If you’ve been a frustrated cinephile jealous of countries that have been responding to the pandemic well enough to reopen cinemas for new film screenings, then you’re in luck because this South Korean blockbuster thriller is coming to Netflix.
On Aug. 25, Netflix announced that they will be premiering the zombie film “#Alive” internationally on Sept. 8. The thriller film was initially released in South Korea on Jun. 24 and surpassed one million ticket sales just within five days. Unlike most cinemas worldwide closing due to the pandemic, South Korea’s movie theaters remained open even as ticket sales dropped and theater-goers were prompted to stay home and practice social distancing. However, as the country made progress with its COVID-19 response, people began going back to theaters and “#Alive” became the first film to hit one million sales in South Korea since February.
Produced by Zip Cinema, a subsidiary of Spackman Entertainment Group and Perspective Pictures, “#Alive” tells the story of an out of control virus outbreak in Seoul that turns its victims into zombies who eat each other. The film features two neighbors, played by actors Yoo Ah-in and Park Shin-hye, trapped in an apartment complex, isolating themselves from those infected with the virus (sounds quite familiar doesn’t it?), with little to no access to news or communication except for the TV and their windows as they fight to stay alive.
President of Spackman Entertainment Kay Na told Forbes that “#Alive’s” release in the middle of a pandemic was a gamble and that its success was due to the fact that viewers could relate to it given the current situation.
“We believe the successful opening of ‘#Alive’ demonstrates that demand still exists for theatrical viewing despite the various COVID precautions in place at the theaters,” said Kay Na. “It was a gamble for us to release ‘#Alive’ in the current environment, but we didn’t want a finished product to go stale while we waited this out. Also, we felt that there was no guarantee that the situation would get any better if we waited longer to release.”
“As a film that revolves [around] isolation, survival, longing to meet others, escape and freedom, it becomes natural for people to closely relate ‘#Alive’ to the current situation of the COVID-19 pandemic.”
Since we can’t catch the film on a movie date at our local cinemas any time soon, a long-distance Netflix party will have to do for now.
Photo courtesy of Netflix
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