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Director says Disney+’s ‘The Tyrant’ shares universe with his ‘The Witch’ film franchise

July 15, 2024

The cast of Disney+’s new Korean original series “The Tyrant” poses for a photo during a press event at a Seoul hotel on July 15, 2024. (Yonhap)

Acclaimed South Korean director Park Hoon-jung said Monday his upcoming TV series “The Tyrant,” set for release next month on Disney+, will share the same fictional universe as his popular supernatural thriller film series “The Witch.”

“The Witch,” which debuted with its first film in 2018 followed by a sequel in 2022, follows the story of Ja-yoon, a teenage girl who is genetically engineered in a laboratory as part of the covert “witch project” to become a child soldier.

“The Tyrant” is an action thriller revolving around people who chase and are chased by each other to secure the last remaining sample from another project codenamed “the tyrant” after it is lost due to a delivery accident.

Written and directed by Park, best known for the gangster epic “New World” (2013) and the “The Witch” film series, “The Tyrant” stars Cha Seung-won, Kim Seon-ho, Kim Kang-woo and Cho Yun-soo.

Park explained that “The Tyrant” serves as a parallel narrative within the same universe as “The Witch,” focusing on opposite forces within that universe.

“If ‘The Witch’ represents the east, ‘The Tyrant’ is in the west. They are parallel but different stories that are bound to meet and clash,” added Cha, who played the role of Lim Sang, a former spy agent commissioned to remove any obstacles to the “tyrant project” for money.

The series marks Park’s first venture into television, a medium he found challenging yet rewarding.

“It was tough since it was my first experience working in this medium. People who create dramas are incredible,” Park shared, noting the differences in storytelling scope between films and TV series.

The decision to adapt what was originally planned as a movie into a TV series was driven by the expanding opportunities on various streaming platforms, which Park saw as an opportunity to explore longer narrative forms.

“From a creator’s perspective, various platforms have emerged, and it was a matter of choice. More opportunities have opened up for us,” he said.

Kim Seon-ho, who gained global fandom through dramas like “Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha” and “Start-Up,” and made his big-screen debut with Park’s “The Childe” (2022), takes on the role of “Director Choi.”

Choi belongs to South Korea’s national intelligence agency but has been unofficially operating the “tyrant project.”

“I thought it would be fun to portray Director Choi because the character is different from the ones I’ve played before,” Kim said. “In terms of being a ‘clear-eyed madman,’ it’s similar to my previous role, but this character feels more haggard, lonely and isolated than the protagonist of ‘The Childe.’”

There was less action compared with the previous title because Choi is conflicted and troubled internally, though he doesn’t show it, he added.

In addition, actors Kim Kang-woo and Cho Yun-soo are respectively featured as Paul, a cold-blooded agent from the U.S. state spy agency sneaking into Korea to destroy the program, and Ja-kyung, an elite technician tasked with stealing the program’s sample.

For Cho, it was her first main role on both the big and small screens since her debut in 2019.

“Being able to act like this is the greatest fortune and honor in my life,” the 25-year-old said. “I was both excited and worried about taking on such an impressive role while reading the script.”

The four-part series is set to premiere on Aug. 14.

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