A Hard Day, the 2014 critically-acclaimed Korean thriller, will receive a webcomic adaptation -- but with a twist.
Manta Comics announced that the platform will adapt A Hard Day into a webcomic. The original film had the protagonist Detective Gunsoo Ko portrayed as a man, but in this adaptation, Gunsoo is recreated as a female detective. In the story, Gunsoo accidentally hits a homeless person with her car after her mother's death. Not wanting to be charged with manslaughter, she decides against calling the police and hides the body in her mother's casket instead. When it seemed like she would get away with her crime, a mysterious stranger finds and tells Gunsoo that he knows about the hit-and-run. Things get more complicated when Gunsoo finds herself entangled in a shady police corruption scandal.
The original work premiered in the Directors' Fortnight section at the 2014 Cannes Film Festival, where it received rave reviews for its suspenseful storytelling while intertwined with moments of humor. It performed extremely well at the box office, trailing behind only X-Men: Days of Future Past and Edge of Tomorrow. At the 35th Blue Dragon Film Awards, the film won awards in the Best Screenplay and Best Editing categories, with Cho Jin-woong winning Best Supporting Actor for his portrayal of Lieutenant Park. The film won several other awards, including Best Director and Best Actor at the 51st Baeksang Arts Awards.
A Hard Day's cast list has some serious star power, with Lee Sun-kyun starring as Gunsoo. Lee has starred in various films, but he is most well known for acting as Park Dong-ik in the Oscar-winning film Parasite. Along with Lee, Cho Jin-woong (Deep Rooted Tree), Shin Jung-geun (Pinnochio) and Shin Dong-mi joined the casting. Park Bo-gum (Reply 1988 and Love in the Moonlight) came onto the film as one of the police officers and is the first actor to top Forbes Korea's Korea Power Celebrity list.
Manta Comics Is Diversifying Their Content
Known for its extensive romance library, Manta has recently begun offering webcomics in other genres like thriller and mystery. Moonseok Jeong, Head of Content for Manta Comics, commented, "A Hard Day is part of our expansion into the action and thriller category. We are excited for our fans to experience the story and the amazing artwork." The platform previously adapted another thriller Svaha: The Sixth Finger, based on a 2019 film starring Squid Game's Jung-jae Lee.
The platform features popular romance titles like Under the Oak Tree, Disobey the Duke if You Dare, Semantic Error and No Love Zone. A Hard Day will premiere on Manta Comics on Oct. 18, where it is available to read on Android and iOS.
Source: Manta Comics