Park Yoo-chun, who was convicted of drug abuse in 2019, is returning to the big screen in a film titled “On The Edge.”

The film’s distributor Blue Film Works announced Wednesday that “On The Edge” will premiere in local theaters next month.

“On The Edge” is an independent feature film directed by Kim See-woo. It has already won numerous awards at film festivals including Best Leading Performance for Park's role at the Las Vegas Asian Film Awards last year.

The film is a melodrama depicting the story of a man who used to be a famous doctor and a son-in-law of a wealthy family but loses everything at once. The other protagonist is a woman who had the odds stacked against her from the beginning of her life. The male protagonist is played by Park and the female by actor Lee Jin-ri.

The film marks Park’s first leading in seven years since “Haemoo” (2014).

Park had said he would retire from the entertainment industry in 2019 when he was sentenced to a 10-month suspended prison term with two years of probation for drug abuse. His drug scandal rocked the industry as it also involved his former fiancée who was a scion of a large dairy company.

Park debuted as a member of TVXQ in 2003 under SM Entertainment. In 2009, three members of the boy band including Park filed a lawsuit against the entertainment giant arguing their contracts were unfair. They departed from the label, formed a new boy band and debuted in 2010. Park had been working as a band member, an actor as well as a solo artist until he was accused of sexual assault in 2016. He was later cleared of the charges.


BY YIM SEUNG-HYE [yim.seunghye@joongang.co.kr]