Train to Busan: Peninsula now has an official release date in North American theaters, and it’s going to be on August 7.
Well Go USA, the official film distributor of the upcoming Korean zombie flick, confirmed the news, while the movie’s own official Twitter page also posted about the announcement.
https://twitter.com/PeninsulaMovie/status/1280909322382462977
It has also been verified that the sequel to 2016’s Train to Busan will also be heading to horror streaming platform Shudder early next year.
PENINSULA – the sequel to the hit zombie film TRAIN TO BUSAN – will be streaming exclusively on Shudder early next year 🧟♂️https://t.co/miRMOwGOmd
— Shudder (@Shudder) July 8, 2020
As for those who can’t wait to see Peninsula next month, or stream the movie on Shudder next year, they can still get to revisit or watch (if they haven’t yet), the first Train to Busan film will actually get an extended-release this month.
As noted by Bloody Disgusting, the re-release will reportedly come with additional footage that should provide some clues and indirect references to Peninsula.
Anticipated sequel
It can be argued that Peninsula may not be a direct sequel to Train to Busan, which debuted in theaters about four years ago.
Still, the new movie is being positioned as sort of the next “chapter” to the film, and the filmmakers have heavily hinted that it does exist in the same cinematic universe as the 2016 original.
In Peninsula, four years have passed since the zombie outbreak that was depicted in Train to Busan. Unsurprisingly, most of Korean society has all but collapsed, with most of the Korean peninsula (hence the title) reduced to a wasteland populated by hordes of the living dead.
This time around, the main protagonist is Jung-seok, who has managed to survive the initial outbreak and is now assigned to complete a covert retrieval mission.
Of course, things get a lot more complicated when his team comes across a group of survivors who could be the key to their collective survival or their downfall.
Peninsula is directed by Yeon Sang-ho, the same director who helmed the original film, as well as its animated prequel Seoul Station, also released in 2016.
For the upcoming sequel, Yeon is working with an entirely new cast, none of which starred in the first movie. Gang Dong-won (Illang: The Wolf Brigade) plays the main character Jeong-seok, and is supported by Lee Jung-hyun (The Battleship Island), Lee Re, Kwon Hae-hyo, Kim Min-jae, and Koo Kyo-hwan.
Korean zombie horror continues momentum
Apart from its upcoming debut in North American theaters, Peninsula is also set to be included in this year’s Cannes Film Festival, along with 55 other movies from various filmmakers across the globe. And as mentioned earlier, it will also be landing on Shudder in 2021.
Of course, Train to Busan: Peninsula is far from being the only zombie horror offering to come out from Korea recently.
Earlier this year, Netflix fans were treated with armies of undead mixed with palace intrigue with the release of the season of the hit series Kingdom, with a third season on the way.
For those who like their Korean zombie horror set in contemporary times, they need look no further than this year’s #Alive, which imagines what it would be like for a pair of survivors dealing with the undead, as well as lockdown-related problems (dwindling food, no Internet and electricity).
Images courtesy of Peninsula (Well Go USA) Press Kit