Korean Crime Thriller Bargain Set for Paramount+

Paramount and CJ ENM-backed TVing have struck a deal that brings the Korean crime-thriller series Bargain to Paramount+ outside of South Korea.

An adaptation of director Lee Chung-hyun’s award-winning 2015 short film of the same name, Bargain stars Jun Jong-seo (Money Heist: Korea) and Jin Seon-kyu (Extreme Job). Director Jun Woo-sung, who was part of the production team on the original short film, picked up the story and developed it into a six-part series.

Bargain centers on a group of strangers who gather at a remote motel with ulterior motives: seeking to bargain. The series follows the characters after an unexpected earthquake traps them inside the building. With no one to trust, they must find a way to survive.

Catherine Park, senior VP, head of streaming and office for Asia at Paramount, said: “Bargain is an incredible example of the phenomenal creative, compelling stories coming out of Korea and out of our strategic partnership with CJ ENM and TVing.  We are confident our audiences will love this series and Yonder when the two titles debut on our platform next year.”

Hyejung Hwang, chief content officer at TVing, added: “Under the strategic partnership with Paramount, we’re very pleased to introduce high-quality content to global audiences. We plan to accelerate discovering and developing competitive content IP.”

Bargain is available in Korea on TVing now and will debut on Paramount+ in 2023.

The series is licensed by Paramount Global Content Distribution outside of Korea, Japan and Taiwan.