'The Legend of the Blue Sea' is an upcoming 2016 South Korean television series starring Jun Ji-hyun and Lee Min-ho. (Photo : YouTube/KPOP News Network)
Jun Ji Hyun and Lee Min Ho have been cast as the leads in the upcoming drama, "The Legend of the Blue Sea," which is scheduled to premiere across South Korea in November at 10:00 P.M. KST. It is slated to take over SBS's Wednesdays-Thursdays time slot, right after the end of "Incarnation of Envy."
After months of contemplation, Lee and Jun have finally accepted the offer to star as the main leads in the upcoming fantasy-romance drama. The 20-episode TV drama will benefit from the creativity of screenwriter Park Ji Eun.
"From the beginning stages, writer Park Ji Eun created characters matching Jun Ji Hyun and Lee Min Ho, thinking of them as the best couple," the production company, Culture Depot, told Soompi. "The lead actors also decided to work on the drama because they believe in the writer and the director. You can look forward to their chemistry, which will be beyond one's imagination."
With television director Jin Hyuk at the helm, the forthcoming drama follows the county magistrate, Kim Dam Rung, who released mermaids into the sea and were later caught by a fisherman. The drama is based on "Eou Yadam," a short-story collection of Joseon scholar Yu Mong-In.
Although the character details of the lead stars remain fuzzy, "The Legend of the Blue Sea" is already drawing lucrative attention from numerous Chinese media outlets over its distribution rights. It was learned that one Chinese media agency has offered 590 million won ($495,000) per episode to secure the show's licensing rights.
The production company, on the other hand, expects more bidders in the near future and stressed that the licensing rights may even go for as high as $600,000 per episode, The K-pop Herald reported. With such big names attached to the forthcoming project, many industry insiders are speculating that the new SBS drama may surpass the whopping distribution price of KBS2's recent blockbuster drama, "Descendants of the Sun."
The new fantasy-drama marks Jun and Lee's return to the television screen since wrapping up "My Love From The Star" in 2014 and "The Heirs" in 2013, respectively. More details on the project will be revealed soon.
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