Asian Addicts Anonymous

Jang Hyuk, fresh off his Chuno success, has announced his new project – a Chinese adaptation of the hit Korean drama All About Eve. Before taking on the role of slave hunter Dae Gil, Jang Hyuk was originally supposed to star in a Chinese drama which he postponed to film the popular historical fusion drama. This series is currently slated to air starting in September on Chinese television and it will star Chinese singer/actress Zhu Dan as the female lead and Taiwanese actress Cheryl Yang as the evil rival.

For those not familiar with All About Eve, it aired in 2000 on MBC with a total of 20 episodes. It starred Chae Rim as the wealthy and innocent Sun Mi whose life is thrown into turmoil with the arrival of Young Mi (played by Kim So Yeon) a vicious, poor girl who sets out to take everything of Chae Rim’s. Both girls go to college to pursue careers as news anchors. This drama also starred Jang Dong Gun in one of his last drama roles before he focused more on his film career. He played Hyon Chul, a man in love with Sun Mi who also happens to be the manager of the television station where Young Mi and Sun Mi work.

Zhu Dan is to take on Chae Rim’s role while Cheryl Yang will take on Kim So Yeon’s role. And where does Jang Hyuk fit in the picture? He is set to take on the role originated by Jang Dong Gun. Boy does he have big shoes to fill.

The problems with this choice? One, All About Eve was a big hit, catapulting its cast into even greater fame. Chae Rim, Kim So Yeon, and Jang Don Gun did excellent jobs in their roles. How can these others fill their shoes? Two, it’s a remake. No offense to all the remakers out there, but they usually tend to be crappier than the originals. Not always, but that is generally the case.  We will have to wait and see just how well of an idea this was for Jang Hyuk and ensemble to take on.

The original news article: http://bit.ly/cdgv7r

DramaBeans translation: http://bit.ly/9Q1ofZ