Adapting the universe of a hit web novel into a two-hour film is no easy task, but that's what director Kim Byung-woo set out to do with the upcoming box office release "Omniscient Reader."

For the director, the challenge of deciding what to highlight, what to leave out and what to adapt was crucial to the adaptation, as well as the much-discussed changes to the character Lee Ji-hye, played by Blackpink’s Jisoo.


“We felt it was much more efficient and ultimately more enjoyable to only introduce the elements of the world-building that are directly relevant to the events happening in the film,” director Kim said during an interview with reporters at a cafe in Jongno District, central Seoul, on Thursday. This includes the background of character Ji-hye, whose role shifted significantly from a sword-wielding warrior in the web novel to a sharpshooting sniper in the live-action version.

He also noted that the film only covers the first 10 percent of the whole web novel.

Based on the web novel of the same name by writer sing N song, “Omniscient Reader” centers around an utterly ordinary office worker, Kim Dok-ja, whose reality suddenly mirrors a novel he has read. Dok-ja becomes the only person who knows how the world will end and embarks on a journey to change the course of the novel's story and save the world. The film features a star-studded cast including Lee Min-ho, Ahn Hyo-seop, Chae Soo-bin, Shin Seung-ho, Nana of Afterschool and Jisoo.

Before the film's release, changes made to the role of Ji-hye remained controversial to fans of the web novel. In the film, Ji-hye uses a gun instead of the sword she wields in the novel — an ability that is given to her by a fictional version of Joseon Dynasty (1392-1910) Admiral Yi Sun-sin, who is known as her "constellation sponsor."

This alteration sparked disappointment and backlash from fans, which the director also noticed. However, he explained that the storyline of Ji-hye’s sponsor simply wasn’t included because of the film’s limited running time.

“For fans of the original who haven’t seen the movie yet, some might worry that we’ve changed Ji-hye’s sponsorship,” he said. “But I want to clarify that we haven't changed anything. Her sponsorship narrative simply hasn’t come into play yet, as we thought the timing for that part of the story just hasn’t arrived within this film, so we couldn’t include such a narrative at this stage.”

However, he did slightly mention the possibility of touching on the subject if a sequel were to be made, saying, “I did think about how I would approach it if I got the chance to make a sequel.”

The director admitted that he felt some hesitancy toward taking on the adaptation of such a beloved web novel, saying it took him two years to decide whether or not to accept the project after it was first offered to him following the release of his 2018 film “Take Point.”

Among the many layers of narrative and meaning in the original, the keyword that he wanted to deliver through the film was “solidarity” — a word that captivated him while reading the web novel.

“Looking at the story as a whole, it’s about Dok-ja, who was always alone, meeting companions and overcoming difficult challenges together,” the director said.

With high expectations for the film, many are hoping “Omniscient Reader” will help breathe life back into the struggling Korean film industry this summer.

“Since we were working with such a great original story, we felt a real responsibility not to mess it up. We kept asking ourselves how we can make people see the film as something that they have never seen before or can truly enjoy.”

Film “Omniscient Reader” is set to be released on July 23.


BY KIM JI-YE [kim.jiye@joongang.co.kr]