The Chronicles of Asdal (2019)
Upcoming Korean historical & Fantasy drama / movie (2017~2018) # 04
█ The Chronicles of Asdal 아스달 연대기 (2019 tvN)
Official English Title : The Chronicles of Asdal
Korean Title : 아스달 연대기 (阿斯達 年代記) - working title
Period : Gojoseon a.k.a. Ancient Joseon 고조선 古朝鮮 (2333 BC ~ 108 BC)
Director : Kim Won-Seok 김원석 (Sungkyunkwan Scandal 성균관 스캔들, Misaeng 미생, Signal 시그널, My Mister 나의 아저씨)
Writers : Kim Young-Hyeon 김영현 & Park Sang-Yeon 박상연 (Queen Seondeok 선덕여왕, Tree with Deep Roots 뿌리깊은 나무, Six Flying Dragons 육룡이 나르샤 etc.)
Six Flying Dragons writers are finally coming back, but not with the final installment of their Joseon trilogy (Six Flying Dragons 육룡이 나르샤, Tree with Deep Roots 뿌리깊은 나무, and The water from a deep spring 샘이 깊은 물) but with an epic fantasy / mythical Sageuk set in Gojoseon period.
Gojoseon (a.k.a. ancient Joseon 고조선 古朝鮮) is the first Korean kingdom established around 2333 BC and destroyed in 108 BC. Its capital city was called Asdal or Asadal 아사달 阿斯達 which means "the land of morning". The title of this drama seems to come from the city's name. The synopsis and characters haven't been disclosed yet. [Wikipedia - Gojoseon]
It is officially announced today that The Chronicles of Asdal will be broadcast on tvN channel in March 2019 and its co-production companies are Studio Dragon and KPJ.
Actually tvN, OCN, Studio Dragon, KPJ are all subsidiaries of South Korean media conglomerate CJ E&M group. (Strictly speaking, CJ founded Studio dragon in 2016, and it started to take over several promising small drama production companies including KPJ which was established by the writers of Six Flying Dragons.) Last year, CJ group signed a supply contracts with Netflix, so in my humble opinion, international K-drama fans may be able to watch this drama via Netflix next year.
Actor Song Joong-Ki 송중기 (Descendants of the Sun 태양의 후예) received an offer to star in this epic fantasy, but his agency said that nothing has been decided yet. He used to work with these writers as a younger version of King Sejong / Yi Do in Tree with Deep Roots 뿌리깊은 나무 (2011, SBS) which made him a critically acclaimed actor for the first time.
Its director is not confirmed yet. Early news reports said that Director Kim Jin-Won 김진원 who worked with Song Joong-Ki for The Innocent Man 세상 어디에도 없는 착한 남자 (2012 KBS) was a strong candidate, but tvN said that nothing has been decided yet. I don't think he will direct it in the future because he is currently working for JTBC channel, and JTBC is tvN's biggest rival.
Updated news (June 2018) :
Director Kim Won-Seok 김원석 (Sungkyunkwan Scandal 성균관 스캔들, Misaeng 미생, Signal 시그널, My Mister 나의 아저씨) was confirmed to direct this epic Sageuk. He is one of the greatest Korean drama directors we’ve ever seen. I’m so excited.
Along with Song Joong-Ki, Actor Jang Dong-Gun 장동건 (Suit 슈츠) and Actress Kim Ji-Won 김지원 (Descendants of the Sun 태양의 후예) are in negotiation.
The shooting will begin in September this year (2018), and tvN will broadcast it in March next year (2019).
This will be a pre-produced drama.
They started to build a new filming site of the Chronicles of Asdal in Osan city. The construction budget is about 10 billion won (9.1 million USD).
In March 2016, the Six Flying Dragons writers said that they wanted to complete their Joseon trilogy and their next project might be King Sejo 세조 世祖 who is the second son of King Sejong / Yi Do (the hero of Tree with Deep Roots (2011 SBS)) and the grandson of King Taejong / Yi Bang-Won (the antihero of Six Flying Dragons (2015 SBS)). The following is the quotation from their interview. [ source ]
We don't have any plan yet. The future remains unclear. However, if we make the sequel, the title would be “The water from a deep spring (샘이 깊은 물)" which came from the verse of 15th century epic poetry “Songs of the dragons flying to heaven (용비어천가 龍飛御天歌)”. It is likely to handle King Sejo's usurpation of the throne (계유정난 癸酉靖難, October 1453). It is a tragedy. There would be no good person here. All of the characters would be villains. King Sejo 세조 and Han Myeong-Hoe 한명회. Even though King Sejo was a precious son of King Sejong / Yi Do, he turned his coat after becoming King, and all the academic lines established by his father died out during his reign. Unlike his grandfather King Taejong / Yi Bang-Won, he was swayed by contributors who helped him to ascended the throne. Compared with him, King Taejong / Yi Bang-Won was a far greater ruler. Yi Bang-Won removed his retainers ruthlessly for his son King Sejong. Han Myeong-Hoe is a turncoat of Milbon (Hidden Roots). However, there will be no good person for viewers to sympathize with. That’s the problem. In the end, the viewers can't help but watch their fights in a third party perspective. Such a drama has never been successful in Korea. Therefore, if we really try it, it will be a risky attempt.
Guys, I've patiently waited for their next drama The water from a deep spring 샘이 깊은 물 for the past two years, but they have kept silent since this interview.
During that time, their drama production company (KPJ) was taken over by Studio Dragon. Also, TV Chosun quickly snatched their idea and started to broadcast a new Sageuk drama titled Grand Prince 대군 : 사랑을 그리다 大君 (2018) which is loosely based on King Sejo's usurpation of the throne by killing his brother and nephew. Yes, the same historical events. Sigh.
It seems to me that the writers had no choice but to write The Chronicles of Asdal instead of the final installment of their Joseon trilogy in order to avoid comparisons with Grand Prince (2018 TV Chosun). Six Flying Dragons (2015, SBS) had suffered from severe comparison with Jung Do-Jeon (2014, KBS) due to the same historical characters and events, so I think the writers would never make the same mistake. That means The water from a deep spring won't be made at least for 6~7 years to come.
Lastly, I’d like to post the following historical tidbits of The Chronicles of Asdal.
Gojoseon (which means ancient Joseon 고조선 古朝鮮) is the first Korean kingdom established around 2333 BC and destroyed in 108 BC. But ordinary Korean people's knowledge about this kingdom is limited to myths and legends because of the lack of enough historical data.
The capital city of Gojoseon kingdom was recorded in history books as Asadal 아사달 阿斯達 in Chinese character, but its ancient Korean pronunciation was similar to Asdal 아스달. That's why the drama’s working title is Asdal 아스달 instead of Asadal 아사달.
According to the Korean myth, Hwan-Woong 환웅 桓雄 who is the son of Heaven God descended from heaven with his 3,000 subordinates (including the gods of wind, rain, cloud) and founded a nation under a sacred tree called Shindansoo 신단수 神檀樹.
One day, a bear and a tiger came to meet the divine king and asked him to teach them how to be reincarnated in human form. Hwan-Woong told them to eat only garlic and mugwort for 100 days in a cave without sunshine.
The high-tempered tiger failed to endure it and ran out of the cave, but the patient bear went through the trial and became a beautiful woman. People called her Woong-Nyeo 웅녀 熊女 (meaning "bear-woman") and respected her.
However, the bear-woman couldn't find the right spouse for her in the human world, so she asked the Almighty to give her a husband. Hwan-Woong heard her prayer and came to see her, and they fell in love at first sight. He transformed himself into a human being and made her pregnant.
She gave birth to a son and named the baby boy, Dangun 단군 檀君. The boy grew up, ascended the throne, and became the legendary founding father of the entire Korean people.
2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympic mascots, Soohorang (tiger) and Bandabi (bear), are originated from this Dangun myth.
I remember my high school history teacher said that we should not take this myth as a true story but should interpret it as a kind of symbolism that in ancient times a migrated tribe who worshiped the heaven god formed a marriage alliance with an indigenous tribe that worshiped bear as a god and they co-founded the first nation, Gojoseon (ancient Joseon), on the Korean peninsula. In the same context, the tiger tribes might have dropped out of the political alliance due to some unknown reasons.
I guess The chronicles of Asdal would adopt this kind of interpretation. The male lead might be either Hwan-Woong or Dangun.
2018 Sageuk & Fantasy drama / movie list
The full list of Korean Sageuks (Since 2000~)
