Korean stars Song Joong-ki and Kim Tae-ri in their new movie Space Sweepers. Photo: @songjoongki.kg; @kimtaeri_1/Instagram
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Song Joong-ki’s new Netflix movie Space Sweepers – everything we know about the Descendants of the Sun star’s first movie since divorce from Song Hye-kyo, now skipping cinemas because of Covid-19
Delayed by Covid-19, South Korean sci-fi blockbuster Space Sweepers is now skipping cinemas altogether to premiere on Netflix – it marks actor Song Joong-ki’s first project since 2019’s Arthdal Chronicles, which was shot during the dying days of K-drama’s ‘Song-Song couple’
K-drama star Song Joong-ki is finally back on screens, in his first movie since his divorce from Song Hye-kyo. Photo: @songjoongki.kg/Instagram
After the news of Song Hye-kyo’s potential return to our screens following a two-year hiatus, fans immediately turned their gazes to her ex-husband and Descendants of the Sun co-star, Song Joong-ki. The actor has been working on Space Sweepers, his first project since TVN’s historical fantasy drama Arthdal Chronicles in 2019, starring opposite K-movie queen Kim Tae-ri.
The film focuses on the scavenging crew of The Victory, a space debris collector ship in, the year 2092. Regarded as South Korea’s first space blockbuster, the movie’s summer release was postponed due to Covid-19, but the wait might be soon coming to an end – last month, it was announced that Space Sweepers would be released on Netflix.
We still might not have an official release date, but here’s everything we know about the movie so far, and what we can expect from our K-drama king.
Space Sweepers is Song’s first movie after the divorce
Song Joong-ki in upcoming movie Space Sweepers. Photo: @sjk_n_shk_fc/Instagram
Song has been dubbed a “K-drama king” for his insightful career choices, taking significant roles in what would turn out to be successful K-dramas and movies, including Sungkyunkwan Scandal, A Werewolf Boy, Hearty Paws 2 and, of course, Descendants of the Sun. Although he’s already showed off his charm in a variety of ways by portraying a wide range of characters – a soldier, a werewolf and a Confucian scholar – fans are looking forward to seeing new sides to the actor in his role as a spaceship pilot in Space Sweepers.
A still from hit K-drama series Descendants of the Sun showing actor Song Joong-ki. Photo: Blossom Entertainment.
But the film is special for another reason, too. Fans will recall that Song Joong-ki starred in Descendants of the Sun and movie The Battleship Island right before he and Song Hye-kyo got married in October 2017. Arthdal Chronicles was the first and last drama he starred in during their marriage, as the “Song-Song couple” announced their divorce while the series was still airing. This means that Space Sweepers will be his first on-screen appearance since his split.
It’s the first time a Korean blockbuster is going straight to Netflix
Fans might have been looking forward to enjoying Space Sweepers in cinemas, but because of ongoing uncertainty due to the pandemic, the decision was finally made to premiere the film on Netflix instead.
The first trailer was released in May and a summer release date was announced for the movie. But that date ended up being pushed back to September due to the pandemic, although a second trailer was released in the summer to tide fans over. And now there’s been yet another delay. Even though we don’t have a new official release date yet, news of Netflix drop is exciting to fans as it will translate to a wider, instantly global audience – a whopping 190 countries with subtitles in 31 different languages.
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