Scandal Makers () is a 2008 South Korean comedy-drama film written and directed by Kang Hyeong-cheol and starring Cha Tae-hyun, Park Bo-young and Wang Seok-hyeon. This was director Kang's first film and the highest grossing Korean film of the year.
Plot Former teen idol Nam Hyeon-soo (Cha Tae-hyun) is now in his thirties and works as a radio DJ. A young woman named Hwang Jeong-nam (Park Bo-young) sends stories about her life as a single mother to the radio station Hyeon-soo works at, telling him she will meet her father. He then finds out that he's her father when she shows up at his apartment with her son Ki-dong (Wang Seok-hyeon). She tells him that her real name is Jae-in and that her mother was Hyeon-soo's first love Jeong-nam. Hyeon-soo doesn't believe it at first, so they undergo a DNA test and the results confirm that they're related. Jae-in dreams of performing on stage as a singer, but Hyeon-soo fears that if she does, their paternity scandal might get out. Because of Jae-in's rising popularity, Ki-dong's father Park Sang-yoon (Im Ji-kyu) finds her. They meet and chat, with Sang-yoon initially under the mistaken assumption that Jae-in is romantically involved with Hyeon-soo. When Ki-dong goes missing at Jae-in's performance, Hyeon-soo realizes that he care for his daughter and grandson. After news about his daughter and grandson got leaked, he wasn't faced with damage to his career due to taking responsibility for them in the first place, low popularity, and news about a disgraced film star beating up a scandal gossip journalist overshadowing Hyeon-soo's revelation. With encouragement from Ki-Dong's kindergarten teacher, he changes his image to a responsible older man, which is warmly received by everyone. At a Christmas recital, Sang-yoon reconciles with Jae-in and Ki-Dong, rekindling their love for each other.
Cast Cha Tae-hyun as Nam Hyeon-soo Cha Soo-chan, Cha Tae-hyun's son and first child, appeared as a cameo at the last scene of the film. He was one year old at the time of filming. Park Bo-young as Hwang Jeong-nam/Hwang Jae-in, Hyeon-soo's daughter Wang Seok-hyeon as Hwang Ki-dong, Jae-in's son Im Ji-kyu as Park Sang-yoon, Jae-in's first love and Ki-dong's birth father Hwang Woo-seul-hye as Kindergarten teacher/Granny Im Seung-dae as Bong Pil-joong, entertainment reporter Jeong Won-joong as Bureau director Kim Ki-bang as Director Park Yeong-seo as Assistant director Sung Ji-ru as Lee Chang-hoon (cameo) Ko Jun as Commercial film director
Release Scandal Makers was released in South Korea on 3 December 2008"Speedy Scandal (2008) – 과속스캔들". HanCinema. Retrieved on 10 December 2008. and topped the box office on its opening weekend with 473,725 admissions."Korean Box Office" (Week-end 2008.12.05 ~ 2008.12.07). HanCinema. Retrieved on 10 December 2008. It continued to chart well finishing with over 8 million tickets sold becoming the highest grossing Korean film of 2008. he second highest grosser was The Good, The Bad, The Weird with 6.6 million tickets, then The Chaser with roughly 5 million tickets sold.Admissions as of 1 June 2008. The Chaser, HanCinema. Retrieved on 28 September 2008.
Awards and nominations Year Award Category Recipient Result 2008 Cine21 Awards New Actress of the Year Park Bo-young 2009 1st KMDb(Korean Movie Database) Choice Awards Best Director Kang Hyeong-cheol 6th Max Movie Awards Best Actor Cha Tae-hyun Best New Actress Park Bo-young 45th Baeksang Arts Awards Best Film Scandal Makers Best New Actress Park Bo-young Best New Director Kang Hyeong-cheol Best Screenplay Kang Hyeong-cheol Most Popular Actor (Film) Cha Tae-hyun Most Popular Actress (Film) Park Bo-young 11th Udine Far East Film Festival Audience Award (2nd place) Kang Hyeong-cheol 2nd Korea Junior Star Awards Grand Prize (Film category) Park Bo-young Grand Prize Wang Seok-hyeon 17th Chunsa Film Art Awards Best New Actress Park Bo-young Best Young Actor Wang Seok-hyeon 18th Buil Film Awards Best New Actress Park Bo-young 12th Shanghai International Film Festival Best Film (Asian New Talent Award) Kang Hyeong-cheol 3rd Mnet 20's Choice Awards HOT Movie Star - Female Park Bo-young HOT New Star Wang Seok-hyeon HOT Boom Up Song - Super Man Scandal Makers HOT Boom Up Song - Perhaps That Park Bo-young 46th Grand Bell Awards Best New Actress Park Bo-young Best Editing Nam Na-yeong Best Lighting Lee Sung-jae Best Music Kim Jun-seok Popularity Award Cha Tae-hyun Popularity Award Park Bo-young 29th Korean Association of Film Critics Awards Best New Director Kang Hyeong-cheol Best New Actress Park Bo-young 30th Blue Dragon Film Awards Best New Actress Park Bo-young Best New Director Kang Hyeong-cheol Best Music Kim Jun-seok 17th Korean Culture and Entertainment Awards Best New Actress (Film) Park Bo-young 5th University Film Festival of Korea Awards Best New Actress Park Bo-young 32nd Golden Cinematography Awards Best New Actress Park Bo-young Best New Cinematographer Kim Jun-young 12th Director's Cut Awards Best New Actress Park Bo-young
Remakes By March 2, 2009, Barry Sonnenfeld was set to direct and produce the American remake of Scandal Makers, with June Lee producing through Moho Film. A Chinese remake titled Scandal Maker, directed by Ahn Byeong-ki and starring Tong Dawei and Michelle Chen was released in China on November 11, 2016. A Vietnamese remake titled was released on March 30, 2018. An Indonesian remake titled Scandal Makers was released on Amazon Prime Video on January 19, 2023.
References
External links
Variety review LoveHKFilm review Far East Film review