Netflix is reportedly developing a new rom-com set in the world of K-pop. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the streamer has purchased the rights to adapt Maurene Goo’s young adult novel Somewhere Only We Know and is developing it as an original film. The story will captivate fans of the burgeoning K-pop genre and industry.
Somewhere Only We Know tells the unlikely love story of a K-pop star and a tabloid photographer who fall for each other in Hong Kong. The book was first published in May of 2019 by MacMillan and was lauded by reviewers and readers alike. Hopes are high for the adaptation, which is reportedly being handled by Lana Cho. Cho is known for writing on shows like Arrow and Four Wedding and a Funeral, producing on many of them as well. It is not clear if she will direct or hold any other roles on this project.
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🎉THE NEWS IS OUT!🎉Somewhere Only We Know is going to @netflix! With script by the wonderful @LanaJeany & produced by Escape Artists! Been holding onto this for so long—I wanna dance in the streets! So thrilled for you all to meet Lucky & Jack on screen. https://t.co/mnbabw9wg6
— Maurene Goo (@maurenegoo) June 22, 2021
Goo herself is an executive producer on the movie, along with David Bloomfield. Other producers include Todd Black, Jason Blumenthal, Steve Tisch, Tony Shaw and Logan Kriete. Escape Artists will be the production house.
Somewhere Only We Know was listed among the “Best Young Adult Books of 2019” by Cosmopolitan, and “YA Books You Absolutely Must Read This Spring” by Buzzfeed News. The synopsis on the MacMillan website is divided into three ominous time stamps.
“10:00 p.m.: Lucky is the biggest K-pop star on the scene, and she’s just performed her hit song ‘Heartbeat’ in Hong Kong to thousands of adoring fans. She’s about to debut on The Tonight Show in America, hopefully a breakout performance for her career. But right now? She’s in her fancy hotel, trying to fall asleep but dying for a hamburger,” it begins. “11:00 p.m.: Jack is sneaking into a fancy hotel, on assignment for his tabloid job that he keeps secret from his parents. On his way out of the hotel, he runs into a girl wearing slippers, a girl who is single-mindedly determined to find a hamburger. She looks kind of familiar. She’s very cute. He’s maybe curious.”
“12:00 a.m.: Nothing will ever be the same,” it concludes. Goo has published three other novels before — Since You Asked, I Believe in a Thing Called Love and The Way You Make Me Feel. She also currently writes the Silk series for Marvel Comics.
So far, there’s no word on when Somewhere Only We Know will go into production, nor when it might be released.
