Kim Hee-won“ ‘Lighting Store 2’ ? If ‘High Five’ exceeds 5 million…” [DA : Interview ③]

SPECIAL May 29, 2025

Translation

Kim Hee-won of the movie ‘High Five’ expressed his satisfaction with the movie and his expectations for its box office success.

Kim Hee-won met with Donga.com for an interview about the film ‘High Five’ at a cafe in Jongno-gu, Seoul on the afternoon of the 28th and talked about the work.

On this day, Kim Hee-won said about ‘High Five’ meeting the audience after a long time since filming in 2021, “I feel sorry.It would have been good if the releases were in order.Everyone would have been like that.What would the production company CEO have been like? It’s not the work of one or two people.I think at least a few hundred people were waiting.All those people said that it had to be released unconditionally.Several years of their lives went into it, so everyone really did it together.That’s why I thought it had to be released unconditionally.It’s not something you can do at will.You have to have faith(that it will be released).I think I feel a different, more earnest heart because it’s being released like this.The CEO and the director probably can’t even fathom it.”



While saying this, he expressed his hopes by saying, “First of all, I hope it gets over 5 million(BEP 2.9 million).Then I think it will get 2 or 3.I hope that those who watch it will giggle and say, ‘That was funny.’ It’s actually such a light movie.And I hope that when they go home, they’ll think to themselves, ‘Hey, if only I had the ability to heal people,’ and go to sleep.I hope that they’ll be able to laugh while thinking that.”

Kim Hee-won mentioned the current reality of the Korean film market, saying, “The numbers 2 million and 3 million have become too big.Even talking about 5 million is a dream.5 million really seems like a dream.In the past, I think I would have said 10 million.These days, 10 million is an unimaginable number.”

When asked about the plans for Season 2 of ‘Lighting Store’, which he directed, Kim Hee-won said, “I hope it happens.But it’s really hard.To make it happen.I think it’ll be possible if it gets 5 million.If Korean movies do well and the content business does well, the cast members will feel empowered and everyone will be connected.If it didn’t work out, all the energy wouldn’t have been invested, and things like that.I think it has to work out for everyone.That way, we can all go through this slump together, and it’s been a long time since I’ve done an interview about a movie.It’s not really good.You need a movie to support OTT.It seems like everything is going together.I’ll work harder if it gets 5 million.I really hope that happens.”



When asked about the success of “High Five” to Kim Hee-won, who has appeared in various works as an actor, he said, “I have a strong feeling.It will do well.I’m not just saying this, but I’ve made many movies, and I’m not good at predicting whether the ones I’m in will do well.But someone who normally says, ‘He’s uncomfortably prickly, ‘cautiously came to me and said,’ It’s okay.’ I think that level of praise is huge.It felt like they came to chew me out, but when they said that, I thought, ‘It feels different.’ It was unusual for 21-year-old boys to laugh a lot.And when we had a VIP preview, people didn’t go home.I got a lot of KakaoTalk messages saying, ‘It was great.’ So I think the whole atmosphere is good.I felt good.There were a lot more good feelings.”

Kim Hee-won said, “I hope that(the audience who watched ‘High Five’) say, ‘Please fix me.’ Then I hope they say, ‘I can’t fix it either.’If that much’ meme ‘goes around, it means they really enjoyed it.I heard that videos are uploaded to SNS, and if they upload a lot of those, I think it would be amazing if I get to see them too, so I hope that happens.I hope they express fun little things like that.I hope my shorts come out too.”

Meanwhile,’ High Five ‘, which will be released on the 30th, is a comic action film that depicts the story of five people who accidentally gained different superpowers through organ transplants and who meet those who covet their powers.

‘ Yakseon’, played by Kim Hee-won, is a meticulous and picky foreman who constantly nags and exhausts the employees at construction sites.He is the most avoided person among his coworkers, but he hides a warmer heart than anyone else behind his stiff speech.

Reporter Yoonna Choi com Donga.com yyynnn@donga

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