Newtopia
Newtopia 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 and is also available for streaming on Amazon Prime Video in selected regions.
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
- Jisoo as Kang Young-joo, Jae-yoon's girlfriend
- Im Sung-jae as Ra In-ho, Jae-yoon's successor
- Hong Seo-hee as Oh Soo-jung, a VIP lounge employee
- Tang Jun-sang as Sam-soo, Young-ju's strong supporter
- Lee Hak-joo as Sung Tae-sik / Alex, the CEO of Alex Entertainment
- Kim Junhan as Aaron Park, hotel manager near Jae-yoon's unit
- Kang Young-seok as Seo Jin-wook
- Choi Hee-jin as Choi Seul-gi
- Lee Cho-hee as Park Eun-chae
- Justin John Harvey as Chef Paolo
Production
Development
Newtopia series was directed by Yoon Sung-hyun, who directed Bleak Night and Time to Hunt, and the script was co-written by Han Jin-won, who wrote Parasite, and Ji Ho-jin, who wrote A Shop for Killers. It was produced by Bound Entertainment and Billions Plus. It is based on the novel Influenza by author Han Sang-woon. The production of Newtopia was confirmed on August 7, 2024.Casting
In 2023, Jisoo, Park Jeong-min, and Kim Jun-han were reportedly considering to appear, respectively. On April 8, 2024, Hong Seo-hee was reportedly confirmed to appear. On August 1, Coupang Play confirmed the casting for Park and Jisoo.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.Reception
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."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: " 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."