Space Sweepers is touted as South Korea’s first space sci-fi movie, reportedly filmed at a cost of over $20 million. Set in 2092, the movie is directed by Jo Sung-hee of A Werewolf Boy and Phantom Detective.
Starring Song Joong-ki, Kim tae-ri, Jin Seon-kyu and Yoo Hae-jin, the movie was scheduled for release in theatrers in the summer of 2020, but it was postponed due to the global pandemic. Now, Space Sweepers can be streamed exclusively on Netflix.
In the movie, Spaceship Victory is one of the many ships that live off salvaging space debris. The crew includes genius space pilot Tae-ho (Song Joong-ki), a mysterious ex-space pirate Captain Jang (Kim Tae-ri), an engineer Tiger Park (Jin Seon-kyu), and a reprogrammed military robot Bubs (Yoo Hae-jin).
After successfully snatching a crashed space shuttle in their last debris chase, the crew find a seven-year-old girl inside. They realize she’s the human-like robot wanted by UTS Space Guards, and decide to demand ransom in exchange.
“I first heard about this story 10 years ago, about space sweepers, from a friend and this was an idea we began to developing since then. This is truly the result of 10 years of planning,” said Jo Sung-hee in Korean during an online press conference organized by Netflix.
“When I worked with the director on A Werewolf Boy, I actually heard he was planning to create this kind of a space sci-fi movie, and I thought it would be interesting and amazing. He proposed this role and I immediately thought I would do it. Back then, the storyline was a little bit different from what it came to be. But when I first heard it from director Jo, I was shocked because it’s so new and fresh,” said Song Joong-ki, who was last seen on the big screen in 2017’s Battleship Island.
For Kim Tae-ri, the director of Space Sweepers was also the reason why she accepted the role.
“The script was amazing and I was grateful to have been offered the role. On our first meeting, he told me about his vision and what he pictured the film would be. He had prepared so much, and I could see how much passion he had for the film. So I immediately trusted him,” she said.
“I read the script and met with the director, and we talked about the parts of the movie that weren’t in the script and I felt his passion for it and how well-prepared he was,” said Jin Seon-kyu.
When Yoo Hae-jin read the script, he had some concerns in the beginning. “The script was very entertaining. However, as to what it’s going to be like onscreen, I admit that I was quite concerned. But when I was with director Jo, he drew us pictures literally on a white board and he showed me what Bubs would look like. He was very skilled in drawing, and when I saw his artistic sense, and read the amazing script, I felt like we could really make something good here.”
Space Sweepers is the second project of Song Joong-ki with Jo Sung-hee, and the actor jested that he has not played a role under the director where he was handsome. “I’m always dirty, covered in oil or mud. I think I fell in love with these types of characters because their personalities are very pure and they have the warmest hearts, so this is why I love playing parts chosen by director Jo.”
Space Sweepers is Kim Tae-ri’s return to the big screen after over two years. The last movie she appeared in was the critically acclaimed indie Little Forest. “I personally think that I’m a clumsy person, but the captain is always very determined and perfect with everything,” said Kim Tae-ri when asked how similar she is to her role in Space Sweepers.
Also in the movie is Richard Armitage, who played Thorin in The Hobbit franchise.
“Thank you for inviting me to play Solomon, for bringing me to Korea, a place across the other side of the world from my home and introducing me to a new country and all of the sights and the culture, but more importantly for including me in a film which I think the Korean film industry is going to be extremely proud of,” said Armitage in a video aired during the press conference.
For Song Joong-ki, one of the most challenging scenes he filmed was the very first scene which showed him flying through space. “It had to do with loss of gravity so that was quite something new and challenging. But again, amazing preparation went into this scene and it was really satisfying,” said the actor. For Yoo Hae-jin, the challenge to playing Bubs, a robot, was the motion-capture acting.
“At first, I thought, ‘I’ll get to the set and I’ll be able to do what I always do,’ but it was quite challenging. I had all types of sensors attached to my body and I had to wear these tights, and then we had to set the zero points for each scene. But all in all, it was a new experience and it was fun,” he said.
For Jin Seon-kyu, acting in Space Sweepers was like being an athlete and playing with the flag of South Korea on his chest.
Image credits: NETFLIX