Kentaro Sakaguchi and Lee Joon-gi Team Up for Global Thriller 'Kidnap Game' Following Surprise Marriage News
Kentaro Sakaguchi is heading back to the Korean small screen, and this time he is sharing the frame with Lee Joon-gi in what looks to be one of the most ambitious thrillers of the fall. The announcement for Channel A’s upcoming drama Kidnap Game landed right alongside some major personal news for Sakaguchi, who just revealed over the weekend that he quietly tied the knot with a non-celebrity partner.
The new series is a sweeping, multi-country production backed by studios across Korea, Japan, and Hong Kong, including Fuji TV, Makerville, and Simstory. Helmed by director Kato Yusuke, the plot kicks off with a massive crisis: a coordinated string of kidnappings striking seven major Asian cities—from Seoul and Tokyo to Singapore and Manila—all at the same time.
At the center of the chaos are two desperate men pushed past their moral limits. Sakaguchi steps into the shoes of Niide Toshiro, a sharp Japanese detective whose cool exterior cracks when his own wife is taken. Meanwhile, Lee Joon-gi plays Han Ki-joo, a top surgeon forced into unimaginable corners after his visually impaired daughter disappears. The teaser posters already lean heavily into the tension between them, posing a brutal core question: just how far would you go to save the person you love most when survival is a zero-sum game?
For Sakaguchi, who already cemented a dedicated Korean fanbase through projects like What Comes After Love, the role marks a sharp pivot into darker, high-stakes genre territory. Paired with Lee’s well-known knack for intense, emotionally charged action, the dynamic between their characters is easily the show's biggest draw.
Kidnap Game is scheduled to make its broadcast debut on Channel A on October 6 at 10 PM.
