I Was Mistaken as a Monstrous Genius Actor

Translator: Dreamscribe

“Is that so?”

Kang Woojin spoke into his phone, addressing Director Ahn Ga-bok.

“You’ve worked hard, Director-nim.”

Woojin responded solemnly, but inwardly he let out a small exclamation.

‘Wasn’t it expected to finish mid to late January? That was crazy fast??’

The reason was simple. Director Ahn Ga-bok had just declared that the editing for ‘Pierrot: The Birth of a Villain’ was finished. It was currently early January. The timeline Ahn Ga-bok had given to ‘Columbia Studios’ and Kang Woojin had been the end of January. It was certainly fast enough to make one’s eyes widen. Soon, Director Ahn Ga-bok’s voice came through the phone, mixed with a light chuckle.

“I was so caught up in it that before I knew it, I had reached the end. I could’ve had ‘Columbia Studios’ inform you, but I wanted to tell you myself.”

“Thank you. Have you told ‘Columbia Studios’?”

“Of course. Nora and the people at ‘Columbia Studios’ should be arriving soon. Whew- now all that’s left is to let it loose. But no worries, even during editing I felt it again, your ‘Joker’ is chilling. Right now, public opinion and the press might be saying this and that, claiming it won’t work, but once they see it for themselves, their minds will change immediately.”

“I think so too.”

“Haha, good. Then I’ll see you soon.”

After an appropriate conversation, the call between Kang Woojin and Director Ahn Ga-bok ended. As Woojin lowered his phone, Choi Sung-gun, who had been watching closely, immediately leaned in.

“Director? Was it Director Ahn Ga-bok? What did he say?”

His face brimmed with explosive curiosity. The surrounding team members also had visible question marks in their eyes, but Woojin, in his typically detached manner, answered calmly.

“He said the editing for ‘Pierrot: The Birth of a Villain’ just finished.”

At that moment, Choi Sung-gun’s eyes widened rapidly.

“A-Already?”

“Yes.”

“That’s fast?? Wasn’t it expected around the end of this month?”

“Seems like the director rushed a bit.”

“Saving three weeks isn’t just a bit, it’s ex-extremely fast-paced. Anyway, editing’s done, I’m dying to know how the visuals turned out. Aren’t you?”

“Me too.”

The team members, including the stylists, all nodded intensely in agreement. Then, before anyone realized, Choi Sung-gun had opened his planner and asked again.

“Let’s see, does that mean they can stretch the promotion a bit longer? Or maybe even bump the release date up by a week. But when’s the test screening?”

Woojin answered swiftly to the question thrown his way.

“Not sure, but he said soon, so it should happen quickly.”

Meanwhile, Woojin himself was inwardly filled with anticipation.

‘How did the Joker turn out? Ah- damn, I’m curious.’

Meanwhile, inside the editing room at ‘Columbia Studios’.

In the enormous editing room, packed with countless monitors and equipment, Director Ahn Ga-bok could be seen. Due to the chilly weather, he was wearing a lightweight padded jacket, and the wrinkles on his face had increased. He visibly looked drained. Understandably so.

It hadn’t been just a day or two of staying up all night.

This man.

“Whew-”

Let out a long sigh as he leaned his head back against the chair. The surrounding editing staff and key crew members were busy chatting among themselves. They were praising themselves now that the editing was done. Watching them quietly, Director Ahn Ga-bok’s gaze.

-swish.

Shifted to the center monitor, the largest among several in front of him. The video on screen had been paused. On the screen was Kang Woojin, grinning. The Joker was on display. His red hair covering his jaw, his pale face, the vividly colored costume. Director Ahn Ga-bok stared at the image of the Joker frozen in a confident pose. As he rubbed his face with both hands, he muttered quietly.

“Loading complete. Now I just need to hand it over to ‘Columbia Studios’.”

Countless memories passed through his mind. From ‘Leech’ to the Cannes Film Festival and even his Hollywood debut. It had been quite a long journey, but in retrospect, it all felt like a flash.

At that moment.

-knock knock.

A knocking sound filled the room, and the thick door to the editing room opened. The first visible figure was a woman with a striking, stern face. It was Executive Producer Nora Foster, and behind her came several executives from ‘Columbia Studios’, including a bald man.

They had come upon hearing the news from Director Ahn Ga-bok that editing was complete.

Nora and the executives wore expressions filled with anticipation and excitement. Soon, Director Ahn Ga-bok rose from his chair to greet them. After exchanging handshakes and greetings with him, Nora and the executives turned their eyes toward the monitors at the front of the editing room. Looking at the paused image of the Joker, the bald executive was the first to speak.

“Great work. Now we can finally present that guy to the world.”

“This is the beginning of the ‘Cinematic Universe’. My heart is racing now that we’ve actually arrived at this point.”

“Haha, I feel the same. Finally……”

The executives from ‘Columbia Studios’ all seemed to be lost in deep thought. It was understandable. They were on the verge of launching the massive Cinematic Universe they had been preparing for years and staking everything on. At this moment, Nora Foster, who had been looking at the Joker on the monitor, locked eyes with Director Ahn Ga-bok.

“Director. What remains now is promotion and marketing, limited release, and then the Academy Awards.”

“……Yes.”

Nora intentionally skipped one crucial step, the official nomination announcement from the Academy. If they didn’t make the cut there, ‘Pierrot: The Birth of a Villain’ wouldn’t even be eligible to compete for the Academy Awards. However, Nora had already erased any thought of failure from her mind, and she spoke again to Director Ahn Ga-bok.

“We need a test screening before we go full throttle.”

“I know. Are we gathering everyone?”

“Of course. Everyone here, and all the cast.”

Nora Foster, having answered, murmured the test screening schedule.

“As soon as possible. I’m planning to hold it within this week.”

Later.

While the buzz over the completed editing of ‘Pierrot: The Birth of a Villain’ heated up among Director Ahn Ga-bok and ‘Columbia Studios’, Kang Woojin arrived at the filming site of ‘Beast and the Beauty’. The massive 50,000-pyeong ‘SPT Studio’. Woojin had already spent months mingling there, and the entire production crew of ‘Beast and the Beauty’ was in full battle mode.

This shoot too had reached its final stage.

Woojin, in his skin-tight suit, was currently waiting inside a trailer.

‘Ah- damn, just a little more and I can finally ditch this outfit.’

He picked up his phone, intending to check several things. What first caught his eye were countless articles swirling with various issues. There was foreign press, of course, but the Korean media was particularly colorful. From ‘Beneficial Evil’, which, although it had lost first place, had held the global number one spot longer than Part 1, to updates on ‘Pierrot: The Birth of a Villain’, ‘Beast and the Beauty’, and the ‘Academy Awards’.

『When is the release of ‘Pierrot’, which declared its Academy Awards bid? Industry insiders say, “It’ll be tight to meet the requirements.”』

『[Issue Talk] As ‘Beneficial Evil’ Part 2 succeeds, Netflix CEO says, “We’ll definitely produce Part 3.”』

Since January 2023, it had been a flood of hot topics. And as always, at the center of it all stood Kang Woojin. The most powerful topic, of course, was related to ‘Pierrot: The Birth of a Villain’, and the Joker aiming for the ‘Academy Awards’ was being scrutinized, chewed over, and enjoyed by media and the public all over the world.

As Kang Woojin was surfing the internet, a foreign staff member approached his trailer.

“Mr. Kang Woojin! Standby please!”

Lowering his phone, Woojin stepped out of the trailer while muttering to himself quietly.

“Once they announce that editing for ‘Pierrot: The Birth of a Villain’ is done, things are going to get even noisier, right?”

Meanwhile, in Hollywood, already brimming with news like Korea, a few more pieces of bait were being thrown into the mix. Rumors were starting to spread among major media outlets.

About Hollywood top actress Miley Cara and.

“I heard Miley Cara decided on her next project?”

“Already? She’s still filming ‘Beast and the Beauty’, isn’t she?”

“It’s just a rumor, but it sounds pretty credible. She supposedly made contact with a film company.”

“Which studio?”

“Not sure yet. We need to dig deeper.”

Chris Hartnett’s bait was also circulating.

“Have you heard of a movie called ‘Guest’?”

“’Guest’? Never heard of it.”

“It’s a project that’s been in limbo for years, but recently, Chris has shown interest in it. Heard it from someone connected to his agency.”

“Is that confirmed?”

Both actors were either working on or had already worked on projects with Kang Woojin, and since they were highly acclaimed Hollywood stars, the news broke out quickly. Of course, these were more like tabloid-level rumors with no confirmations, but the buzz was more than enough.

A man closely observing all this was.

“Is it about time to throw it in?”

Choi Sung-gun, the main investor of the film ‘Guest’. He had been on high alert since the previous year, and now he decided it was the right moment to act. Although ‘Guest’ had already begun full-fledged pre-production, no clear news had been released yet in Korea or Hollywood. Whatever the case, on the 4th, a day later, Choi Sung-gun.

“Yes, it’s me. I think it’s time to start rolling out what we prepared.”

He initiated something in coordination with ‘A8 Media’.

And then, precisely in the afternoon of the 4th, an exclusive report exploded. It started in Korea, with bw Entertainment announcing via its official social media the new business venture it had been preparing since the previous year.

-[Hello, this is bw Entertainment. We have something to share with the fans who always support us. bw Entertainment has begun investing in a Hollywood film. The title of the project is ‘Guest’, and it is a remake of Kang Woojin’s past work ‘Exorcism’…]

The post included the full story behind ‘Guest’, from ‘A8 Media’ acquiring the rights to ‘Exorcism’, the adaptation process, and recent developments. It also confirmed that bw Entertainment is the main investor. Since something like this was almost unprecedented both in Korea and Hollywood.

『[Breaking News] bw Entertainment becomes main investor in Hollywood film! The project is ‘Guest’, a remake of Kang Woojin’s ‘Exorcism’』

『Sudden venture into Hollywood by bw Entertainment, jumping to Hollywood before establishing itself in Korea?』

The story quickly became a hot topic. The media was in a frenzy, and Korean netizens jumped in right away.

-Woojin’s killing it in Hollywood so his agency got hyped too ㅋㅋㅋㅋ but isn’t this a bit much?? Where’s all that confidence coming from

-Wasn’t ‘Exorcism’ a short film? So they’re remaking it into a feature in Hollywood?? Does that mean Woojin’s the lead?

-There was an article saying he can’t take the lead since his schedule is packed until the year after next

-Whoa!! Awesome!!! ‘Exorcism’ was a freaking blast ㅠㅜㅠㅜㅠ If not Woojin, who’s gonna play Kim Ryu-jin’s role??

-I saw foreign reports saying Miley Cara and Chris Hartnett are reviewing ‘Guest’…

-↑Yeah right ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

-This is kinda over the top for bw;;; Feels like they’ll pour hundreds of billions in and get wrecked brutally ㅋㅋㅋㅋ

It took less than a few dozen minutes for the issue to reach Hollywood.

『CNM / ‘Guest’ receives main investment, Kang Woojin’s agency also extends reach into Hollywood』

Even in vast Hollywood, the name ‘Guest’, which had once faded into obscurity, was spreading like wildfire. But the real punch was still to come. It came from the lips of Choi Sung-gun, who smiled at the rising fame of ‘Guest’.

“Hehe, the momentum’s looking nice-”

He murmured low.

“If we release Chris Hartnett and Miley Cara were cast as the leads, a tsunami will hit.”

A few days later.

Inside a large building in Los Angeles. The atmosphere made it obvious that the foreign figures gathered there weren’t ordinary people. There were about twenty of them. These were high-level members of a massively influential organization even in Hollywood. In front of each person were tablets and several transparent files.

What was interesting was.

“As expected, ‘Pierrot: The Birth of a Villain’ is causing a stir.”

That every tablet they were looking at was displaying posters and trailers related to ‘Pierrot: The Birth of a Villain’.

“Has something like this ever happened before?”

“Not at all. I’ve never seen anything like it. But theoretically, what they’re saying is possible.”

“You mean having a limited release in LA for about one or two weeks and then qualifying for the Academy Awards.”

“Yes, it does meet the criteria.”

“February is just around the corner. That’s when nominations begin. Will they make it in time?”

“We’ll find out soon enough.”

“Life never stops throwing crazy situations at us.”

All the individuals were busy discussing ‘Pierrot: The Birth of a Villain’.

“Even our thousands of members are looking forward to it. Though half of them are dumbfounded. This whole thing is just absurd.”

These people were none other than the ones handling the world’s most prestigious honor, the dream of every filmmaker on the planet.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS).

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