Paramount+ announced the expansion of its global Korean originals slate, revealing that three new series DONGJAE, THE GOOD OR THE BASTARD; DREAMING OF CINDE FXXXING RELLA, and PYRAMID GAME will launch exclusively on the service in the U.S., Canada, U.K., Australia, Latin America, Brazil, Italy, France, Germany, Switzerland and Austria. The latest batch of Korean shows completes all seven titles committed by Paramount+ and TVING, following YONDER, BARGAIN, A BLOODY LUCKY DAY and QUEEN WOO, as part of Paramount’s global partnership with leading entertainment company CJ ENM.

Paramount+ is enjoying the growing success of its global Korean originals. YONDER, the first title announced from the partnership, aired on Paramount+ internationally in April and was the #1 international series in the US at premiere. The highly-acclaimed series BARGAIN has already picked up two international accolades, crowned ‘Best Screenplay’ at the Canneseries Awards Ceremony, and winning the Critics’ Choice Award at the Seriencamp Festival in Germany. It recently had its North American premiere at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival as part of the event’s Primetime section, and is set to launch on Paramount+ internationally on October 5. 

Catherine Park, Paramount’s Senior Vice President, Head of Streaming & Regional Lead, Asia, said, “On the heels of BARGAIN’s recent success in attracting a great interest from various international markets, we’re excited to announce that more Korean content will travel globally through Paramount+. We take great pride in witnessing the fruitful results of our partnership with TVING and CJ ENM, and we will continue to work closely with them to ensure utmost success for all our co-produced Korean originals.

Yang Si-kwon, Head of Content at TVING, said, “YONDER and BARGAIN, which were previously selected as partnership titles between the two companies, are showing tangible results on the global stage. It is meaningful that collaboration has now expanded to confirm these three series as well, which will help maximize partnership synergy.” 

DONGJAE, THE GOOD OR THE BASTARD, produced by Studio Dragon and ACE FACTORY, is a spin-off of the renowned thriller series Stranger, and its story will revolve around one of the popular characters in Stranger Seo Dongjae, whose future is bleak due to the stigma of his past corruption as a sponsor prosecutor. In the spin-off series, Dongjae is troubled by a redevelopment case. When he takes on the murder case of a high school girl, he begins to walk a dangerous tightrope between his intuition as a prosecutor and his instinct as an opportunist. DONGJAE, THE GOOD OR THE BASTARD is created by Lee Su-yeon, who wrote the first two seasons of Stranger. It is directed by Park Gun Ho, and written by Hwang Hajung and Kim Sangwon.

DREAMING OF CINDE FXXXING RELLA is a “hybrid” romantic comedy created by renowned television screenwriter Baek Mi-kyoung who has written many well-received dramas, such as Strong Girl Bong-soon, The Lady in Dignity and Mine. DREAMING OF CINDE FXXXING RELLA is a story of a woman whose dream is to become Cinderella because of her harsh reality. She meets Prince Charming who doesn’t believe in love, and through the conflicts they face, she matures into becoming Princess Charming herself. It is a production that seems like a children’s story at times, but a hot adult love story at times, too. The series is directed by Kim Min-kyeong, written by Yu-ja, and produced by CJ ENM, Story Phoenix and KEYEAST. 

PYRAMID GAME, created by JQ Lee, directed by BaK So Yeon, written by Choi Sui, is a story of a high school girl who had to escape being bullied and become a “sniper” to end the game in Baekyeon Girls’ High School, where each person is graded through monthly voting, and an ‘F’ grade is labeled as a legitimate victim of school violence. PYRAMID GAME is produced by Film Monster and CJ ENM STUDIOS. Kim Jiyeon, known for her performance in the popular TV series Twenty-Five Twenty-One, plays the lead character Sung Soo-ji.

Paramount+ officially marked its entry to Asia last year with the launch of its streaming service in South Korea on the number-one K-content platform, TVING, a CJ ENM subsidiary. This was part of a strategic global partnership between Paramount Global and CJ ENM that includes content licensing and distribution across Paramount+ and TVING, as well as the development of Korean original series. DONGJAE, THE GOOD OR THE BASTARD; DREAMING OF CINDE FXXXING RELLA, and PYRAMID GAME will be licensed by Paramount Global Content Distribution outside of Korea, Japan, and Taiwan.