[HanCinema's News] South Korean Media Continues into Space

February of 2021 saw the release of "Space Sweepers" on Netflix. While the space opera was not originally intended to be a Netflix release, anticipation for the Song Joong-ki project was strong enough to prompt a spurt of other outer space themed stories in a South Korean media environment that generally doesn't see too many of them. So it was that Netflix greenlit the miniseries "The Silent Sea" which began streaming international last December.

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While the long-term impact of these projects is debatable, further outer space themed stories will continue to be released throughout this year and next. "The Moon" with Do Kyung-soo as a stranded astronaut finished filming late last year, and has a tentative release date of sometime this year. "When the Stars Gossip" begins filming this month, and the serial drama is expected to have a simultaneous release both on South Korean television as well as on OTT platforms.

It's a bold move for lead actor Lee Min-ho following "Pachinko" and the relatively lukewarm recepetion to the drama from his fans, who are more used to straightforward adventure and romance roles from the famed actor. But moving into space for prestige reasons is far from a new idea. Lee Min-ho's co-star from "The Heirs" Kim Woo-bin has long been expected to make his comeback with the major film "Alienoid" which isn't quite a space film but does deal with extraterrestrials.

In similarly broad science fiction projects, "House of Hummingbird" director Kim Bora is also expected to have a more introspective take on the genre with "Spectrum" which will deal with extraterrestrials who are more difficult to understand. The trend for science fiction in South Korean media remains scattershot, as no work has been seminal enough to clearly define the genre in South Korean terms. "Along With the Gods: The Two Worlds" is a comparable success for doing the same with fantasy.

But the very success of "Along With the Gods: The Two Worlds" as a distinct spectacle fantasy film has emboldened many producers to at least keep trying. With many of these releases being delayed by COVID-19, there's also no reason to think that the attempted shift to science fiction has been a misfire. Rather, viewers simply haven't yet seen enough variety for anyone to know for sure.

Written by William Schwartz