This past January 28th saw the global release of "All of Us Are Dead" on Netflix. The high school zombie drama is based on the webtoon of the same title. Figures released by Flix Patrol show that the drama has made a major worldwide impact, leading all other titles on the streaming platform for January 29th as well as January 30th.
The twenty-five number one countries for "All of Us Are Dead" include such countries as Brazil, France, Germany, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey. This is alongside where southeast Asian markets where most South Korean dramas do disproportionately well. Previous high-performing Netflix original dramas include "Hellbound" which was ranked number one for 11 days, while "Squid Game" is the all-time streak holder with a number one position for 53 days.
"All of Us Are Dead" is the only the latest in the K-Zombie trend. Netflix had its first big original South Korean project with "Kingdom" back in 2019, and later purchased distribution rights to the zombie film "#ALIVE" to previous great effect. "Train to Busan" in 2016 was the first big South Korean zombie project. The South Korean market now produces many such entries in the zombie genre, though comparatively few of them receive mainstream international distibution.
Written by William Schwartz
Staff writer. Has been writing articles for HanCinema since 2012, having lived in South Korea since 2011. Started out in Gyeongju, then to Daegu, then to Ansan, then to Yeongju, then to Seoul, lived on the road for HanCinema's travel diaries series in the summer of 2016, and is currently settled in Anyang. Has good tips for utilizing South Korea's public bus system. William Schwartz can be contacted via william@hancinema.net. He also has a substack at williamschwartz.substack.com where he discusses the South Korean film industry in broader terms and takes suggestions for future movies to review.
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