Lee Dong-jun Reveals He Lost 5.2 Billion Won on Steven Seagal-Starring 'Clementine,' Sold Gangnam Apartment

Lee Dong-jun has finally come clean about the most expensive flop of his career. On the October 13 broadcast of SBS’s ‘Same Bed, Different Dreams 2 – You Are My Destiny,’ the veteran actor revealed that the box-office failure of his film ‘Clementine’ cost him 5.2 billion won.

According to Star News via Naver, Lee appeared alongside his nephew, actor Song Jin-woo. Song revealed that his own parents had appeared in ‘Clementine,’ prompting Lee to joke the film flopped because they cast family: “We used amateurs, so of course it bombed.”

The numbers stunned the studio. Lee Ji-hye gasped, “You lost 5.2 billion? In that era?” while Kim Gu-ra noted that since the film was made about 20 years ago, the sum was enormous. Song then dropped another bombshell: Lee had sold his Gangnam apartment to finance the film, and even staged what Kim Gu-ra called a “ttongkko show” in Busan to help pay off the debt.

Lee admitted he tried to cut corners on production costs instead of spending the money properly. Song pointed to the budget, saying the money was bet almost entirely on Steven Seagal, leaving the rest of the production underfunded.

Still, Lee insists he has no regrets. “When you say Lee Dong-jun, you say ‘Clementine.’ When you say Lee Dong-jun, you say taekwondo. Even though it flopped, it became famous,” he said. Song noted the film still holds a nine-point-something rating — though Kim Gu-ra joked that losing money like that is no laughing matter.