The 2016 South Korean hit TV drama Descendants of the Sun is expected to head to the big screen as a Chinese-adaptation sometime over the next two years, Huace Film&TV, a Zhejiang Province-based media group, announced at a Beijing press conference on Tuesday.
One of the most talked-about cultural phenomenons this year, the South Korean TV drama depicting a romance between a soldier and a doctor has enjoyed immense popularity across Asia since its debut in February. The show received more than 30 million views during its first day on streaming platform iQiyi.
The show's success has launched the cast to stardom, with annual advertisement earnings for leading actor Song Joong-ki reaching an estimated 8 million yuan ($1.2 million) in the Chinese mainland.
"We will bring something unique to this film based on the successful TV version," said Zhang Yibai, the executive producer of the Descendants of the Sun film, at the press conference.
The Beauty Inside, another film adapted from a South Korean hit, is also scheduled to enter production in a year or so. At the press conference, the show's director Jong Yeol-baek, also the director of the Chinese version, mentioned that while the new film will inherit the romance plotlines from the original version, it will differ by including more elements about familial bonds.
