Best friends in the film industry Jung Joon-ho and Shin Hyun-joon will be releasing their new films ‘Hitman 2’ and ‘Ghost Cop’, respectively, two days apart ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday. Despite their competing films, the two are drawing attention by showing off their ‘best friend synergy’, such as playfully mentioning each other‘s films at press conferences and interviews and appearing together on entertainment shows.

Jung Joon-ho was the first to throw his hat into the Lunar New Year box office ring. He will make his debut with the comic action film ‘Hitman 2’, which will be released on the 22nd. Despite the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, the sequel to ‘Hitman’ succeeded in attracting 2.4 million viewers and becoming a ‘box office hit’, in which Jung Joon-ho plays the role of Cheon Deok-gyu, the director of the National Intelligence Service. He sets out to stop ‘copycat terrorism’ in Seoul with Jun (Kwon Sang-woo), a webtoon writer turned assassin.

Two days later, on the 24th, Shin Hyun-joon’s ‘Ghost Cop’ will be released. This is a family comedy about police officer Min Hyun-joon (Shin Hyun-joon), who gains minor abilities after being struck by lightning out of the blue, and his family gets entangled in unexpected incidents. It is also receiving attention as the last work of the late Kim Soo-mi.

In particular, Jung Joon-ho makes a special appearance in ‘Ghost Cop’ as Byun Joon-ho, Min Hyun-joon‘s (Shin Hyun-joon) nemesis and evil gangster boss, leaving a short but strong impression.

Shin Hyun-joon said, “I’ve also made cameo appearances in dramas starring Jung Joon-ho many times in the past. He confessed, “I told him it was a cameo but had him appear for three weeks, so I told him it was a light special appearance but made him undergo martial arts training for hours to film an action scene because I wanted him to get screwed over too.” Regarding this, Jung Joon-ho showed his signature wit by saying, “They only gave me a pittance, so I tried to act as much as I got, but I worked hard.”

The two, who are famous for their bickering ‘Tom and Jerry’ chemistry, have been garnering attention by playfully mentioning each other’s movies in promotional interviews or previews of their respective films.

Jung Joon-ho said, “I suggested that we have a friendly competition with Shin Hyun-joon,” but added, “‘Ghost Cop’ only costs about a tenth of the production cost of ‘Hitman 2”.” Although he whined, saying, “We’re no match for each other,” Shin Hyun-joon expressed his confidence, saying, “‘Ghost Cop’ is a comedy that’s perfect for the holidays.”

While making offensive remarks toward each other, the two once again showed off their close chemistry by appearing together on Shin Dong-yup’s YouTube show, ‘Salty Brothers.’ The video for ‘Salty Brothers,’ in which they unapologetically reveal each other’s past scandals and casting anecdotes, drew more than 2.2 million views in just one week of its release.



Reporter Seungmi Lee smlee@donga.com

This article is automatically translated using Google AI. If you notice any inaccuracies, please let us know at allkstar@donga.com.