I don’t know what kind of (bad) luck for the Netflix movie The Match to be now stuck in this frustrating position. The period movie chronicling an epic Go match between veteran Lee Byung Hun and youth prodigy Yoo Ah In was actually filmed at the end of 2020 and wrapped in early 2021 but in the two years since was not slated for release until last year when it was tapped for a 2023 drop on the streaming platform. But now the movie is unable to be aired mostly due to Yoo Ah In’s massive drug use scandal and to a lesser extent Lee Byung Hun’s smaller but still notable tax evasion allegations. The production team is also going public on SNS lamenting this movie being unable to air and saying it was a great project made very well, and reportedly cost 20 billion won ($15M USD) so that’s a lot of money at stake.
LBH is seemingly untouchable, with his many scandals not affecting his career at all. YAI is not in that “untouchable” level of LBH though, so if this movie never airs, it’s because of his scandal not LBH’s tax evasion allegations. Cancel culture in Korea doesn’t apply to male veteran A-listers, I guess. It’s the staff, crew and supporting actors I feel bad for. Shame.
After watching the Netflix documentary about cults in S.Korea and how cult leader JMS pretty much got a slap on the wrist for his crimes…I can’t say I’d be surprised if LBH and YAI get the same treatment.
I believe they should still Air the movie even if Koreans don’t watch it international fans will as they are not really into the cancel culture. A good movie is a good movie whatever the actors do in their personal lives are not my business
They just need to go ahead and drop it. Two of my fave Korean actors in one frame and I get to miss it because of their scandals? 😔😔😔😔😔. Can we separate the art from the artists pls? This is too good to miss out on
As of now, there is no possibility of release since the supporting cast has insider and first hand news and are venting their frustration publicly. If they go ahead and release it, even outside Korea, it sets the precedence that there are no repercussions for doing hard drugs.
Although all the effort is wasted, they could sue Yoo Ah In for financial losses.