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Cj Enm (Hong Kong), a channels and content distributor that is part of the Korean Cj Enm conglomerate, has picked up pay-tv rights in parts of Asia to a handful of Korean series that were co-financed by streaming platform Tving and Paramount+. The deal was struck with Paramount Global Content Distribution.

The productions are part of a global strategic partnership between Cj Enm and Paramount Global that was announced in December 2021.

The deal was announced on the eve of the Asian TV Forum (Atf), which kicks off next week in Singapore.

The series debut first on Tving in Korea and on Paramount+ in the U.S., Canada, U.K., Australia, Latin America, Brazil, Italy, France, Germany, Switzerland and Austria. They then move to the Cj Enm-owned channels tvN and tvN Movies in the first window pay-tv slot in Southeast Asia.

The titles that Cj Enm (Hong Kong) will represent include...

A group of men will get more than they bargained for when a trip to remote hotel for sex turns into a survival-of-the-fittest thriller as unwilling participants in an organ trafficking ring. When an earthquake traps the victims, traffickers, and buyers, it’s everyone for themselves. The hit Korean thriller series “Bargain” makes its United States premiere this Thursday, Oct. 5 on Paramount+. You can watch with a subscription to Paramount Plus.

How to Watch Korean Series 'Bargain' When: Thursday, October 5, 2023 Where: Paramount Plus Stream: Watch with a subscription to Paramount Plus. Save $20 Now$5.99+ / month paramountplus.com

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About Korean Series 'Bargain'

An adaptation of filmmaker Lee Chung-hyun’s 2015 award-winning short film, “Bargain” stars Jeon Jong-seo, Jin Seon-kyu, and Chang Ryul and revolves around a group of strangers who gather at a remote motel with ulterior motives...

With two years of reflection, it isn’t surprising that the unprecedented success of Netflix’s Squid Game wasn’t instantly reproducible. But it’s very surprising how few of television’s biggest platforms have even attempted to reproduce that success. There has probably been a visible uptick in available Korean programming in the States but — perhaps in tacit recognition of the fact that Squid Game became Squid Game because of its stealthy word-of-mouth explosion — there hasn’t been an evident rise in shows getting a big promotional push in the hopes of becoming the Next Squid Game.

If nothing else, Paramount+ is giving a push to the new six-part drama Bargain, from writer-director Jeon Woo-sung. It’s frequently easy to see why.

Bargain is not, of course, the next Squid Game. Nothing is. Or when something is, it will probably emerge out of nowhere.

But it isn’t a wholly inappropriate comparison,...

"I won the auction! Where do I get my kidney?" Paramount+ has revealed a new official trailer for a Korean survival thriller series called Bargain, now with English subtitles. This debuted in Korea last fall, and it's playing at the 2023 Toronto Film Festival soon as well. It's a combination of survival stories: an earthquake hits trapping a bunch of people in a collapsed building. Inside it is an organ-trafficking ring, posing as a brothel to lure in men. More from TIFF: "Based on Lee Chung-hyun’s award-winning short film of the same name that premiered at TIFF '16, this darkly funny, endlessly entertaining, and unpredictable series keeps us guessing what might be around every corner. Every character ― buyers, sellers, and bystanders alike ― is thrown into a desperate struggle to survive not only the crumbling building, but also the circumstances that brought them there in the first place." The series stars Jin Sun-kyu,...

The new six-episode, live-action,  'dystopian thriller' TV series "Bargain", written and directed by Jeon Woo-sung, stars Jin Sun-kyu, Jun Jong-seo and Chang Ryul, streaming October 5, 2023 on Paramount+:

"...men are being lured to a remote hotel under the guise of sexual encounters only to be caught in a gruesome trafficking ring. Then after a catastrophic earthquake, the victims, traffickers and buyers all are trapped inside the crumbling building. Cut off from the outside world, they must fight to survive the aftermath at any cost..."

Click the images to enlarge...

The auctioning of an unwitting donor’s assorted organs gets interrupted by an earthquake in the trailer for Bargain, a festival award-winning South Korean dystopian thriller series heading to Paramount+.

All six episodes will premiere Thursday, Oct. 5 on Paramount+ in the U.S, the UK, Canada, Australia, Latin America, Brazil, France, Italy, Germany, Switzerland and Austria.

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In Bargain,...

Oscar-winning director Bong Joon-ho was on hand to present an award to Im Kwon-taek as part of the Wednesday night opening ceremony of the Busan International Film Festival. The in-person event included many of the trappings of past ceremonies, but it was smaller due to reduced numbers and ongoing social distancing precautions.

Held at the huge open-sided Busan Cinema Center venue, proceedings kicked off with a lengthy parade of celebrities and dignitaries along an L-shaped red carpet that resembled an oversized fashion runway.

Ambassadors for Korean fashion brand Artistry were first up, setting the mood for a still glamorous event. They were followed by the directors and cast of selected Korean independent films, by an obviously delighted Japanese director Hamaguchi Ryusuke and three actors from his recent film “Drive My Car.” A smattering of overseas visitors included Sabrina Baracetti from the Udine festival of Asian films in Italy. The New...