Shocking move: the record-breaking R-rated hit in Korean cinema history, Inside Men, is being reborn as a new three-part film project.
Released in 2015, Inside Men follows Ahn Sang-gu (portrayed by Lee Byung-hun), a discarded political fixer, who teams up with prosecutor Woo Jang-hoon (Cho Seung-woo) to blow the lid off a slush-fund scandal inside a massive cartel binding the media, politics, and chaebol power. The film delivered a razor-sharp portrait of real-world politics and power structures, pairing commercial success with critical acclaim to cement its place as a defining Korean crime drama.
The new project expands the original universe into a trilogy. At its core is an origin story tracing how the insiders took shape within the vast system forged by the media, capital, and political power in the late 1980s.
Co-directing are Kim Min-beom, who served as assistant director on 12.12: The Day and Flu, and Kim Jin-seok, who adapted the Disney+ series Made in Korea and worked as an assistant director on Harbin, The Man Standing Next, and Veteran. The screenplay is by writer Lee Ki-cheol of The Thieves, Assassination, and Harbin, with writer Kim Hyo-seok of Yadang: The Snitch handling adaptation to build a rock-solid narrative.
Production is led by Hive Media Corp, the studio behind 12.12: The Day and The Man Standing Next, with SLL, producer of the drama Reborn Rich and Netflix series All of Us Are Dead, joining as co-producer.
The project is currently in pre-production. Parts 1 and 2 are targeting simultaneous filming this year, with Part 3 scheduled to shoot next year. Following major casting, the team aims to kick off principal photography in the first half of this year.