Daniel Dae Kim-Led Spy Thriller Butterfly in Development at Amazon
Daniel Dae Kim is set to executive produce and star in a series adaptation of the graphic novel Butterfly, our sister site Variety first reported.
The project, which is currently in development at Prime Video, is described as a character-driven spy thriller. The series will center on “David Jung (Kim), an enigmatic, highly unpredictable former U.S. intelligence operative living in South Korea, whose life is blown to pieces when the consequences of an impossible decision from his past come back to haunt him, and he finds himself pursued by Rebecca, a deadly, sociopathic young agent assigned to kill him,” reads the official logline.
Ken Woodruff (The Mentalist) is co-creating the series with novelist Steph Cha, both of whom will serve as executive producers. Kim will produce under his 3AD banner, which currently has a first-look TV deal at Amazon.
“Ken and Steph have come up with a compelling series with truly unique characters, and having it be an international story set in Korea makes it even more meaningful to me,” Kim said in a statement. “We’ve assembled a stellar creative team, and 3AD is proud to have this be its inaugural effort with Amazon Studios.”
The Butterfly graphic novel (which was originally published by BOOM! Studios in 2015) was created by Arash Amel. It was written by Amel and Marguerite Bennett, and illustrated by Antonio Fuso and Stefano Simeone.
Perhaps best known for his role as Jin-Soo Kwan in ABC’s Lost, Kim has starred in other series such as Hawaii Five-0, The Andromeda Strain, The Hot Zone and more. He’s also lent his voice to The Legend of Korra and She-Ra and the Princesses of Power.
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Sounds interesting. I’m still annoyed that he and Grace Park didn’t get pay parity on Hawaii Five-0.
They weren’t leads on that show.
At the time the show started, Daniel Dae Kim was the most famous of the four main cast members, thanks in no small part to Lost which aired its finale the same year Hawaii Five-0 premiered (2010).
Lost’s finale was simulcast across the globe. No disrespect, but the same can’t be said for anything that Alex O’Loughlin or Scott Caan had ever been in. Moonlight died quickly and Scott Caan’s fame is probably more to do with his dad (nothing wrong with that) and I’d only seen him in two films (one being Into the Blue).
With the above in mind, Daniel Dae Kim should have had the highest pay from the start. And given that in latter seasons, Caan wasn’t there full-time, it seemed terribly unfair that those who were working weren’t being paid as much.
Kim seems to be doing alright though. All’s well that ends well. Thanks for coming to my TEDx talk.
That didn’t keep the actors on The Big Bang Theory from achieving pay parity.
Still beating that horse? Join the rest of us in the year 2023.
Daniel Dae Kim – one of my favorite actors! I like the premise of this new show, too.