Netflix is adapting a popular Korean zombie apocalypse webtoon into an original series, Deadline reported on Monday. The show, tentatively titled All Of Us Are Dead, constitutes one of several Korean language productions the streaming giant had ordered back in September.
Based on the webtoon Now At Our School, Netflix’s All Of Us Are Dead will follow a band of teenagers trapped inside their high school facility while a zombie-like disease begins to spread rapidly among the student body. The webtoon – a kind of digitally published comic strip unique to Korean markets – has received critical and commercial acclaim throughout the country. More recently, it’s also done well in Indonesia, Thailand and Taiwan, where the genre is growing in popularity.
All Of Us Are Dead will be written by Chun Sung-il, who’s penned a number of successful Korean films including 2014’s The Pirates, as well as some television dramas like 2018’s Your Honor and 2017’s The Package. Episodes will be directed by acclaimed Korean television directors Lee JQ and Kim Nam-su, and shall be produced by Seoul-based broadcaster JTBC Studios in collaboration with Film Monster.
While the premise of a zombie apocalypse may have peaked a decade ago as far as American audiences are concerned, the genre still holds a special place in contemporary Korean cinema culture, as evidenced by the immense success of 2016’s Train To Busan. On top of that, Netflix’s first ever Korean original show, Kingdom, which debuted on the platform only just last year, also pays heavy homage to the genre.
Other Korean titles ordered by Netflix include Extracurricular, My Holo Love, and The School Nurse Files. While the streamer never offered a concrete rationale for this recent business venture, its interest in South Korean cinema is undoubtedly being fueled by the international phenomenon that was Bong Joon-ho’s Oscar-winning feature Parasite.
Pair the hype around that film with the obsession people everywhere are having with disease-related content due to the coronavirus pandemic, and it certainly seems like Netflix has a real winner up its sleeve.