We had incredibly high hopes for a successful Korean adaptation of La Casa De Papel, however, it’s looking increasingly likely that we may struggle to get a second season of Money Heist: Korea – Joint Economic Area on Netflix.
Produced by BH Entertainment and Content Zium, Money Heist: Korea- Joint Economic Area is a South Korean Netflix Original series and adaptation of the beloved Spanish crime drama La Casa De Papel (Money Heist). Adapting Alex Pina’s story was the screenwriter Ryu Yong-Jae, who was assisted by Choe Sung-jun and Kim Hwan-Chae.
Money Heist: Korea – Joint Economic Area season 2 Netflix Renewal Status
Official Netflix Renewal Status: Pending (Last Updated: 13/12/2022)
At the time of writing, there is no confirmation that we will be receiving more seasons of Money Heist: Korea – Joint Economic Area.
If Netflix wanted to continue the series then that would be an easy option considering there’s more source material for the Korean adaptation to play with. However, when we consider how poorly the series has performed across the release of both halves of season 1, the outlook isn’t promising.
In the first three weeks of its release, the series was only able to amass 97 million viewing hours. This may sound a lot, but when you consider how popular its Spanish predecessor was, and how much of a global phenomenon became, sadly, 97 million hours might not be enough for renewal.
Viewing figures for part 2 are less than flattering. With the release of the viewing data between December 5th and December 12th, the series was only able to manage 12.8 million hours. The k-drama had a full weekend for subscribers to stream, so a return of 12.8 million is exceptionally poor, especially by Money Heist standards.
With the current outlook, we would be incredibly surprised if Netflix was to renew Money Heist: Korea – Joint Economic Area for a second season.
What could we expect from Money Heist: Korea Joint Economic Area season 2?
It would be incredibly easy for the story of the Korean adaptation to follow the same road as its Spanish predecessor, however, there are some significant changes that could result in a slightly different direction for the story.
One of the major motives behind the heist for the Professor was to expose the corrupt capitalists that had been using the JAE, and the reunification of the Korean peninsula as a means to line their own pockets.
With the heist successful and the 4 trillion won printed, the crew, and the professor have all the means to use their cash to live out their wildest dreams. However, the Professor has another scheme up his sleeve and one that would likely continue to put a dent in the corruption of the capitalists and bring the Korean peninsula closer together economically.
A force to be reckoned with, Berlin survived the heist with his lover Seoul after both we believed to be dead when they stayed behind to blow up the tunnel. If Berlin is at the side of the Professor for what he has planned next, then the Professor will have absolutely no problem executing his plan to down to every excruciating detail.
Was Netflix wrong to choose Korea for the adaptation?
The past decade has seen a meteoric rise in the consumption of content from South Korea. From K-Pop to K-Dramas, Korean media has been consumed by the billions.
One of the biggest beneficiaries of this surge in popularity has been Netflix. Who, over the past several years has invested hundreds of millions of dollars into original content from South Korea.
While Netflix does have Squid Game to brag about, there have also been plenty of duds, and dramas that we would have expected to perform better, only to fall to the wayside and not garner much attention from subscribers. Merging La Casa De Papel and South Korea sounded like a match made in heaven, but thanks to the viewing data, we know for sure that the drama has close to our expectations, let alone exceeding them.
This begs the question. Was South Korea the best nation for a regional adaptation of a recently ended and beloved Netflix series? There is a case to be had that Netflix should have looked elsewhere for its regional adaptation of Money Heist.
In particular, India would have been a perfect country to receive an adaptation. Netflix India subscribers can’t get enough of the original Money Heist, which has spent the past two years in India’s top ten list. When compared to South Korea, the original Money Heist only spent 61 days in the top ten list.
A fact that still blows my mind.
Money Heist (the original Spanish version) is STILL in the top 10s on Netflix India. 784 days and counting.
Why isn’t there a Bollywood version!?
— Kasey Moore (@kasey__moore) December 13, 2022
Is a Bollywood adaptation of Money Heist a missed opportunity for Netflix? The evidence suggests yes.
Would you like to see more seasons of Money Heist: Korea – Joint Economic Area? Let us know in the comments below!