RYU Seung-ryong Kicks Off 2019 with Lunar New Year Comedy and Netflix Original Series
Jan 07, 2019
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by Pierce Conran
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Box Office Star Headlines EXTREME JOB and KINGDOM in January
Kicking off the new year in style will be box-office draw RYU Seung-ryong, who is headlining both the Lunar New Year theatrical release Extreme Job and Kingdom, the first Korean Netflix Original series, both of which will premiere in January.
A veteran character actor who appeared in a range of hit commercial titles prior to his graduating to leading man status in films such as The Recipe (2010), Children… (2011), War of the Arrows (2011) and All About My Wife (2012), RYU then entered the record books twice in quick succession with the ten million viewer hits Masquerade (2012) and Miracle in Cell No.7 (2013). He then went on to headline the Cannes-invited thriller The Target (2014) before taking on the antagonist role in Roaring Currents (2014), the top-selling Korean film of all time.
Following a few less well-received titles in 2015, RYU briefly stepped away from big projects before returning with a pair of big-budget titles early last year, the superhero action-comedy Psychokinesis (2018) and the revenge thriller Seven Years of Night (2018).
Later this month, RYU will headline the crime comedy Extreme Job, in which he plays the leader of a detective squad that must go undercover to take down a criminal organization. The Lunar New Year holiday title is the fourth film from director LEE Byoung-heon (Twenty, 2015) and co-stars LEE Ha-nee (Heart Blackened, 2017) and JIN Seon-kyu (THE OUTLAWS, 2017). The film is scheduled to open on January 23.
Debuting worldwide two days later will be the Joseon Era zombie-themed horror-thriller Kingdom, a six-part series from Tunnel (2016) director KIM Seong-hun and writer KIM Eun-hee, known for her TV work such as Signal, and also starring BAE Doo-na (The Host, 2006) and JU Ji-hoon (Along with the Gods: The Two Worlds, 2017). The program is the first original series to be commissioned and financed by global steaming giant Netflix, which has been ramping up its production slate in the Korean market.
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