First Look at the Swashbuckling Joseon-era Movie Pirates with Son Ye Jin and Kim Nam Gil
Was anyone jonesing for a Joseon version of a pirate movie? Ever? Whether this upcoming simply named Pirates will be a hit or not, it surely is capitalizing on a relatively stable audience appetite for water-based adventure yarns. Hollywood has the indefatigable Pirates of the Caribbean franchise and recently China had the box office smash fantasy sea monster movie Detective Dee: Rise of the Sea Dragon. Looks like water and period swashbuckling is a good bet but I’m actually interested in the upcoming Pirates for the whole production of cast and story. Reuniting leads Son Ye Jin and Kim Nam Gil from their recent drama outing in Shark (another water-related title, heh), the movie is currently filming and tells the story of a Joseon race to hunt a whale. This isn’t a metaphorical whale but the real deal that lives in the depths of the ocean. Son Ye Jin plays a female pirate and another group led by a male bandit Kim Nam Gil are competing to be the first to hunt down a whale that swallowed the royal seal bestowed on Joseon from China’s Qing dynasty. Son Ye Jin is quite possibly one of the worst drama pickers out there with all her dramas duds for me, whereas she’s quite adept at picking movies that are interesting and different. I trust this one since its a movie, and Kim Nam Gil rocks the unkempt bandit look like no other. That’s pretty much the only look he should sport IMO, when you plop him in modern fare he just looks slightly greasy whereas in period garb he looks dangerous and smexy. Co-starring Sulli of f(x), Ahn Nae Sang, Yu Hae Jin, Oh Dal Su, Lee Kyung Young, and Park Chul Min, this movie is helmed by director who recently did the popular movie Dancing Queen. Check out the first official and BTS stills from the set where the eyeliner is rampant as well as the general beggar with a twist look that seems to pass for piratey garb. I’m pretty stoked for this and also laughing that Kim Nam Gil and Son Ye Jin seems to be sporting the same hairstyle. Maybe they’ll trade styling tips in between falling in love while trying to out-do each other. To be honest, this whole story sounds like one of the Regency pirate romance novels but plopped into Joseon with the addition of a whale. I love those guilty bodice ripping pleasures and wouldn’t mind if this movie threw in one hot and heavy make out scene since its a movie and all. I’m sure some viewers will be checking out the chemistry between the leads who have been plagued with reporting dating rumors since wrapping Shark but the two have continued to deny it.
So we’ve moved on from sharks to whales, have we? Love the way Kim Nam Gil looks in this, I totally agree that hr looks his best in sageuk ware….I’m totally up for this….its refreshing to see Son Ye Jin in a sageuk as well
This looks… different. I havent seen shark past 4 episodes because it was such a snoozefest but the chemistry between the leads were good. I like how SYJ looks for one, and sorta liked dancing queen too, so I’ll probably check it out.
WOW Kim Nam Gil really looks in his element. The long hair shaggy look suits him perfectly, reminds me of the Queen Seon Deok days <3
in the modern drama, shark, he just looked like a really creepy pedo, especially with that mustache (except when he pulled his trade-mark smirk hehe)
I was just going to say that it reminds me of Queen Seon Duk! Lol
He looks so sexy. I never thought of it but you are right – sageuk-smarmy suits him better than present-smarmy.
All I hear in my head is the Pirates theme:
Dun-dunt-da-da-dun-dunt-da-da-dun-dunt-da-da-da-da
I love that I could follow the Pirates theme just by reading the last line of your comment.
@koala (and everyone who thinks KNG looks greasy in modern fare), you’re right. But I think it’s the stylists’ fault. Haha
They keep putting him in that pornstache. He looked plenty decent and clean (and cute!) in his Kim Sam Soon cameo and as a side character in Lovers.
Plain KNG = looks great anywhere
KNG + stache = sageuk only, please
😀
I… really don’t know how I feel about this movie. I guess it’s a case of wait-and-see.
Son Ye Jin is my favorite K-actress but she can really pick the worst projects for dramas. Not even my love for her can make me endure her dramas.
Alone in Love was flawless but Personal Taste made me want to gouge out my eyes.
I could not agree more, lmao.
Aww, Alone in Love is one my favourite dramas. I think that’s her one good show, and she was amazing in it. Made me a huge fan of hers. Though thank god she has her awesome movie career bc otherwise her choices are bad, or she’s just plaing unlucky idk. Shark was such a dud, you’re right. The writing sucked but the two had chemistry so I’m praying for a hot kiss scene in Pirates too. I’m sure this is just going to be a fun movie, pure entertainment, nothing more. But I’m definitely looking forward to it.
Koala do you think they’re dating? (since you seem to have a hunch on all things chemistry in Asian dramaland AND you seem to have inside sources haha). I caught a bit of Shark and thought they sizzled, but didn’t stick around long enough to know if that translated offscreen (potentially).
Son Ye Jin is a great actress and I really look forward to watching her movies. Too bad that not many Korea movies are being shown out of Korea. However, the Korea dramas are very popular in many Asian countries.
Kim Nam Gil and Son Ye Jin have that chemistry. Their looks compliment each other not to mention they are both good actor/actress. I wish they would end up in each other’s arms in real life hehehe..Love them both….
kim nam gil & son ye jin in same project again? interesting!
Wow it looks like they have a lot of FUN shooting this movie!