no to IRIS 2

Although a few news outlets have reported that Ha Ji-won would take the lead in the IRIS sequel drama, Athena, the actress’s side has come out to say that this isn’t the case.On the 19th, it was reported that the Taewon Entertainment CEO had said that they were in negotiations with Ha. In response, Ha’s management stated, “That is not at all true. She has a lot of other projects that she is deciding between. She has not discussed appearing in IRIS 2.”

Ha already has her next film project lined up, which reunites her with director Yoon Je-kyun from blockbuster disaster film Haeundae. She’ll begin filming in April. Athena, meanwhile, plans to begin filming in June in Italy, then Switzerland, followed by shoots in Singapore, New Zealand, and more overseas locations.

I’m not sure whether this is a serious denial, or just Ha’s side being careful not to jump to conclusions — often news reports will announce something before it’s finalized, and most of the time the issue goes on to be finalized anyway. But as we know, plans can often fall through and until both sides are willing to announce the news, ain’t nothing set in stone. However, merely mention of Ha Ji-won being considered forAthena gets me excited, because she would be PERFECT. She does sexy and intense better than most actresses of her generation, and I would put her and Kim Sun-ah as my two top picks for the role, with Ha edging out Kim. In fact, if she joins Jung Woo-sung and Cha Seung-won in this sequel, I’ll be much more excited about this drama than I ever was about its predecessor.