MBC Sets Season 1 of Disney+’s “A Shop for Killers” as Follow-Up to “Fifty Percent”

MBC will air Season 1 of 〈A Shop for Killers〉 as its Friday-and-Saturday drama follow-up to 〈Fifty Percent〉.

According to reports by each media outlet on the 1st, MBC has finalized 〈A Shop for Killers〉 Season 1, a Disney+ (Disney Plus) original series, as the follow-up to the Friday-and-Saturday drama 〈Fifty Percent〉, which will end on June 27, and as part of its summer special lineup. The eight-episode show, released for the first time on Disney+ in January 2024, proved its overwhelming hit status by setting the global most-watched record among Korean original series. The first broadcast is set for Friday, July 3, at 9:50 p.m., and in August after the series ends, a new Friday-and-Saturday drama starring Gong Hyo-jin, 〈The Wif e and Killer〉, is expected to be scheduled.

Based on the novel 「Shopping Mall of a Killer」 by writer Kang Ji-young, the drama is directed by Lee Gwon, who also directed the film 〈Door Lock〉 and the drama 〈Save Me 2〉. In the drama, Lee Dong-wook plays “Jeong Jin-man,” an uncle who has been raising his nephew alone and running a mysterious shopping mall, while Kim Hye-jun takes on the role of “Jeong Ji-an,” the nephew who becomes the target of killers after the uncle’s sudden death and fights for her life. With a closed setting as the backdrop, the tangled stories of the characters and a fast-paced, mystery-driven action plot deliver an immersion that sets it apart from existing dramas.

This scheduling is part of MBC’s premium content supply strategy aimed at introducing proven external hit works to viewers while maintaining its in-house production content-centered direction. The move follows a precedent in which, across 2023 and 2024, MBC aired Disney+’s 〈Casino〉 for all seasons and 〈Moving〉 as the first TV broadcasts, gaining a positive response. An MBC official emphasized that the approach involves a strategic curation that selects excellent external content and broadens viewers’ choices. Still, some observers have also expressed concern that this kind of OTT content sourcing could lead to a reduction in new drama productions on terrestrial channels. Against the backdrop of this move, which blurs the boundaries between platforms, attention in the broadcasting industry is focused on what happens next.