Translator: Dreamscribe
Within the vast filming zone, ‘Joker’, Kang Woojin, was receiving applause mixed with admiration from hundreds of foreigners.
-Clap clap clap clap clap clap!
Director Ahn Ga-bok, who had just declared the final ‘OK’ sign marking the end of all filming, the producer Nora with a pleasant smile, the hundred or so staff who had endured the hardships together, the Hollywood actors who came whether they had scenes or not today, their team members, the employees and executives of ‘Columbia Studios’, and even Kang Woojin’s team members including Choi Sung-gun.
They were all giving generous applause to Kang Woojin as ‘Joker’.
-Clap clap clap clap clap clap clap!
Because the much-discussed and issue-laden ‘Pierrot: The Birth of a Villain’ had just completed its crank-up.
The applause from hundreds of foreigners may have been directed at Woojin, but it also reflected their joy that the filming had ended without any trouble. Soon, Director Ahn Ga-bok was exchanging brief congratulations and handshakes with the key staff, and Chris and the Hollywood actors shared joyful conversations with laughter. The executives of ‘Columbia Studios’ also shook hands with one another, sharing the rising euphoria.
Choi Sung-gun, watching that scene, was feeling an overwhelming thrill. It all felt both incredible and absurd.
‘‘Columbia Studios’, a Hollywood monster of a film company, is laughing here with us, and those renowned Hollywood actors are genuinely happy about the crank-up. And at the center of it all-‘
-Slide.
‘Is Woojin.’
Kang Woojin, who had not yet removed his makeup and was still in full ‘Joker’ appearance. Several foreign key staff had already flocked to him. They were shaking hands or taking pictures with him. Watching Woojin, Choi Sung-gun was reminded of the Cannes Film Festival around this time last year, when Woojin boldly declared, “See you in Hollywood.”
It felt like just yesterday, but already a year had passed.
‘Time flies when I’m with Woojin, haha.’
Because so many explosive events and absurd incidents keep happening. In fact, he even won the ‘Emmy Awards’ for Best Actor recently. Now, what remains is the ‘Academy Awards’. And the ‘Joker’ surrounded by those foreigners is aiming for this year’s ‘Academy Awards’.
‘Well, there’s still a lot more to do besides that.’
Kang Woojin had mountains of work still ahead, from the ongoing ‘Beast and the Beauty’ to his upcoming projects. Choi Sung-gun, who was also caught up with the recent ‘Guest’, had no time to rest either.
At that moment.
-Slide.
Having just wrapped up photo time with the key staff, Kang Woojin approached Choi Sung-gun. Though the ‘Joker’ makeup was intense and would normally be startling, Choi Sung-gun, now used to it, gave Woojin a crooked smile and a thumbs-up.
“The last cut was killer. You worked hard, Woojin.”
Kang Woojin bowed his head slightly and replied in a low tone.
“Thank you for your hard work, CEO-nim.”
“I kind of know the answer, but how do you feel?”
How do I feel? I feel damn amazing. That was Woojin’s honest inner thought. But with his strong commitment to his concept, he shamelessly acted cool.
“Nothing special.”
“Haha, yeah. I knew that would be your answer. That’s so Kang Woojin.”
“……”
After a moment of silence, Woojin turned his body and looked around the bustling set. Except for the fact that all the staff and actors were foreigners, the atmosphere wasn’t much different from that in Korea. The light-hearted joy, the anticipation for a brilliant future etched on their faces, it was all similar. Woojin was the same. However, there was one difference.
‘I’m thrilled but… is it because this is Hollywood? There’s also a strange sense of emotion too?’
Indeed, the difference lay in the location. In Hollywood, called the sacred ground of global cinema, he had finished a movie from ‘Columbia’, one of the so-called ‘Big Five’ studios, as the male lead.
If an actor felt nothing about that, they’d have to be a robot.
The emotion Kang Woojin felt at this moment was one of overwhelming elation. And soon, the whole world would get to see his ‘Joker’.
‘Whew- damn, that’s a bit nerve-wracking.’
Even when his films were screened in Korean or Japanese theaters, Kang Woojin got nervous. Thinking about this one spreading across the globe, his heart was already pounding. Soon, Director Ahn Ga-bok, who had been talking with ‘Columbia Studios’ executives, approached. To cool his burning chest, Woojin poured cold water on himself internally, and the director, with his wrinkled face, smiled at Kang Woojin.
“Finally, this day has come.”
To Director Ahn Ga-bok, who had spoken in Korean rather than English, Kang Woojin gave a slight bow.
“Thank you for your hard work.”
“I didn’t really do much. It was easier than in Korea. You had it harder than me. Though I can’t see it on your face at all. From now on, are you focusing only on filming ‘Beast and the Beauty’?”
“Probably.”
“Alright, I’m going to dive right into editing starting tomorrow.”
Director Ahn Ga-bok casually listed his upcoming schedule. Although the official filming for ‘Pierrot: The Birth of a Villain’ had ended, that didn’t mean all work was done. A different version of the poster shoot and ADR (additional dialogue recording) remained.
However, those would be wrapped up within a few days.
With a solemn look in his eyes, Director Ahn Ga-bok placed a hand on Kang Woojin’s shoulder.
“I’ll approach this edit as if it’s the final chapter of my directing career. I’ve given ‘Columbia Studios’ my confidence, so I’ll have to deliver results that match.”
“……”
“I’m a little scared, to be honest. Haha, it doesn’t suit my age, I know. But too much understanding and too many goals are riding on my confidence.”
He was referring to the Academy Awards.
“But I’m sure your ‘Joker’ will resonate with the world.”
Kang Woojin added a bit of bravado to his response.
“I think so too.”
Afterward.
The news that ‘Pierrot: The Birth of a Villain’ had completed crank-up spread across Hollywood the next morning, as Kang Woojin moved on to shoot ‘Beast and the Beauty’.
‘As expected, they spread the word immediately. So fast.’
Because the film was tied to many issues, from being the beginning of Columbia’s ‘Cinematic Universe’ to the performance Kang Woojin showed at the ‘Emmy Awards’, foreign media outlets gave loud coverage to the crank-up of ‘Pierrot’.
『LA TIME/“Watch it or not” Kang Woojin’s ‘Pierrot: The Birth of a Villain’ officially completed crank-up yesterday』
『CNM/Crank-up of ‘Pierrot: The Birth of a Villain’, ‘Columbia Studios’ says, “Release date under discussion”』
Most foreign news articles included Kang Woojin, but not a single one mentioned the ‘Academy Awards’.
“They’re probably not even considering the possibility.”
Just as Kang Woojin silently muttered to himself, no one predicted that ‘Pierrot’, which had just announced its crank-up yesterday, was aiming for the ‘Academy Awards’. There was no precedent. Not even in all of Hollywood had there been a case where a film delayed its global release to premiere first in LA in pursuit of the ‘Academy Awards’.
If this were to be revealed, the uproar would be inevitable.
Regardless, the news of the crank-up of ‘Pierrot: The Birth of a Villain’ spread beyond Hollywood to Korea and Japan.
『[Breaking News] Kang Woojin and Director Ahn Ga-bok’s ‘Pierrot: The Birth of a Villain’ completed crank-up yesterday! Fans excitedly ask “When’s the release?!”』
And gradually expanded to the rest of the world. Normally it would have been a simple issue, but for some reason, the public opinion was noisy. It was a mess of praise and criticism, but it could be seen as a reflection of global interest in ‘Pierrot: The Birth of a Villain’.
Around the time the issue surrounding ‘Pierrot: The Birth of a Villain’ began to grow.
“Action!!”
Kang Woojin, unbothered, was back in action, not as ‘Joker’, but as ‘Beast’. Or, to be precise, in his skin-tight suit once more for the shoot. Perhaps because he had just wrapped ‘Pierrot’, Kang Woojin’s energy level was high.
“Kang Woojin, you’ve always been amazing, but don’t you seem a little more energetic than usual today?”
“Yeah, even in that special outfit, he’s giving off wild ‘Beast’ vibes.”
Meanwhile, with Director Ahn Ga-bok at the helm, the ‘Pierrot: The Birth of a Villain’ team had begun editing. It was in the editing room within ‘Columbia Studios’, and quite a few key staff were gathered. As he looked at various equipment, monitors, and the medium-sized screen in front of him, Director Ahn Ga-bok thought.
‘Phew, from now on it’s a race against time.’
The first step of the massive plan had been taken.
Meanwhile, ‘John Persona’ by ‘Universal Movies’, the project with the latest start among the contenders, was now progressing through the mid-phase of pre-production under the direction of Danny Landis and Joseph Felton. Aside from finalizing casting for the mentioned actors, they were building sets and confirming the shooting schedule based on the storyboard, among other tasks.
‘John Persona’ had no loud controversies but felt like a blade being quietly sharpened.
Of course.
“What does Kang Woojin think about the cast list for this film?”
“He said he doesn’t mind any of them.”
The heavyweight Hollywood director Danny Landis had begun gradually increasing his communication with Kang Woojin.
Thus, many things were rolling on, and time was melting away at the same rate.
Before anyone realized, it was the last day of September.
Part 2 of ‘Beneficial Evil’, which had drawn immense expectations due to the ‘Emmy Awards’ and Kang Woojin’s influence, had.
『[Issue Pick] ‘Beneficial Evil’ Part 2, once again racing full speed at world number 1!』
『’Beneficial Evil’ Part 2, holding global number 1 for the second week after release, ‘Next year’s Emmy Awards contender’?』
Performed another miracle. It continued its lightspeed streak while holding tightly to the number one spot worldwide. With that, the prestige of Korean content, and of Kang Woojin, was becoming even more solidified.
And this entire mood carried into the newly arrived October.
Now in its third week of editing, ‘Pierrot: The Birth of a Villain’ had accelerated even more, while ‘Beast and the Beauty’, already in its mid-filming stage, was steadily completing its schedule without major disturbances.
However, in October, a slightly different issue began to move.
That issue was the film ‘Guest’.
“Hello, Jennifer Thurman.”
“Welcome, CEO Choi.”
Choi Sung-gun, more precisely, bw Entertainment, which had stepped in as the main investor, was officially getting the ball rolling on ‘Guest’. In the modest office of the small film company A8 Media, Choi Sung-gun, Jennifer Thurman, and others gathered to hold the first meeting for the production of ‘Guest’. The main focus of this meeting.
“Recruiting the director and key staff comes first.”
Which director and key staff would take charge of the production of ‘Guest’?
Inside the meeting room, numerous names of directors and Hollywood key staff came up. Naturally, names of Hollywood actors were also mentioned here and there.
However.
“Considering the scale of the project and the size of our production company… it will be difficult to cast top-tier actors. But we can certainly send the script to A-grade actors.”
The reality of ‘Guest’ was that it was nearly impossible to even attempt casting ultra high-profile Hollywood actors. At this point, main investor Choi Sung-gun inexplicably recalled Kang Woojin’s voice. Recently, Woojin had said something rather cryptic to him.
‘CEO-nim, when it comes to casting, try to stall as much as possible during pre-production.’
‘Stall for time? Why?’
‘I’ve thrown out some bait.’
Choi didn’t fully understand what he meant, but his faith in Kang Woojin was near religious, so he followed without much doubt.
“Jennifer, let’s set aside the actor discussion for now.”
“…I was actually thinking the same. But when hiring the director, they often ask about the actors.”
“Well then, let’s use Kang Woojin’s special appearance as a bit of a smoke screen for now. Either way, let’s hold off discussing casting till later.”
Though nothing was resolved immediately, ‘Guest’ had at least fastened the first button of pre-production.
Then, around late October.
“Woojin.”
On the set of ‘Beast and the Beauty’, Miley Cara, dressed up glamorously in a elegant formal gown and a wig, called out to Kang Woojin. Woojin was in the role of the ‘Prince’, and Cara was in the role of beauty, ‘Bella’.
“I read that ‘Guest’ script you gave me.”
Sitting down, Kang Woojin asked her in a low voice.
“What did you think?”
Blonde-haired Cara smiled faintly and.
“I was completely drawn in. It was interesting. Especially the direction and devices, they were unexpected. So, why did you give me this project?”
Woojin quietly looked up at Cara and answered.
“Because I think it’ll do well. Just a feeling.”
“A feeling?”
He began explaining about ‘Guest’ to her.
A few days later.
As the stormy October came to a close, the first sun of November rose. The world was already giving off the scent of year-end, and people’s light clothing was beginning to thicken again.
On this very day, an unexpected video was uploaded to the official YouTube channel of ‘Columbia Studios’.
-【‘Pierrot: The Birth of a Villain’】1st Teaser｜Columbia Studios
It was the first teaser for ‘Pierrot: The Birth of a Villain’.
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