Paramount+ Expands Offerings Of Korean Original Content

With the growing international popularity of Korean content, another US-based streaming platform has plans to expand its slate of global Korean originals, revealing the development of two new series.

Paramount+ plans to launch the Korean series A Bloody Lucky Day and Queen Woo, on the service in the US, Canada, UK, Australia, Latin America, Brazil, Italy, France, Germany, Switzerland and Austria. Both series will be available on TVING in South Korea. This content was developed by Paramount+ and TVING, as the result of Paramount’s global partnership with the Korean entertainment company, CJ ENM.

A Bloody Lucky Day is a thriller action series following a taxi driver, Oh Taek, who gets entangled with a serial killer. Directed by Pil Gam-Sung and written by Kim Min-sung and Song Hanna, the series is produced by CJ ENM’s production house Studio Dragon, The Great Show and Studio N, and stars Lee Sung-min (Reborn Rich) as Oh Taek, Yoo Yeon-seok (The Interest of Love, Hospital Playlist) as Geum Hyuk-soo, the killer, and Lee Jung-eun (Parasite, Yonder, Our Blues) as Hwang Soon-gyu, the relentless chaser.

Queen Woo is a historical drama directed by Jung Se-kyo and written by Lee Byoung-hak (The Royal Tailor). Upon the death of Ko Nam Moo, Korea’s Goguryeo region’s ninth king, a fierce battle between the late king’s brothers begins. Efforts to inherit the throne result in a chase to marry one of the king’s brothers. The series follows the journey of Queen Woo Hee, the first woman in history to become queen twice. Jun Jong-seo, who stars in the films The Call and Burning, will play Queen Woo.

“We are incredibly proud of our Korean content that is finally taking the global stage, engaging viewers and fans on Paramount+ and beyond,” said Catherine Park, senior vice president, head of streaming and regional lead Asia, Paramount. “The addition of A Bloody Lucky Day and Queen Woo strengthens our global content offering, and we look forward to bringing more original Korean content to our viewers worldwide.”

Paramount+ also has other news to celebrate this week. The series Bargain was crowned Best Screenplay at the Canneseries Awards Ceremony. Bargain is currently available on TVING and will be available on Paramount this year. The Paramount+ Korean sci-fi drama Yonder launched globally on April 11.

“Recently, colorful TVING original series in different genres such as fantasy action, thriller and historical drama have entered the global awards ceremony competition both domestically and abroad,” said Hye-jung Hwang, TVING chief content officer. “We will continue to expand the global competitiveness of K-content with well-made original series that feature a large scale and a unique worldview.”

Paramount+ officially marked its entry to Asia last year with the launch of its streaming service in South Korea on TVING. Originally founded by CJ ENM, TVING launched as an independent corporation in October 2020.

Netflix
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was the first US-based streamer to produce original Korean content for an international market, launching their first series in 2019. Korean original content is now carried on Amazon Prime, Disney+, Hulu and Apple
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TV.