Classic Palace Romance K-drama Goong to Get Remake 15 Years After Original Catapulted Yoon Eun Hye and Joo Ji Hoon to Superstardom

I react to remake or new adaptation news based on the circumstances of each, time between and whether I think the previous one really feels outdated and the source material rich enough to merit a fresh take so new generations can experience the enjoyment. That’s why I’m totally against the news that Goong (Palace or Princess Hours) is getting a new K-drama adaptation 15 years after the original basically created a new Hallyu bubble. The drama that launched Yoon Eun Hye and Joo Ji Hoon to superstardom also created the idol/teen K-drama genre when before it was all adult melos and romances. It’s adapted from a manhwa that’s much too long and messy, basically the construct is great about a modern Korea with a royal family and the ordinary girl who marries the crown prince but the execution was too protracted. I’m against the need to remake it now, maybe in another 10 years because honestly the original is still really watchable. It’s only a little bit dated in the hairstyles and fashion but really captured that young romance with the fantasy royal family twist. Plus this is going to open up the new leads to tons of comparisons especially if they don’t stack up to the original.


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Classic Palace Romance K-drama Goong to Get Remake 15 Years After Original Catapulted Yoon Eun Hye and Joo Ji Hoon to Superstardom — 21 Comments

  1. Pingback: Classic Palace Romance K-drama Goong to Get Remake 15 Years After Original Catapulted Yoon Eun Hye and Joo Ji Hoon to Superstardom - Kpopnchill - All About K-pop News

  2. I love goong! This make me miss YEH. When will she has comeback?

    I recently watch penthouse, Lee young dae remind me of young Joo Ji hoon somehow ( he played as young joo ji hoon in item ), his vibe match well with Lee Shin. Idk about the rest cast tho

  3. I think the idea of a moderne Monarchy can be a nice subject. But it’s really nice that rom-com changed now and not sure that it will work the same.

    I remember when JJH was asking in a Kingdom inverview what changed since his career beginning and he answered : nothing, I was playing a Prince in Goong and I’m still playing a Prince :p

    • It’s funny how Joo Jihoon really fit the role of Crown Yi Chang in “Kingdom” but it wasn’t the case for “Goong”. He revealed that at the beginning of Goong’s run, fans of the manhwa demanded that he withdraw from the role because he didn’t look like Shin and he wasn’t handsome. They went far as saying he has the features of a peasant.

  4. Man my love for this drama ran deep when it aired lol. I was upset when YEH left X-Man to focus on this drama but once I saw the first episode I knew she made the right choice. She was already popular in Korea but she shot straight to stardom in the intl community. I remember this being the biggest drama of the year when it aired. The kdrama fandom at the time went nuts over this little gem. I still remember the stickers I put at the bottom of every soompi post letting everyone know which romance camp I was in (Team second prince Lee Yul lol).

    While I think this drama might be easy to remake, I’m a little against it due to how iconic the original is. Are we gonna remake Full House and Winter Sonata next time as well? But despite typing this, I’m probably still gonna watch it. Who knows, maybe it’ll create a new hallyu wave for the next generation

  5. This is my top fave drama and still watch yearly. So I had a mixed feelings when they announced the remake.

    But tbh I’d rather they leave this classic as it is… a classic! I can’t imagine someone will be good enough to play shin/ chaekyung as jjh and yeh(even my favorites). JMO

  6. I’m not against this remake because they can be more faithful to the story of the manhwa (I hated the ending of the manhwa though). Also, I really want a new hallyu hit with younger actors this time. I wasn’t able to finish the drama because it got too draggy, but gosh Yoon Eun Hye and Joo Ji Hoon’s chemistry was out of this world. That’s going to be a tall order for the remake.

    Who do you guys want to play the leads? I really want Lee Do Hyun for Shin. He’s a nuanced actor, has proven himself in cold or tsundere roles, and is able to generate romantic chemistry and intensity with his female leads. He has quite the same aura as Joo Ji Hoon too. Chaekyung is trickier because I don’t see any of the younger actresses being as good as Yoon Eun Hye at romance. Someone actually willing to be passionate in romance scenes since Chaekyung is quite an amorous character. Maybe Moon Ga Young?

  7. There are so many webtoon choices to adapt rather than remake a classic, honestly. They are more likely to bungle that remake if they can’t find likeable leads.

    Just look at spinoffs that didn’t work, Goong 2 and Dream High 2 to name a few. They thought using the same formula with fresh new faces could get the same success. Wrong.

    Why TUC worked because it’s not a remake. Let’s see if the sequel, if it gets made will have higher ratings.

    Just imagining remakes of Coffee Prince and Goong is a big no for me.

  8. I have mixed feelings . Youngers musn’t know but the drama was so huge that it made me discover Kdrama world in 2006 , at that time we were only a few ones in France, and when i talked about it ,people used to see me as an alien LOL now they have Netflix and for them i’m an encyclopaedia . Joo Ji Hoon And Yoon Eun Hye were so young , fresh, …and their chemistry was so electric . I suppose that they can redo ” Full House ” “Coffee prince ” ” Kim Sam soon” ” My Girl “…As hollywood can remake ” it’s a wonderful life” “Casablanca” ” ” North by Northwest” . Goong without JJH and Yoon Eun Hye is like watching “Back to the future without Marty and Doc, Ghostbusters without Bill Murray as VENKMAN, …

  9. YEH hasn’t had a hit since Goong & Coffee Prince. Yet she’s still real popular today. A testament to what a classic drama it was.

  10. I personally never heard of this drama until I heard of these news… haha so if I do watch it in the future, it will be fresh for me 🙂

    • Say what??? It was HUGE back in the day! One of my absolute all-time favorites. Lol.

      How’ve you been, Laura? Haven’t seen you around here in a little while.

    • @Laura i think that you are young, that’s why . The drama was a hit . Every real Kdrama fan must watch or try at least a list of classical iconic dramas as Full House, Kim Sam soon, Coffee Prince, Autumn in my heart, to name a few ones . Some may seem outdated for young people but i suggest to try . I like Tim Burton, Tarentino, Spielberg, Ken Loach, but i do like too Capra, Hitchcock , Douglas Sirk…

  11. I kind of picture Mina who was recently in Hotel Del Luna as Chaekyung. I think she has the pluckiness to pull off the role and she seems to have a knack in comedy.
    I think the casting team will definitely pick a rising actor for Shin.

  12. They should do an anniversary’s photoshoot a la Entertainment Weekly . Now and then . They made it for Buffy, Dawson, teams of iconic movies …

  13. I can already imagine the pressure for this remake… This remake will have more pressure than Goong S cuz:
    1) this is remake not a spin off
    2) Goong S was already a flop so they can’t flop again
    3) no one really know Goong S
    4) YEH, JJH and SJH are too well known especially in their roles in Goong that there’s going to be inevitable comparison
    5) how will they top the natural and intense chemistry of YEH and JJH
    6) how can they top the OST (will they remake Perhaps Love again when it’s been remade a million times)
    7) how can they top or recreate the iconic scenes (ep 23 kiss, beach scene, “bed” scene, back hug scene, etc.)
    8) how can they rename the remake when the names Goong and Princess Hours are already associated with the original.
    9) Goong is internationally loved not just domestically that it still gets mentioned and watched to this day….. like Coffee Prince which also stars Yoon Eun Hye.. I don’t know any other dramas that stands the test of time like these two.
    10) Casting… Lee Shin (ML) to me will be easier to cast because there have been many characters and actors who can be awkwardly stiff but Chae Kyung (FL) will be harder. Who has the same natural energy as YEH did for the role and still can deliver crying scenes? Some actresses nowadays tend to be unnatural in their hyped up scenes and go WAY over the top.. They also need to be expressive with their face without saying anything…. I mean, her back hug scene says a lot without her saying a lot.

    But idols and actors will still be clamoring for the role… why? cuz:
    1) what other drama has this much buzz with no promo and news of casting yet?
    2) what other remake has this much buzz. Not even Full House or 1% of Something remakes had this much buzz. Again because the level of popularity with Goong is different. 1& of Something OG was popular in Korea but not internationally and Full House OG while popular domestically and internationally was not close to the level of popularity as Goong. I mean, while everyone knows, sings, and remakes Perhaps Love, anyone know one from Full House aside from the Bear Song… Same with scenes, Goong had so many iconic scenes while Full House has the again the Bear Song scene.
    3) the roles are iconic that even if they new actors are bad, they will still be associated with the roles.

    My worries with the remake is also why many dramas are successful nowadays… Now, they rely too heavily on 100 angles, the pastel colors, the PPL (also hurts them), and the painfully ssssslllllloooooowwww delivery of lines. I mean, why do you need to pause every other word for one sentence? All of these, especially combined make dramas unwatchable and unnatural…. Goong and Coffee Prince had none or barely any and that is what makes it refreshing, natural, and watchable in the middle of all the recent dramas. What really makes me mad is the painfully ssssslllllloooooowwww delivery of lines.

  14. I cannot trust remakes anymore after SBS did Phoenix dirty with its morning soap adaptation. Who the fuck thought it was a good idea to remove the main lead that was originally Lee Seo-Jin’s character and replace him with a boytoy from one of those K-pop groups?! And if the female lead’s father was alive all along, wasn’t her separation with her husband made pointless?

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