[Focus] Queer Novels Simultaneously Released as Commercial Films and OTT... Different Promotion Methods

Bestselling Novel 'Daedosiui Sarangbeop' Adapted into Film and OTT Series
Movies and Series to Be Released Successively in October
'Queer Life' Beyond Prejudice, Blending into Everyday Life

Drama 'Daedosiui Sarangbeop' stills
[Photo by TVING]

Author Park Sang-young's bestselling novel Love in the Big City is being adapted into both a film and a drama simultaneously, meeting audiences and viewers. This is the first time that a single IP (intellectual property) has been planned, produced, and released on different platforms around the same period. There is also interest in how the original work's central theme of 'queer' will be adapted into visual media. The industry is paying close attention to whether this innovative attempt will satisfy fans of the original and present new possibilities in the content market.

Popular ‘Queer Novel’ Enters Theaters and Living Rooms

Love in the Big City is a queer novel that deals with the life and love of ‘I,’ a gay man in his early 30s. It received critical acclaim for deeply exploring homosexuality, the lives of sexual minorities, and facets of modern society. The story, praised for its impressive portrayal of the lifestyle and love stories of ‘queer’ (sexual minorities), has surpassed 100,000 copies in cumulative sales.

The novel is structured as a series of chapters including ▲Jaehee ▲The Taste of Ureok Hanjeon Universe ▲Love in the Big City ▲Late Rainy Season Vacation. The work features stories of friendship between a sexual minority male and a heterosexual female, with interesting episodes such as the two living together while hiding this fact from their respective boyfriends by using pseudonyms or having intense fights. It also includes stories about a mother who lived stubbornly alone after divorce, a romantic relationship with a man 19 years older who was extremely reluctant to reveal his sexual identity, and deep love and memories with another man.

One chapter of the serialized novel Love in the Big City has been adapted into a 118-minute film, which will be released in theaters on October 2. The film is produced by investment-distribution companies Showbox and Plus M Entertainment, starring actors Kim Go-eun and Noh Sang-hyun. It depicts the love story of Jaehee (Kim Go-eun), who is freely herself without worrying about others' opinions, and Heungsu (Noh Sang-hyun), who is accustomed to distancing himself from the world, as they live and struggle together. The film is directed by Lee Eon-hee, who previously directed Missing: The Girl (2016) and The Accidental Detective 2: In Action (2018). Director Lee said, "The most important point in adapting the novel into a film was to capture the fun elements of the original and not lose the story we wanted to convey through the movie."

Domestic online streaming service (OTT) TVING will release an 8-episode series on October 21. The original author Park Sang-young wrote the screenplay, and the series is produced by Merry Christmas and Big Stone Studio. Unlike the film, the four chapters of the original work are directed by four different directors (Heo Jin-ho, Hong Ji-young, Son Tae-gyeom, Kim Se-in). This is an attempt to adopt the American Hollywood system of different directors for each episode. The series portrays the coming-of-age romance of Go-young, who learns about life and love through trials and errors, as a well-made melodrama blending comedy, classic melodrama, and romantic comedy. Actor Nam Yoon-su plays the protagonist Go-young. Kwon Hyuk, Na Hyun-woo, and Jin Ho-eun also appear.

Heterosexual? Ambiguous vs. Male-Male Melodrama... Polar Opposite Promotion Strategies

Since the film and series target different audiences, their promotional methods also differ. The film, released about a month before its premiere, emphasizes the ambiguous relationship between a woman and a man. The trailer introduces it with phrases like "Love without regrets, life honestly," "Kim Go-eun and Noh Sang-hyun's relatable love story unfolds," and "Love is no-touch, friendship is forever, 100% pure true friendship real life." The promotion is packaged as if it were a heterosexual romance between Kim Go-eun and Noh Sang-hyun. This is a strategic marketing approach that disguises the queer narrative as heterosexual or ambiguous for commercial film purposes. Although there is a possibility that the queer code of the original was removed during adaptation and turned into a heterosexual romance, considering the charm of the original, that possibility seems low.

Drama 'Daedosiui Sarangbeop' stills
[Photo by TVING]

Drama 'Daedosiui Sarangbeop' stills
[Photo by TVING]

The OTT series is explicit. The trailer openly shows Nam Yoon-su's character dating male boyfriends and includes skinship scenes. It fully embraces the queer code of the original. This reflects the growing consumption of queer genres on OTT platforms. During the pandemic, BL (Boy's Love) content repeatedly succeeded, drawing attention to related IPs. The social atmosphere, where the ‘life of queers’ has moved beyond prejudice into everyday life, also influenced this trend. Given the considerable fandom of the popular original, attention is focused on how these two differently remade works will be received.