#SHOWBIZ: Director defends BlackPink's Jisoo's sniper role in 'Omniscient Reader'

New Straits Times

15 hours ago

SEOUL: All eyes are on Omniscient Reader ahead of its July 23 release in South Korea, but it's BlackPink's Jisoo who finds herself at the heart of a controversy regarding her character's transformation.
Koreaboo reported yesterday that fans of the film, which is based on a popular novel of the same name, are upset about changes made to Jisoo's character, Lee Ji-hye.
In the novel, Ji-hye is a sword-wielding warrior guided by a powerful sponsor — Admiral Yi Sun-sin. However, in the film, she has been reimagined as a sniper, with her sponsor storyline omitted entirely.
Director Kim Byung-woo addressed the backlash, saying the omission was due to time constraints.
"Her sponsorship narrative simply hasn't come into play yet; we thought the timing for that part of the story just hasn't arrived within this film," he told Korea JoongAng Daily.
"Some fans might worry that we've changed Ji-hye's sponsorship, but I want to clarify that we haven't changed anything."
Kim explained that the film only covers the first 10 per cent of the novel and emphasised the importance of focus. "We felt it was much more efficient to only introduce the elements relevant to the events happening in the film."
The core theme, he said, is "solidarity" — as protagonist Kim Dok-ja finds strength in new allies when the world turns into a novel he once read.
Kim hinted that Ji-hye's full backstory could surface later.
"I did think about how I would approach it if I got the chance to make a sequel," he said.
Based on the hit web novel by Sing N Song, the film also stars Lee Min-ho, Ahn Hyo-seop, Chae Soo-bin, and Shin Seung-ho.