Earlier this year, an American production company started a Kickstarter fundraiser to make an American version of the kdrama classic "Boys Over Flowers." The kickstarter campaign by Wazego Collective was not successful but now a new production company, WillKinn Media has attracted enough investors to start filming their version in October.
While they were fundraising, Wazego described the series as " a gripping, funny and unique romantic comedy series that shows that girls can't be pushed around. It delivers a positive message that needs to be shared with the American audience."
The company also promised not to mess too much with the original story, which sometimes happens when Hollywood tries an adaptation. The new production company has not yet made that commitment.
Although "Boys Over Flowers' is a kdrama classic, it's really an international story. It was based on the Japanese manga "Hana Yori Dango," the best selling shojo manga or girl comic of all time. The story was made into a Japanese feature film, the Taiwanese "Meteor Garden" dramas, Korea's "Boys Over Flowers' and the Japanese "Hana Yori Dango" series. All of the series were successful and launched the careers of everyone involved in them.
In the American version of this Cinderella story, the characters will not attend high school. Instead they will be students at the prestigious Ellison University. The tough likeable heroine Geum Jan Di will be transformed into Zoey, a dance student who gets into the upscale university on a scholarship.
On her first day at the school, Zoey discovers that the school is run by a group of spoiled arrogant boys known as F4, who all come from powerful families. She confronts them and their leader eventually falls in love with her, upsetting the expected order of things at school and in his home.
So far all the major roles have been cast. Riley Mae Baker will be Geum Jan Di, the role played by Gu Hye Sun. Jospeh Almani will play the Goo Jun Pyo role made popular by Lee Min Ho. Trenton Culkin will play Lee Ji Hoo, the role played by Kim Hyun Joong. Napolean Tavale will play So Yi Jung, the role played by Kim Bum. Jason S. Mordeno will play Song Woo Bin, the role played by Kim Joon.
The casting has upset some netizens who think it demonstrates that the production company has already missed the point. What do you think? Lee Min Ho v. Joseph Almani? Can the American F4 compete with the Korean cast? Will the story make sense in an American setting? Let us know.
