemaid) - to make a long story short: yes, Im Sang-Soo is directing, and Jeon Do-Yeon will lead - but if you notice, I edited the article a little bit, because of one detail: the fact Kim Soo-Hyun was no longer going to write the script for the film. At first I thought it was just some last moment switcheroo which had not previously been announced, but hearing the real reason warrants a post of its own.
Kim Soo-Hyun is arguably the most famous TV writer in Korea, starting in the late 1960s and pretty much creating genres on her own (most adultery dramas in the country use her traditional blueprint), with her works in the 1980s for MBC drawing insane ratings (hard to trust data without any real nationwide barometer, but Seoul ratings often surpassed the 70%), and even in a current environment were scoring a 15% is already a big feat, she is still bringing home 2-30% averages with every new show. The reason why a pairing with Im Sang-Soo would have been controversial is because Kim is notoriously a war general type: she participates in every single script rehearsal, and has been known for reproaching actors who can't follow her AK-47 styled dialogue, no matter how experienced they are - not to mention rendering every director who works with her a virtual puppet, sometimes even requesting a certain kind of music to support certain scenes. Famous is a tirade with her higher ups on one of her very first, and incredibly controversial dramas: the boss wanted her to tone down a storyline, and she just grumbled: "do that, and it's the last time you'll see me work here."
Weeell, what do you know, she's done it again. With a rather bombastic post on her homepage written on October 31, she confirmed her complete withdrawal from the project, post she emphatically titled "they ruthlessly stabbed me in the back."
This would have marked the first time Kim was writing a film script firsthand since 1992 (some of her work has been adapted since then), but when Im Sang-Soo replaced Gina Kim at the helm, seems like problems started to emerge. The most curious element of this entire affair? She actually recommended Im as director (sounds a bit suspect to my ears, but unless Im says otherwise, we'll just take it as the truth). Kim had completed the script in two months, while taking a break from TV writing, and when she signed the contract, she promised that any script revision - if based on solid and understandable reasoning - would be accepted. What Im graced her with during the Chuseok holidays was something tremendously altered, enough as she states to "call it a Im Sang-Soo script. The only thing he left intact is a scene at the beginning, and the name of the characters."
Kim continued: "if his revisions were really effective, I just would have told him to go ahead and use this, since it was better than mine, but such was not the case." Sensing that producer and director would go their own way, she called Mirovision and said she would abandon the project, after which Im sent her an e-mail asking for forgiveness, and noting that he deserved reproach. Her reply? "No need for apologies or reproach, nor do I have any intention of forgiving you." Meow.
Not the first time Kim does this, and she clearly seems to be a little out of touch with the changes the industry has gone through since she last worked there, but curious nonetheless. What this all means is that Im will probably use his revised script, which in a sense might actually make it an even better film.
[Asia Economy]
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