BLACKPINK’s Jisoo to Make a K-Drama Comeback with K-Zombie ‘Influenza’

K-zombies‘ treatment of serious social issues reveals how they can turn the apocalypse into entertainment. Influenza, an upcoming Coupang Play action horror thriller drama series starring Jisoo, will add to some of the best titles representing the genre—Train to Busan (2016)—that set the stage for more grisly on-screen zombie breakouts like Kingdom (2019), Peninsula (2020), Alive (2020), Happiness (2021), and All of Us Are Dead (2022).

Soon after Jisoo acknowledged her presence in the show, it went abuzz, piquing interest and curiosity concerning the rest of the cast, which has also been reported to include Park Jung-min in a lead role alongside the K-pop superstar but is yet to be confirmed.

Influenza is a crisis-ridden scenario that kicks off when people contract a weird contagious flu, turning them into zombies, and a struggle for survival in the face of impending horrific human extinction begins.

The plot, based on Han Sang-woon’s novel of the same name, unfolds in a bustling Seoul tower amid an effort to control the mushrooming sickness. Lee Jae-yoon, undergoing conscription, is deployed there to serve in the defense unit. Meanwhile, his sweetheart, Kang Young-joo (Jisoo), writes him a letter urging a breakup. Mayhem hits as the flu-stricken individuals within the building start morphing into zombies.

Jae-yoon and his colleagues, distraught as they are, must defend both themselves and others, for zombies are multiplying in the building, getting ghastlier by the minute. And circumstantially, against the flocking undead, Jae-hoon and Young-joo inadvertently reunite.

Influenza is Jisoo’s sophomore K-drama project. She stated that the series will go into production shortly, and her role is very challenging in tandem with the narrative’s emphasis on frenetic action, profanity, hysteria, and horror.

Jisoo previously starred with Jung Ha-in in the action-romance black comedy Snowdrop (2021). She played the role of Eun Yeong-ro, a college undergraduate who valiantly battles to shield injured North Korean agent Lim Soo-ho (Jung) from his assailants, tend to his wounds, and fall in love with him.

Jisoo has also said that Influenza will necessitate her getting training to pull off its action. Its storyline and portrayal of events, I imagine, will stick out more since it features screenwriter Han Jin-won, best known for Parasite, which earned him an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay at the 92nd Academy Awards in 2020. He shared it with director Bong Joon-ho, making them the first Asian writers to win at the Oscars for screenwriting.