Romantic drama Perfect Crown has become the most-watched Korean series on Disney+. The series, which stars IU, Byeon Wooseok, Noh Sanghyun, Gong Seungyeon, Yu Subin, and Lee Yeon.
The series premiered on April 10 with new episodes airing every Friday and Saturday on MBC TV and Disney+, concluding on May 16.
The Burgeoning K-Drama Market
Netflix is the global streaming platform most associated with Korean content. Squid Game’s second series aired to 140 million households in its first month. Bloodhounds has just launched its second season after a successful first stint.
Other popular Korean content spans genres from real-life competition shows (Physical:100) to romantic dramas (When Life Gives You Tangerines).
Disney+ Ramps Up Asian Original Content
While Netflix continues to rule the Korean content roost, Disney+ has joined the party. It enjoyed success with titles such as the 2023 movie Moving, as well as A Shop For Killers, Gangnam B-Side, and Light Shop.
In a bid to further inflate its K-drama content, the streaming platform is working on a new slate of content. As well as Perfect Crown, which runs until May, it is also planning a sophomore second series of A Shop For Killers.
New IPs include The Remarried Empress and a Korean remake of The Americans, called, unsurprisingly, The Koreans.
Gold Land launched at the end of this month. The crime thriller stars Park Bo-young who unwittingly becomes embroiled in a gold bar heist while working as an airport employee. The series is helmed by director Kim Sung-hoon and written by Hwang Jo-Yoon, who also brought us Old Boy.
The Internet has opened up a world of diverse content. As well as streaming content from all continents, we can play video, mobile, and online games produced globally against players from the other side of the world.
Casinos have even joined the Asian content push. As well as big jackpot games like themed Megaways slots, members can play games like Pai Gow Poker, Sic Bo, and other games inspired by Asian aesthetics and casinos, showing how this push is being seen across entertainment industries.
Perfect Crown
Disney will be hoping its new content enjoys the same success as Perfect Crown. Billed as a romantic comedy, it is set in an alternative, modern-day South Korea. Illegitimate business heiress Seong Hui-ju, played by IU, enters into a contract marriage with lonely Grand Prince Lee Ahn, played by Byeon Woo-seok. In time, and against a backdrop of political and public challenge, the pair’s transactional marriage eventually becomes a romantic one.
While the storyline is a well-trodden path, Perfect Crown receives critical acclaim for its high production values and some stellar performances from rising and established Korean stars.
The show airs on MBC, in Korea, where it ranked first amongst Friday-Saturday dramas during the release of its early episodes. It went on to become MBC’s 7th highest rated Friday-Saturday drama ever within its first few weeks.
For Paramount+, it became the most popular Asian series on the streaming platform weeks after launch and entered the top-10 list in several global markets.