SEOUL – South Korean heart-throb Ji Chang-wook is once again driven by vengeance in the thriller The Manipulated.

Now showing on Disney+, the series marks a rare film-to-series adaptation for Disney+ Korea, bringing South Korean director Park Kwang-hyun and Ji back together to reinterpret Park’s 2017 action hit Fabricated City through a fresh lens.

At the story’s core is a premise familiar to the original: Tae-joong (Ji), an ordinary man whose life is upended after being falsely accused of a brutal crime, discovers that the entire ordeal was orchestrated by criminal mastermind Yo-han (Do Kyung-soo), and sets out on a mission to exact revenge.

During a press conference in Seoul on Nov 3, Park, 56, explained the decision to cast Ji, 38, once more in the established story trope.

“When the idea of turning it into a drama first came up, Ji showed his willingness to join even before the script was written. I know he showed great affection for the project by waiting patiently for a long time.

“To me, it was a natural choice. Although it’s not a direct remake of the film, he did such an outstanding job that I couldn’t imagine anyone else in the role.”

The series format, Park noted, allowed for a storytelling cadence that the big screen could not accommodate.

“The Manipulated was structured like stages, with two episodes per arc, designed to make viewers unable to stop watching. Through new developments and unpredictable clashes, we aimed to showcase the unique appeal of a series format,” he said.

For his part, Ji said he approached Tae-joong from a new angle, deliberately distancing himself from the character’s film iteration.