[1][2] Choi Gon had a big hit in 1988 with his song "The Rain and You" and became one of the top stars of the 1980s, but did not handle the fame very well, acquiring bad habits and quickly spending most of his money.

In 2006, now past his prime, leather-jacket-and-jeans-wearing Gon resents that the spotlight has moved on to younger entertainers, but he still lives the life of a rock star, getting into drunk driving incidents and drug scandals.

Min-soo still manages to find Gon small gigs in little coffee shops on the outskirts of Seoul and continues to look after him and keep him out of trouble, even if that means neglecting his own family.

But to everyone's surprise, his daily show Choi Gon's Midday Songs of Hope becomes a big hit in the small town, as he allows the locals to tell their own eccentric stories.

When his newfound fan club begins to put the recordings of his show on the internet, soon the big bosses in Seoul become aware of Gon's fame and want him to make a comeback—but without his manager.

An early draft revolved around the character of a young, female manager, but Achim Pictures president Jung Seung-hye pointed Lee in a different narrative direction, and the film became a bittersweet dramedy about two older men.

I mean, I've had plenty of ups and downs in my career: repeating the same comedies over and over brought me to a slump, I had to bridge the gap after coming back from the US, I had a little redemption... many things happened over the years."

[10][11] Radio Star was a co-production between Achim Pictures and Lee's own production shingle Cineworld, was distributed locally by Cinema Service and sold internationally by co-investor CJ Entertainment.

But it earned average ratings of 9.22 out of 10 in a poll of 7,749 netizens by the portal site Naver, and ticket sales surged exponentially over the following weeks, with strong word of mouth ultimately making the movie a success.

The original run starred Jung Sung-hwa and Seo Beom-seok in the role of Park Min-soo, and Kim Da-hyun as Choi Gon, and was held at the Seoul Arts Center from January 26 to March 2, 2008.