Concrete Utopia to get a U.S. release on streaming

One of South Korea’s biggest hits of last year is set to hit stateside. Concrete Utopia is a film that gained acclaim and was a massive hit at the Korean box office in 2023 with an earning of $28.0 million from 3.85 million admissions when the film opened on August 9 of last year. The film was also a Korean Oscar contender. Variety’s review of the film stated, “[Concrete Utopia] places its characters in a desperate, scary, do-or-die situation and then refuses to tell the audience what to think about them. It’s a fractious, blood-soaked drama about the will to survive that feels like Earthquake crossed with Lord of the Flies.” 

Variety is now reporting that Concrete Utopia has secured a U.S. streaming release on a platform called Rakuten Viki, a service that specializes in Asian content. The streaming platform has licensed exclusive rights to the film in the U.S. and Canada and will begin streaming it to North American audiences from Friday. The film, which stars Lee Byung-hun (Squid Game, I Saw the Devil, the G.I Joe franchise), Park Seo-jun (Parasite, What’s Wrong With Secretary Kim), and Park Bo-young (Strong Girl Bong-soon, Doom at Your Service).

According to Variety, the movie is “based on the second part of webtoon Cheerful Outcast by Kim Soong-nyung. Concrete Utopia portrays Seoul as devastated by a powerful earthquake which has left the Hwanggoong Apartment complex as the only building still standing. Lee’s character Young-Tak temporarily leads the residents of the apartment complex, but as the crisis unfolds, moral values are tested.”

After the film debuted highly in Korea, it would also screen at a number of film festivals, including the Toronto International Film Festival, Sitges International Film Festival and Fantastic Fest. Jaehee Hong, SVP of content at Rakuten Viki, remarks, “As the appetite for Asian entertainment continues to grow with U.S. audiences, this is a significant moment for Rakuten Viki as we look to raise the bar in offering the latest and most buzzworthy titles to fans.”