The upcoming Omniscient Reader live-action film has revealed new stills featuring leads Ahn Hyoseop and Lee Minho.
Lotte Entertainment unveiled four new images on its official X account (formerly Twitter), giving fans a closer look at the highly anticipated adaptation. In one still, Ahn Hyoseop, who plays protagonist Kim Dokja, sits hunched over on a subway bench. In another, he appears more confident, standing with his hands in his pockets in front of a group of survivors. Lee Minho, portraying Yoo Joonghyuk, also appears in two stills—one shows him staring off to the side inside a subway station, while another captures him striding down a road littered with corpses, his gaze resolute.
Kim Dokja lives an unremarkable life, having spent the last ten years engrossed in a webnovel titled Three Ways to Survive the Apocalypse. In an interview translated by Soompi, Ahn shared that he aimed to reflect Dokja’s growth throughout the film. “I wanted to express how Dokja matured with everyone together, hand in hand,” he said. Ahn also revealed that he conducted extensive research and “consistently practiced action” to prepare for the role.
While Kim Dokja read his webnovel, Ahn also spent a lot of time researching his character. He added that he “also consistently practiced action.”
Yoo Joonghyuk, the protagonist of the webnovel within the story, has the ability to restart from the beginning each time he dies. While this power gives him a clear edge in overcoming the apocalypse’s many trials, it has also turned him into a cold and distrustful individual. Lee Minho reflected on the emotional weight of portraying such a character: “I spent a lot of time thinking about the loneliness of a man who survives alone in an immortal life,” he said. “I had to show this universe through Yoo Joonghyuk, and I felt that if it didn’t feel real, the process of Dokja entering this worldview and overcoming the crisis wouldn’t be convincing.” To create a grounded portrayal, Lee noted that he worked to avoid overacting and kept his expressions and movements as natural as possible.
Joining Ahn and Lee in the film are Chae Soobin as Kim Dokja’s colleague Yoo Sangah, Shin Seungho as soldier Lee Hyunsung, Kwon Eunseong as young Lee Gilyoung, Nana as justice-driven Jung Heewon, and BLACKPINK’s Jisoo as high schooler Lee Jihye, who travels with Yoo Joonghyuk.
Director Kim Byung-woo and producer Won Dong-yun helmed the project, with Realies Pictures producing the film. Based on the bestselling webnovel Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint by singNsong, the story follows ordinary office worker Kim Dokja as he becomes the only person who knows how to survive after the novel he obsessively read becomes real.
Omniscient Reader premieres in Korea this July. A trailer has already been released, though international premiere dates have not yet been announced.
Source: Lotte Entertainment
