'Hwarang: The Beginning' is an upcoming South Korean TV drama starring Park Seo-Joon, Go Ara, Park Hyung-Sik and Choi Minho. (Photo : YouTube/K-drama.net)
Anticipation rises for the upcoming KBS historical drama series, "Hwarang: The Beginning." Most recent reports noted that the upcoming TV series now took over "Descendants of the Sun" spot as the most expensively distributed Korean drama series in China.
The good news came to light when a representative from KBS spilled the beans to Sports Today on May 2, Saturday.
"We have sold 'Hwarang' to China for a higher price than we did for 'DOTS," the representative said, as cited by All Kpop.
In spite of the fact that KBS remains tight-lipped on the distribution price of "Descendants of the Sun" in China, it has been said that the online video platform, iQiyi, reportedly paid $300,000 for each episode before filming began. Further, more than 33 percent of the total 13 billion won ($11,265,670) production cost reportedly originated from China.
Nonetheless, the representative went ahead to say that the upcoming "Hwarang: The Beginning" will be entirely pre-produced, taking after the groundbreaking success of "Descendants of the Sun." The filming of the drama began March 31, and will most likely finish up in early July.
The content of the drama will then be edited for the entirety of August and will eventually be reviewed in China afterwards. At the earliest, the new drama could start broadcasting simultaneously in Korea and Mainland China at some point in September.
"Hwarang: The Beginning" depicts the story of the Flower Knights, an elite group of young aristocratic warriors, who grows through passion and love during their stay in the Kingdom of Silla. Park Seo Joon has been given a role as Moo Myung (Sun Woo Rang), a young man of low birth who ascends over his station in life and eventually turns into a legendary "dog-bird hwarang" warrior.
"She Was Pretty" star Park Hyung Shik will play Sam Maek Jong (King Jinheung), the 24th ruler of Silla who reign from 540 to 576. Actress Go Ara plays the half-noble young woman named A-Ro, who is the love interest of the two male lead stars, Drama Beans reported.
The other star-studded cast includes Minho, Do Ji Han, Jo Yoon Woo, V, Kim Ji Su, Choi Won Young, Yoo Jae Myung, Kim Chang Wang, Kim Kwang Kyu and Lee Kwang Soo, as a special guest appearance.
The series is directed by Yun Seong Sik along with screenwriter, Park Eun Yong, penning the script. The series will run for 20 episodes on KBS2 sooner or later this year.
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