Netflix is prepping for a mega 2024 of Korean releases, led by the return of "Squid Game" – which remains the streamer's most-watched non-English-language show ever – along with new seasons of some of its most popular titles ever, including "Hellbound", "Sweet Home", "Gyeongseong Creature", "Single's Inferno" and "Physical 100".
The total number of production hours/episodes has not been confirmed.
Netflix also didn't put a new dollar value on its Korean content investment for 2024, saying only that "the investment we announced last year will continue to support the Korean creative ecosystem and generate opportunities for up and coming creators".
The rapid-fire releases kicked off from the start of the year, with 10 titles in Q1, with seven in Q2, 6 in Q3 and seven in Q4.
The exact release date of "Squid Game" season two has not been confirmed.
The 2024 slate ranges wide, from sci-fi, horror, crime, mystery and suspense to teen revenge, period drama, romcom and a range of unscripted shows.
In talking about its 2024 line-up, Netflix highlighted its commitment to new filmmakers.
Between 2022 and 2025, one in five Netflix titles in Korea will come from a first-time writer or director.
Four 2024 titles mentioned as part of this initiative are "The Bequeathed", "Bandland Hunters", "My Name is Loh Kiwan" and "The Frog".
The 31 titles showcased this morning include four released in January – "The Bequeathed" (19 Jan), "Captivating the King" (21 Jan), "Badland Hunters" (26 Jan) and "Doctor Slump" (28 Jan).
The performance of the titles released this year so far confirms Netflix's commissioners' hit-picking decisions.
Three of the four – "The Bequeathed", "Captivating the King" and "Doctor Slump" – appeared on Netflix's global top 10 non-English TV charts for the week of 22-28 Jan.
Feature film, "Badlands Hunters", is #1 on the global non-English film chart with 26 million hours viewed (week of 22-28 Jan) within two days of its release.
At home, "The Bequeathed" topped Netflix's Korea chart two days after its release, holding onto its position the following week. The limited series was also the #1 title on Netflix's global non-English-language top 10 for the week of 22-28 Jan, with 14.5 million hours viewed and made the top 10 in 29 countries.
Coming up this Friday (9 Feb) is director Lee Chang-hee's "A Killer Paradox", based on the webtoon written/illustrated by Kkomabi about an ordinary man who begins to commit more murders after inadvertently killing someone.
The seven Q2 titles include the third season of Studio Dragon's "Sweet Home", directed by Lee Eung-bok and Park So-hyeon, followed in Q3 with the return of director Chung Dong-yoon's "Gyeongseong Creature" for a second season.
In addition to the return of "Single's Inferno" for a fourth season, Q4 titles include "Mr Plankton" about a man who should not have been born and the unhappiest woman in the world, who are forced to accompany one another on the final journey of his life. Woo Do-hwan ("Bloodhounds") plays a man born out of wedlock thrown into a wandering life without family. Lee You-mi ("All of Us Are Dead") stars as his ex-girlfriend.
The 2024 K-titles are:
Jan-March 2024
The Bequeathed (released 19 January 2024)
After the death of an unknown uncle, a woman inherits a burial ground and finds herself at the center of a string of murders and dark secrets.
Production: WOW POINT, Redpeter Films Co.
Captivating the King (released 21 January 2024)
King Lee In, the most powerful man with the most impoverished heart, and Kang Hee-soo, a woman who develops feelings for him despite her plan to wreak vengeance, come together in a cruel twist of fate.
Production: Studio Dragon, CJes Studios
Badland Hunters (26 January 2024)
Starring Don Lee as a tough h...
Netflix is prepping for a mega 2024 of Korean releases, led by the return of "Squid Game" – which remains the streamer's most-watched non-English-language show ever – along with new seasons of some of its most popular titles ever, including "Hellbound", "Sweet Home", "Gyeongseong Creature", "Single's Inferno" and "Physical 100".
The total number of production hours/episodes has not been confirmed.
Netflix also didn't put a new dollar value on its Korean content investment for 2024, saying only that "the investment we announced last year will continue to support the Korean creative ecosystem and generate opportunities for up and coming creators".
The rapid-fire releases kicked off from the start of the year, with 10 titles in Q1, with seven in Q2, 6 in Q3 and seven in Q4.
The exact release date of "Squid Game" season two has not been confirmed.
The 2024 slate ranges wide, from sci-fi, horror, crime, mystery and suspense to teen revenge, period drama, romcom and a range of unscripted shows.
In talking about its 2024 line-up, Netflix highlighted its commitment to new filmmakers.
Between 2022 and 2025, one in five Netflix titles in Korea will come from a first-time writer or director.
Four 2024 titles mentioned as part of this initiative are "The Bequeathed", "Bandland Hunters", "My Name is Loh Kiwan" and "The Frog".
The 31 titles showcased this morning include four released in January – "The Bequeathed" (19 Jan), "Captivating the King" (21 Jan), "Badland Hunters" (26 Jan) and "Doctor Slump" (28 Jan).
The performance of the titles released this year so far confirms Netflix's commissioners' hit-picking decisions.
Three of the four – "The Bequeathed", "Captivating the King" and "Doctor Slump" – appeared on Netflix's global top 10 non-English TV charts for the week of 22-28 Jan.
Feature film, "Badlands Hunters", is #1 on the global non-English film chart with 26 million hours viewed (week of 22-28 Jan) within two days of its release.
At home, "The Bequeathed" topped Netflix's Korea chart two days after its release, holding onto its position the following week. The limited series was also the #1 title on Netflix's global non-English-language top 10 for the week of 22-28 Jan, with 14.5 million hours viewed and made the top 10 in 29 countries.
Coming up this Friday (9 Feb) is director Lee Chang-hee's "A Killer Paradox", based on the webtoon written/illustrated by Kkomabi about an ordinary man who begins to commit more murders after inadvertently killing someone.
The seven Q2 titles include the third season of Studio Dragon's "Sweet Home", directed by Lee Eung-bok and Park So-hyeon, followed in Q3 with the return of director Chung Dong-yoon's "Gyeongseong Creature" for a second season.
In addition to the return of "Single's Inferno" for a fourth season, Q4 titles include "Mr Plankton" about a man who should not have been born and the unhappiest woman in the world, who are forced to accompany one another on the final journey of his life. Woo Do-hwan ("Bloodhounds") plays a man born out of wedlock thrown into a wandering life without family. Lee You-mi ("All of Us Are Dead") stars as his ex-girlfriend.
The 2024 K-titles are:
Jan-March 2024
The Bequeathed (released 19 January 2024)
After the death of an unknown uncle, a woman inherits a burial ground and finds herself at the center of a string of murders and dark secrets.
Production: WOW POINT, Redpeter Films Co.
Captivating the King (released 21 January 2024)
King Lee In, the most powerful man with the most impoverished heart, and Kang Hee-soo, a woman who develops feelings for him despite her plan to wreak vengeance, come together in a cruel twist of fate.
Production: Studio Dragon, CJes Studios
Badland Hunters (26 January 2024)
Starring Don Lee as a tough huntsman who takes matters into his own hands when a teenager he is close to is abducted by a mad doctor who conducts experiments on humans.
Production: Climax Studio, Big Punch Ent with Nova Film
Doctor Slump (28 January 2024)
Romcom about resuscitating the joie de vivre of doctors, each facing the worst slump of their lives for different reasons.
Production: SLL, HighZium Studio
A Killer Paradox (9 February 2024)
Based on the webtoon written and illustrated by Kkomabi, "A Killer Paradox" is about an ordinary man, played by Choi Woo-shik, who begins to commit more murders after inadvertently killing someone, and the police detective who pursues him.
Director: Lee Chang-hee
Production: Showbox, Let’s Films
Risqué Business: The Netherlands and Germany (20 February 2024)
An unscripted mid-form variety/talk show featuring host Shin Dong-youp and Sung Si-kyung taking their show out of Asia for the first time, travelling across the Netherlands and Germany talking to people from the world of adult entertainment.
Director: Kim In-sik
Production: Studio Modak
My Name is Loh Kiwan (1 March 2024)
A drama about a North Korean defector seeking refugee status in Belgium, where he meets Marie, who has no desire to live. Song Joong-ki plays Loh Kiwan, a desperate man who ends up in the unfamiliar European country with nothing to his name and one hope – obtaining refugee status.
Writer/director: Kim Hee-jin
Production: Yong Film, HighZium Studio
Queen of Tears (Q1, 2024)
A couple in the midst of a marital crisis finds a miraculous new beginning that rewrites their love story.
Directors: Jang Young-woo, Kim Hee-won
Production: Studio Dragon, Culture Depot, Show Runners
Chicken Nugget (Q1, 2024)
A comical mystery drama about a woman who enters a mysterious machine and turns into a chicken nugget.
Director: Lee Byeong-heon
Production: Studio N, Plusmedia Entertainment
Physical: 100 Season 2 – Underground (Q1 2024)
The return of survival reality show where 100 contestants in top physical shape compete to claim the honour of the ultimate physique.
Production: Galaxy Corporation (Studio27)
Q2: April-June 2024
The 8 Show
Eight people trapped in a mysterious eight-story building participate in a tempting but dangerous game show where they earn money as time passes. The series, directed by Han Jae-rim, is based on the Naver Webtoons "Money Game and Pie Game", written by Bae Jin-soo.
Production: Magnum 9, Studio N, Lotte Cultureworks
Parasyte: The Grey
A group of humans wage war against the rising evil posed by aggresive unidentified parasitic life-forms that live off human hosts and strive to grow their power. The story is based on Hitoshi Iwaaki’s manga “Parasyte” in which parasites take over human brains to control their bodies. Directed by Yeon Sang-ho ("Hellhound"), the show stars Koo Kyo-hwan ("Peninsula") as a man who pursues the parasites to find his missing sister.
Production: Climax Studio, WOW POINT
Agents of Mystery
An unscripted unscripted adventure mystery series about six agents investigating bizarre incidents that cannot be explained by science. Directed by Jeong Jong-yeon ("The Devil's Plan")..
Production: TEO
Super Rich in Korea
An unscripted series directed by Park Hye-seong featuring the real-life stories of multibillionaires from around the world living in ultimate luxury in Korea.
Production: Mystic Story
Sweet Home Season 3
Directed by Lee Eung-bok and Park So-hyeon, the series is set in a world teetering on the boundary between monsters and humans, where people desperately struggling to survive face difficult choices. In this third season, the scattered characters regroup to face conflicts motivated by greed.
Production: Studio Dragon with Studio N & Siwoo Company
Resident Playbook (WT)
This spin-off of Hospital Playlist showcases the intense but heartfelt lives of OB-GYN residents learning the ropes at Jongno Yulje Medical Center. The series is created by Shin Won-ho and Lee Woo-jung, and directed by Lee Min-su.
Production: eggiscoming (planning by CJ ENM Studios).
Hierarchy
The top 0.01% of students control law and order at Jusin High School, but a secretive transfer student chips a crack in their indomitable world. Directed by Bae Hyeon-jin, the series stars Roh Jeong-eui as the "queen among queens" at the school and the firstborn heiress of Jaeyul Group, a rival conglomerate to Jusin Group.
Production: Studio Dragon
Q3 2024: July-August 2024
Gyeongseong Creature Season 2
Set in 2024 Seoul, season two of "Gyeongseong Creature" uncovers the never-ending ties – good and bad – that fate weaves in Gyeongseong.
Production:Story & Pictures Media, Kakao Entertainment with Studio Dragon
The Influencer
"The Influencer" is an unscripted social survival series where South Korean influencers compete to determine who has the most influence over social media.The series is directed by Lee Jae-seok and Son Soo-jeong.
Production: Kakao Entertainment
The Whirlwind
A clash ensues when the deputy prime minister of economy stands up to the prime minister, who aims to uproot the corrupt powers that be. Sul Kyung-gu ("Kill Boksoon") portrays Prime Minister Park Dong-ho, a man who makes a crucial decision to change the political landscape and bring the president colluding with the chaebols to justice. Kim Hee-ae ("Queenmaker") portrays Jung Su-jin, the strong-minded deputy prime minister of economy who opposes the PM with her brilliant intellect. The show is directed by Kim Yong-wan.
Production:Studio Dragon, Pan Entertainment
Officer Black Belt
An action-drama film, directed by Jason Kim, about martial arts expert Lee Jung-do, who lands a job as a martial arts officer electronically monitoring criminals, and Kim Sun-min, a probation officer who recognises Jung-do’s crime-detecting abilities and skills.
Production: Climax Studio, STUDIO706
Unknown Chefs (WT)
An unscripted competition series, created by Yun Hyun-joon ("Sing Again"), that pits people from all walks of life against one another in a fierce culinary showdown. Directed by Kim Hak-min and Kim Eun-ji
Production: Studio Slam
The Frog
A mystery thriller about a man whose life begins to crumble when a mysterious woman, played by Ko Min-si ("Sweet Home") plays, shows up at his motel one summer, leaving him to cling dearly to his former ways of life. Directed by Mo Wan-il, the series stars Kim Yun-seok ("Escape
From Mogadishu") the the owner of a motel deep in the woods.
Production: SLL, Studio Flow
Q4 2024: Oct-Dec 2024
Mr. Plankton
A man who should not have been born and the unhappiest woman in the world are forced to accompany one another on the final journey of his life. Woo Do-hwan ("Bloodhounds") plays portrays Hae-jo, a man born out of wedlock thrown into a wandering life without family. Lee You-mi plays Jae-mi, Hae-jo’s ex-girlfriend and the world’s unhappiest bride-to-be.
Production: Base Story HighZium Studio
The Great Flood
Production: Hwansang Studios
Single’s Inferno Season 4
Production: Sijak Company
Uprising
Zombieverse Season 2
Production: Kakao Entertainment
Hellbound Season 2
Production: Climax Studio, WOW POINT, with Midnight Studio
The Trunk
Production: Project318, GTist
2024
Squid Game Season 2
Production: Firstman Studio