Train to Busan 2 Begins Shooting in 2019, Director Shares New Details

Train to Busan 2 Begins Shooting in 2019, Director Shares New Details

Train to Busan was an unexpected standout of 2016, appearing on many Best Horror Movies of the Year lists. This is no small accomplishment for a variety of reasons. For starters, Train to Busan is a zombie flick, and just about anyone will tell you that the premiere subgenre of the 2000s is getting stale in the 2010s. Then there's the fact that Train to Busan is a Korean film, meaning there was a language/subtitles barrier to overcome. Still, the film managed to break all boundaries and breathe new life into the zombie subgenre by going balls to the wall with top-notch special effects, utilizing the claustrophobic atmosphere of crowded terminals and cramped trains to perfection. Train to Busan also excelled by infusing its apocalyptic tropes with genuine human drama, inspiring a range of reactions from the terrifying to the heartbreaking. In the film:

"Sok-woo, a father with not much time for his daughter, Soo-ahn, are boarding the KTX, a fast train that shall bring them from Seoul to Busan. But during their journey, the apocalypse begins, and most of the earth's population become flesh craving zombies. While the KTX is shooting towards Busan, the passenger's fight for their families and lives against the zombies - and each other."

Writer/director Yeon Sang-ho has just announced that a sequel to Train to Busan is in the works under the working title Bando, which translates to Peninsula (implying that the zombie virus has spread throughout all of Korea). He's currently finishing up the screenplay with plans to begin shooting sometime in 2019. Along with the announcement, Yeon shared an overview with the folks at Screen Daily:

"It is an extension of Train to Busan, after the virus has spread throughout Korea, but the characters are not the same. It shares the same world view and is a zombie action film that deals with the aftermath on the peninsula of what happened in Train to Busan. I'm still writing the script, but the scale is rather large since there will be action with something to it."

Train to Busan inspired an animated companion piece, also released in 2016. It's called Seoul Station which is a brilliant play on words in English, as people are fighting for more than just their lives, but their humanity-their souls. When asked if he plans on producing another animated companion for Peninsula, Yeon won't commit: "I'm concentrating on this one film right now," he says. It's worth noting that Train to Busan was Korea's top grossing film of 2016, pulling in $83M locally and $45M worldwide, all from a budget of only $8.5M. It'll be a while before we get a trailer or official release information regarding Peninsula, but we'll be keeping our ears to the ground in order to bring you additional details as they emerge. This news came our way via Screen Daily.