Former Warrior Turns Into A Million-Dollar Actor [EN]: Chapter 39

A Strange Sense of Déjà Vu (1)

* * *

Keunbeom Entertainment.

“Ah, yes. Distribution… Of course, if you could do that much for us, what more could we ask for? We’ll definitely meet the schedule on our end, yes, yes.”

Director Tae hung up the phone, his brow furrowed. Across the office, the dates on the calendar marked with a red pen were being crossed out with alarming speed.

“…This is tight.”

Time was running out.

Unlike major production companies that handle distribution themselves, smaller companies like Keunbeom had to manage everything from coordinating with distributors to securing screen allocations.

He spent his days calling people to plead his case and visiting others to buy them drinks, leaving his throat parched and his liver strained.

Of course, he could handle his duties as the head of the production company somehow. The problem was the film’s shooting and editing schedule.

They had to get the movie, which was already behind schedule, onto the screen before the end of the year.

The total production time for a film is usually between six months and a year. A more relaxed shooting environment compared to dramas is one of the advantages, but the ‘Black Exorcist’ team didn’t have that luxury.

“It’s already late. Can’t delay it any further.”

Only a few months left until the end of the year. December was packed with major overseas animated films and formidable domestic and international blockbusters all vying for attention during the Christmas season.

If an unpopular genre like occult got caught in that mix, it would be crushed without a trace.

Director Tae tapped the table with his red pen.

Waiting until the new year was just as risky.

Movies thrive on buzz. You have to push it when there’s even a hint of noise marketing. There are hundreds of films in Chungmuro [the Korean equivalent of Hollywood] that disappeared without a trace because their release dates were delayed.

‘I hope they’re doing well…?’

He was getting updates from assistant director Han Sang-yoon, but he couldn’t help but worry.

Total investment of 4.5 billion won [approximately $3.4 million USD].

4 billion from Million Venture Partners, 200 million scraped together by Keunbeom, and 300 million from Director Noh Joong-man. They needed to attract over 1.5 million viewers to break even, including marketing costs.

‘I… I’m sorry, let me do that again.’

‘I’ll do it again, just one more time!’

Director Tae closed his eyes, and the script reading session flashed through his mind.

“Two crazy people, two decent ones, and the rest are so-so…”

He didn’t say it out loud because the leads were so impactful, but the others were objectively mediocre or lackluster.

Filming isn’t just about the director and the leads. No matter how wild Park Geon goes, if the supporting actors mess up, the movie will be shackled.

Ding, ding!

The alarm for the next meeting went off. Tae Jong-beom grabbed his suit jacket and stood up, trying to shake off the deepening worries.

“…Hope they’re doing well.”

Filming continued even outside the production company’s embrace.

Contrary to Director Tae’s concerns, Kim Ryul was thankfully a director who planned the most efficient routes.

Location scouting, securing locations, selecting scene order, and allocating shooting schedules.

He meticulously managed schedules involving anywhere from a dozen to thirty or forty people, as if planning a package tour.

A ‘Black Exorcist’ filming notebook, prepared over several years, was a great help.

This location costs this much, that scene requires waiting several days. He led the set with ruthless detail that would impress even a compulsive person.

But as always, a movie can’t succeed with just the director’s one-man show.

“Ah… I’m sorry, why is this, damn it.”

The actor who just flubbed his lines and caused an NG [no good, meaning a failed take] apologized repeatedly, his face red.

It would be great if everyone performed like Park Geon, but that was realistically impossible.

Some people forgot their lines, and others lacked acting skills.

Because high-profile actors had all declined the roles, most of the cast were unknowns and bit players.

It was entirely up to the director’s ability to bring out the best in those actors.

“Take a few steps this way, then stop naturally. And you’re trying not to catch the camera from the right.”

Kim Ryul, having put down the megaphone, even demonstrated himself, and the actor nodded as if he had met a savior.

“Yes, yes… I actually had a major car accident. After that, the muscles on this side of my face don’t move as I want them to, so I even quit acting…”

“Focusing on that makes your overall expression awkward. If you try to force it, it will show, so just move freely. But you can’t forget your lines and weaken your delivery.”

This was less directing and more like acting tutoring, acting lessons.

“Yes, I understand!”

“Let’s take a five-minute break.”

After a short break, the actor, having renewed his determination, delivered a much-improved performance and got an OK.

The staff who had been watching whispered among themselves.

“As expected of Kim Ryul… no, God Ryul…”

“At this point, he’s just recreating people? His directing is really spot-on.”

“He went to his alma mater’s film department for years to watch the students’ classes and learn. Because no actors wanted to work with him, he thought he had to master directing.”

Give a good script to good actors, and even a newly debuted director can make a decent film.

Kim Ryul was the opposite. He brought out the acting skills of mediocre or lacking supporting and bit players with amazing directing and filming techniques.

Thanks to that, Seo Yohan was soaring.

“What? I’m a priest, and it looks like I know this person, so get out of the way. Can’t you see my clothes?”

The rough voice pierced the eardrums, and everything from emotional expression to chemistry with the other actors was perfect.

Director of photography Lee Dong-jae, who had been continuing a long take, let out a silent exclamation.

‘He’s deliberately bringing out the supporting actors. But he never loses the focus.’

More ‘acting’ actors than you’d think make this mistake. They bring their own acting too strongly, disrupting the balance and intimidating their partners.

But Park Geon was different. He scratched when he needed to scratch, stepped back when he needed to step back, and was pulling up the bit players who were new to film.

If the ‘Dogs of Seoul’ production team… especially PD [Production Director] Na Jong-mo, saw that scene, they would have sighed.

Why did they cast this person as a supporting role with only action scenes?

He was taking direction, but he was this good even with much weaker actors. If they had put him with top-tier actors who fought and clawed at each other to dominate the screen….

No, no.

At least one actor who wouldn’t be pushed back by Park Geon was still on set.

“Where’s Lee Jang-mi? Is she still on standby?”

“Uh… she said she’d be out soon, should I go look for her?”

“Bring her. We don’t have a lot of time at this location.”

Director Kim Ryul’s gaze, which had been giving firm instructions, turned towards the filming trailer.

“…”

A different kind of silence than when Seo Yohan first appeared spread across the set.

A pure white dress fluttered above skin so transparent you could see the veins.

Lee Jang-mi, walking with a ghostly gait, looked around the set.

If Park Geon was the type to immediately step out of character, this one was completely possessed. By her role as Lee Yu-won, the cult leader of the Salvation Society, who had accepted the devil.

The eyes, full of transparent goodwill and therefore even more chilling, rolled around. The actors who were working with her today were already intimidated.

The pupils, having found their focus, locked onto Park Geon, who was next to Kim Ryul, watching the set.

“Shall we start, then?”

Lee Jang-mi’s character is Lee Yu-won, the leader of the Salvation Society.

Originally, she was a lead character who led the play as a top two with Seo Yohan, but after casting Lee Jang-mi, there were some changes to the role.

One of them is the increased amount.

Man with blindfold: (Weakly pleading) Please… someone help me, save me….

Inside a refrigerated container.

The temperature is so low that you can see your breath, and the container floor is covered with reddish frost.

Next to the man, there are people wearing the same blindfolds, collapsed.

Man with blindfold: (More desperately) Is anyone there, is anyone there? Hey, there are people here!

As the man’s voice grew louder, goat mask figures appeared and began chanting eerie spells.

The rest of the people were still as if possessed, but the man struggled. A rosary on his wrist is briefly visible in the camera taking a close-up shot.

Then, the container door opens.

Salvation Society Leader: It’s noisy inside.

The white, thin cloth dress is reminiscent of a saint. For a moment, it feels like radiance is pouring down into the dark container.

When one of the goat mask figures tries to put a padding jacket on her, the leader raises her hand to refuse.

“Oh my… are you alright?”

At the clear voice that seeps into his ear, the man raises his head without realizing it.

“Ah, I was… I was kidnapped. I was just going to follow them to a meeting, but my family is waiting for me at home…”

“Oh dear. You have a family…”

“Yes, yes. Please… let me go back. I will never have bad thoughts again. I will find a new job and not be swayed by emotions—”

“—That’s right.”

The man freezes with his mouth open. In the middle of his sentence, the woman’s voice had changed to a thick man’s voice and then returned.

The smile of the leader, Lee Yu-won, deepens.

“Someone who knows that shouldn’t have come here. To think you, the bastard of a dirty virgin, would wear such a wicked thing.”

“Ugh, ugh…”

“Are you afraid? Why? You wanted to be saved rather than save others, and to be free, didn’t you? But now you’re calling on your god?”

“Yes, Jesus, forgive our sins… save us from the fires of hell, and the most abandoned soul…”

The man, clutching the rosary tightly, murmurs, but the prayer is only a fleeting breath that scatters.

Lee Yu-won receives a slaughter knife, mainly used at the altar, from her subordinates. The flesh clinging to the teeth of the blade glistens like dark red leeches.

A few minutes later, the container is quiet again. Only the ice on the floor is stained a deeper red.

Lee Yu-won wipes the splattered flesh from her face and casually licks the back of her white hand.

“Then, please empty it well. The disposal was a bit lacking last time.”

As the order is given, the goat figures, who had been standing like statues, begin to clear the corpses from the back.

Outside the angle, the sound of splashing is constantly heard, indicating what ‘disposal’ means.

Among the goat masks, the largest one growls and says.

“Shouldn’t we just leave them? It’s time to put up our mark.”

“Not yet. Because the one who has been away from this land for a long time, if we reveal our existence too quickly, the children of light will flock to us.”

“The Crusades have already entered Korea.”

“Who are they?”

“Oh Gu-hwan Mateo, Father Lee Jong-geol Peter.”

“If it’s them, it doesn’t matter. What about the police?”

“They’re just spinning their wheels. They’ll keep falling into the traps we’ve set.”

Lee Yu-won smiled transparently.

“The day of eternal life is not far off. Until then, we must save even one more person. Your strength will be needed.”

“We will increase the number of brothers in the manufacturing and evangelization divisions.”

“I’m counting on you.”

Lee Yu-won bowed her head and turned around. In the meantime, her pale blue lips exuded an even more eerie atmosphere under her frosty cheeks.

Like… a priest serving an ancient snake god.

“Cut!”