With Netflix updating its catalog yet again to prepare for next month, a widely popular Korean horror thriller, Train to Busan, is leaving the platform. Originally released ten years ago, the movie broke numerous box office records and generated considerable buzz, garnering positive reviews from critics and audiences.
Train to Busan will leave Netflix next month
Given the changing nature of licensing agreements, Train to Busan will reportedly be leaving Netflix on May 2. Accordingly, fans have around three weeks to stream it before its scheduled departure.
The story primarily takes place on a KTX train from Seoul to Busan and follows several passengers, most notably a father-daughter duo — Seok-woo and Soo-an, and a married couple, Seong-kyeong and Sang-hwa, as they confront and try to survive a zombie outbreak.
Yeon Sang-ho directed Train to Busan from his and Park Joo-suk’s script, while Lee Dong-ha produced the movie. The cast features Gong Yoo, Jung Yu-mi, Ma Dong-seok, Kim Su-an, Kim Eui-sung, Choi Woo-sik, Sohee, and Ye Soo-jung, among others.
The film first premiered in Cannes on May 13, 2016, before launching in South Korea two months later on July 20. In the year of its release, it reportedly became notable for being the first Korean movie to break the audience record of over 10 million theatergoers.
Train to Busan became a commercial success, grossing an estimated $98.5 million globally. Consequently, it launched a film franchise that currently includes an animated prequel, Seoul Station, which dropped a month later on August 18, and a standalone sequel, Peninsula, which premiered on July 15, 2020. A spin-off set in the United States, The Last Train to New York, and a follow-up to Peninsula are reportedly in development. The former was originally slated to arrive in 2023 but has since been delayed indefinitely.
Critics and fans enjoyed what the film offered, reflected in the strong ratings on review aggregator websites. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds impressive “certified fresh” critical and robust audience scores of 95% and 89%. Meanwhile, Metacritic displays a 73 Metascore and an 8.0 user score, both denoting a “generally favorable” reception.
