Melodrama hitmaker Lee Kyung-hee is coming back with another drama, called Chocolate (working title), which would mark her first project in two years, since the Kim Woo-bin (*tear*) and Suzy romance Uncontrollably Fond.
Chocolate seems to follow in Lee Kyung-hee’s mold of sentimental romantic melos, with two characters falling in love while healing pains from the past. One lead is a brain surgeon, the other a renowned Italian chef, and they work together preparing food for hospice patients in a warm-hearted story. I can see this story going uplifting and sweet, as writer Lee did for her 2007 drama Thank You, about a young girl with AIDS, and I can also see it going angsty and sad, as she did for many of her other projects that ended less well for our charcters (list below). I’m going to hope for uplifting.
There was once a time when news of a new projects for writer Lee would have had me bouncing in my seat in excitement, but I have to admit that after her past couple of dramas, I’m a lot warier going in. But I never write anyone off, especially when their resume includes some standouts and classics, even if most of them are over a decade old. See: Sang-doo, Let’s Go to School (Rain’s early acting breakout), I’m Sorry, I Love You (the massive hit starring Im Soo-jung and So Ji-sub), A Love to Kill (Rain again), Thank You (the sentimental melo with Gong Hyo-jin and Jang Hyuk), and Nice Guy (one of Song Joong-ki’s big steps into leading man territory).
I did think her 2014 pondering weekend family drama Wonderful Season was utterly dull despite being nice in spirit, while 2016’s Uncontrollably Fond seemed like it was poised to become an international sensation based on pre-show buzz but then fizzled (because it turned into a masochistic angstfest).
The project has completed synopsis stage and Lee Kyung-hee is currently writing scripts. Casting is underway, and offers have reportedly already been extended to top stars. And if there’s something we can expect from an Lee Kyung-hee drama, it’s top stars (see: So Ji-sub, Rain, Gong Hyo-jin, Im Soo-jung, Kim Hee-sun, Moon Chae-won, Song Joong-ki, Go Soo, Kim Woo-bin, Suzy, Shin Mina, Jang Hyuk).
Chocolate is looking at a January 2019 premiere, although a time slot has not yet been announced.