Legal Issues Arise for Kim Tae-ri’s tvN Drama “Jeongnyeon: The Star Is Born” as MBC Seizes Production Company Assets Before Premiere

On September 12th, the legal community reported that the Seoul District Court approved MBC’s request to seize the assets of the production companies involved in “Jeongnyeon: The Star Is Born,” specifically Studio N, NPIO Entertainment, and Management mmm. This ruling came after a decision made on September 10th.

MBC stated, “We sought asset seizure due to ‘unfair competition stemming from unauthorized use of work product and breach of contract negotiations.’ The court found our claims valid and fully granted the seizure on September 10th, 2024.”

The drama “Jeongnyeon: The Star Is Born” was initially slated to air on MBC. Conflicts arose over production costs between MBC and the involved production companies, with director Jung Ji-in also affiliated with MBC.

After extensive negotiations, MBC proposed a production budget exceeding 2 billion won per episode. However, Studio N and the other companies accepted a higher offer of 2.8 billion won per episode, totaling 33.6 billion won, from CJ ENM’s Studio Dragon, resulting in the show’s move to tvN.

MBC asserts their considerable involvement in the pre-production efforts, which included location scouting, actor casting, and extensive research, but claims to have incurred significant losses with the network change.

Though originally scheduled for a premiere on October 12th at 9:20 PM, this legal conflict now threatens the show’s future.

Source: Daum