Apple’s ‘Pachinko’ Begins Production, Stars Lee Min-Ho

Apple’s AAPL international drama series Pachinko kicked off production on October 26 on multiple continents. Based on the best-selling novel of the same name by Min Jin Lee, it stars Lee Min-ho (Boys Over Flowers, The Heirs), Jin Ha (Devs, Love Life), Anna Sawai (Fast & Furious 9, Ninja Assassin) and Minha Kim (Call, After Spring), among others.

Pachinko, Min Jin Lee’s second novel, was one of The New York Times NYT ’ 10 best books of 2017 and a finalist for the National Book Award for fiction. Former president Barack Obama also included the novel in his list of book recommendations for 2019, after the novel was suggested to him by a “young staffer” on his team. He praised the book as “a powerful story about resilience and compassion.”

Set in the 20^th century, Pachinko follows four generations of a Korean family as they move to Japan, amid the country’s colonization of Korea and other seismic political and cultural shifts. Apple won the rights to the adaptation following a multiple-party bidding war, as first reported in The Hollywood Reporter in August 2018. The series has one of the biggest budgets among Apple’s current slate.

Apple’s series will feature eight episodes, with four episodes directed by the South Korea-born Kogonada, who is known for his video essays on directors like Wes Anderson and Stanley Kubrick and for his debut film Columbus. Another four episodes will be directed by Justin Chon, whose previous work includes Gook (2017) and Ms. Purple (2019). Pachinko will be told in Korean, Japanese and English.

Soo Hugh will executive produce and serve as showrunner. She previously worked as a co-showrunner on The Terror and also contributed to The Killing and Under the Dome. Media Res, helmed by former HBO exec Michael Ellenberg, is producing Pachinko.

Here are the character descriptions for Pachinko:

Lee Min-ho portrays Hansu, an enigmatic outsider and merchant with ties to organized crime who embarks on an illicit romance with far-reaching consequences. Jin Ha has been cast as Solomon, an ambitious, charming young man who will be forced to reckon with his family’s past.

Anna Sawai will play Naomi, a savvy career woman in the male-dominated world of high finance. Minha Kim will play the teenage Sunja, a heroic young woman on the cusp who forges her own path in a hardened country that is not her own. Soji Arai will play Mosazu, a dedicated father and successful businessman, concerned for his son’s future. Kaho Minami will portray Etsuko, a vibrant, independent woman who longs to be reunited with her estranged daughter.