Disney+ added another buzzy Korean drama title on Thursday to its steadily expanding slate of originals from East Asia.
The broadcaster announced the launch of principal photography on Wonders of developing general storea Korean-language series based on Japanese author Keigo Higashino’s 2012 best-selling book, which has sold over 13 million copies worldwide. The series is scheduled to be released globally by Disney+ in 2027.
The novel revolves around three small-time criminals who hide out in an abandoned general store after a botched robbery, only to begin receiving letters asking for advice from strangers writing from decades in the past. The novel has been adapted twice before for the screen – by Ryuichi Hiroki for a Japanese film in 2017, and by Han Ji in the same year for a Chinese-language version starring Jackie Chan as the kindly store owner.
Ryu Seung-ryong will headline the new Korean series as Go Min-joong, an elderly shopkeeper whose responses to mysterious letters set off a chain of connections spanning decades. The role is the actor’s third major collaboration with Disney+, following his star turn in the 2023 superhero film Moving — the biggest original Korean series to date — and a 1970s crime thriller Low lifecurrently streaming.
The trio of young thieves at the center of the story will be played by rising newcomer Kang Yoo-seok (Resident playbook), Park Jung Woo (twentieth century girl(And Kim Seung-jeong)The woodcutter and the fairy). The backing ensemble is studded with popular K-drama talent, including Kim Hye-eun (Beautiful runner), Moon Sang Min (Pavan(lee chai min)Bon appetite, Your Majesty), with special appearances coming from Yum Jung-ah, Yeom Hye-ran, Jung Chae-yeon, and Jang Dong-yoon.
Park Young Joo, famous for her hit song about true crime in 2024 Citizen of some sort – An underdog comedy thriller starring Ra Mi Ran as a real-life laundromat owner who brings down a voice-phishing scam ring – They both directed and wrote the adapted scripts. The series is produced by The Lamp, the Korean company behind Jang Hoon’s contemporary classics taxi driver.
The rebound comes amid a renewed push from Disney+ to begin closing the K-drama gap with Netflix, which has spent the better part of a decade striking production deals with Korea’s leading studios and turning the country into one of its top content engines.
Last November’s Disney+ Originals Preview event in Hong Kong revealed an extensive 2026 themed lineup Made in Korea – The period crime drama starring Hyun Bin and Jung Woo-sung that the streamer renewed for a second season before the first season aired – along with IU and Beon Woo-seok’s royal romance The perfect crowna crime and action film Land of gold (Park Bo Young, Kim Sung Cheol), adapted from the webtoon Supernatural Illusion pictures (Suzy, Kim Seon Ho), epic fantasy Married Empress (Shin Min-a, Ju Ji-hoon, Lee Se-young, Lee Jong-suk) and a second season of action and excitement. Shop for killers. The company recently revealed plans to remake the Korean version of the award-winning FX series Americansas well as an expanded Korean eSports broadcast partnership.
