''Tabloid Truth'' (; lit. "Leaflet: Dangerous Rumors") is a 2014

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 ...

n thriller film directed by

Kim Kwang-sik Kim Kwang-sik (born March 6, 1972) is a South Korean film director and screenwriter. He directed the romantic comedy ''My Dear Desperado'' (2010) and the thriller (genre), crime thriller ''Tabloid Truth'' (2014). Career Early works Kim Kwang-sik ...

, and starring

Kim Kang-woo Kim Kang-woo (born July 11, 1978) is a South Korean actor. He is best known from his roles in ''The Taste of Money'' and '' The Missing''. Career Kim Kang-woo majored in Theater and Film at Chung-Ang University. In early, Kim work as singer in 1 ...

Jung Jin-young Jung Jin-young may refer to: * Jung Jin-young (actor) (born 1964), South Korean actor * Jung Jin-young (singer) Jung Jin-young (; born November 18, 1991), professionally known as Jinyoung, is a South Korean singer, songwriter, record producer ...

Ko Chang-seok Ko Chang-seok (born October 13, 1970) is a South Korean actor. Ko began his career on stage, performing in plays and musicals for many years before moving on to bit parts in films. He once earned his living by working on farms and in iron foundri ...

and

Park Sung-woong Park Sung-woong (born January 9, 1973) is a South Korean actor. Following his acting debut in '' No. 3'' in 1997, Park has starred in several movies and television series, notably as a gangster in ''New World'' (2013) and a serial killer in '' T ...

. In a story about a

talent manager A talent manager (also known as an artist manager, band manager or music manager) is an individual who guides the professional career of artists in the entertainment industry. The responsibility of the talent manager is to oversee the day-to-da ...

seeking the truth behind an actress's apparent suicide, who discovers the enigmatic individuals responsible for sourcing, trading, and distributing malicious rumors, factual or imagined, the film addresses the sensationalistic and poisonous tabloid culture of South Korea, where rumor-mongering drives lucrative

web traffic Web traffic is the data sent and received by visitors to a website. Since the mid-1990s, web traffic has been the largest portion of Internet traffic. Sites monitor the incoming and outgoing traffic to see which parts or pages of their site are ...

while also wreaking unaccountable havoc on its victims' lives.

Plot

A scandalous rumor about Mi-jin (Go Won-hee), an up-and-coming actress, is included as a gossip item in a stock market tipsheet (''jjirasi'') and propagated by the tabloids, causing her to kill herself in an apparent suicide. Woo-gon (

), Mi-jin's devoted longtime manager who dedicated everything to building her career, initiates a vengeful investigation to expose the sources of the rumor. With unexpected assistance from tabloid distributor Mr. Park (

) and legendary wiretapper Baek Moon (

), Woo unravels the opaque and lucrative world of secret tips and salacious rumors. The film portrays a particularly insidious and unexpected forum for tabloid gossip-mongering: ''jjirasi'' (from the

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

word ''chirashi'', meaning "leaflet"), or the stock market tipsheet. In weekly secret meetings consisting of corporate personnel, politicians, reporters, public officials, and others, insiders exchange information about the latest goings-on. The collected intelligence is published into a tip sheet and distributed through paid subscriber channels before getting picked up by the tabloids as juicy blind items. What makes this combination particularly toxic is the sheen of respectability and truth given by the financial market players involved, despite the only occasional accuracy of its content.

Cast

Main characters

as Lee Woo-gon :Giving up has never been an option for talent manager Woo-gon. Ever since he first discovered actress Mi-jin's potential as a star, Woo has worked tirelessly to build her acting career. Just as she was getting her big break, Mi-jin became the target of a nasty rumor that she was having an affair with a married politician, which caused her to take her own life. This infuriates Woo and drives him to seek out the people responsible for starting the rumor so that they can pay for their wrongdoing. *

as Mr. Park :Mr. Park used to be a renowned

investigative journalist Investigative journalism is a form of journalism in which reporters deeply investigate a single topic of interest, such as serious crimes, political corruption, or corporate wrongdoing. An investigative journalist may spend months or years rese ...

exposing stories of

corporate corruption In criminology, corporate crime refers to crimes committed either by a corporation (i.e., a business entity having a separate legal personality from the natural persons that manage its activities), or by individuals acting on behalf of a corpor ...

. After a mysterious accident that led to a major leg injury, Mr. Park changed his career path to become a tabloid distributor. He has a great sense of humor and lives a carefree lifestyle. That is, until Woo-gon seeks his help and he is forced to get back into his investigative mode, carefully following the trail of secrets and rumors. *

as Baek Moon :An infamous illegal wiretapper, Baek Moon's life philosophy is to carefully "observe" everything and everyone. He even believes that there is nothing wrong with spying on his lovers. He normally avoids high-risk projects but he unintentionally gets pulled into Woo-gon and Mr. Park's private investigation. *

as Cha Seong-joo :Cha Seong-joo is a "fixer," a professional problem solver who believes that the world is full of manipulations and lies. He is a perfectionist who always stays cool and sharp under any circumstances. He is hired by shadowy power players to threaten and prevent Woo-gon from finding the truth behind Mi-jin's death.

Supporting characters

Park Won-sang Park Won-sang (born January 20, 1970) is a South Korean actor. Filmography Film Television Theater Ambassadorship *Ambassador for 1st Democratization Movement Memorial Park Joint Memorial Cultural Festival (2022) References External ...

as Oh Bon-seok *

Kim Eui-sung Kim Eui-sung (; born December 17, 1965) is a South Korean actor. He is known for his roles in films ''The Day a Pig Fell into the Well'' (1996), ''Office'' (2015), '' The Exclusive: Beat the Devil's Tattoo'' (2015) and ''Train to Busan'' (2016); ...

as Park Young-jin *

Ko Won-hee Go Won-hee (born Kim Won-hee on September 12, 1994) is a South Korean actress. Go began her entertainment career as a commercial model in 2011, and became the youngest ever model for Asiana Airlines in 2012. She then began acting, and has since ...

as Mi-jin *Lee Chae-eun as Miss Kim * Lee Jun-hyeok as Nam-soo *Yoon Young-kyun as Bungae ("Lightning") *Han Cheol-woo as Han Seong-ho *Woo Ki-hong as broadcasting station PD *Kim Hee-chang as head of Zeus department *Jeong Woo-hyeok as Daebbang ("Leader") *Han Seung-do as Bo-seong *

Jin Seon-kyu Jin Seon-kyu (born September 13, 1977) is a South Korean actor. He is best known for his roles on the big screen, such as '' The Outlaws'' (2017) and ''Extreme Job'' (2019). He won Best Supporting Actor award at the 38th Blue Dragon Film Awards ...

as Nam-heung *

Lee Ji-ha Lee Ji-ha (; born October 7, 1970) is a South Korean actress and model. She is known for her roles in dramas such as '' The Smile Has Left Your Eyes'', '' My Unfamiliar Family,'' '' Sweet Home'' and ''Squid Game,'' the latter gaining her intern ...

as Nam Jung-in's wife *Jo Jae-wan as Joo-young *

Park Hyung-soo Park Hyung-soo is a South Korean actor. He is known for his roles in dramas such as ''Arthdal Chronicles'', ''The Devil Judge'', ''Crash Landing on You'' and ''Happiness''. He also appeared in movies '' Confidential Assignment'', '' The Chase'', ...

as Information meeting player *Im Hyung-joon as Jo Woo-chan (cameo) *

Kwon Yul Gwon Yul (; December 28, 1537 - July 6, 1599) was a Korean Army General and the Commander-in-chief (도원수; 導元帥) of the Joseon Dynasty, who successfully led the Korean forces against Japan during the Japanese invasions of Korea (임진� ...

as Han Jung-soo (cameo) *

Ahn Sung-ki Ahn Sung-ki (born January 1, 1952) is a South Korean actor. One of the country's most respected actors, he has appeared in more than 130 films during his career of over 60 years. Career A native of Seoul, Ahn was the son of a veteran filmmaker ...

as Nam Jung-in (cameo) *

Jang Gwang Jang Gwang (born January 5, 1952) is a South Korean actor in film and television. Filmography Film * ''Taste of Horror – Gym for Residents'' (TBA) * '' Air Murder'' (2022) * '' Sinkhole (2021) * ''White Day: Broken Barrier'' (2021) * ...

as O& C chairman (cameo)

Release

''Tabloid Truth'' was released in South Korea on February 20, 2014. It sold 442,234 tickets on its opening weekend, and 1.22 million by its second week. Though it received a positive reaction from critics, the film failed to ignite the larger interest of the public, box office-wise, despite a topical subject surrounding corruption in the media, entertainment industry, big business and politics. The film also received a limited

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

n release. It opened in

CGV Cinemas CJ CGV (Hangeul: CJ CGV (씨제이 씨지브이)㈜) is the largest multiplex (movie theater), multiplex cinema chain in South Korea and also has branches in China, Indonesia, Myanmar, Turkey, Vietnam, and the United States. The fifth largest mult ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

on March 7, 2014, before expanding its run to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

and

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...

on March 14.

References

External links

* * * * *{{hancinema film, Tabloid_Truth, Tabloid Truth 2014 films South Korean crime thriller films South Korean films about revenge CJ Entertainment films 2010s South Korean films