Yeo Jin Goo's contract for 'Kwon Bob' terminated and Kim Soo Hyun also rejects role for the film

Kim Soo Hyun has rejected the role for upcoming movie 'Kwon Bob (Martial Arts)' following controversy about the production company's sudden termination of their contract with Yeo Jin Goo for the role in question.

Yeo Jin Goo's agency rep revealed that the actor's contract had been suddenly nullified by the movie's production company: "We were notified of the cancellation of our contract by the movie production company reps... Before he is an actor, Yeo Jin Hoo is a minor and a student. We hope that he doesn't get hurt by this."

The sudden contract cancellation led to backlash by netizens and it was revealed that the movie production company reps offered the role in question to Kim Soo Hyun, who rejected the casting offer due to the sensitive nature of the situation.

Key East Entertainment's CEO Yang Geun Hwan told Star News on the 11th, "Kim Soo Hyun has decided not to star in 'Kwon Bob'... Prior to the release of the article on the 10th, we were not aware of the inside story involving the specifics of the contract for 'Kwon Bob.' There is also the fact that the pressure from the controversy surrounding 'Kwon Bob' became too much... We announced our decision to reject the casting offer yesterday afternoon (11th)."

The movie's production company later responded that they were left with no choice but to part ways with Yeo Jin Goo due to his back-to-back booking of productions that would make it difficult for him to take on the preparation required for 'Kwon Bob': "We would first like to express our apologetic and regretful sentiments to Yeo Jin Goo who must have been deeply hurt although this was not our intentions... We signed a contract with Yeo Jin Goo in February and as he was confirmed as the lead actor, we were filled with anticipation for the synergy effect in the project 'Kwon Bob'... But Yeo Jin Goo's reps expressed that they wanted to take on another production after completing tvN's 'Potato Star 2013QR' later this month and mentioned the film 'Shoot My Heart'.

"The film's first filming was set for August after the completion of his sitcom, so we thought that it would be too difficult for him to go and do another production in May, June, and July before our work, so we clearly expressed our disapproval... The period prior to the crank-in of 'Kwon Bob' is an important time to focus on martial arts training, reading with the director, and character analysis; more than anything else, we thought that handling a back-to-back production schedule would hamper the young actor's mental and physical health.

"We were unable to accept this condition and although the agency kept requesting it, the production company would not allow this worst-case situation to happen. In the end, Yeo Jin Goo confirmed his casting for 'Shoot My Heart,' so in order to find an alternative solution, we carefully confirmed this with the agency and then decided that it was right to part ways."

'Kwon Bob' is a 20 million dollar Korea-China collaboration project film by CJ E&M and CFG (China Film Group) directed by Park Kwang Hyun. The rest of its cast lineup will be confirmed in the first half of this year and crank-in will begin towards the latter half.

It is a SF fantasy-action film about a high school student Kwon Bob (word play as it also means martial arts), who enters a village of criminals and fights to protect the hidden source of infinite energy.