Moon Chae-won, Kim Min-jae, Lee Won-geun
The last movie in the The Face Reader trilogy by Director Park Hee-gon was announced earlier this year, but it seems like the ball is now finally rolling on Auspicious Grave. There’s been a barrage of casting additions including numerous young talented rising stars such as Moon Chae-won (Goodbye Mr. Black), Lee Won-geun (Mystery Queen), and Kim Min-jae (The Best Hit).
Auspicious Grave is the story of power-hungry political players and their ambition to become king and be memorialized on Joseon’s best ceremonial grounds. The movie was courting Ji Sung (Defendant) and Jo Seung-woo (Forest of Secrets) last April, and they have since confirmed their roles as the prince regent Heungseon Daewongun and shaman Park Jae-sang, respectively. Joining them will be Kim Sung-kyun (Moon Lovers: Scarlet Heart Ryeo) whose character is Kim Byung-ki, the eldest son of the Noble House of Kim.
Ji Sung, Jo Seung-woo, Kim Sung-kyun
Moon Chae-won will be taking on the role of the leading lady, but she has some big shoes to fill because Kim Hye-soo’s performance as the charismatic gisaeng in Face Reader will be a tough act to follow. Thankfully, she’s got numerous sageuk experiences under her belt including her heartrending romance with Park Shi-hoo in The Princess’s Man and her sassy womance with Moon Geun-young in Painter of the Wind. According to reports, Lee Wong-eun and Kim Min-jae will also be taking on important roles, but details on their characters have yet to be released.
All three have been busy with drama projects lately: Kim Min-jae can currently be seen in the time-travel weekend comedy The Best Hit, but he also played a fiercely conflicted young king in The Lonely Shining Goblin earlier this year. Lee Won-geun just wrapped up ajumma sleuth Mystery Queen with Choi Kang-hee recently, but he also has experience with sageuks, having debuted as the younger counterpart to Song Jae-rim’s character in The Moon That Embraces the Sun. Last but not least, Moon Chae-won is still busy shooting her new cop procedural, the Korean remake of Criminal Minds, which is scheduled for broadcast later this month.
The film Auspicious Grave is expected to premiere sometime next year, but the second installment in the trilogy, Marital Harmony (aka Compatibility) starring Shim Eun-kyung and Lee Seung-gi, hasn’t hit theaters yet, so it may be a while before we see the completed trilogy.