[Drama 2016] Descendants of the Sun 태양의 후예

[Chellsee]

Nice artwork. 

 

[nadya92]

KBS Official Facebook Update their cover photo^^

So beautiful

cant wait for ep 13!  

[Yippeun_eonnie]

so yesterday we will meet YAI ... the most anticipate cameo.... i guess wednesday is melodrama.... thursday is blockbuster.....

[sanaeozora]

40 minutes ago, IrisFM said:

 

SJK is just like BIG BOSS here...now who is he calling I wonder.

 

 

Do you need to ask? He's calling Kwang-soo, to let him know he's landed safely. 

[IrisFM]

New hallyu dawns on 'Descendants of the Sun'

By Park Jin-hai

Spoiler

The final episode of KBS blockbuster drama "Descendants of the Sun" will be broadcast on April 14, but its popularity continues to grow, within and beyond Korea.

The 12th and latest episode of the military-romance drama aired last Thursday had a viewership rating of 33 percent here.

Backed by the drama's immense popularity, lead actor Song Joong-ki, playing unrealistically perfect special unit chief Yoo Si-jin, has become the first ever actor to appear as guest in KBS News 9, a prime time news broadcast, to be interviewed.

"Descendants of the Sun" is set in the fictional war-torn country of Uruk and Song Joong-ki's character Yoo falls in love with Kang Mo-yeon, a doctor from non-profit organization Doctors Without Borders played by sweetheart Song Hye-kyo.

Yoo's special warfare command unit and Kang's medical team are both dispatched to the disaster- stricken country alongside UN peacekeeping troops.

China is also responding enthusiastically to the drama. In notice of the soaring popularity of the drama, China's public security ministry stated on its Weibo social media account, "When chasing male or female stars, do not become too infatuated with them, because sometimes your casual words could end up hurting those who really care for you."

In Thailand, governor Yuthasak Supasorn has asked the Korea Tourism Organization to arrange a meeting with Song Joong-ki for Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha, a huge fan of "Descendants" who urges Thai people to watch the drama due to its themes of patriotism and sacrifice

Numerics of ‘Descendants of the Sun'

"Descendants" is the first TV series jointly produced by Korean and Chinese production companies and aired in both nations. It has not only created a fantasy for men in uniform, but also became one of the most successful exports of Korean content.

The drama has been sold to 32 countries including the United States, England, France, Italy, Germany and Russia as of March.

China and Japan have bought broadcasting rights to the drama series for $250,000 and $100,000 per episode, respectively. The price per episode of broadcasting rights in China marked a record high for Korean dramas, which is eight times higher than that for 2014 hallyu megahit "My Love from the Star," which was sold at around $35,000 per episode.

"As soon as the first episode was aired, we reached the break-even point, where gains from the drama sales reached the production cost of 13 billion won," said its production company NEW.

Along with the 3 billion won from product placement advertisements (PPL), it is said to have bagged another 10 billion won from sales of related sound tracks and video-on-demand services.

"We expect ‘Descendants' to create revenues equivalent to two block buster movies which break 10 million audience marks," the NEW official added.

The drama has contract with the Chinese video platform IQiyi that it can expect additional gains when the number of Chinese views on the site exceeds a certain mark.

http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/culture/2016/04/386_201794.html

[Chellsee]

BIG BOSS...

 

[ZarraJae]

53 minutes ago, azuwaza163 said:

Don't throw rocks, but I actually ship SongSong couple in real life lol. 

Ok, now to stay on topic, for me, the writer KES (sorry can't remember the name) talent that other writers don't have is her ability to make each relationship, each character matters. They are not just 'additional' 'sideliners' cast. They do carry significant weight in the drama that make the story wholesome. Oh and she breaks away from typical triangle love that is so confusing and annoying. So yay! 

Back to watching ep 12 for 7th time (Hubby : Don't Lie!!!) Fine, for 13th time.

 

@azuwaza163 annyeong. Aren't we the lucky ones..I don't know how many times I've watched this drama on KBS World. They have it like on repeat ..I don't know how many times a week. Not to mention the marathons on weekends and the repeats again. The only time I skip is when it's being shown in the wee hours and I am even recording it. And I NEVER get bored haha and each time I find something more to appreciate and love more  about the drama and Songsong couple. Naturally, I ship them in real life too.

SBS's Law of the Tonga made a parody of it, and KBS 'The Promise never missed an opportunity to play the OSTS from Dots in the background and Entertainment Weekly holds weekly specials on DOTs.  Very hard to stay away from anything Dots, even our local daily newspaper had a centrespread writeup on it!!

[IrisFM]

Why are some of my posts moved to Song Joong Ki  or Song Song Coupe Shipper Thread? 

The main leads Song Hye Kyo and Song Joong Ki are going to HK to promote DOTS. This event is related to DOTS promotional activities in HK, just like the Reunion Dinner so shouldn't they be allowed to be posted here to share with fans of the main leads (KMY Beauty & YSJ Big Boss) .

It just happen that this event is for both of them instead of the 4 main casts... like this post, I was describing what I see on the video clip and this is moved to SJK thread (why it's more appropriate in SJK thread for this post?)

 

[Chellsee]

Song Joong-ki initially not cast as Yoo Shi-jin

Song Joon-ki and Jin Goo were not initially cast for their roles in megahit drama “Descendants of the Sun,” according to news reports.

A local report by Newsis on Friday called their final selection “a turnaround” for both Song and Jin.

Lee Eung-bok, producer of “Descendants of the Sun,” told Chinese news agency Xinhua that Song was “not ideal for the role of Yoo Shi-jin role,” since he is too slender to act as a heroic special forces officer.

Jin also said that he was a friend of chief executive Kim Woo-taek of New Entertainment World, which produced the series, so he was interested in acting in the drama. But he was told the cast had already been finalized. 

Jin treated the production staff with beverages “just to say hello to CEO Kim.”

An unnamed actor was cast as Yoo Shi-jin, but was dropped after he had disputes with the production unit. 

The unit then sought a fresh actor for the role of Seo Dae-young role, who would be as large as Song in body size. Their choice was Jin, who was “very surprised to hear the news.” 

This is not the first time for Song to gain stardom from a role, in which he was not initially cast. He was the second choice for his role as a feral boy in “A Werewolf Boy” which released in 2012. He rose to stardom with only one line, “Don’t go,” in the movie he costarred with actress Park Bo-young. 

The report also added that TV network KBS 2TV was not the first choice as broadcaster for “Descendants of the Sun.” It was chosen after another TV network SBS declined to air it. 

By Son Ji-hyoung (json@heraldcorp.com)

http://kpopherald.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=201604041757519512419_2

~~~~~~~~~~

Song Joong-ki to return to big screen

 

 

 

Actor Song Joong-ki will return to the big screen in director Ryoo Seung-wan’s upcoming film “Battleship Island.”

The film will depict the story of 400 Koreans who were taken to Battleship Island -- also known as Hashima Island -- to carry out forced labor during the Japanese colonial era. They desperately try to escape from the island.

Song will play the role of a soldier in the Korean Liberation Army fighting for Korea’s independence from Japan. He sneaks into the island to extricate a key person in the independence movement.

Filmmaker R&K and the public land development office of Chuncheon, Gangwon Province, signed on March 30 the lease for the land to be used for shooting the film.

The film company will set up a 6,600-square-meter filming site at a former U.S. Army camp in Chungcheon and begin filming at the end of May.

Actors Hwang Jung-min and So Ji-sub also star in the film.

http://kpopherald.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=201604041658488831315_2

 

[gilaswan]

The report that said Yoo SiJin is an "unrealistically perfect special forces captain". Hahaha... He is. Who cares? I watch kdramas to live out my fantasies, yo. 

And why all this talk about Jin Goo and JoongKi not being "man enough" (i.e. too slender) to be special forces? Are special forces meant to be bulky? Yeuch!! It's more realistic to have men of SJK's and JG's built to be special forces. They need to be nimble, agile, and small enough to get into tight spaces! Y'know, this is what happens when men cast for male roles. Pfft. They're living out their own fantasies ("I wish I were the hulk"). GAG. 

[hazeljrr_c922]

1 hour ago, IrisFM said:

As soon as the first episode was aired, we reached the break-even point, where gains from the drama sales reached the production cost of 13 billion won," said its production company 

sold to 32 countries

expect revenues equivalent to two blockbuster movies

http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/culture/2016/04/386_201794.html

So sorry to cut and highlight this,  @IrisFM

so amazing.... Whoa!  Has any other drama done these so quickly  in the last 5 years?  Best team ever put together, including the non-film crew.  The production company took the biggest risk, not in its wildest dreams did this firm think DotS would be this huge. KBS also took the risk of a military theme and it is so lucky. To think there were actors and that other station who were approached first and said no, they must be crying a river and hitting their heads against the wall. 

Happy for all the people who said yes to be part of this immense drama.  They gelled extremely  well.  And I cannot imagine anyone else as YSJ as KMY. 

 

 

[stelala]

16 minutes ago, Chellsee said:

 

 

I'm glad both of them had a chance to show that their acting skills surpass whatever the casting crew thought that they lacked!!

[IrisFM]

So does this mean all 4 cast will be well and alive in Season1 since the reason for season2 to be unlikely is because of cast/writers schedules etc...

(Yonhap Interview) Season 2 of 'Descendants of the Sun' unlikely: producer

SEOUL, April 4 (Yonhap) -- There probably won't be a season 2 for the popular South Korean drama "Descendants of the Sun," despite calls by fans to keep the fairytale romance between an Army captain and his doctor girlfriend going, its producer said Monday.

"Season 2 would be nice, but I don't know about its possibility," Lee Eung-bok, one of the two masterminds behind the KBS 2TV epic starring actor Song Joong-ki and actress Song Hye-kyo, told Yonhap News Agency in an interview. "We'd have to keep all the main cast, whose schedules won't be easy to coordinate. We'd also need the two writers again, and that might be hard."

The Wednesday-Thursday night show launched in South Korea and China on the same date of Feb. 24, becoming the first South Korean show to premiere in both countries at once.

It's also the first multi-million dollar drama to gain critical success and the first to break the long-held tradition here of delaying production until the last minute in as many years. "Descendants of the Sun" producers took about six months to film the entire sequence and complete its post-production before submitting them to Chinese censors for review.

Contrary to what industry watchers say, however, Lee maintains his success came because of the show's pre-produced nature, not despite it.

"'Descendants of the Sun' would not have made it to TV if the entirety weren't produced prior to premiering," he said. "The shooting in Greece alone took a month. We needed three takes to create the earthquake scenes, had to construct a large-scale set on Mount Taebaek and constantly sought permission from the South Korean military to use their equipment and locations."

Pre-production isn't for everyone, but for this military romance saga, "there was no choice," he said.

Like his production partner Bae Kyung-soo, Lee didn't foresee the sensation his team would cause across Asia. iQiyi, the video website that uploads the show every Wednesday and Thursday in China, attracted 50 percent more paid memberships, with the show having garnered billions of views in total.

In retrospect, Lee says it must have been the combination of pop writer Kim Eun-sook and the duo of Song Joong-ki and Song Hye-kyo that catapulted the show to a South Korean viewership greater than 30 percent, which is rare for weeknight dramas in South Korea.

"The writer wrote well and the actors acted well," he said. "It was critical that writer Kim Eun-sook, actor Song Joong-ki and actress Song Hye-kyo joined us. The series of events seemed coincidental then, but looking back, it was serendipitous. None of them were our first choice."

   Lee says he hopes "Descendants of the Sun" instills hope in TV producers who have long wanted to try something different but were shunted by conservative management.

"It feels awesome to reaffirm the simple fact that viewers watch what's fun, regardless of the material or genre," he said. "I hope this experience encourages other drama producers to experiment."

sojungpark@yna.co.kr

 

[gilaswan]

Any other "missing scenes" in episode 12 that anyone wants filled in? Heh... No promises. Just wondering...

[Guest Tinkiebell]

40 minutes ago, IrisFM said:

Why are some of my posts moved to Song Joong Ki  or Song Song Coupe Shipper Thread? 

The main leads Song Hye Kyo and Song Joong Ki are going to HK to promote DOTS. This event is related to DOTS promotional activities in HK, just like the Reunion Dinner so shouldn't they be allowed to be posted here to share with fans of the main leads (KMY Beauty & YSJ Big Boss) .

It just happen that this event is for both of them instead of the 4 main casts... like this post, I was describing what I see on the video clip and this is moved to SJK thread (why it's more appropriate in SJK thread for this post?)

 

 

Hello @IrisFM, Posts about the two of them at the event itself are allowed (if not encouraged) here, but their sightings in the airport going to the event should be posted somewhere else, either in the individual actors' threads or the shippers thread.  

Just like posts about the reunion dinner were allowed, but not their sightings going to the reunion dinner. 

I hope this is clear enough. If it's not, just PM me. 

[utkim]

Ah , i guess our dots troopers are moving to the SS thread

 

dc

[rainbowbrite]

11 minutes ago, gilaswan said:

Any other "missing scenes" in episode 12 that anyone wants filled in? Heh... No promises. Just wondering...

@gilaswan How about a scene between the balcony scene and the arrival in Korea? Maybe something at Urk airport? There was a pic of everyone in the airport with Chairman of the hospital but that scene didn't get aired... Wonder if that scene got cut? It would be fun to see how Captain reacted to seeing Chairman 'picking' up Dr Kang... Kekeke

[WeunXK]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Spoiler

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

c as tagged

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

i add this

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1DfiSkbIFzinntNF__mfJ4hytqiCoHB9GMbi394MJRLQ/viewform?c=0&w=1

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

from  SJK singapore FB

 

 

 

 

 

 

[jhen1391_YHL]

16 minutes ago, gilaswan said:

Any other "missing scenes" in episode 12 that anyone wants filled in? Heh... No promises. Just wondering...

When Shi-Jin was shot my Argus I was expecting that he will have a gunshot again... Hehehe he's wearing a protection vest pala 

[Chellsee]

Cute fan art of Capt. Yoo in all black!