Phoenix 2020 (Korean: 불새 2020; RR: Bulsae 2020) is a South Korean television romantic drama series directed by Lee Hyun-jik starring Hong Soo-ah,[2] Lee Jae-woo, Seo Ha-jun and Park Young-rin. The series is a reboot of the 2004 MBCseries[a][3] of the same name and includes 120 episodes.[4] The story follows a rich woman and a poor man who marry, get divorced, and meet again after their fortunes have reversed.[5][6] It premiered on SBS TV on October 26, 2020, and aired on weekdays at 8:35a.m. KST until April 9, 2021.
Wealthy chaebol, Lee Ji-eun (Hong Soo-ah) falls in love with the poor Jang Sae-hoon and marries against their families' wishes. Ji-eun was engaged to Sae-hoon's family friend, Seo Jeong-in (Seo Ha-jun), but he was in a committed relationship with another woman. The couple was expecting a child despite the lack of approval from Jeong-in's father. Ji-eun and Sae-hoon eventually divorce, and Jeong-in later dies. After ten years, Ji-eun and Sae-hoon meet again but with swapped lifestyles. Once affluent, Ji-eun lost her fortune while Sae-hoon became a rich entrepreneur. Their changes in wealth allow them to view the world differently and understand each other leading to their reunification.
However, they both have other love interests. Ji-eun meets Seo Jeong-min (Seo Ha-jun), heir to the Seorin Group and Jeong-in's twin brother, and they start going out while Sae-hoon is dating his girlfriend, Mi-ran. At the same time, Jeong-min's ambitious stepmother, Choi Myung-hwa, wants to hang on to Seorin Group at all costs. She is Mi-ran's mother but living under an assumed name and has not seen Mi-ran in years. Jeong-min dislikes Myung-hwa, and Seo Moon-soo (chairman of Seorin Group, Jeong-min's father, and Myung-hwa's husband) plans to remove her.
The show ends with a series of legal cases against Seorin Group, ironically brought to court by Jeong-min himself after he tires of his father's controlling tendencies. Seo Moon-soo is angry at his only living son after Jeong-in's death. In the legal chaos, Moon-soo jettisons Myung-hwa but she kills him and stays with her daughter. Ji-eun and Jeong-min break up, and Ji-eun and Sae-hoon start to work together again.
On June 30, 2020, SBS announced their remake of the 2004 drama Phoenix with the original writer, Lee Yoo-jin. The remake ran for 120 episodes, a much longer run compared to the original's 26 episodes. Lee Yoo-jin commented on the story, "It seems to be a different story from the original. The setting of reunion between Lee Ji-eun and Jang Se-hoon is changed, but the reunion and love journey of the two are different from the original. After reuniting the once-loved man and woman, the process of recovering and understanding the wounds that have been inflicted on each other has been depicted, rather than the ending of achieving love again."[12] The filming started in the second half of 2020[13] and a production presentation was held on October 20, 2020.[14]
Phoenix : South Korea viewers per episode (thousands)
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Episodes
Episode number
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
Ep.01-20
N/A
N/A
N/A
748
N/A
N/A
N/A
700
727
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
760
N/A
N/A
681
N/A
N/A
N/A
Ep.21-40
837
811
777
819
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
836
N/A
N/A
N/A
897
895
840
N/A
N/A
N/A
900
N/A
Ep.41-60
N/A
N/A
N/A
795
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
913
N/A
N/A
N/A
833
897
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
883
N/A
Ep.61-80
N/A
943
871
912
881
N/A
N/A
N/A
1021
887
N/A
N/A
849
876
795
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
Ep.81-100
N/A
N/A
N/A
845
827
N/A
N/A
N/A
806
N/A
N/A
N/A
758
901
800
N/A
N/A
788
816
N/A
Ep.101-120
N/A
N/A
718
799
883
N/A
N/A
710
814
811
N/A
869
814
864
942
884
752
767
792
853
Source: Audience measurement performed nationwide by °Nielsen Korea.[31]
^Yoon, Jun-ha (October 29, 2020). "삼화네트웍스, 드라마 '불새2020' 제작 52억원 규모 공급계약" [Samhwa Networks signs supply contract worth 5.2 billion won to produce drama 'Phoenix 2020']. edaily (in Korean). Naver. Archived from the original on January 1, 2024. Retrieved December 31, 2023.
^Ha, Soo-jeong (August 18, 2020). "'불새2020' 홍수아x이재우x서하준x박영린, 캐스팅 확정 16년만에 화려한 부활 [공식]" ['Firebird 2020' Sooah Soo x Jae Woo Lee x Ha Joon Seo x Young Rin Park, a splendid resurrection after 16 years of casting confirmation [Official]]. Chosun Ilbo (in Korean). Archived from the original on November 21, 2020. Retrieved May 14, 2024.
^"'불새 2020', 홍수아·이재우·서하준·박영린 출연 확정" ['Firebird 2020' confirmed to appear Hong Soo-ah, Lee Jae-woo, Ha-jun Seo, and Young-rin Park]. Newsis. August 18, 2020. Archived from the original on November 16, 2020. Retrieved October 10, 2020.
^"'불새 2020' 이유진 작가 "故 이은주, 지금도 문득 생각나고 보고 싶다"" ['Firebird 2020' Lee Yoo-jin, "The late Lee Eun-ju, I still suddenly think and want to see you"]. Hankookilbo (in Korean). October 6, 2020. Archived from the original on October 13, 2020. Retrieved October 10, 2020.
^"'불새'가 의외의 방식으로 리메이크 된다". Huffington Post Korea. June 30, 2020. Archived from the original on November 21, 2020. Retrieved May 14, 2020.
^"[포토] 홍수아 '아름다운 미소'" [[Photo] Soo-ah'Beautiful Smile']. SEGYE (in Korean). October 20, 2020. Archived from the original on November 21, 2020. Retrieved October 21, 2020.
^Son, Him-chan (January 1, 2021). "[포토Q] 남궁민 '스토브리그로 2020 SBS 연기대상 수상'" [[Photo Q] Nam Gung-min'Stove League 2020 SBS Drama Awards']. Sports Q (in Korean). Archived from the original on January 22, 2021. Retrieved January 2, 2021.