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Newtopia
2025 South Korean television series From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Newtopia (Korean: 뉴토피아) is a 2025 South Korean romantic fantasy zombie comedy television series starring Park Jeong-min and Jisoo. It aired on Coupang Play From February 7, to March 21, 2025, at 20:00 (KST) and is also available for streaming on Amazon Prime Video in selected regions.
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Synopsis
A couple who have recently broken up attempt to reunite following the emergence of a zombie outbreak that overtakes South Korea.
Cast
- Park Jeong-min as Lee Jae-yoon, a soldier[3]
- Jisoo as Kang Young-joo, Jae-yoon's girlfriend[3]
- Im Sung-jae as Ra In-ho, Jae-yoon's successor[3]
- Hong Seo-hee as Oh Soo-jung, a VIP lounge employee[4]
- Tang Jun-sang as Sam-soo, Young-ju's strong supporter[5]
- Lee Hak-joo as Sung Tae-sik / Alex, the CEO of Alex Entertainment[6]
- Kim Junhan as Aaron Park, hotel manager near Jae-yoon's unit[7]
- Kang Young-seok as Seo Jin-wook[8]
- Choi Hee-jin as Choi Seul-gi[9]
- Lee Cho-hee as Park Eun-chae[10]
- Justin John Harvey as Chef Paolo[11]
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Production
Development
Newtopia series was directed by Yoon Sung-hyun, who directed Bleak Night (2010) and Time to Hunt (2020), and the script was co-written by Han Jin-won, who wrote Parasite (2019), and Ji Ho-jin, who wrote A Shop for Killers (2024).[12] It was produced by Bound Entertainment and Billions Plus. It is based on the novel Influenza by author Han Sang-woon.[13] The production of Newtopia was confirmed on August 7, 2024.[14]
Casting
In 2023, Jisoo, Park Jeong-min, and Kim Jun-han were reportedly considering to appear, respectively.[15][16][17] On April 8, 2024, Hong Seo-hee was reportedly confirmed to appear.[18] On August 1, Coupang Play confirmed the casting for Park and Jisoo.[19]
Release
In December 2024, the series premiered on Coupang Play on February 7, 2025, and was also be available to stream on Amazon Prime Video in around 240 regions.[20][21]
Reception
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Perspective
For the South China Morning Post, Pierce Conran gave the series 2.5 out of 5 stars, writing, "Newtopia is nowhere near as sharp as previous high points of this Korean subgenre – which include the film Train to Busan and previous series Kingdom and Happiness. The mise-en-scène is stylish and a colourful array of zombies, not to mention methods to dispatch them, litter the screen. It is in other areas where the show struggles, namely in tone and narrative. [...] For all its slick and stylised mayhem, Newtopia does not possess one iota of tension."[22]
Sarah Musnicky of But Why Tho? rated it a 5.5 out of 10, in particular criticising the character of Young-joo, who she called the "weakest link" in the show: "[She] doesn't come across as a fully developed character. In fact, the character aligns more with the damsel-in-distress archetype for the bulk of Newtopia, and a lot of the time, all she does is cry. [...] Jisoo's range is limited, as is her chemistry. [...] By the time Newtopia ends, this couple never hits that level of believability necessary to make this a successful rom-com."[23]
Accolades
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References
External links
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