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| Actors Son Suk-ku, left, and Kim Sung-cheol / Courtesy of Acemaker Movieworks |
By Kwak Yeon-soo
Actors Son Suk-ku and Kim Sung-cheol have been confirmed to star in "The Comments Army" (working title), a film based on a popular novel of the same name by Chang Kang-myoung.
The crime drama film is loosely based on the National Intelligence Service's reputed involvement in the 2012 presidential election by publishing thousands of pro-Park Geun-hye posts and comments online. The election saw Park defeat Moon Jae-in.
In the film, Son will play the role of a journalist named Sang-jin, an investigative journalist who was suspended after exposing wrongdoings by a conglomerate. With the aim of returning to the newsroom, he investigates the "army of internet trolls" accused of meddling in the election.
Son's career took off when he played the enigmatic Mr. Gu with a troubled past in the JTBC series, "My Liberation Notes," in 2022. He played a vicious killer in crime action film, "The Roundup," which became one of the 2022's top-grossing films in Korea. He is currently starring in Disney+ drama, "Big Bet."
"I'm really happy to be working with the people I'm working with right now," Son said.
"The Comments Army" is directed by Ahn Gooc-jin, who is best known for his black comedy film, "Alice in Earnestland" (2015).
Kim will star as the head of a troll farm that makes money from online activities. Following his critically acclaimed role in "The Night Owl" (2022), the actor has been performing in the play, "Shakespeare in Love." Starting in April, he will be appearing in "Death Note: The Musical." He was also cast for the cult leader role in the second season of Netflix's "Hellbound," which will begin filming in June.
"When I read the script, I knew it was special. It was just a really fun and fast-paced script," Kim said.
Rising Kim Dong-hwi, who rose to fame through the film, "In Our Prime" (2022) and tvN series "Stranger 2," will play the role of the whistleblower, while actor Hong Kyung, known for his role in Wavve series, "Weak Hero Class 1" (2022), will star as the character who engages in online trolling activities.
The shooting of the film began on March 6, according to production company Acemaker Movieworks.
Chang, the novelist, received the Jeju 4.3 Peace Prize and Today's Writer Award for "The Comments Army" in 2015 and 2016, respectively.
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