Because Jung Sung-hyo, the drama bureau chief of KBS 2TV, has put his foot down on an extension for the 16-episode “Descendants of the Sun,” fans are now clamoring for a director’s cut.
AsiaOne reported that fans of the Korean drama have created an online community to pressure KBS to create a director’s cut for the series. A director’s cut is actually an ordinary edited version of a movie or TV show that represents the director’s own approved edit. Such cuts are usually not released to the public and in many film studios, the director does not have a final cut privilege.
Usually, the cut has a happier ending, there is less ambiguity or exclude scenes that may have problems with audience-restriction ratings. Because of the large investment involved in producing a film or TV show, the studio has the final say on the output, often to earn more at the box office or TV ratings.
One online community for the Korean drama is Descendants of the Sun Philippines on Facebook. Korean dramas have a strong following in the Southeast Asian country. There are also Descendants of the Sun KBS and Song Joong Ki Aile International Facebook pages.
In rejecting an extension, Jung explained that the series was fully filmed before it started to air on Feb. 14. Filming ended in 2015, which means Episode 16 of “Descendants of the Sun” will air on April 4.
Beginning April 20, KBS will air a new drama series “Master: God of Noodles” which is based on a cartoon, Jung said. The new series will have 20 episodes that runs from April 20 through June 23. It takes over the Wednesday and Thursday timeslot to be vacated by “Descendants of the Sun.”
The story of the new drama revolves around Moo-Myung, who when he was young, had a once-in-a-lifetime event that resulted in him walking into an orphanage by himself. It stars Chun Jung-Myung as Moo-Myung. The role was originally offered to Le Je-Hoon, but he turned it down.