Ssangcheonman (‘The Thieves’, ‘Assassination’) director Choi Dong-hoon (52) shed tears at a meeting with actors after the press and distribution preview on the 3rd. After tasting box office failure for the first time since his debut with the blockbuster film ‘Aliens + Humans’ Part 1 (2022), which was his first attempt at science fiction, he returned with ‘Aliens + Humans’ Part 2 (released on the 10th). Alien prisoners are invading the Earth, and while trying to stop it, a human girl named Ian (Kim Tae-ri), who crash-lands in the Goryeo Dynasty, and an alien robot (Kim Woo-bin) become entangled with the Taoist monk Muruk (Ryu Jun-yeol) and two immortals (Yeom Jeong-ah and Jo Woo-jin) to protect the Earth. . Although a net production cost of 33 billion won was invested in the first part, the number of viewers was only 1.54 million, which was far short of the break-even point (7.3 million viewers). Director Choi said, “After the release of Part 1, I edited Part 2 for about 1 year and 6 months, creating 52 different edited versions. “I had to rewatch Part 2 150 times to memorize it,” he said, showing his utmost pride. I met him again on the 5th.
Q: What was the most difficult part in editing Part 2?
A : “If Part 1 was a captivating film that showed a new world, I hoped Part 2 would be an immersive story. Part 2 originally went back and forth between the present and the past four times, but was reduced to two. Also, Ian’s narration in the opening title sequence took nearly a year to complete with changes.”
Q: I think it was an opportunity to think about the balance between the fascination and popularity of new materials and genres.
A : “To me, a good movie is one whose characters remain in your memory after it ends. “I think the unique scent of a character is important.”
Q: Did you make Part 2 without any regrets?
A : “You can’t achieve everything you want in one movie. I mainly made crime films in which people gather to plot a conspiracy and then break up, and the ‘Caper’ in the name of the film company ‘Caper Film’ (founded with my wife, CEO Ahn Soo-hyun, who is a producer) also means conspiracy to plot. In Part 2 of ‘Aliens + Humans,’ I wanted to express the story of how the main characters are intertwined by fate and have no choice but to separate when the string of fate breaks, in a film with a strong genre flavor.”
Na Won-jeong (na.wonjeong@joongang.co.kr)
