Lee Woo-hyung PD, who is in charge of directing ‘The Great Escape: The Story’, personally revealed some ‘spoilers’ ahead of its first release.
The TVING original ‘The Great Escape: The Story’, which will be released on the 23rd, is a suspense adventure that returns with a different scale, a dense worldview, and an enriched story with new escapees.
The pre-released episode 0 on the 2nd immediately ranked 4th on YouTube's trending videos and surpassed 1 million views, while various communities were filled with comments expressing fondness for the new members and the chemistry with the original members, showcasing explosive popularity for the new season.
Lee Woo-hyung PD, who took on the new leadership of ‘The Great Escape: The Story’ from the start, expressed, “I am grateful for the interest from many people even before the start, but I feel a lot of pressure. I understand it was not easy to find a director for a program with such dedicated fans,” and added, “I was worried that the legacy of the ‘The Great Escape’ series, which I loved so much, might end, and ultimately I gathered the courage to step in myself,” revealing his affection for the program.
Regarding why this season is not named ‘The Great Escape 5’, he explained, “It is a setting to show the transformation of the program into an OTT format,” and added, “The subtitle ‘The Story’ contains the meaning of ‘one story from a larger framework’ that we wanted to incorporate this season. You will be able to feel the synergy when the format of ‘The Great Escape’ meets the story in this season,” raising expectations.
This season is particularly drawing attention with the combination of original members Kang Ho-dong, Kim Dong-hyun, and Yoo Byung-jae, along with new members Ko Kyung-pyo, Baekhyun, and Yeo Jin-goo. In this regard, Lee Woo-hyung PD shared, “While filming, I definitely felt that the experience and focus of the original members were different. In particular, Kang Ho-dong shed tears to the point of difficulty in hosting,” revealing behind-the-scenes insights.
He also mentioned the new members, stating, “The most important criterion for bringing in new members was ‘immersion’, and fortunately, all three showed great performances in their respective areas,” adding, “There were members who solved quests just as well as Yoo Byung-jae, and some showed leadership qualities. As time went on, some revealed unexpected twists, so I am confident that each member has a distinct color, and the combination brings a unique charm to this season.”
Additionally, he hinted at the unique viewing points of ‘The Great Escape: The Story’. He said, “Since ‘The Great Escape’ has already been aired for four seasons, we had a pile of past questions about what themes the viewers like,” and continued, “Based on this, we researched elements that could make it more enjoyable, resulting in the genre of ‘suspense adventure’. It will likely be the overall atmosphere that permeates the season,” making the anticipation for the first release even greater.
Finally, Lee Woo-hyung PD stated, “I believe the biggest difference of ‘The Great Escape: The Story’ is that as the episodes progress, the story becomes more engaging and thrilling,” and predicted, “As you enjoy each episode, you will find new fun in the relationships between the characters.” He added, “I approached the production with the thought of bringing out new enjoyment from familiarity. I would appreciate it if you enjoy watching it,” expressing his sincerity.
‘The Great Escape: The Story’ will be released for the first time on TVING on the 23rd.
[Kim Mi-ji, Star Today Reporter]
