'Space Sweepers' director reveals struggles in making Song Joon Ki's blockbuster film

"Space Sweepers" director Jo Sung-hee talked about reuniting with Korean star Song Joong Ki and the struggles of making the Netflix blockbuster.

The galactic movie is already making waves globally since its premiere on Feb. 5. Touted as South Korea's first-ever space blockbuster, the film reimagines what life is like 71 years in the future. By this time, Earth is but a place for the poor and vulnerable while the opulent live a life of grandeur in a paradise up in outer space.

Such a premise for a film is complex and time-consuming to say the least, especially when it comes to breathing life into that "paradise." For this reason, it took 10 years for the movie to see its completion. Jo Sung-hee revealed in an interview with The STAR that he developed the idea after his friends told him these "stories about space and space sweepers."

"This was an idea that we tried to develop since then. I learned that disposed industrial objects in space, or space debris, move extremely fast. I imagined that it would be very hazardous to collect and clean up the debris flying around faster than bullets. The story really began with two ideas: space debris and space workers who clean up the debris," he shared.

One of the struggles in making "Space Sweepers" was giving distinction between Earth and the Utopia in space. It took 2,5000 cuts in total and out of that over 2,000 were made through VFX. He especially made the Spaceship Victory, the transport vessel of the space scavengers, look different so it would reflect the job of its crew members. The director and his team "made an effort to reach a quality that doesn't fall too short of a Hollywood piece" when it came to the visual effects.

"I don't believe that this is 100 percent my creative genius. I received a lot of help and collaborated with various (VFX) artists. I have to say I'm very satisfied with the results," Jo Sung-hee said, as he recalled the effort it took to make the debris chase scene and the action sequences in space "as dynamic and intense and suspenseful as possible."

As for reuniting with actor Song Joong Ki, whom he first worked with on the award-winning film "A Werewolf Boy," he said the experience was very comfortable even though they have not worked together in nine years. He said they "kept in touch and had meetings" about "Space Sweepers."

"Song Joong Ki (who played Spaceship Victory pilot Tae-ho) always has a unique way of getting close to others with his bright energy. He is the same man then and now," the director said as quoted by Koreaboo.

As to the warm response to "Space Sweepers" internationally, Jo Sung He said it feels amazing and that he and the cast and crew are so grateful. He hopes that with his film, there will be more space blockbusters going forward from Korea.