Disney+ boards South Korean adaptation of UK drama Liar

The Perfect Lie debuts next month

BCWW: Disney+ has emerged as the international streaming partner for the forthcoming South Korean adaptation of UK scripted format Liar, due to debut on terrestrial broadcaster MBC next month.

Adapted from the well-travelled ITV drama, the Korean series is called The Perfect Lie and is a collaboration spearheaded by MBC and coproduced by Kakao Entertainment and film studio Zip Cinema.

Kakao secured the Liar remake rights from All3Media International, after the UK original from Two Brothers Pictures aired on ITV in 2017.

The 12-part Korean series is generating significant buzz for reuniting actors Seo Hyun-jin and Yoo Yeon-seok, who famously shared on-screen chemistry a decade ago in medical drama Dr Romantic on SBS.

Filming on The Perfect Lie wrapped in August and the show is now due to premiere on October 30, taking over MBC’s Friday-Saturday evening slot. It will also screen on Disney+ inside and outside Korea.

MBC is reshaping its drama strategy through an output relationship with Disney+. The agreement gives the US-based streamer the first option on MBC dramas and has already yielded romantic comedy Perfect Crown, another Kakao Entertainment production.

Screening this year, it became Disney+’s most-watched South Korean series globally, with over 43 million viewing hours.

“Perfect Crown has been one of the most popular international series on Disney+ this year,” MBC’s director of format sales and international, Jean Hur, told C21 here at Korean content market BCWW in Seoul. “We still work with other OTT platforms, but we are now collaborating with Disney+ for a lot of our dramas.” The partnership is driven by the need to secure financing upfront, Hur added.

Alongside KBS and SBS, MBC is a shareholder in Korean streamer Wavve, home to MBC’s hit unscripted format Bloody Game. However, greenlights from Wavve have slowed down due to the ongoing merger with TVing that has been dragging on for almost three years.