Apparently the universe just wants this pairing to happen, and you know what happens when you try to fight Fate in dramaland. A few months ago, Park Shin-hye (Doctors) and Hyun Bin (The Swindlers) were both courted for the new SBS drama Fox Bride Star (now called People of Incheon Airport), the latest from the PD of Gu Family Book and Secret Garden and the writer of Romantic Doctor Teacher Kim. But both actors ended up passing on the project, only to end up being offered the same new project right after it—tvN’s Memories of the Alhambra.
This is the new fantasy melodrama from writer Song Jae-jung of mind-bendy fantasy dramas W–Two Worlds, Nine, and Queen In-hyun’s Man, and PD Ahn Gil-ho of last year’s critically acclaimed conspiracy thriller Forest of Secrets. Hyun Bin has just signed on to star in the leading role, and Park Shin-hye’s reps have confirmed that she passed on Fox Bride Star and is now considering Memories of the Alhambra favorably.
The drama is about a CEO of an investment firm who goes to Granada, Spain on business and makes a visit to the Alhambra Palace. He stays at an old hostel run by the heroine, a former guitarist, and the two of them end up entangled in a strange situation. Earlier announcements described the project as a sci-fi action thriller involving an alternate reality through augmented reality games.
Hyun Bin’s character, Yoo Jin-woo, is an engineer with a natural-born talent for inventing games. He also has sharp business instincts, which he uses to become the CEO of an investment company. He’s competitive and adventurous and hates to lose even the smallest of bets. He suffers his greatest setback in the form of a friend’s betrayal just before his trip to Spain, where his life takes a sudden and unexpected turn. I can only imagine what crazy alternate/parallel/past/future universes this writer has planned, but I’m excited to find out.
Memories of the Alhambra plans to air later this year on tvN.