Seoul-based studio Barunson E&A, which has credits including Bong Joon Ho’s Oscar winner Parasite, is launching international sales on the Indonesian adaptation of landmark Korean drama Descendants Of The Sun at the upcoming Asian Contents & Film Market (ACFM) in Busan.
Currently in post-production, the two-part feature film adaptation of the 2016 Korean series is headlined by two of Indonesia’s biggest stars, Reza Rahadian (Vengeance Is Mine, All Others Pay Cash) and Dian Sastrowardoyo (Cigarette Girl).
The film is produced by Dapur Film, Tobali Putra Productions, Newko and Barunson C&C, a subsidiary production company of Barunson E&A, with N.E.W. (Next Entertainment World), which holds the original IP rights, joining the project as co-producer. Production has wrapped on the two parts of the film, with part one targeting a theatrical release in Indonesia in the first half of 2027.
The project marks the tenth anniversary of the original series, one of the titles widely credited with kickstarting the Korean wave internationally. The show closed with a 38.8% nationwide rating; became the first Korean series to air simultaneously in China, where it drew over 2 billion views on iQiyi; and was subsequently sold to more than 30 countries including the U.S., UK, France, Germany, Japan and Russia.
The Indonesian version reimagines the romance at the heart of the original story through an Indonesian setting and cultural context, while preserving the emotional resonance of the original show.
The film is directed by Hanung Bramantyo, one of Indonesia’s leading box-office directors, whose credits include Miracle In Cell No. 7, also an Indonesian remake of a Korean property, which is the country’s eighth-highest-grossing local film of all time.
“Ten years on, Descendants Of The Sun is still one of the titles people point to when they talk about the start of the K-Drama wave,” said Barunson E&A CEO Yoonhee Choi.
“We see the strength of the Korean IP as a starting point, not an endpoint. This adaptation places that globally recognized story under a different sun, in an Indonesian landscape with a local sensibility all its own. It retains the familiarity of a story audiences already know and love, while opening it to a new context and, we believe, audiences beyond Indonesia.”
Woosik Seo, CEO of Barunson C&C and an executive producer of the film, said: “As the producer behind the original series, I deeply admire how the director has honoured its spirit while creating a truly Indonesian story that I believe will translate just as powerfully wherever it’s seen.”
Barunson E&A’s ACFM slate also includes Satan’s Slaves: Origin, the prequel to Joko Anwar’s blockbuster horror franchise; Stoneborn, an occult mystery from the creative team behind Exhuma, starring Jongseo Jeon (Burning) and Sul Kyung-gu (Possible Love); and comedy Ugly Duckling Ms. Maeng, which is premiering in Busan International Film Festival and set for theatrical release on October 28.
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