"Comedy makes human life richer!"

The Genius of genre films such as Tazza: The High Rollers, The Thieves, and Assassination, Director Choi Donghoon has returned in 7 years with Alienoid, his new fantasy and SF film crossing the Goryeo Dynasty and modern times. Alienoid begins when aliens who have locked prisoners in human bodies appear over Seoul in 2022. Filmed for 387 days, Alienoid, a fantasy and SF, consists of two parts; the 1st episode will be released this summer, while the 2nd episode in 2023. 

- Director Choi Donghoon, you're characterized by casting a large number of star actors. Tell us about the casting background of the main characters for the film. 

= The films I made seem that the characters meet each other accidentally or by fate, go on adventures together, and break up after the adventures are over. I hoped many people could meet and get involved while working for the work. When casting the actors, Ryu Junyeol and Kim Woobin were the first ones in my heart. Actor Kim Woobin tried to work on something together before but it didn't happen. When we gave it up, I promised him to do anything together one day. I kept my eye on Actor Ryu Junyeol. His tone and voice when he is speaking are attractive. In the film, his character Mureuk seems to be a pleasant guy to wake up in the morning, thinking, "What will happen tomorrow?" So as soon as I wrote the character, I thought I should do it with actor Ryu Junyeol. 

- Actor Kim Taeri plays an amazing character who uses a pistol in the Goryeo Dynasty. 

= I think I like women characters shooting guns. Actor Kim Hyesoo of Tazza: The High Rollers and Actor Gianna Jun of Assassination also shot guns. I don't know why, but I feel great when a female character comes out and shoots suddenly. This is the 3rd movie I work with Actor Yum Jungah. She is half sloppy and has attractive humor that only she can express. I don't have much to order from the actors. I said, "Because you are playing different characters, you can do as much as you want. And I don't care if you change the lines of the script a lot. If you ask me a lot of questions, I'll answer them." 

- You produced 2 episodes at the same time. What is the worldview that you wanted to unfold through the quite long 2 parts? 

= SF is a genre that we feel relieved, saying, "It would be quite scary if something like that really happened, but it's not happening." On the contrary, fantasy is a world we want to feel, saying, "Something like that doesn't happen, but if it happens, I want to see it with my own eyes." That's the definition I heard about the genres. Both worlds seem to be stories that are opposite to realism. Assassination was quite a realistic movie for me. After Assassination, I wanted to write a story as far away as possible from it. 

- If you describe the worldview of Alienoid, which combines SF and fantasy, what can be a keyword?

= The essence of this story is 'curiosity.' The curiosity we imagine 'What if this happens over Seoul? What it would be like if I could be in contact with people in the past in time?' The characters in the movie are also driven by curiosity. I think the keyword of this movie's worldview is 'curiosity'. 

- Tell us why you chose the Goryeo Dynasty as the backdrop of the film. 

= At first, I thought of the Three Kingdoms Period, but the end of Goryeo was the most natural as it was the most recent time when it was believed that there were Taoist monks or wizards. It is a unique period that is not too strange to us but we don't know about it well. I was fascinated by the clothes of the Goryeo Dynasty and had the pleasure of learning about the culture around that period. Interest in Goryeo was the first. The opportunity to connect the two worlds, the Goryeo Dynasty and the modern era, was also important. I wanted to make it feel as if the two eras existed at the same time, and by the end of the movie, it would be fun if we could feel that rather modern times looked like the past in the events. 

- Any person or work that inspired you for the film? 

= I think comedy makes human life richer. Among comedies, I think comedy that comes out of the blue is the best. It also gives the audience a breathing space when watching a movie and plays a role in connecting the story smoothly. When writing the script, I wondered if the two Taoist hermits in Mt. Samgaksan could make people laugh, but they are so hilarious because the two actors acted very skillfully. I think I got the inspiration for the film from the movies I watched when I was little. When I was in high school, I was shocked while watching Back to the Future in the theater. The identity of the shock was, 'How can a story be so hilarious like this?' Also, a movie like Alien that I saw then and the movies based on Philip K. Dick's novels influenced me a lot. I tried hard to deliver the joy I felt back then to the audience. And my favorite director is Billy Wilder. 

- It's such a big-scaled movie and also a very new challenge. What advice did you get from PD Ahn Soohyun, the executive producer of the film? 

= Producer Ahn Soohyun is my first reader and best partner as a filmmaker. She is also my wife, and we talk a lot. She has helped so much to the point that I should put her name on the writer's credit. If she says a part is less attractive, I think deeply, rewrite the part, and show it to her. We work together in the company and at home together. As I am talking, I feel really sorry for my wife, PD Ahn Soohyun. She helps me in many ways, and I am affected by her a lot. She compliments me in a cool way. 

- Since the film contains a combination of various genres, such as SF, martial arts, fantasy, action, etc., it would have taken a lot of time and effort for pre-production and post-production. 

= The first principle was to create it with greed, but let go of greed. I had a lot of thoughts about whether the visual feelings could be expressed as they were in the actual filming, but the CG team and the special effects team helped me a lot during the filming. We worked on CG for 13 months. After the post-production, the staff who worked on the movie usually gather to hold a technical presentation, and for this film, 250 staff members came to watch it. 

- Any difficult parts in the process of realizing your imagination? 

= I ask myself lots of questions when I write a script, such as 'Do you really want to see this film? Are you having fun writing this? etc.' My first goal is 'not to write a scene that I don't like.' That's why all the scenes in this film are the ones that I like, and they have clear purposes to be there. I think imagination has two gaps and it shouldn't be too familiar or too strange. I'm a director who makes popular movies. That's why I think a lot about my imagination and the size or degree of the public's imagination. To check it out, I ask people a lot, listen to them, think about it, throw away what I want to throw away, and balance it by taking what I want to get. Filming a movie like this is harder than expected. I thought it would be easier than filming Jeon Woochi: The Taoist Wizard, but it wasn't easier at all. However, Korea's production capacity is very high, and I think it is the best in Asia. 

- It seems to be possible to integrate the world views of Jeon Woochi: The Taoist Wizard and Alienoid into one. Do you plan to combine the world views of the two films or expand them after the 2nd episode of Alienoid? 

= Having a hard time while filming it, we used to say that we wouldn't film this kind of movie again. However, it was fun to watch it after the post-production. Now, I think how much fun it would be if I could take this kind of movie again if I have another chance. I definitely think that Alienoid is in the same vein as Jeon Woochi: The Taoist Wizard. The word 'worldview' is what the audience attached to it. If I could create a worldview, I would ponder about it as much as possible. 

- It's curious to see what kind of box office success you will make with the new film in 7 years since you made two '10 million-viewer movies,' The Thieves and Assassination. Do you feel pressured about the box office success of the new movie?  

= I know very well that the success of the previous film doesn't guarantee the success of the new work. Every film director has a burden of box office success. For a director, a successful box office performance is a kind of medal and a yoke at the same time. I'm worried because Alienoid has cost a big budget. However, when writing a script and making it into a movie, we don't worry about box office success first. The biggest concern for me is how to convey the joy of watching the movie I make to the audience. I also think about how to make characters visually enjoyable and attractive and show them to the audience. When you make your own movie, the box office hit is the second thing you worry about. The most important thing is to make a movie that entertains the audience.