Pachinko star Lee Min-ho set for big-budget space drama Ask the Stars; All of Us Are Dead’s Yoon Chan-young eyed for Delivery Man – K-drama casting latest

A variety of K-dramas for release in 2022 have been announced, and many are in the midst of casting or are about to begin production
Among them are a remake of Taiwanese drama Someday or One Day, a big-budget space drama starring Lee Min-ho and Gong Hyo-jin and a period prohibition series

K-drama news

Pierce Conran

Published: 11:15am, 9 Apr, 2022

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The K-drama industry is getting ready to give us another period prohibition drama, the stars have aligned for a major sci-fi event series and a popular young cast has assembled for a fantasy romance on Netflix.

These are among the latest Korean drama series productions to have been announced since mid-March. Look for them to hit screens later this year.

Delivery Man

Yoon Chan-young, whose popularity exploded following his appearance in the Netflix hit All of Us Are Dead earlier this year, has reportedly been offered the lead role in upcoming show Delivery Man.

The part, which his agency confirms he has received and is considering positively, would see him play a taxi driver who has the ability to see ghosts.

Aside from his normal work behind the wheel, he strives to fulfil the last wishes of the ghosts he meets. The series is being produced by KT Studio Genie.

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Yoon is currently on our screens in the drama Hope or Dope (aka Juvenile Delinquency), an original series from the Korean streaming service Seezn. Filming for Delivery Man, which has yet to confirm where it will be broadcast, will commence once casting is complete.

A Time Called You

Ahn Hyo-seop (A Business Proposal), Jeon Yeo-been ( Vincenzo), and Kang Hoon (The Red Sleeve) have agreed to star in a new Netflix project, A Time Called You.

A remake of the Taiwanese drama Someday or One Day, the show is a timeslip romance following Jeon’s character, Han Joon-hee, who has been grieving the death of her boyfriend a year earlier when she finds herself transported back in time to 1998, where she meets Nam Si-heon (Ahn Hyo-seop), who looks eerily similar to her deceased lover.

Jeon Yeo-been in a still from Vincenzo. Photo: Netflix

Kang Hoon will play Jung In-gyu, who harbours an unrequited crush on high school student Kwon Min-joo, the person whose body Joon-hee enters in the past.

The scriptwriter for the series is Choi Hyo-bi (Babysitter), while Kim Jin-won (The Innocent Man) is on board as director.

Trolley

Following her leading role in Hellbound and having finished filming the upcoming Netflix feature Jung-E, Kim Hyun-joo is set to join the SBS drama Trolley.

She will play Kim Hye-joo in the series, a woman who restores books for a living and has quietly been keeping her marriage to a politician under wraps.

Kim Hyun-joo recently starred in Hellbound. Photo: Netflix

However, a series of incidents threatens to shed light on her marriage as well as her mysterious past.

Park Hee-soon of My Name will appear as Jung Do, the national assemblyman married to Hye-joo. Do You Like Brahms? writer Ryu Bo-ri will pen the script for the show, which will soon begin production. It is expected to air in the second half of the year.

Ask the Stars

Big-budget space drama Ask the Stars, plans for which were revealed last year, is about to commence production. Pachinko’s Lee Min-ho will join Gong Hyo-jin of When the Camellia Blooms in the sci-fi romantic comedy, on which filming starts this month. It is expected to broadcast on a global streaming platform in 2023.

Lee will play an obstetrician who visits a space station, where he meets Gong’s Korean-American astronaut. Han Ji-eun (Bad and Crazy) is on board as Lee Min-ho’s fiancée, while Oh Jung-se of Jirisan is also slated to appear in the series.

Lee Min-ho (right) and Kim Minha in a still from Pachinko. Photo: Apple

It’s Okay To Not Be Okay director Park Shin-woo will direct the series, which is being written by Seo Sook-hyang. Park, Seo and Gong previously collaborated on 2016’s Jealousy Incarnate. Reports suggest the production will have a hefty 50 billion won (US$41 million) price tag.

Bootleg Liquor

My Sassy Girl and Alice actor Joo Won is in talks to lead the upcoming period drama Bootleg Liquor (translated title). Directing the series will be Kwak Jung-hwan, who recently made Delayed Justice and Chief of Staff.

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Described as an action drama, the show will chronicle the struggles of various factions during the prohibition on alcohol consumption under the Joseon dynasty’s rule of the Korean peninsula.

Filming will get under way during the second half of the year. Lotte Cultureworks is producing the series. South Korean channel tvN is in talks to broadcast the show.

Bootleg Liquor will be the second prohibition-themed period drama of the year, following the recent Moonshine.

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