LMH's new drama. (Updates) - Page 3

Aw yay, I really like Lee Hee-joon (Yoo-na's Street, SORI: Voice From the Heart), so I'm pleased to hear he's joining Jeon Ji-hyun (You From Another Star) and Lee Min-ho(Heirs) in their upcoming big-buzz project, Legend of the Blue Sea. He has met with the team and given his verbal agreement, and final details of his contract are currently being worked out.

This is the drama reteaming Jeon with her You From Another Star writer (Park Ji-eun) and Lee with his City Hunter PD (Jin Hyuk), which positions it to become one the biggest-hyped dramas of the year. Whether it becomes the biggest hit remains to be seen, but the production has certainly stacked the deck in its favor.

The script has not come out yet so details are still thin, but we do know that it's based on a folktale of a mermaid. Contrary to earlier reports that it was based on the famous Little Mermaid fairy tale (by Hans Christian Andersen), the drama is actually taking a different source as its inspiration: Eouyadam, or Eou's Unofficial Histories, Korea's very first collection of folktales dating back to the 16th century.

The mermaid story from that collection that forms the basis of this fantasy-melo romance is based on a real-life figure, governor Kim Dam-ryung; it was recorded that he returned to the sea a mermaid caught by a fisherman.

In the drama, Lee Hee-joon will play a scam artist who speaks in a thick saturi accent, and he guides hero Lee Min-ho along in taking the con artist's path. They'll form a trio of scammers in total, and PD Jin Hyuk is reportedly auditioning rookie actors from every agency for the last role. Jeon Ji-hyun will, obviously, play the mermaid role. (Or is that not obvious? Am I dashing anyone's hopes of seeing Lee Min-ho in a fish tail and seashells?)

Legend of the Blue Sea is set to be a Wednesday-Thursday SBS drama, to follow rom-comIncarnation of Jealousy, which follows currently airing thriller Wanted.