A shameless ‘fool of the end’, an unusual pre-screening pass

“I believed that ‘The Fool of the End’ would definitely be released (even though it was postponed). Because there’s no reason it shouldn’t be made public. I’m not talking about Yoo Ah-in’s (drug) issue, but it’s not a work that should be stoned. I did my best to make it without shame. Yoo Ah-in’s portion was also adjusted as much as possible (as long as it did not interfere with other actors’ storytelling). -Megaphone Director Kim Jin-min”

‘The Fool of the End’ meets viewers leaving Yoo Ah-in’s risk behind. However, unusually, a preliminary press preview will not be held. Officially, they gave an answer saying, “It is more efficient to understand the work by releasing the entire work rather than revealing part of it,” but it appears that this was done to ‘pass over noise and controversy’ by not receiving any evaluations related to the work in advance.

On the 24th, Netflix announced its official position on Maeil Business Newspaper Star Today, saying, “All episodes of ‘Fool of the End’ will be released on the 26th without prior press screening.”

In general, most K-contents so far have been released in advance as previews for the first two episodes or more, regardless of the total length. The positive reviews were good for publicity, but the harsh reviews were painful. Nevertheless, front passing is a rare choice and an explicit strategy to minimize the burden caused by Yoo Ah-in. They constantly release various promotional materials to raise expectations and maximize the packaging of the work, but they will not conduct any previews that will generate actual responses.

‘The Fool of the End’ is a work that depicts the story of the D-200, an asteroid collision with the Earth, a world in chaos due to the imminent apocalypse, and the story of people who live together today until the end. It is based on the novel of the same name by Kotaro Isaka.

The work was scheduled to be released after completing all filming, but the release was temporarily postponed due to the lead actor Yoo Ah-in’s alleged drug use. During the long wait, Yoo Ah-in’s part was re-edited and will be released worldwide on the 26th.

Yoo Ah-in was indicted without detention on charges of administering medical narcotics 181 times between September 2020 and March 2022, while receiving anesthesia for cosmetic procedures at hospitals in Seoul. The dosage was investigated as propofol 9635.7mL, midazolam 567mg, ketamine 11.5mL, and remimazolam 200mg. He is also suspected of illegally prescribing and purchasing a total of 1,100 sleeping pills Stilnox and Xanax tablets 44 times in the name of others from May 2021 to August 2023.

Yoo Ah-in admitted to some of the charges of using marijuana and propofol in the second trial, but denies the remaining charges, including being a teacher who smoked marijuana and a teacher who destroyed evidence. In the third trial, Mr. Park, the CEO of clothing brand E, who is accused of identity theft, proxy prescription, and providing funds to a YouTuber to escape overseas, appeared and was examined as a witness. In the fourth trial, a witness was examined regarding Mr. A, a hairstylist and YouTuber who was an acquaintance of Yoo Ah-in’s, who was involved in charges of smoking marijuana and being a teacher. Mr. A testified that he witnessed Yoo Ah-in smoking marijuana and encouraged him to smoke marijuana as well. Yoo Ah-in strongly denied the charges.

Previously, megaphone director Kim Jin-min said ahead of the release of ‘Fool of the End’, “Actually, I said, ‘I will do it,’ but then I thought, ‘I won’t do it,’ and time passed. “I was surprised and glad to hear that they were doing it again after forgetting about it for a while,” he said. “Actually, I didn’t think it wouldn’t be made public.” Because there’s no reason not to. I’m not talking about Yoo Ah-in’s issue, but I think it would be strange if ‘Fool of the End’ wasn’t released. It was made with enough effort, and when you see it, you will think that it is not a work that will be stoned. “I’m confident that I made it so I wouldn’t be embarrassed,” he said.

Regarding editing Yoo Ah-in’s portion, Director Kim said, “I want to edit the first part, but actually, as time goes by, Netflix won’t let the director do anything. Since I had an excuse, I said I needed to fix it, and in the end, it turned out ‘good’. It was impossible to include this character (played by Yoo Ah-in) because there was a big axis of four friends, so I did my best. “It’s not for me to judge whether I can convince many of them, but I tried very hard,” he emphasized.

Also, “I think it is a unique dystopian work. Rather than a struggle for survival, it’s ‘How will you live when the end comes?’ Because it was a work that asked questions, I was very greedy as a director. “I had a feeling that there would be a version of me among each character,” he said. “They are all idiots. It would be foolish to think that we couldn’t escape, and it would be foolish to face death, but on the other hand, it can teach us what our hearts are like. In fact, he seems like a genius in the end, but as the end approaches, both fools and geniuses seem to be the same. “It is the most philosophical work I have ever done.”

Released on the 26th.