Recently, Dispatch revealed that Ma Dong Seok's salary for each episode of "Twelve" (Vietnamese title: Twelve boundaries) is 500 million won (about 9.5 billion VND), a total of 4 billion won for 8 episodes.
Actor Park Hyung Sik received the second highest salary of 300 million won/episode (about 5.7 billion VND), and earned 3.2 billion won for the entire work.
Meanwhile, the salaries of other actors participating in the film, including Sung Dong Il, Seo In Guk, Kang Mi Na, Ye Soo Jung, Lee Joo Bin, Go Kyu pil, Kim Chan Hyung and red red red red Lei, are much lower, totaling less than 1 billion won.
The production cost of "Twelve" is estimated at about 22-23 billion won. Of which, LG U+ invested 18 billion won, KBS' Monster Union invested 4 billion won. In addition, a spicy rice cake company and a chicken company contribute about 200-300 million won per company.
The actor's remuneration accounts for about 34% of the production cost of the film "Twelve", but most of it was paid to Ma Dong Seok and Park Hyung Sik.
If we include the cost for the screenwriter (Kim Bong Han and Ma Dong Seok) and the director's remuneration (Kang Dae Gyu and Han Yoon Sun), the net production cost of the work will decrease even more.
As a fantasy action film, "Twelve" requires more investment in post-production, props, and costumes. On the other hand, the film revolves around the gods representing the 12 star systems, which is a fairly novel script, so this script certainly requires a significant investment.
However, the actor's remuneration exceeded the cost by 30%, which inevitably affected the quality of the film's production.
Industry officials shared: "Normally, the remuneration of the main actor accounting for about 10-15% of the production cost is considered reasonable. If it exceeds 40%, film production is impossible. Even 30% is too high.
Another official commented: "In the case of the movie Twelve, the remuneration for the appearance of the two main actors was too high. For fantasy films, post-production is the artery of the work. It seems that the high actor's salary has led to a decline in the quality of the second half of the show."
The genre of fantasy films depends a lot on post-production to achieve realistic effects, which means having to invest heavily in special effects and visual effects. Perhaps that is why Netflix mainly recruits new actors to participate in fantasy film projects to reduce fees.
Before its release, Twelve was predicted to become a highly anticipated TV blockbuster. The proof is that the first episode opened with a very high rating of up to 8.1%. But starting from episode 2, the rating continued to decrease, and by the end of episode (episode 8), it was only 2.4%.
According to Dispatch, its hard to praise any element of the drama. The plot is full of unresolved loopholes and bottlenecks. Ma Dong Seok's unique sense of humor in this film is also very superficial. Images and effects are " ahead of children's science fiction films".
Investor LG U+ is said to have reclaimed production costs. KBS also generates revenue from advertising sales. But Dispatch emphasized that the only loss is the "adsury eye" when having to watch a bad work.
Dispatch believes that Ma Dong Seok must look at himself, as a screenwriter, lead actor, actor, action scenery designer, and director at the studio.
"Twelve" was originally planned as a seasonal series (multi-part). The production crew is said to have been nurturing the fourth part. The opening scene of episode 8 of "Twelve" also refers to the second part of the film, when Taesan's (Ma Dong Seok) eyes change direction, signaling the return of the Devil.
But if there is a part 2, the shortcomings in the script need to be overcome. The film needs to increase the proportion of fantasy action scenes and invest more in post-production.
The audience doesnt want to watch a show that only advertises chicken and spicy rice cakes, Dispatch commented.
