"The Joseon Gunman" has been doing so well in the ratings that talks are underway to extend the drama with some additional episodes.
The KBS drama about a Joseon-era sword fighter who takes up a gun reached the number one spot in the ratings competing with such strong candidates as the romantic comedies "Fated To Love You" and "It's Okay, It's Love."
The drama's episodes have earned double digits in the ratings for several weeks now.
According to reports from the production crew, talks on whether to extend the drama have already taken place and the extension is only pending the confirmation of the actors' schedules.
The production crew representative told OSEN that actors Lee Jun Ki, Nam Sang Mi, Jeon Hye Bin and Han Joo Wan have been informed of the plan to extend and are checking to see if they can work the extra episodes into their schedules. They are checking for any outstanding conflicts.
"There will be an official announcement within the week," said the production company representative.
The drama would be extended from its current 20 episodes to 22 episodes, meaning that it will end on Sept. 4th instead of August 28th.
If you haven't seen it yet, here's what the drama is about. Although the words "Joseon era" might make you think of swords, the story is set in 1876, during the third year of Emperor Gojong's reign. Korea's contact with western culture is causing rapid modernization that not everyone in Korea believes is a good thing. Many at the time wanted the kingdom to remain isolated. By avoiding trade, they hoped to avoid the influence of western culture and interference by western powers.
Lee Jun Ki plays Park Yoon Kang, the son of the last great Joseon swordsman. After his father dies and his sister is enslaved, he trades in his sword for a rifle. He sets out to accomplish revenge but winds up becoming a hero.
Netizens who read the news of the extension hoped that adding episodes would still mean that the drama kept its original ending. According to netizen comments, the story has consistently been good and they hoped that no convoluted plot twists would be added to lengthen and unnecessarily complicate the story.
But other netizens said that while they don't usually approve of extensions, in this case, the writers are welcome to bring it on. There's a lot more of this story to tell.
What do you think? Are you happy about the extensions? Do you like k-drama extensions in general?
