World News

Netflix Unveils a Lineup of 25 Korean Films and Shows After ‘Squid Game’ and ‘Hellbound’

Netflix announced a lineup of 25 new Korean-language shows and films, on Tuesday, including the Korean adaptation of the popular show Money Heist.

A D V E R T I S E M E N T

The announcement comes post the success of Korean shows like Squid Game and Hellbound on the platform.

The South Korean survival drama which premiered on Netflix on September 17, 2021, became the platform’s biggest launch ever and amassed over 142 million household views in the first four weeks. While global viewing hours of Netflix’s Korean shows grew six-fold last year, compared to 2019, Squid Game continues to be its biggest show with 95% of its viewership coming from outside of Korea, according to the plaform’s statement.

The nine-part series is an imaginative, unorthodox story in which 456 contestants risk their lives in a mysterious survival game for a chance to win 45.6 billion won.

The show which is currently in the planning for a second season, Netflix noted, has “pierced the cultural zeitgeist” to create a global fanbase, that spawned a Saturday Night Live skit and TikTok clips and memes with more than 42 billion views.

Squid Game also became the first-ever non-English language as well as Korean show to win the Golden Globe Awards, and receive nods in the Screen Actor Guild Awards.

Its success was topped off by the Korean supernatural show Hellbound that started streaming in November and garnered 43 million hours of viewership within the first few days of its release.

Recommended

The new slate of titles include shows like All of Us Are Dead, Forecasting Love and Weather, and Thirty Nine, which are scheduled to release on January 28, February 12, and February 16, respectively, as well as Money Heist: Korea- Joint Economic Area. Others include Tomorrow, Business Proposal, The Sound of Magic, Remarriage and Desires, A Model Family, Glitch, The Accidental Narco (WT), The Fabulous, Love to Hate You, Somebody, and Black Knight.

Netflix also introduced an unscripted show, titled Celeb Five: Behind the Curtain.

The films slate includes Love and Leashes, Yaksha: Ruthless Operations, Carter, Seoul Vibe, 20th Century Girl, and Jung E.