Paramount+ expands Korean slate with two new dramas via CJ ENM alliance

Bargain

Paramount+ is expanding its South Korean originals slate with the commission of two new drama series, A Bloody Lucky Day and Queen Woo.

Both shows will launch exclusively on the service in the US, Canada, the UK, Australia, Latin America, Brazil, Italy, France, Germany, Switzerland and Austria, and will also be available on TVING in South Korea – marking the latest projects developed by Paramount+ and TVING, out of Paramount’s global partnership with CJ ENM.

A Bloody Lucky Day is an action-thriller series following an ordinary taxi driver Taek, who gets entangled with a customer that turns out to be a serial killer. The series is directed by Pil Gam-Sung and written by Kim Min-sung and Song Hanna, while CJ ENM’s Studio Dragon, The Great Show and Studio N are producing. It stars Lee Sung-min, Yoo Yeon-seok and Lee Jung-eun.

Queen Woo, meanwhile, is a period drama series directed by Jung Se-kyo and written by Lee Byoung-hak. Upon the death of King Ko Nam Moo, Korea’s Goguryeo region’s ninth king, a fierce battle between all the tribes owned by the late king’s brothers begins. In efforts to inherit the throne, a chase to marry one of the king’s brothers ensues, and the series follows the journey of Queen Woo Hee (Jun Jong-seo), the first woman in history to become queen twice.

The two new shows will stand alongside existing Paramount+ South Korean content, including Yonder and Bargain, which received the award for best screenplay at Canneseries this week.

Paramount+ entered Asia last year with a partnership with CJ ENM-owned South Korean streaming platform TVING, through which existing subscribers gained access to Paramount+ content at no additional cost. The alliance also covers the development of original series for both services, with resulting shows licensed by Paramount Global Content Distribution outside of Korea, Japan and Taiwan.

“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, SVP and head of streaming & regional lead Asia for 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 is far from the only streamer to be making significant investment in South Korean content, with Netflix unveiling a huge content slate from the country in January, with 34 new and returning titles across scripted and unscripted series and films for the coming year.