On March 27, the family of the late actor Kim Sae Ron held a press conference to announce evidence of text messages between Kim Soo Hyun and Kim Sae Ron between 2016 and 2017, to prove that the two dated when Kim Sae Ron was a minor.
The press conference made the negative public opinion towards Kim Soo Hyun even stronger.
As the controversy increased, Kim Soo Hyun's management company continuously gave unsatisfactory explanations and solutions, affecting advertisements and works featuring Kim Soo Hyun.
In particular, the film Knock-Off was announced by Disney+ producer to be postponed for release last week.
Not only was part 1 postponed, but the filming of part 2 also had to be postponed. The film is even at risk of being completely canceled if Kim Soo Hyun's image cannot be saved.
Because Knock-Off is a film set in a historical period, the investment in art and set-piece is huge. The total production cost for the two seasons is about 60 billion won (more than 1,000 billion VND).
Meanwhile, Kim Soo Hyun's remuneration is known to be the highest in the industry, so there is also speculation that his appearance remuneration accounts for a significant part of the production cost.
Kim Soo Hyun is said to have received more than 200 million won/episode for tvN's "What's wrong with You" in 2020, and more than 500 million won/episode for Coupang Play's "One Ordinary Day" in 2021.
When it came to tvN's "Queen of Tears", there were initially rumors that Kim Soo Hyun was paid 800 million won/episode. After that, the producer denied it. However, it is reported that the actor still receives a fairly high salary, about 300 million won/episode.
Kim Soo Hyun's salary in "Knock-Off" was not disclosed, but many people said that this would be "the highest ever", because the salary appearing on global online platforms (OTT) is often higher than that of TV stations.
As the main actor, Kim Soo Hyun must take responsibility if the film is canceled because of him.
Considering the usual fine of 2-3 times the production cost, it is estimated that if Knock-Off is not released, Kim Soo Hyun could be fined 180 billion won (about 3,140 billion VND). Industry insiders say, "the fine could be even more".
" Global platforms like Disney+ have tight contracts for each case involved in theft and are often resolved through litigation," said a TV series producer.
It is said that thousands of protest emails have been sent to Disney's headquarters from all over the world due to this incident. Because abroad, the relationship between adults and minors is a very sensitive issue.
Another official analyzed: Kim Soo Hyun is capable of paying tens of billions of won for advertising, but the fine for movies, which could be up to 200 billion won, will be difficult for Kim Soo Hyun and Gold Medalist Company to bear. This is probably the reason why they strongly denied dating the minor.
According to the Mobile Index of data company IGAWorks, the number of monthly active users in the past month of Disney+ reached only 2.57 million - the lowest among OTT platforms in Korea (Net Netflix: 13.45 million, Coupang Play: 6.85 million, Tving: 6.79 million, Wave: 4.18 million). Compared to 4.33 million users in September 2023 when the movie Moving exploded, Disney+ has lost nearly 2 million users.
In the context of Disney+- release dramas continuously failing in revenue, Knock-Off is expected to be a salvation. But with Kim Soo Hyun's controversy, even the release announcement has become blurred, so Disney will have to have an even more headache.
