''Scandal Makers'' () is a 2008 South Korean film written and directed by

Kang Hyeong-cheol Kang Hyeong-cheol is a South Korean film director and screenwriter. His first two films '' Scandal Makers'' (2008) and '' Sunny'' (2011) have been the highest grossing Korean films of their respective years, and are both among the highest gro ...

and starring

Cha Tae-hyun Cha Tae-hyun (; born March 25, 1976) is a South Korean actor, singer, television personality, radio DJ and director. He is best known for his lead roles in the box-office hit comedies ''My Sassy Girl'' (2001), ''Scandal Makers'' (2008), ''Hello ...

Park Bo-young Park Bo-young (, born February 12, 1990) is a South Korean actress. She is best known for her leading roles in the hit films ''Scandal Makers'' (2008), '' A Werewolf Boy'' (2012) and ''On Your Wedding Day'' (2018), and the television series '' ...

and

Wang Seok-hyeon Wang Seok-hyeon (born June 2, 2003) is a South Korean actor. He is known for his role in the 2008 film ''Scandal Makers ''Scandal Makers'' () is a 2008 South Korean film written and directed by Kang Hyeong-cheol and starring Cha Tae-hyun, ...

. This was director Kang's first film and the highest grossing Korean film of the year. The film had Argentine, Chinese and Indian

remake A remake is a film, television series, video game, song or similar form of entertainment that is based upon and retells the story of an earlier production in the same medium—e.g., a "new version of an existing film". A remake tells the same ...

s, released in 2010, 2016 and 2020 respectively.

Plot

Former teen idol Nam Hyeon-soo (

) is now in his thirties and works as a radio DJ. A young woman named Hwang Jeong-nam (

) sends stories about her life as a single mother to the radio station Hyeon-soo works at, telling him she is going to meet her father. He then finds out that he's her father when she shows up at his apartment with her son Ki-dong (

). She tells him that her real name is Jae-in and that her mother was Hyeon-soo's first love Jeong-nam. Hyeon-soo doesn't believe it at first, so they undergo a

DNA test Genetic testing, also known as DNA testing, is used to identify changes in DNA sequence or chromosome structure. Genetic testing can also include measuring the results of genetic changes, such as RNA analysis as an output of gene expression, or ...

and the results confirm that they're related. Jae-in dreams of performing on stage as a singer, but Hyeon-soo fears that if she does, their paternity scandal might get out. Because of Jae-in's rising popularity, Ki-dong's father Park Sang-yoon (

Im Ji-kyu Im Ji-kyu (born March 7, 1978) is a South Korean actor. He is best known for his leading roles in the indie films ''Who's That Knocking at My Door?'', ''Milky Way Liberation Front'', and ''Magic''. Im also played supporting roles in the televis ...

) finds her. They meet and chat, with Sang-yoon initially under the mistaken assumption that Jae-in is romantically involved with Hyeon-soo. When Ki-dong later goes missing at Jae-in's performance, Hyeon-soo realizes that he really does care for his daughter and grandson. After news about his daughter and grandson got leaked, he wasn't faced with damage to his career due to taking responsibility of them in the first place, low popularity, and news about a disgraced film star beating up a scandal gossip journalist. With encouragement from Ki-Dong's kindergarten teacher, he changes his image to a responsible older man, which is warmly received by everyone. At a Christmas recital, Sang-yoon reconciles with Jae-in and Ki-Dong, rekindling their love for each other.

Cast

as Nam Hyeon-soo **Cha Soo-chan, Cha Tae-hyun's son and first child, appeared as a cameo at the last scene of the film. He was one year old at the time of filming. *

as Hwang Jeong-nam/Hwang Jae-in, Hyeon-soo's daughter *

as Hwang Ki-dong, Jae-in's son *

as Park Sang-yoon, Jae-in's first love and Ki-dong's birth father *

Hwang Woo-seul-hye Hwang Woo-seul-hye (born Hwang Jin-hee on August 10, 1979) is a South Korean actress. She made her acting debut as a " dumb blonde"-type character in the critically praised black comedy '' Crush and Blush'' (2008). Hwang has since played leading ...

as Kindergarten teacher/Granny *Im Seung-dae as Bong Pil-joong, entertainment reporter *Jeong Won-joong as Bureau director *

Kim Ki-bang Kim Ki-bang (born May 31, 1981) is a South Korean actor. Since his acting debut in 2005, Kim has played supporting roles in television dramas such as '' Boys Over Flowers'' (2009), '' Golden Time'' (2012), '' Gu Family Book'' (2013), ''Medical ...

as Director *Park Yeong-seo as Assistant director * Sung Ji-ru as Lee Chang-hoon (cameo) *

Go Jun Ko Jun (born Kim Joon-ho on 8 December 1978) is a South Korean actor. Filmography Film Television series Web series Variety shows Awards and nominations References External links * 1978 births Living people People from ...

as Commercial film director

Release

''Scandal Makers'' was released in

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

on 3 December 2008, and topped the box office on its opening weekend with 473,725 admissions. It continued to chart well finishing with over 8 million tickets sold becoming the highest grossing Korean film of 2008. The second highest grosser was ''

The Good, The Bad, The Weird ''The Good, the Bad, the Weird'' () is a 2008 South Korean Western action film directed by Kim Jee-woon and starring Song Kang-ho, Lee Byung-hun, and Jung Woo-sung.' The film is inspired by the 1966 Italian Spaghetti Western ''The Good, the Bad ...

'' with 6.6 million tickets, then ''

The Chaser The Chaser are an Australian satirical comedy group, best known for their television programmes and satirical news masthead. The group take their name from their satirical newspaper, a publication known to challenge conventions of taste. Th ...

'' with roughly 5 million tickets sold.Admissions as of 1 June 2008
''The Chaser''
''HanCinema''. Retrieved on 28 September 2008.

Awards and nominations

Remakes

* A Chinese

titled '' Scandal Maker'', directed by

Ahn Byeong-ki Ahn Byeong-ki (born November 5, 1966 or 1967) is a South Korean film director, film producer, producer, and screenwriter specializing in horror films. His representative horror works are ''Phone (film), Phone'' and ''Bunshinsaba (2004 film), Bun ...

and starring

Tong Dawei Tong Dawei (, born 3 February 1979) is a Chinese actor and singer. Tong is best known for starring in the television series ''Jade Goddess of Mercy'' (2003), '' Struggle'' (2007), and '' Tiger Mom'' (2015); as well as the films '' Lost in Beijin ...

and

Michelle Chen Michelle Chen Yanxi (born Chen Mei-hsuan; 31 May 1983) is a Taiwanese actress and singer. Chen is best known for starring in the 2011 film ''You Are the Apple of My Eye'', which broke box office records for Chinese-language films in mainland Chi ...

was released in China on November 11, 2016. *A Vietnamese remake titled was released on March 30, 2018. *An Indonesian remake titled ''Scandal Makers'' was released in

Amazon Prime Video Amazon Prime Video, also known simply as Prime Video, is an American Video on demand#Subscription models, subscription video on-demand Over-the-top media service, over-the-top Streaming media, streaming and Renting, rental service of Amazon (c ...

on January 19, 2023.

References

External links

* * * *{{hancinema film, Speedy_Scandal, Speedy Scandal
Variety review
2008 films 2000s Korean-language films South Korean comedy-drama films Films directed by Kang Hyeong-cheol South Korean films remade in other languages Films about single parent families 2000s South Korean films