Kingdom is set in Korea’s medieval Joseon period. A crown prince is sent on a suicide mission to investigate a mysterious outbreak. When he discovers the truth, it threatens the kingdom. There will be eight episodes in the genre-bending series, which is dubbed both a period drama, as well as a zombie action thriller. Erik Barmack, vice president of International Originals at Netflix, describes the series as a “visual feast of historical drama blended with supernatural fantasy.”
Kingdom is produced by prominent Korean drama production company, Astory, and hails from acclaimed director Kim Seong-hun and writer Kim Eun-hee. Seong-hun’s latest project, Tunnel, which he both wrote and directed, was a top-five movie at the Korean box office last year, while Eun-hee’s series Signal was a top K-drama in 2016.
Seong-hun welcomes the opportunity to work on long-form television, and applauds the creative freedom that Netflix allows. Eun-hee says she has been working on Kingdom for the past six years. “I wanted to write a story that reflects the fears and anxiety of modern times, but explored through the lens of a romantic fascination of the historical Joseon period,” she added.
“We are incredibly honored by this rare opportunity of pairing two premier creative minds in Korea,” adds Barmack.
But you’ll have to wait awhile before you can feast your eyes on this enticing mash-up — the eight episodes won’t debut to Netflix members worldwide until 2018.
Netflix’s long (and growing) list of international originals includes Suburra from Italy, 3% (Brazil), Las chicas del cable from Spain, India’s Sacred Games, Ingobernable (Mexico), and Dark from Germany, among others.
Netflix confirmed its first Korean original series in January, and it’s the polar opposite of this one. Love Alarm, which will also debut in 2018, is based on a popular webtoon, and follows the life of a developer who releases an app that tells the user if someone within 10 meters has romantic feelings for them.
