On August 18, "Space Sweepers" held a press conference that was moved online due to the recent rise of the cases of COVID-19 in Seoul.
The upcoming sci-fi movie "Street Sweepers" is about The Victory's spaceship, collecting space junk in 2092. After discovering a humanoid robot named Dorothy known to be a weapon of mass destruction, the crew gets involved in a risky business deal.
The movie's star-studded cast includes Song Joong Ki, Kim Tae Ri, Jin Seon Kyu, and Yoo Hae Jin. The film is also Korea's first domestic-produced primary sci-fi blockbuster set in space with high special effects and motion capture level.
According to Director Jo Sung-Hee, he was having a meal with a friend talking about many things around ten years ago. Many things were brought up in the conversation, including space junks and debris from space missions that spread rapidly and at an alarming rate.
Playing the role of Tae Ho is Song Joong Ki, the pilot of The Victory. Previously, he worked with Jo Sung-Hee on the film "A Werewolf Boy" and shared that although they filmed the movie nine years ago, he heard that Jo Sung-Hee is preparing for a space-themed sci-fi film.
Song Joong Ki considered the story of "Space Sweepers," having unique concepts involving space junks, and began being attracted to the movie as it took the challenge to be South Korea's first space-themed sci-fi film.
Taking the role of Captain Jang is Kim Tae Ri, the leader of The Victory. She expressed that she liked the idea of having a woman as a captain of the ship. Captain Jang seems like a simple character, but she has warmth inside.
Kim Tae Ri noted that she did not do much preparation for her role in the film. She said that she thinks Captain Jang is a brilliant character, and she's avoiding making her character seem perfect and clichéd. And as Kim Tae Ri aims to make the image more human, she talked a lot with the senior actors.
Furthermore, the engineer of The Victory, Tiger Stark, is played by Jin Seon Kyu. He expressed that the director wanted something different from what he'd tried before and shared that he suggested something on his hairstyle, and it took 15 hours to complete. "I thought I would shave it off if it didn't suit me, but it was better than I expected."
It was also revealed at the conference that Yoo Hae Jin used motion capture to play "Opdongie," the harpooning robot of The Victory. The move was said to be the first time that motion capture was used to portray robots in a Korean film. Yoo Hae Jin shared that he wanted Opdongie to come alive, so he said that he would do the motion picture.
With Jo Sung Hee's conclusion, he said that despite the big-budget allocated for the movie production, which costs 24 billion won (around $20.3 million), the characters were not unfamiliar.
"They are not that different from who we are today. They worry about debt, the utility bill, they eat soybean stew and rice. They are not Hollywood heroes who gain power from wearing suits. They're ordinary Korean people who get into a spaceship and unravel the space."
"Space Sweepers" will premiere on September 23. Watch the teaser here!
