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Upon its release in 2016, Train to Busan became a phenomenon in South Korea, and its popularity has been equally strong internationally, with North American distributor Well Go USA facilitating its U.S. and Canadian release in 2017. Train to Busan was subsequently followed in 2016 by an anime prequel, titled Seoul Station, and a direct sequel, Train to Busan Presents: Peninsula in 2020. Additionally, a Hollywood-produced English-language has been in the works for several years, with Indonesian filmmaker Timo Tjahjanto attached to direct.
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For Western audiences specifically, Train to Busan is also notable as the introduction for many to South Korean action movie star Ma Dong-seok (also credited in English as Don Lee). Ma has since expanded his profile greatly in the popular Roundup series as its rough-and-tumble protagonist Ma Seok-do, along with Netflix’s post-apocalyptic action movie Badlands Hunters. Ma was also seen in the role of Gilgamesh in the 2021 Marvel Cinematic Universe film Eternals, and is also attached to the forthcoming martial arts action ensemble Non-Stop alongside Jet Li, Tony Jaa, and Iko Uwais.
The zombie genre has seen a huge resurgence in popularity since the beginning of the 21st century. The long-running TV series The Walking Dead significantly helped drive the modern zombie craze, while it has also maintained huge popularity in everything from comedies like the Zombieland films to action-horror combos like Army of the Dead and 2025’s upcoming 28 Years Later.
Train to Busan‘s recognition as one of the best modern zombie movies is testimony to the zombie genre being internationally popular, while the film itself has long been praised as being especially innovative in bringing a zombie outbreak scenario into the environment of speeding train. With Train to Busan‘s impending arrival on Netflix, fans of the movie and general zombie fans alike can soon make plans for some fun Netflix horror movie nights, even likely to include viewers discovering the modern zombie cult classic for the first time.
