On July 29, actors Lee Min Ho, Ahn Hyo Seop and director Kim Byung Woo attended a press conference to launch the movie omniscient Reader in Singapore.
At the event, when asked which character would be chosen as an ally, both actors Lee Min Ho and Ahn Hyo Seop chose Lee Ji Hye played by Jisoo (Blackpink).
Lee Min Ho said, I will choose Jisoo. Because I don't need weapons, just listen to her sing and I will have more strength."
Ahn Hyo Seop agreed: "I would also choose Jisoo, the reason is the same as him".
However, the answers of the two actors received mixed reactions. Some viewers believe that Lee Min Ho and Ahn Hyo Seop intentionally mentioned Jisoo to attract attention in the context of "All Readers" having difficult ticket sales.
According to statistics, All Readers has topped the Korean box office for 5 consecutive days, attracting more than 600,000 views as of July 28.
However, with a production budget exceeding 30 billion won, this work is under pressure to sell at least 6 million tickets to achieve a break-even point. Initial figures suggest that this could be difficult to achieve, as ticket sales are slowly declining.
Previously, director Kim Byung Woo was also criticized by many fans, saying that he took advantage of Jisoo's reputation to promote the film and attract Kpop fans to support him.
At the previous press conference, the director said that the reason he chose Jisoo was because Lee Ji Hye was an important character in the original novel, but when it was filmed, he had very little screen time. Therefore, the director gave this role to a famous face like Jisoo to get more attention for Lee Ji Hye's character.
The director's sharing caused outrage, many Jisoo fans called for no support for the work.
To date, Lee Min Ho and Ahn Hyo Seop have been criticized once again for mentioning Jisoo in a awkward way, even though the actress has never attended any press conferences or promotional events with the film crew.
In addition, there were also supporters who defended Lee Min Ho and Ahn Hyo Seop, explaining that while fans were unhappy with the director, the two actors' answers showed how Jisoo was respected by her colleagues and co-stars.
All Readers is adapted from a popular online novel with more than 240 million views.
The film is about Kim Dok Ja (Ahn Hyo Seop), the only reader of a long-running online novel. On the day the novel ends after more than a decade, Dok Ja discovers the fictional world in the novel suddenly becoming a reality.
Dok Ja, along with the novel's main character Yoo Joong Hyuk (Lee Min Ho) and his companions Yoo Sang Ah (Chae Soo Bin), Lee Hyun Sung (Shin Seung Ho), Jung Hee Won (Nana), Lee Ji Hye (Jisoo), Lee Gil Young (Kwon Eun Seong) must find a way to survive in a world in decline.
