Lee Do-hyun And Kim Min-ha Are About To Break Hearts Together In A New “survival Romance”

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Lee Do-hyun and Kim Min-ha have officially begun filming a romance that already sounds designed to leave audiences reaching for tissues.

Production started on August 19 for the upcoming Korean film Let’s Shake Our Sun, with distributor Ace Maker Movie Works releasing photos from the cast’s first script reading. Director Park Dan-hee joined Lee and Kim as the project moved into full production.

The film follows Woo-ri, a young woman desperately waiting for a miracle while enduring a harsh reality, and Tae-yang, an unpredictable young man who is preparing for his own ending when he suddenly makes her an unusual proposal.

An unexpected promise brings them together, and what begins as a relationship shaped by survival gradually changes both of their worlds. For international viewers, however, there is another detail that makes the project particularly interesting: The film is a Korean remake of the acclaimed Chinese romance Viva La Vida.

The original film is already available internationally

The 2024 Chinese movie Viva La Vida stars Peng Yuchang and Li Gengxi as two strangers living with serious illnesses who make a pact while searching for love and meaning in the time they have left.

Netflix currently describes the film as the story of two people “racing against time” who help each other find love and purpose during their remaining days. That gives international audiences a clearer idea of the emotional territory Lee Do-hyun and Kim Min-ha are entering.

The Korean adaptation appears to preserve the original story’s combination of romance, mortality and unexpectedly joyful human connection, although the Korean production has not yet publicly detailed the exact medical circumstances surrounding Woo-ri and Tae-yang. That distinction could be important. This is not simply a romance about whether two attractive strangers fall in love. It is about what love means when both characters understand that time itself may be limited.

Three individuals standing together for a photo, smiling, in a bright indoor setting with a presentation board in the background.

Lee Do-hyun plays the man who promises “tomorrow”

Lee Do-hyun takes the role of Tae-yang, whose name literally means “sun” in Korean.

The production describes him as an unconventional and impulsive young man who is already preparing for the end of his own life when he encounters Woo-ri. Instead of disappearing quietly, Tae-yang makes her an unexpected proposition one that begins changing the direction of both their lives. It gives Lee Do-hyun an interesting emotional contradiction to play. Tae-yang is confronting his own mortality, yet he becomes the person promising someone else a tomorrow.

The role also moves Lee into another emotionally intense project after performances in Youth of May, The Glory, The Good Bad Mother and horror blockbuster Exhuma. The production specifically says Tae-yang will reveal a side of the actor audiences have not previously seen.

Lee Do-hyun completed his mandatory military service in May 2025 after serving 21 months with the Republic of Korea Air Force band and has since returned to a busy acting schedule.

For fans who spent that period waiting for his next major projects, the new romance is particularly welcome.

A Reddit discussion only last month asking what Lee would appear in next included fans saying they “can’t wait to see Lee Do Hyun again,” with Let’s Shake Our Sun already being singled out as one of his upcoming projects.

A young man in a white t-shirt is focused on reading or writing at a table, surrounded by water bottles and a laptop, with a nameplate in front of him.

Kim Min-ha plays a woman still waiting for a miracle

Opposite Lee Do-hyun is Kim Min-ha as Woo-ri. Woo-ri is described as someone continuing to endure a cold and difficult reality while desperately hoping that something will change. Meeting Tae-yang becomes that change.

Kim Min-ha’s role is expected to require a particularly restrained emotional performance rather than simply treating Woo-ri’s circumstances as tragedy. The production says the actress will portray the character’s emotional changes as her relationship with Tae-yang begins altering the world she thought she understood.

For global viewers, Kim Min-ha remains closely associated with Apple TV+’s Pachinko, where her performance as the younger Sunja introduced her to a large international audience.

Her more recent work has expanded across projects including Light Shop, Way Back Love, Typhoon Family and Hana Korea. Pairing her understated acting style with Lee Do-hyun’s ability to move rapidly between warmth, humor and emotional breakdown could become one of the movie’s strongest elements. And unlike many high-profile Korean romances built around established on-screen pairings, this is Lee Do-hyun and Kim Min-ha’s first project together.

A focused woman with long black hair, wearing a gray long-sleeve shirt, sits at a table while touching her hair and looking down at documents.

Their chemistry is already being emphasized

Before cameras began rolling, the cast gathered for a script reading with director Park Dan-hee.

Production photos show Lee Do-hyun and Kim Min-ha seated together in casual clothing, while reports from the reading emphasized the pair’s upbeat energy and immediate acting chemistry. Of course, promotional descriptions of chemistry should be treated as exactly that early production impressions rather than proof of how the finished film will play.

But the pairing is intriguing on paper. Lee Do-hyun has repeatedly excelled at characters who conceal emotional pain beneath an approachable exterior. Kim Min-ha, meanwhile, built much of her international reputation through performances where enormous emotions are communicated through relatively small changes in expression. A story centered on mortality could easily become overly sentimental. Actors capable of restraint may be exactly what prevents that from happening.

‘Weak Hero Class 1’ director Park Dan-hee makes her feature debut

The film also represents an important step for director Park Dan-hee. Park previously co-directed the acclaimed series Weak Hero Class 1 and directed Tastefully Yours. Let’s Shake Our Sun marks her feature-film directorial debut, according to current production reports. That background makes her an interesting choice for the remake. Weak Hero Class 1 became known not only for its violence but for the emotional relationships underneath it particularly the vulnerability and loyalty connecting its young characters.

Tastefully Yours, meanwhile, placed greater emphasis on romance and character chemistry. Let’s Shake Our Sun potentially asks Park to combine those strengths: youthful characters confronting painful circumstances while building a relationship intimate enough for audiences to become emotionally invested. She is also credited with both directing and writing the Korean project.

The biggest challenge may be escaping the “terminal romance” formula

Movies about seriously ill young lovers come with an obvious risk. Audiences can often predict where the tears are supposed to arrive. What made the original Viva La Vida more interesting than a simple tragic-romance setup was its emphasis on finding meaning and connection while time is running out. Netflix categorizes the film not only as sentimental and tear-jerking but also as an “opposites attract” story about overcoming difficult circumstances.

That gives the Korean remake an opportunity to focus less on death itself and more on the strange, funny and sometimes reckless ways people choose to live when ordinary assumptions about the future disappear. Even the Korean title reflects that idea. Tae-yang means “sun,” while the film’s title can be rendered as Let’s Shake Our Sun. The story describes Tae-yang as the person who literally “shakes up” Woo-ri’s world. That gives the title both a character-based and emotional meaning.

Fans are curious, but it is still too early for a true reaction

Because principal photography only began on August 19, there is not yet enough public material to claim a broad fan consensus about Lee Do-hyun and Kim Min-ha’s chemistry.

There is no trailer. There are no character stills. And there is not yet a confirmed release date.

Most early excitement has therefore centered on the casting itself, particularly Lee’s return to romantic material and curiosity about seeing him opposite Kim for the first time. Earlier fan discussions about his upcoming projects were already identifying the remake as one of the titles they were waiting for. The script-reading images will likely only increase that curiosity. The real test will come once audiences see the first footage of Tae-yang and Woo-ri together.