The original production team that worked on the first season of Princess Hours, including director Hwang In-Roi, resigned from Eight Peaks (the show's production company) and proceeded to form a new production company, Creative Leaders Group 8. Group 8 had initially announced that it would begin production for the sequel to Goong 1.
However, because rights to the manhwa adaptation belong to Eight Peaks, not Group 8, the new company now faces a crisis as its version of the sequel, renamed Goong S, faces a halt in production due to infringement of copyrights. With Eight Peaks intending to produce the 'real' sequel, there are thus two sequels being planned for Princess Hours.
Season 2
The plot of Season 2 would follow closely the plot of the second Goong manhwa by So-Hee Park.
Eight Peaks has announced that preparation for the sequel Goong 2 is underway, which started in September. The cast of Goong Season 2 is still unconfirmed; however, Choi Kae-yung, an executive at Eight Peaks, has revealed that Kim Jeong Hoon (who plays Lee Yool) and Yoon Eun Hye (who plays Shin Chae-kyeong) will return in their respective roles. The company is aiming to resign the entire original cast for the sequel.
Last year, Eight Peaks stated that they would aim to film Goong 2 in late 2007 or early 2008.[4][5] Since then, there have been no other confirmations about the further details of this sequel.
Season S
The plot of Season S revolves around a young worker at a Chinese restaurant who suddenly discovers that he is a member of the royal family and subsequently enters the palace. Hwang mentioned that he would be looking for Yoon Eun Hye's male counterpart, of sorts.
In October of 2006, Korean pop star Se7en was chosen to play the leading role in the spinoff. He will play the character of "Lee Hoo", while others in the drama's second season include Huh Lee-Jae (who plays Yang Soon-Ae), Kang Doo (who plays Lee Joon), and Park Shin-hye (who plays Shin Sae-Ryung). Many of the supporting cast, including those who played the royal family, are expected to join Goong S. Filming started in November 2006.
The current name for the second season has changed from Goong 2 to Goong S -- Prince Hours (궁 S), due to copyright infringement problems. Filming has continued despite Group 8 facing lawsuits due to the unlawful use of 'Goong' as its film title. However, MBC has looked into this issue with Eight Peaks and have stated that the channel station and original production company both own the rights of the name. Goong S will still be used for this season with the subtitle of "Prince Who". Goong S began broadcasting January 10, 2007, with no cast members returning for this spinoff.
Story Line
Her Royal Highness, the Queen, is still unwed despite being in her early thirties. Since she is an only daughter with no prospect of bearing a child in the foreseeable future, the royal succession is left in uncertainty when the current heir to the throne meets a sudden death. Seizing the opportunity afforded by this crisis, the conservative faction, which presently holds sway at the Court, begins plotting for the crown. Sensing the threat, the Queen secretly searches for a new Crown Prince outside the palace walls and discovers Lee Hu, a young man who has been making his living by delivering Chinese food, in complete ignorance of his royal heritage.
Hu, who has never even dreamed of becoming the King, is unexpectedly ushered into the palace and subjected to strict training to become the royal heir. This is where the main action of “Prince Hours” begins. Lee Hu is forced to compete with Lee Jun, the perfect candidate for Crown Prince strongly backed by the extended royal family.
The two young men vie for the royal succession as an intricate web of conflicts, plots, and schemes unfolds around them. This is a story about communication.Communication between friends, between men and women, between parents and children, between monarchs and subjects, between teachers and students…Based on the premise that Korea is a constitutional monarchy led by a queen, “Prince Hours” opens a new chapter in fusion fantasy historical drama. It seeks to explore in depth the idea of communication between people, as well as the repercussions of a breakdown in such communication.
By introducing a protagonist from a simple, working-class background to palace life, the show endeavors to find common ground for communication that begins at vastly differing eye levels.If there are no “perfectly parallel” lines in the world, all lines must surely meet someday; conveying the hope for this future “intersection” is the new yet familiar objective of “Prince Hours.” This story is a fairy tale preserving our lost innocence.The fantasy of a utopia where all can enjoy equality and happiness has long since been shattered.Still, each of us retains the memory of a time when we were genuinely happy.
Depicting the 21st century in a 19th-century-style setting, “Prince Hours” will take contemporary audiences on a journey to rediscovering the innocence we once had. This story uncovers our lost ideal of “noblesse oblige.”The tale, which opens during the reign of Korea’s first queen since the restoration of the monarchy, investigates the definition of leadership demanded by today’s society, and the essence of the “noblesse oblige” imposed on those who reach positions of leadership.
As the country’s sovereign, the Queen must now ask herself what kind of example she must set for her people, and practice true leadership that transcends personal gratification. Suffering the growing pains attendant on his rebirth as the Crown Prince, the hapless young man who could barely take care of himself and his family must learn the deeper truth that with great privilege comes great responsibility and that sometimes one must give up one thing to obtain another.Rather than being completed individuals, these characters are leaders-in-progress who must yet undergo numerous mistakes and trials. They are also reflections of ourselves as we strive toward our respective goals.The understanding that noblesse oblige is not an obligation limited to a particular class but one that can be given to anyone, as well as a shared responsibility for all to uphold together—this is the ultimate destination of “Prince Hours.”
