Korean domestic streamer Coupang Play is gearing up for the release of four new originals in the second half of this year, bringing this year’s total to seven, and is dismissing industry gossip that its new-found obsession with sports has overtaken drama on its priority list. 

The seven titles include exclusive Korean rights for "The Sympathizer", based on Viet Thanh Nguyen’s award-winning novel about the struggle of a mixed-race Vietnamese youth in exile in the U.S. in the 1970s after the fall of Vietnam. The series aired on Max platforms elsewhere in the world. 

The first of the four new major shows coming up is Coupang’s first romcom, "Cinderella at 2am", directed by Seo Min-jeong and Bae Hee-young. Production is by Imagineers and Studio Real. 

Coupang promises a “cliché-busting romantic comedy” with Cinderella at 2am, a story of love across the age gap. 

Shin Hyun-bin stars as the “Cinderella” character who breaks up with her much younger prince, played by Moon Sang-min, when she discovers he is the third-generation son of a powerful chaebol and is paid by his mother to disappear. He, however, is not so easily put off. 

"Cinderella at 2am" will be followed by "What Comes After Love", starring Se-young Lee ("Red Sleeves") and Kentaro Sakaguchi ("10 Years of Remaining Life") in the story of students who meet in Japan, fall in love and separate painfully only to reunite in Korea five years later. 

The third series is "Elite League", which returns for a second season, followed by "Family Matters". 

Exact release dates have not yet been confirmed. 

Reality/survival entertainment show, Elite League, pits students from prestigious universities against one another. Coupang promises an “even more intense and overwhelming cerebral battle” for the second season.

The platform launched its call for entries for the second season on 22 May. The second season is open to all students enrolled at Seoul National University, Korea University, Yonsei University, KAIST, and Pohang University of Science and Technology. The deadline for entries is 5 July.

In the new season, writer Kim Jeong-seon, known as a master of survival entertainment shows such as "The Genius" and "The Great Escape", teams up with Heo Beom-hoon D of Gukdae is Gookdae.

"Family Matters", directed by Heo Beom-hoon and Kim In-ji, is about a mother with special abilities, played by Bae Doo-na, who joins forces with her family to bring hell to villains.

The four follow "Hide", a Coupang Play and JTBC/SLL joint-project, released on 23 March; "The Sympathizer", released on 15 April; and comedy show SNL Korea season five, produced by CP Entertainment.

The titles were showcased in Coupang Play’s slate announcement in April this year. 

Based on Welsh TV series "Keeping Faith, Hide" stars Lee Bo-young ("Agency") as a former prosecutor who runs a law firm with her husband, played by Lee Moo-saeng ("Prison Playbook"). When he disappears, she begins searching for him, only to uncover the secrets of his disappearance.

The series combine with Coupang biggest-ever sports commitment, including baseball, Formula One, golf, basketball and the German Bundesliga. 
Coupang Play, which launched in the second half of 2020, has more than eight million monthly active users.