Remakes of Taiwanese youth romance films with a Korean sensibility, such as ‘The Secret That Cannot Be Told’ and ‘The Girl We Loved Back Then’, will be hitting theaters one after another early this year. There is interest in whether the upcoming works will be able to break this cycle of slump, as remakes of Taiwanese romance films that have solid fan bases, especially among women in their teens and twenties, have failed to do well at the box office.

‘Cheongseol’, a remake of a 2010 film, was released in November last year and received favorable reviews from the audience, including the excellent chemistry between the lead actors Hong Kyung and Noh Yoon-seo, but failed to break even (1.2 million viewers), attracting only 800,000 viewers.

‘Into Your Time’, a Netflix series based on ‘Meeting Ni’, which is considered the most popular Taiwanese romance film, was also released with great expectations, but failed to garner much response.
Amidst all this, ‘Secret That Cannot Be Told’ In an effort to erase the memories of bitter box office failures like ‘Cheongsul’ and ‘Into Your Time’, they are confidently entering the peak Lunar New Year theater season. ‘Secret That Cannot Be Told’, which will be released on the 27th, is based on the 2008 film of the same name, which made director and lead actor Jay Chou (played by Jay Chou) a star and established itself as the ‘original Taiwanese romance boom’ in Korea.

Unlike the original, which depicted a teenage romance taking place in a high school, the Korean version of ‘Secret That Cannot Be Told’ moves the setting to a university and tells the story of Yoo Jun, a genius pianist and music student, who falls for Jung Ah, a girl with many secrets whom he encounters in an old practice room on his first day of school. Do Kyung-soo and Won Jin-ah star in the lead roles. There are also continued reviews that the music of legendary musician Deulgukhwa was actively utilized to complete a differentiated film only for the ‘Korean version’.

‘The Girl We Loved Back Then’, based on the 2012 film starring Ke Jing Teng (Jia Jin Dong) and Shen Zai (Tian Yan Xi), has confirmed its release on February 21. It is a film that tells the story of 18-year-old Jin Woo who tries to confess to his unrequited love, Sun Ah, and is also drawing attention as the first acting challenge for Twice member Dahyun who plays Sun Ah.

In particular, B1A4‘s Jinyoung who plays Jin Woo has recently garnered attention by confirming his next film, the ‘real’ Taiwanese romance film ‘1977, That Year, That Photo’. It is a film set in Taiwan in 1977 and stars Lee Mok, a youth star who is gaining attention locally.


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.