Netflix to premiere Korean version of ‘Money Heist’ on 24 June

American streaming service Netflix will stream Money Heist: Korea–Joint Economic Area, the south Korean television series based on the Spanish heist crime drama series of the same name, on 24 June. The Korean series directed by Kim Hong-sun and written by Ryu Yong-jae, is an original Netflix series, starring Yoo Ji-tae, Park Hae-soo, Jeon Jong-seo, Lee Won-jong, and Park Myung-hoon.

The Reed Hastings-owned platform had earlier said the massive success of its Korean shows and films could lead to remakes in India, where local nuances are crucial to programming. The service said that overall, global viewing hours of its Korean shows grew six-fold in 2021, compared with 2019. Korean thriller Squid Game became its biggest show ever, reigning as the most-viewed Netflix show in 94 countries at its peak with 95% of its viewership coming from outside Korea.

“The local film and broadcasting industries are so strong in India that it’s wise to remake Korean shows in a way that is relevant for audiences here. There are a few projects that we are in active discussions for, with our India team,“ Don Kang, Netflix vice-president, content (Korea) had said at a media roundtable this January.

Other than India, Netflix is also looking at remaking Korean shows for the US and some other international markets.

“There has always been some level of demand for Korean content to be shown in neighbouring countries, but it was difficult to bring it to India which has a robust film and television industry itself,“ said Kong.

In 2021, the premiere of Netflix’s dark fantasy streaming series Hellbound clocked 43.48 million viewing hours. The show was among the Top 10 Netflix shows in 93 countries, and ranked number one in 34.