The reason why Netflix produced the Korean remake of “Money Heist” with the exact same events and flow as the original version’s
It’s pointed out that Netflix has a clear intention in making “Money Heist: Korea” knowing they would receive mixed reactions from the global viewers.
Highly-anticipated Netflix series “Money Heist: Korea – Joint Economic Area” has been released. Featuring a splendid cast, including Yoo Ji-tae, Park Hae-soo, Jeon Jong-seo, and Kim Yoon-jin, this is definitely an ambitious plan of Netflix. However, netizens’ responses are divided.
“Money Heist: Korea – Joint Economic Area” is a remake version of Netflix’s Spanish hit drama “Money Heist”. It tells about a group of robberies led by Professor stealing money from the Mint established by the cooperation of South Korea and North Korea in the Joint Economic Area.
As a remake of “Money Heist”, expectations for “Money Heist: Korea – Joint Economic Area” were high even before its official release. However, the atmosphere was quite different after the first episode was released. Some said they enjoyed it, but many others compared it to the original version and gave unfavorable reviews.
In particular, Western fans who enjoyed the original Spanish series “Money Heist” harshly criticized the remake version. As of June 29th, its score on the rating site IMDb is only 5.1/10. The viewers commented, “Ctrl C + Ctrl V but the file is corrupt”, “What was the point? It’s just a remake. Nothing new”, “A downgraded remake of the original”, etc.
What makes “Money Heist: Korea – Joint Economic Area” receive the most criticism is that it is just like the original version. The viewers who have already seen a Spanish drama expressed disappointment in the remake film, pointing out that each of its events, flows and scenes were just similar to the original version.
Then why did Netflix not make a new Korean version but a complete copy work that follows the same story in the original one? Has Netflix never predicted people’s reactions after the release of the work?
“Money Heist: Korea – Joint Economic Area” is one of the works that Netflix produced with a clear purpose. Netflix, which has already been famous in most parts of the Americas, Europe and the Middle East, has been trying to find new areas for about two years. That was the Asia-Pacific region, especially Southeast Asia.
Southeast Asia has a population of 655 million people, but as of August 2020, there were only over 1 million users from this region out of Netflix’s 200 million subscribers. In order to expand its scale to Southeast Asia, Netflix has identified one characteristic of this region: the amazing popularity of K-content and the Korean Wave. Most of the famous content in Southeast Asia is Korean dramas. Therefore, while other OTT services are also entering Southeast Asia, Netflix decided to make its steps through “Money Heist: Korea – Joint Economic Area”.
In other words, the story of the existing mega-hit movie “Money Heist” was brought back but produced as a remake with the Korean drama details favored by Southeast Asian viewers. For Western fans who are too familiar with “Money Heist”, this work is none other than a copy, but Netflix’s purpose does not consider Western audiences in the first place.
During the production, Netflix developed a completely unexpected scenario. That’s the appearance of its biggest hit of all time – “Squid Game”. With the huge success of “Squid Game”, “Money Heist: Korea – Joint Economic Area” seems to have been selected as the follow-up work.
Then, did Netflix’s plan work? Of course, “Money Heist: Korea – Joint Economic Area” already received the hottest responses as it could by ranking 1st place in Southeast Asian countries for three days right after its release.
Southeast Asian netizens also commented, “The Korean remake is more dramatic”, “Please produce Season 2 soon”, “This drama is insane”, “I can’t sleep because of it”, “It’s totally a Korean-style drama”, etc. Since they are not familiar with the original film “Money Heist”, the Korean version might feel fresher and more interesting.
Source: Wikitree
