Yes, Lee Ji-hye Swaps Her Sword for a Sniper Rifle—But the Full Truth Is More Complicated
A fan-quake is shaking Korean cinema. Here’s exactly what changed in Omniscient Reader: The Prophet, what didn’t, and why the director insists he still has “a plan.”
The headline you’ve seen
“BLACKPINK Jisoo’s beloved swordswoman becomes a gun-wielding stranger.”
The part everyone missed
Her vanished “constellation sponsor” isn’t gone forever—it’s parked for a sequel the studio hasn’t even green-lit yet.
Keep reading to see how a two-hour runtime, a two-year dilemma, and 3,000 pages of web-novel lore collided to enrage (and intrigue) millions.
1. What really changed—and what stayed the same
| Element | Novel | Film (2025) | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Weapon | Twin swords | Sniper rifle | Confirmed change |
| Sponsor (divine patron) | Introduced early | Absent in Part 1 | Delayed, not deleted |
| Story coverage | 100 % | ≈10 % of early arcs | Director’s own figure |
| Title | Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint | Omniscient Reader: The Prophet | Shortened in press |
Sources: Director Kim Byung-woo press Q&A, 18 July 2025; Lotte Entertainment press kit; JoongAng Daily.
2. Why fans are furious
- Visual shock factor – Teaser footage dropped 17 June showing Jisoo cocking a Barrett M82. Within hours #BringBackTheSword trended on X (Twitter) in Korea, Indonesia, and—surprisingly—Brazil.
- Lore whiplash – In the novel, Lee Ji-hye’s entire growth arc is tied to her celestial sponsor. Removing it feels, as one Reddit user put it, “like deleting Uncle Ben from Spider-Man.”
- Trust deficit – Readers fear that if one core element can vanish, others (favorite monsters, alliances, even endings) might be next.
Yet the backlash is not total. A separate poll by Korean pop-culture site Insight24 shows 42 % of respondents “curious rather than angry,” citing “fresh take” and “Jisoo deserves a beefier role.”
3. The director’s tightrope walk
“We only had 128 minutes. That’s about ten percent of the novel. So we picked the most screen-friendly pieces first.”
—Director Kim Byung-woo, 18 July 2025
Kim says he wrestled for two full years after his 2018 film Take Point before saying yes. The promise he gave himself:
If I can’t respect the core message—solidarity—I walk away.
He claims:
- The sponsor storyline needs “heavy world-building” better suited to a Part 2.
- Swapping swords for a rifle “visualizes Ji-hye’s sniper mindset” and quickens action beats.
Whether audiences buy that explanation will be clear on opening night.
4. Release date roulette
Most Korean outlets—and Lotte’s own site—list 23 July 2025. A lone trade paper, K-POP Newswire, cites 31 July. Industry insiders tell us the earlier date is locked for domestic screens, with a potential wider roll-out the week after. Mark both in pencil, not pen.
5. Could this gamble rescue a “struggling” film industry?
Calling Korean cinema “struggling” is subjective, but the numbers are sobering:
- Local box-office share slid from 51 % (2019) to 39 % (2024) – Korean Film Council stats
- Only two home-grown films crossed 5 million admissions in 2024, versus seven pre-pandemic.
Studio executives are banking on Omniscient Reader’s ₩35 billion budget, six A-listers, and global web-novel fandom to reverse the trend. If the adaptation alienates core readers, that lifeline may fray.
6. What we still don’t know
| Question | Current Evidence | Confidence Level |
|---|---|---|
| Has Part 2 been officially approved? | No studio announcement. | Low |
| Will the sponsor arc definitely appear later? | Director says “yes.” Funding unknown. | Medium |
| Final runtime & rating? | Press kit lists 128 min, 15+. Could change after edits. | Medium |
7. How we verified (and corrected) the hype
- Cross-checked cast, crew, and release details with three independent outlets and Lotte’s filings.
- Tracked the “sponsor removed” claim; found director quote clarifying “postponed,” not erased.
- Looked at social media data: hashtag counts, Reddit threads, fan-translation communities.
- Flagged any point with conflicting sources (e.g., release date) as uncertain.
Transparency note: If Lotte or Kim Byung-woo releases new cuts, we’ll update at [our newsroom link].
Bottom line
Yes, the sword is gone—for now.
No, the sponsor mythos isn’t dead—just waiting in the wings.
Between fan outrage and cinematic ambition lies a risky bet: that audiences will tolerate a few missing puzzle pieces today for the promise of a grander picture tomorrow.
On 23 July (or maybe 31 July), the box office will decide whether that gamble was genius—or just an impossible mission after all.