Extraordinary Attorney Woo season 2 confirmed; Yeon Sang-ho to make Parasyte: The Grey for Netflix – K-drama casting latest

Season two of Extraordinary Attorney Woo is confirmed without changes to the cast, but with the stars’ busy schedules, it isn’t expected to air until 2024
D.P.’s Koo Kyo-hwan joins Lee Jung-hyun in a Yeon Sang-ho-directed drama about fighting alien parasites and Parasite star Choi Woo-shik returns in Murder DIEary

K-drama news

Pierce Conran

Published: 7:15pm, 27 Aug 2022

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The year’s hottest show, Extraordinary Attorney Woo, has booked a swift second season renewal, and Netflix is planning a pair of high concept series. Here’s the latest news on Korean drama casting announcements.

1. Extraordinary Attorney Woo season two

The summer sensation Extraordinary Attorney Woo recently concluded its run with the seventh highest audience for a show in Korean cable history. On the eve of its finale, production company A-Story revealed that plans are in motion for a second season.

The new season is expected to air at some point in 2024 and A-Story is adamant that it will not change any cast members or the show’s key creative personnel. Owing to the difficulty of navigating the busy schedules of its stars, it could be a while before it goes back into production.

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In its seventh week of global streaming, Extraordinary Attorney Woo was the most watched series on Netflix around the world, eclipsing the second week of The Sandman.

2. Parasyte: The Grey

Director Yeon Sang-ho’s collaborations with Netflix are set to continue with this week’s announcement of Parasyte: The Grey, a live-action drama adaptation of the hit Japanese manga of the same name, which has already spawned two Japanese films.

Leading the series will be Koo Kyo-hwan (D.P.), Jeon So-nee (When My Love Blooms) and Lee Jung-hyun (The Battleship Island). Both Koo and Lee have previously worked with Yeon on his Train to Busan follow-up, Peninsula.

Lee Jung-hyun in a still from Peninsula. Photo: Next Entertainment World

The story follows parasites from space that latch on to human hosts. As they spread through society, a group rises up to fight them.

Jeon will play a woman who falls prey to a parasite, Koo is on board as a man searching for the creatures to track down his sisters, and Lee will play the leader of a group tasked with confronting the aliens.

Yeon, who previously directed the series Hellbound and the upcoming film Jung-E for Netflix, will co-write the series with Money Heist: Korea – Joint Economic Area writer Ryu Yong-jae.

3. Murder DIEary

Another confirmed Netflix series is Murder DIEary, which is based on a hit webtoon. It is set to star Choi Woo-shik (Parasite), Son Seok-koo (My Liberation Notes) and Lee Hee-joon (Mouse).

Choi will play Lee Tang, a college student who works at a convenience store and is distraught after accidentally killing a man in a fight. However, upon learning that the man was a serial killer, Tang starts to believe he has an innate ability to spot bad people, and the student soon becomes a killer.

Son will appear as Gang Nan-gam, the detective investigating the slayings, while Lee will feature as Song Chon, a former detective. Both Nan-gam and Chon suspect Tang in the deaths.

Directing the series will be Lee Chang-hee, who previously made the OCN show Strangers from Hell and the mystery-thriller film The Vanished.

4. See You After Work

After appearing in both River Where the Moon Rises and Jinxed at First, actor Na In-woo is set to lead yet another KBS series – See You After Work, a new show based on a web novel.

Na In-woo (left) and Seohyun in a still from Jinxed at First. Photo: KBS

He will play Han Sung-joon, the perfectionist CEO of a tech start-up. The story features misunderstandings, conspiracies and crimes relating to weddings in Seoul, and revolves around a woman who finds herself betrothed to a dead man and the man who falls for her.

After supporting roles in shows like Mr Queen, Na rose to stardom after he replaced Ji Soo as the lead midway through the filming of the period drama River Where the Moon Rises. He quickly cemented his position as one of Korea’s newest leading men.

5. Sweet and Sour Chicken

Extreme Job director Lee Byeong-heon and star Ryu Seung-ryong are reportedly reuniting for the upcoming drama series Sweet and Sour Chicken. Based on a webtoon, the 12-episode series will also feature Astro boy band member Cha Eun-woo (True Beauty).

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The dark comedy series title refers to a machine that turns people into sweet and sour chicken. Ryu will play the owner of the company that houses the machine, while Cha is being eyed for the part of an intern who is fired from the company and later rehired.

Extreme Job is the second most successful Korean film at the domestic box office, having sold 16 million tickets in the country. Ryu is a recognised box office star in the country, and has appeared in Miracle in Cell No. 7, Masquerade and Roaring Currents. He is known to global drama viewers through Kingdom on Netflix.

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