Based on a webtoon, the story concerns eight hard-up characters who are invited to participate in a reality game series. If they can stay in the same studio space for 100 days they will split 44.8 billion won (US$33.9 million), but there’s a catch.
K-drama casting latest: Jeon Do-yeon tipped for crime thriller series
K-drama casting latest: Jeon Do-yeon tipped for crime thriller series
11. Weak Hero Class 2
Lead cast: Park Ji-hoon, Ryeo Un, Choi Min-young, Yoo Su-bin
After an acclaimed first season on the Korean streaming platform Wavve, the webtoon adaptation Weak Hero Class is transferring to Netflix for a new semester.
Park Ji-hoon returns as Yeon Si-eun, who transfers to Eunjang High School. There he once again finds himself in a group of students facing off against an even more powerful group of bullies.
10. Queen of Tears
Lead cast: Kim Soo-hyun, Kim Ji-won, Kwak Dong-yeon
Superstar Kim Soo-hyun is back in March as Baek Hyun-woo, a country boy who has risen to become the head of the legal team at a major family-run corporation. He is married to Hong Hae-in (Kim Ji-won), daughter of the family that owns the business. Together, the couple must face a crisis.
9. A Killer Paradox
Lead cast: Choi Woo-shik, Son Suk-ku, Lee Hee-joon
Echoing the American series Dexter, the webtoon adaptation A Killer Paradox follows Lee Tang (Choi Woo-sik), a university student who discovers he has an extraordinary ability to recognise evildoers.
He learns this after accidentally killing an old man who turns out to be a serial killer; Tang then decides to become a killer of killers. Meanwhile, a detective (Son Suk-ku) and an ex-detective (Lee Hee-joon) are both hot on his trail.
8. A Shop for Killers
Lead cast: Kim Hye-jun, Lee Dong-wook
Door Lock director Lee Kwon returns to dramas with the slick Disney+ series A Shop for Killers. Kim Hye-jun appears as a young woman who went to live with her uncle (Lee Dong-wook) after being orphaned as a child.
Her uncle runs a mysterious store, but only later, after her uncle’s death, does she discover its secret. Now she must decide if she will carry on the business.
7. Everything Will Come True
Lead cast: Kim Woo-bin, Bae Suzy
The stars appear to have aligned for what will surely be one of the biggest K-dramas of the year. Kim Woo-bin plays an emotional genie who is released from his lamp by a reserved young woman, Ga-young (Bae Suzy), to whom he grants three wishes.
K-drama casting latest: Lee Se-young set for What Comes After Love
K-drama casting latest: Lee Se-young set for What Comes After Love
6. Nine Puzzle
Lead cast: Kim Da-mi, Son Suk-ku
Kim Da-mi stars as Yi-na, who was the only witness to her uncle’s death as a child. Ten years later, she is working as a criminal profiler and meets Detective Han-saem (Son Suk-ku), who suspected her of killing her uncle all those years ago and still hasn’t let go of those suspicions.
The unlikely pair begin to work together to uncover the truth.
5. Aema
Lead cast: Lee Hanee, Bang Hyo-rin, Jin Sun-kyu
Lee Hanee plays Jung Hee-ran, the top actress of the day, who is cast as the lead of the film Madame Aema by a wily producer, played by Jin Seon-kyu. When Hee-ran becomes too much of a diva she is fired and a rookie, played by real-life rookie Bang Hyo-rin, is selected through auditions to replace her.
4. When the Stars Gossip
Lead cast: Gong Hyo-jin, Lee Min-ho
Gong Hyo-jin and Lee Min-ho team up for what may be the year’s most spectacular melodrama in the sci-fi romance When the Stars Gossip.
Set both on Earth and in a space station, the series will chronicle the romance that develops between Lee’s obstetrician/gynaecologist and Gong’s Korean-American astronaut.
3. LTNS
Lead cast: Esom, Ahn Jae-hong
Indie film directors Jeon Go-woon (Microhabitat) and Lim Dae-hyung (Moonlit Winter) team up for black comedy LTNS (which stands for “Long Time No Sex”).
Esom and Ahn Jae-hong lead the series as a married couple who, after some setbacks in their professional and personal lives, team up to blackmail cheating spouses. Will this give them the spark they need to repair their marriage?
K-drama casting latest: Lee Jong-suk mulls I’m Against My Romance role
K-drama casting latest: Lee Jong-suk mulls I’m Against My Romance role
2. Squid Game 2
Lead cast: Lee Jung-jae, Lee Byung-hun, Im Si-wan, Kang Ha-neul
1. Uncle Samsik
Lead cast: Song Kang-ho, Byun Yo-han, Jin Ki-joo
Written and directed by Shin Yeon-shick, who also wrote Song’s last film, Cobweb, Uncle Samsik will see the star appear as a morally flexible fixer who teams up with a staunch idealist (played by Byun Yo-han) in 1960s Korea to change the country and bring it into the future.