IU and Byun Woo Seok Confirmed for MBC Romance Drama 21st Century Prince’s Wife
Well, we’ve been lamenting the lack of big name castings in K-dramas and now we have a big shocker that I legit never ever thought about before. IU and Byun Woo Seok are confirmed to star in a MBC drama scheduled for mid 2025 titled 21st Century Prince’s Wife. It’s basically The King: Eternal Monarch but without the parallel worlds and time jumping, and hopefully a whole lot less PPL haha. It’s set in a fictional 21st century Korea that still has a monarchy and Byun Woo Seok plays the second prince of the King who has only his royal identity but nothing else. IU is the second daughter of Korea’s biggest chaebol but lives the life of an ordinary citizen. The two embark on a romance that breaks through their identity and class structure. The script for this drama reportedly was selected from MBC’s open call screenplay competition.
Is it something like a remake of Palace? Sounds fun. BWS played the role of IU’s ex boyfriend (just a cameo) in a previous drama, right?
What’s their height difference? 30 cm?
I think IU is actually taller than Kim Hyeyoon lol
but regardless, this has the potential to really cement BWS’s Hallyu star status if it has a decent script and the PD nails the visuals/OST usage, IU is the top of the A list when it comes to celebrities and him booking his next drama opposite her is a statement+makes sure there’ll be public interest in his next work because she’s involved. Also because it’s IU, there’s less chance of the FL in this drama being sidelined.
Wow! BWS really hit big! IU as a female lead is going to set off yet another syndrome for BWS. And a Prince character to boot! MBC struck gold!
Bonafide A list celebrity now. Maybe his next role will be opposite Suzy or Kim Taeri. I’d love to see him with Park Boyoung. The height difference can be whole plot in itself. 😂
Can you be a bonafide A-list with just a 4% show and a trend? Doesnt he need to prove it with his next work first expecially now that he will be leaning to IU & production for ratings? I have nothing against the BWS but wow you hype him too much instead of wishing that his next work should deliver. Calm yourr tittss I guess, he is a rising star and a lot to prove that shouting how he is now an A list lol.
Isn’t it obvious his drama with IU will do well? She’s the most beloved female celebrity in South Korea. Getting a chance to act opposite her only comes to the best actors. Yes she will carry the drama since this drama is produced by her agency but the hype is huge because of BOTH of them. Obviously that makes him a top tier actor. This is not a negative thing it’s fact.
@rosesi a fact? not happened yet but already a fact? lol I never knew Koala has a lot of BWS oppa fangirls here. Calm down, IU is Korea’s most beloved singet but I cant say she is a guaranteed actress there, her dramas have good ratings but not TOP and she doesnt have a MEGAHIT yet so wooow calm down to say this is facts. lol
But then calling him a fcking BONAFIDE A-LIST just because of a 4% ratings? lol He isnt Soohyun or Bogum levels of break out because he doesnt have skills like them, he is Songkang LEVEL lol and his company media plays like no other. He wasnt even in Gallup Korea mid year, means you cant say he has reached the GP yet like Kim Soo Hyun and Bogum during their break out so FACTS my arseeeee lol
Are you kidding? He will pair with IU? Then I have to watch another drama of him then.
Wow! That’s amazing.can’t wait
I’ll be interested to watch this, but I’m wondering what sort of class structure is broken here when one is a prince and the other is a chaebol.
If looking at Middle Age,prince – noble birth with titles. Chaebol is like a merchant, businessman. I don’t fully know why, but in Middle age being a noble was more prestige than being a rich person without a title, and rich businessmen tried to buy titles, sometimes by marriages. It probably gave some privileges.
I would understand if they were doing period dramas but they are playing roles of prince and chaebol in the 21st century, doesn’t seem like any class difference to me. Plus the prince only has royal identity and nothing else.
I barely made it through 5 eps of Lovely Runner, the story and both leads were, to be kind, underwhelming. IU on the other hand I have IMMENSE respect for, an incredibly focused, driven and self-demandnig performer, quite apart from the fact that I like her music. I’ll check this out for her, and hoppe that I can make it all the way to the end.
Good for him. This is a guaranteed hit. So he will continue being popular..
it will be funny if this turns out to be an absolute crap
It sounds like a winner though. IU is beloved, Byeon Woo Seok is popular, the script just needs to be decent. I think this will be a hit drama.
Queen of Tears was pretty bad plot wise but it didn’t stop it from being a hit. Sometime good visuals and high fashion with excellent OSTs is all one needs for a hit. I’m waiting to hear who the PD for this drama is. It’ll all depend on visual quality. Expecting this to also have some overseas filming. Maybe France?
BWS agency is good. This kind of drama will definitely suit him. IU can literally carry any drama by herself.
I like modern royalty stories, My Princess was so good (and Song Seung-Heon so handsome in those suits).
I guess a prince is the perfect next role for BWS, it doesn’t seem completely different from his past roles.
I want to see PBG and IU’s drama!
I was surprised it’s a MBC drama. They’re killing it with When the Phone Rings now.
When the phone rings is so addictive. YYS is killing it.
Very addictive and i can’t get out of my head the Ost “See the light” the singer is nailing perfectly the tone of the drama . Fan of YYS since Reply 1994 Chilbong character . Love him also in The interest of love . Chae Soo Bin is doing a great job . Lucky man who worked with Moon Ga Young, Moon Chae won, Park Shin Hye, Im Soo jong, Seo Hyun Jin,… he has chemistry with all his co stars !
Yes, love the modern day stories. My princess was my first live Kdrama and I loved the leads!!! So much chemistry even if the plot could have been better. Also loved Princess hours/Goong.
Princess hours 2.0 and giving me hallmark channels obsession of making movies with royalty romance 🙃 which I avoid due to unrealistic silliness. Who else di this king to hearts, and another modern royalty drama with jang Nara I can’t remember and I guess the one koala mentioned. I personally only liked Princess Hours despite the teenage angst. I’m sure they would do well if this casting is official.
It’s the season of Hallmark christmas movies…since october ! And i’m really sick of Christmas ! And to make it worse, Netflix, and others are begiining to do it also .
Everyone is doing it meaning every streaming or existing channel decided to jump the band wagon in making their own original content yet not so original content lol. Though sometimes there might be that one good movie but yah I feel you in October I watched so many random Christmas movies with my mother that I jokingly would tell everyone Merry Christmas 😆🙃.
Princess Hours meets The Last Empress? Imagine if this was something like a mid-2000s trendy drama with makjang excesses. Someone please make Kim So-yeon his evil queen mother or something.
The story sounds genuinely interesting and I’m excited. My heart is happy that bws has picked a drama and I’m happy it’s with IU. Even happier that the synopsis of the story sounds incredibly good. And the fact that it won in a competition is a good sign. Bws and IU fighting!!
According to the article on ChosunBiz, IU’s character is described as a chaebol heiress who has everything (looks, intelligence and competitive spirit) but she is simply a “commoner” according to the social hierarchy of the Korean monarchy. She didn’t think much of her social status until one day it becomes an obstacle to her (she obviously has a brush with the royal family, realizing for the first time she can’t always have her way with her privilege and money).
Iu is such a flop now..movie flopped. Songs are no more smashing like earlier and now doing a MBC drama. A flop channel😂😂😂😂😂
The pedooo song writer
Celebrities like IU will never “flop” in the sense that they can have underwhelming dramas or music releases and that won’t affect their popularity. Like, come on now, it’s IU we’re talking about here. She’ll forever be a household name and a favorite of both Korean general public and fellow celebrities.
I didn’t thought about that pairing either, and honestly right now I don’t think they’ll work good together.
I don’t think BWS is a bad actor, I don’t think IU is a great actress, but she seems way more experienced actress than him. People saying just by filming with IU BWS wins, because IU as a main lead means a hit drama. Their drama probably will be a hit, but people kinda forgot about Hotel del Luna – hit drama, good drama for IU, but not so good for her co-star Yeo Jin Goo. He got criticism for being a little bland compared to her, and I think with BWS it also can be a case. If some actor’s acting would be mid, near to IU’s performance it can be noticeable. The same as pairing with Lee Do Hyun worked better, as their acting was at the same level. (Well, there is also a possibility EJG’s character was just blatantly written, while LDH character had more deep for him to show).
Anyway, it’s just my assumptions and pessimistic two cents.
Right now I’m not so into main pairing or the plot. Monarchy is a stupid thing, some people decided to keep money and power in their pockets, so they made up a story “We – descendants of the God, should be treated like that, our children and their children should rule the country”. By ignorance of people it worked a long time, and because people become smarter (at least a little) monarchy doesn’t work in 21th century. At least one thing Queen of tears portrait good, arrogance of people who looked down at others because they were born with silver spoon and thought about themselves as about untouchable and better human beings (Hae In’s mother).
Actually, the way they will portrait a prince of 21th century and chaebol’s motivation to marry him can be interesting, but if they don’t write that idiotism “by right of birth and blood” seriously.
Will wait for first teasers to decide if I will watch it or not.
Love IU! She’s transitioned into a great actress and people still like her as a singer. As someone above said, this will be a guaranteed hit. Even if the plot tanks mid-way as with most k-dramas these days, I’d tune in just for the visuals. 😍
Its hilarious to read fangirls harp about “guaranteed hit” like that is ever a thing. Hate to break it to ya, but its absolutely not. Love Next Door, Jirisan, Doona!, Eternal King, Arthdal are just a few examples of flops that most expected to be huge ratings hits. Unless we are talking about hype only. Then in that case, it’ll surely bring in buzz.
Regardless, IU knows how to pick a good script and I absolutely trust her judgement despite not loving the premise. Its good to see BWS pick his next one and a pretty good choice at least looking at his costar. MBC has been doing well the past couple of years, so thats also a good sign!
These days Hype = Hit. Even channels and tv industry executives have said the same thing. It’s more important to have buzz than ratings because high rated dramas with no buzz don’t sell well and hence don’t bring in money. A drama is successful if it recuperates its cost and makes a profit like Lovely Runner did. This drama is 100% guaranteed to have a big budget and yet sell well overseas and have tons of pop stores and merch which will bring in more profit due to the syndrome this OTP is highly likely to create. Btw CJenM and Netflix both declared Love Next Door to be a hit and even Jirisan and Monarch are considered to be hits based on the money the channels made from it. The concept of ratings = hit has already disappeared. You forcing that narrative won’t make it true. OTT and the global consumption of Kdrama has changed everything. Old metrics aren’t reliable anymore.
I just love factssss…..thank you for this
It can also be like King Land. Decent ratings but so forgettable.
@Panok ratings bring advertising money for the networks while buzz brings advertising money for the actors (both male and female). Ratings stay in the books and is referenced even many years later as an indicator how successful a drama is. Buzz is more in the moment and replaced by the next big thing. That’s why networks still strive to achieve high ratings and celebrates when a drama goes well in ratings. Ratings still matters, a lot.
@Butterfly you aren’t wrong, despite the salty stans coming for you in the replies. and articles released indicating SBS being disappointed with Monarch ratings don’t exactly scream ‘hit’, drama slots aren’t being cancelled at the terrestrial networks left and right because of lack of buzz, it was because of lack of ratings i.e. people simply not tuning in. Like you said, even a ‘guaranteed hit’ can flop, but what this casting ensures is that the project gets major attention pre-airing because of the names involved.
Buzz helps offset low ratings by indicating public interest but a drama that was expected (indicated in pre-airing briefings and through a large budget) to get 20 percent getting 6 and 7, is not a hit by any metric, sorry. Lovely Runner is a hit because it outperformed all expectations for it, but that doesn’t apply to a Kim Eun Sook drama making similar numbers.
Advertisers do not pay for ‘buzz’ and Netflix, as the creator of Squid Game confirmed on the record in an interview, does not pay extra if your show becomes a huge OTT sensation either, the money only came because they greenlighted a sequel. People make all kinds of statements as “fact” without bothering to check if they’re actually true lol.
That is not true. The reason for making fewer dramas is because what used cost 7-8 billion won for 16 episodes now costs 3-4 billion won per episode for 16 episodes and almost 7 billion won for 8-10 episodes. In addition filming time has gone up from 2-3 months to 6-10 months. Some dramas even film for a whole year. Which means production crews and directors are not free to film more dramas like they used to. Another factor is the compulsory overseas sales before the drama is even green lighted for airing. Which means the same few actors who have strong selling power get casted over and over again in multiple projects versus when actors only did 1 project every 2 years or more. PBY has 3-4 projects already lined up same for KGE. BH entertainment actors in particular have multiple projects in the pipeline but waiting for actors to be free to film a new project also means longer waiting periods. TVN is re starting the Wed-Thurs slot because they recognised that a low cost drama can bring in huge buzz and profits like My Lovely Liar and Lovely Runner did which boosted their quarterly performance which would otherwise have been in the red. A drama like this which is a guaranteed big budget drama can only recuperate its costs by overseas sales and merchandise or album OST sales since even QoT almost pushed Studio Dragon into red despite the massive ratings because the drama didn’t bring in the money that was spent on it. However Lovely Runner and Marry My Husband helped offset the inflated budget of Queen Of Tears since they generated insane buzz and devoted fandoms which helped online sales and the production house made a hefty profit off it. Recently Jtbc sold Good Boy to Prime Video for global streaming because the price offered by Netflix was too low to offset the production costs. However they are using Netflix studio space to film the drama so who knows maybe they’ll give them local streaming rights since Prime Video is not available in Korea.
@Royal We Lol Salty fangirls with rose tinted glasses always floating in the sky rather than ground their opinions in reality. Those sort of responses don’t phase me and can’t be bothered in it.
And yep, nailed it as always. Buzz is relative to expectations. If LND had the same expectations of LR, it would have been a huge hit too. But it was more in the lines of QOT expectations, so it’s not. If FP2 had the expectations of a drama like Connection, it would be considered huge. It’s currently just mediocre for the exact same reason. It’s all relative.
We’ll see how it does in actual success rather than pre airing buzz. That’ll be the thing that makes or breaks BWS’s career. It’s a good start at least. IU has been really good at picking interesting scripts, or at the very least, challenging characters for herself. She agreed to 8 Show before things fell through and while the drama wasn’t great, it would have been a different character for her. I’m curious on who the PD for this one would be since the writer is a newbie. She may have also said yes for that reason. Anyway looking forward to the development.
@rupent
“Qot almost pushed Studio dragon into red” – where did you get that info, lol? Qot was more than half paid before drama even aired by Netflix only. NF paid 70-80% out of QOT budget just for Kim Soo Hyun and Park Ji Eun’s names. Articles were made about it. Who knows how much Tvn paid for QOT. They used ppl in a drama, and Studio dragon still making profits from QOT, as they made the international tour for the merch of the QOT, extended it and added new cities to it. And Turkey has bought the remake rights.
“Lovely runner and Marry my husband helped offset the inflated budget of QOT” – this is hilarious. I don’t know, maybe you’re one of the people who don’t like QOT, but this is simply not true. QOT made money enough for Studio dragon to give a bonus to the whole staff of the drama – a $1000 certificate for purchases at the Hyundai shopping center. Would they give it for a drama without a profit?
I’ll check just out of curiosity. Monarchy as the center of a story isn’t appealing to me, let alone chaebol thingy may turn me off. But the casting has its star power like Queen of Tears sorta. So, I’ll definitely check.
Is IU very popular in Korea? I’m a huge fan of her in Africa. I want to know more about her
Yes..she is one of the Darlings of SK…
Definitely top female solo singer in sk
Wait! Hang on just a minute, geez! Why you in such a hurry to talk about new new shit when the regular new shit hasn’t even happened yet. Gettin’ fuckin’ same day package delivery and watching all those stupid 2 second diktok videos got this generation all spazzed out and impatient AF. Life still has a bunch of tangerines to give us before we get to what almost sounds like a feigned attempt at almost trying to make a moon lovers 2-esque adaptation/spin-off/reimagining that they ended up rewriting as its own separate story halfway thru when they realized it wasn’t really gonna live up to the original (which is why a 2nd season of moon lovers will never happen…it would be disappointing in comparison). But anyways, I’ve been waiting for the IBoUgum team up for so long. We can’t just go skipping shit. Chill out. And get outta my swamp, you kids!👴🏻
Lmao true, I’m looking forward to when life give you tangerine. Is it decided they’re going to use that title? That’s a bit long. That said, everything surrounding that drama is really kept in wraps, I wonder what kind of story it will be. Acting wise shouldn’t be a problem since it’s filled with veteran actors
This show HAS TO do well for Byun Woo Seok’s sake. There was just an article out a couple weeks ago saying he has over 20 scripts to choose from, production companies were bending over backwards to accommodate his schedule and giving him whatever fees he wanted, writers were willing to revise scripts to tailor to him, and other agencies were calling left and right begging to have their actors/actresses cast in the same production even if it’s just a supporting role.
And that is called media play that gullible naive fans like yourself buy into.
His DC fans were also SO SURE he’s KES’s next hero. Far from that, he’s working with an newbie writer. Agencies begging their actor/actress to be cast even if it’s just a supporting role? The second leads must be absolute great here then with huge star value since apparently, the production has all the choices after agencies were just begging for crumb roles.
That’s what was reported and no one expected his next FL to be IU, so expect the supporting cast to be big, big stars. They also said a star like him only comes once in 10 years. How do you know KES didn’t try to cast him.
@Leah
Ahhhhh, riiiiight. It’s him who refused to do a KES drama and chose a rookie unknown writer over one who wrote The Glory, Mr Sunshine, Goblin, DOTS, Heirs, Secret Garden just to name a few 🤡😂🤣
The delusion is far too hilarious rn. The crash back to earth will be quite a jolt to say the least 🤣🤣
LOL This is MBC terrestrial broadcast so to be called a hit it should be on 20-30 ratings like Descendants of the Sun. Imagine if it doesnt deliver LOL It will be good to screenshot the fangirls name here who are calling their BWS oppa a bonafide A-list just because he is working with IU.
Love love IU as an actress, I love her dramas lol and watched them all, ratings wise Del Luna was on 12% and My Mister was around 5% both TVN cable. BWS was 4% lol so the hype for these people is now equivalent to hits because they cant deliver both ratings and hype. lol
IU has good eye for scripts in dramas, I expected with her movie but it was meh, the Dream even she worked with a star PD and PSJ. She will have nothing to lose to whatever happens, but BWS fans should calm down and hope for the best, your oppa isnt an A list yet and still rising doing the same roles at mid 30s.
And who said networks dont want ratings? LOL Yo advertisers are after ratings, the hype is good as it can sell some merchandise but broadcasting dont work like that, its only BWS who got all the opportunities, if hype really is equals to hit then every Lovely Runner actors should have been a big hit now?
LOL BWS needs to bring ratings and numbers, he is an actor and not an idol, so everyone from the production gains not only him. Calm you tits lol
What’s all this bitterness? Lovely Runner may not have high ratings but the buzz was off the charts. And BWS will definitely be among the top three in the year-end Gallup poll. That said, whether the new show will be a hit depends a lot on the script, but from what we could see right now things look quite promising.