Ha Jung Woo, Ahn Bo-hyun to star in 'Inside Men: Part 1' prequel

The prequel to 'Inside Men,' a landmark of Korean crime cinema, is returning after 11 years.

Rather than focusing on the established villains familiar to audiences, this installment delves into how they evolved into insiders within a massive cartel of power, capital, and media. Ha Jung Woo, Ahn Bo-hyun, Park Hae Joon, and Jung Sung-il will expand the original film's universe by portraying the younger versions of existing characters or introducing new key figures.

The production team for 'Inside Men: Part 1' (working title) announced on the 20th that Ha Jung Woo, Ahn Bo-hyun, Park Hae Joon, and Jung Sung-il have confirmed their appearances.

'Inside Men: Part 1' is set in the late 1980s, depicting the process by which the media, capital, and political powers formed a massive cartel through the exchange of mutual interests.

The original 'Inside Men,' released in 2015, redefined the landscape of Korean crime films, achieving explosive box office success despite its restricted rating. The film blatantly depicted the mechanics of power in Korean society through a structure where politicians, journalists, conglomerates, prosecutors, and gangsters traded their desires.

This prequel focuses on the causes rather than the results. It differentiates itself from the predecessor by tracing how the network of power was built from nothing, rather than showing the interior of an already established cartel.

Ha Jung Woo plays Lee Kang-hee, a reporter who dreamed of uncovering corporate corruption but was demoted due to external pressure. Rather than breaking him, this frustration turns him into an even more tenacious investigative journalist.

By keenly capturing the movements of those in power, he approaches the reality of the massive cartel penetrating the political, business, and media circles of the Republic of Korea. Ultimately, Lee's tenacity becomes the starting point for the massive network that moves the core of power in the future.

Interest is particularly high as Ha Jung Woo will portray the younger version of the character played by Baek Yoon-sik in the original film. A key point of interest will be how Ha combines the cold, experienced journalist image of Baek's character with youthful ambition.

Ahn Bo-hyun will play Ahn Sang-gu, the CEO of an entertainment agency.

Ahn Sang-gu is a character who starts from the lower depths and races toward success and revenge. In the ruthless entertainment industry, he harbors the desire to become the best to protect what is precious to him, repeatedly collaborating and clashing with Lee Kang-hee in the process.

Most importantly, Ahn Bo-hyun takes on the younger version of Ahn Sang-gu, who was played by Lee Byung-hun in the previous film.

The Ahn Sang-gu portrayed by Lee Byung-hun was a complex character of desire, anger, inferiority, and survival instinct. He was a core archetype of 'Inside Men,' serving not just as a gangster, but as a figure who was incorporated into the power structure only to shake it from within.

Ahn Bo-hyun will portray Ahn Sang-gu during the period before his character was fully formed, as he builds his own world from the bottom up. The film aims to show not only the 'youth' of a familiar character but also the origins of the desires and wounds that dictate his future actions.

Park Hae Joon will play Jang Pil-woo, a first-term lawmaker who has just entered politics after a career as a prosecutor.

Jang Pil-woo is an ambitious man attempting to enter the center of political power through dangerous deals with major media outlets. While not yet a fully realized power player, he is quick to identify what must be traded and whom he must partner with to secure his future.

Utilizing his characteristic restrained charisma, Park is expected to portray Jang's process of converting political ambition into real power. While the figures at the center of power were already established in the previous work, the process of that power being formed becomes the core narrative here.

Jung Sung-il joins the cast as Oh Hyun-soo, the chairman of Mirae Group.

Oh Hyun-soo is a man who grew a massive corporation by any means necessary. Using vast capital, he expands his influence into politics and the media, harboring the ambition to ultimately stand at the pinnacle of the cartel.

Utilizing his characteristic dignified image and heavy presence, Jung is expected to portray a man who seeks to design the order of power through capital, rather than a simple conglomerate chairman.

While the four characters start in different spheres, they are ultimately connected within a single structure. The media creates information, politics moves institutions, capital supplies funds, and the desires of the entertainment industry and criminal organizations are traded in between. If the original 'Inside Men' was a story of individual corruption, this prequel examines the moment that symbiotic relationship is born.

In this sense, the title 'Inside Men: Part 1' (working title) does not merely refer to the younger years of villains. It implies that villains are not created by personal disposition alone, but are born within specific social structures and interests.

Power does not exist in a completed form from the beginning. The moment people with different desires join hands for their own interests, a structure is formed, and as that structure repeats, individual desires become part of the system. While the previous film showed the desires of those who had already become 'insiders,' this work traces the process of how those insiders are made.

The film will be co-directed by Kim Min-beom, who served as assistant director on '12.12: The Day' and 'Tidal Wave,' and Kim Jin-seok, who served as assistant director on 'The Battleship Island,' 'The Nemesis,' and 'Veteran,' and participated in the adaptation of the Disney+ original series 'Made in Korea.'

As the film is set against a backdrop where politics, capital, and media are intertwined, interest is high regarding how the co-directors will utilize their experience in the Korean crime and political genres.

Ultimately, the significance of this work lies in the fact that it does not simply repeat the familiar universe of 'Inside Men,' but traces it back to its origins. As Ha Jung Woo and Ahn Bo-hyun take over the younger faces of the characters completed by Baek Yoon-sik and Lee Byung-hun, Park Hae Joon and Jung Sung-il will form a new axis of power.

The question 'Inside Men: Part 1' asks is likely: 'How did the villain become a villain?' At the moment when individual desire meets the structure of the era, a person's ambition evolves into a system of power. While the previous film allowed us to witness a world of completed villains, this film will show the moment that world is first constructed.

'Inside Men: Part 1' is currently in pre-production with the goal of beginning filming later this year.