Disney’s Content Showcase: 5 big moments, including Kim Soo-hyun’s local food experience

At the Disney Apac Content Showcase on Nov 21, which highlighted the key Asian titles arriving on the Disney+ streaming platform in the coming year, top South Korean and Japanese stars took turns going onstage at the Sands Expo and Convention Centre to share their projects.

Here are five highlights from the day.

1. Moving 2 confirmed

Yes, it is official. The hit superhero K-drama Moving will be getting a second season.

The series debuted on Disney+ in 2023 and is now the top Korean original series globally on the streaming platform.

Adapted from a webtoon series by South Korean writer Kang Full, it follows a group of parents with superpowers who want to protect their similarly superpowered teenage children from exploitation. The series stars Ryu Seung-ryong, Han Hyo-joo, Cha Tae-hyun and Zo In-sung.

Ms Carol Choi, executive vice-president of original content strategy at The Walt Disney Company Asia Pacific, made the sequel announcement onstage and said a second season is in the early stages of development with Kang.

Another of Kang’s webtoons has also been adapted into a K-drama. Light Shop, which stars Ju Ji-hoon and Park Bo-young, is about a mysterious light shop in a seedy alley and its customers. It premieres on Disney+ on Dec 4.

South Korean series continue to serve the platform well, accounting for nine out of the 15 best-performing international originals on Disney+ in 2023.

2. Ryu Seung-ryong slid into his director’s direct messages

Moving lead Ryu will be fronting yet another Disney+ drama with Low Life, a crime series set in the 1970s revolving around buried treasure at sea. 

Though the 53-year-old actor and Low Life’s director Kang Yun-sung have worked with Disney+ in the past – Kang directed another Disney+ K-drama tentpole, Big Bet (2022 to 2023) – they had not worked together previously.

Ryu, who is also known for comedy movie Extreme Job (2019), said: “Around the time I was filming Moving, I watched Big Bet and was captivated. I didn’t have the contact of the director then, so I sent him a private message on Facebook to tell him how much I loved the show. And soon, he asked me to join Low Life, and I was like, ‘Yes, please.’”

3. Kim Soo-hyun on a foodie’s tour of Singapore 

One of the biggest names to appear onstage on Nov 21 was undoubtedly actor Kim Soo-hyun, hot off the heels of the popular romance drama Queen Of Tears (2024).

The 36-year-old actor is paired with actress Cho Bo-ah, 33, for the upcoming Disney+ series Knock-Off, in which Kim plays a counterfeit goods kingpin. The cast took time off from filming the show to fly to Singapore for the showcase.

And Kim has not wasted a single meal he has had here.

At a press conference for Knock-Off, when asked how he maintains his health and keeps his energy up amid a busy filming schedule, he said: “I care a lot about what I eat and I enjoy eating.

“It’s been 10 years since I visited Singapore and I arrived here two days prior to the showcase. In that time, I’ve eaten chilli crab, kaya toast, peanut toast, satay and cereal shrimp. It was very satisfying.”

Kim last held a fan meet in Singapore in 2014 at the Singapore Expo, after he shot to fame with the romance My Love From The Star (2013 to 2014).

4. Son Suk-ku and Kim Da-mi gained weight on the set of serial killer mystery

Despite grisly crime scenes and dead bodies on the set of serial killer mystery Nine Puzzles, stars Son Suk-ku and Kim Da-mi still had great appetites.

Son plays a detective, while Kim (Itaewon Class, 2020) plays a criminal profiler.

At a press conference, the 41-year-old Son (My Liberation Notes, 2022) said: “Now that I’m in my 40s, I gain weight once I eat a bit too much. So, when I’m filming, I do my best to maintain the same weight for the entire production period. But this time, I actually gained weight.

“The production always has great catering, and I was like a goldfish (with short-term memory), so I kept eating. Finally, I started noticing some healthier snacks like walnuts on the set and ate those instead, and managed to lose weight.”

Director Yoon Jong-bin said: “I could see the actors gaining weight, so I told the production to remove the catering and stop preparing so much sugary food near the production site.”

5. A-listers unite for the House of Mouse

At the end of the content showcase introduction, all the A-list talent gathered onstage for a photo with Disney’s mascot, Mickey Mouse.

With South Korean film and television stars like Park Eun-bin, Kim Soo-hyun, Ju Ji-hoon, Park Bo-young, Kim Hye-soo, Son Suk-ku, Ryu Seung-ryong and Lim Soo-jung, and also Japanese actors Yuya Yagira, Show Kasamatsu and Japanese boy band Travis Japan’s Genta Matsuda, all standing in a row and interacting with Mickey Mouse, it was a line-up more star-studded than an awards ceremony.

This article was originally published in The Straits Times.