The 2017 film ‘Real’, a ‘shocking bizarre masterpiece’, starring Kim Soo-hyun, is once again at the center of attention. While Kim Soo-hyun is embroiled in various suspicions related to the late Kim Sae-ron, the bereaved family of the late Sulli, the female lead in ‘Real’, has demanded that Kim Soo-hyun explain the reasons for forcing Sulli to appear in a nude scene in the film.

‘Real’, which succeeded in attracting a huge investment from Alibaba Pictures in China by putting forward ‘Hallyu star’ Kim Soo-hyun, and poured 11.5 billion won into its production cost, is considered a ‘monstrous masterpiece’ that received ‘the worst reviews of all time’ due to its miserable quality at the time of its release. The cumulative audience number was only 470,000, which is only one-seventh of the break-even point (3.2 million).

Director Lee Jung-seop was originally supposed to direct the movie, but he dropped out midway due to ‘differences in editing direction’ and director Irobe (Lee Sa-rang), known as Kim Soo-hyun‘s cousin, completed the film, which caused controversy. Irobe is currently the CEO of Gold Medalist, Kim Soo-hyun’s agency.

Immediately after the controversy surrounding Kim Soo-hyun broke out, Choi, the older brother of the late Sulli, posted a meaningful message on SNS that seemed to target Kim Soo-hyun. On the 28th, he said, “Sulli was forced to expose herself while filming the movie”, and demanded that Kim Soo-hyun and CEO Irobe state their positions. Choi took issue with the fact that the bed scene between Sulli and Kim Soo-hyun was not specified in the script, and that Sulli was forced to do the bed scene even though there was a nude body double.

While Kim Soo-hyun‘s side has remained tight-lipped, saying, “Checking,” when asked to state their position, an open audition notice for the female lead that emphasized racy exposure has been brought to light online. As the reviews of those who participated in the audition at the time quickly spread on social media, director Lee Jung-seop, who had ‘dropped out in the middle’, also spoke up.

The director posted on his social media a comment from a netizen who said, “‘Real’ Director Lee Jung-seop’s fault for turning out like that is not even 1%,” and said, “Thank you. He wrote, “I was really heartbroken for a long time,” and added, “I am not qualified to make an official statement regarding ‘Real’ because there is no ‘director credit,’” but also indirectly mentioned Kim Soo-hyun, saying, “We need to check how his actions affected the world and then take action. I was once a huge fan of his, too.”

Ironically, amid this controversy, a craze for rewatching ‘Real’ is rising. It ranked 5th in the most-watched movies on Netflix and Tving on the 30th. It is also going against the OTT charts, soaring to 3rd place on Coupang Play and Watcha.


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.