‘Peninsula’ First Trailer: ‘Train to Busan’ Sequel Unleashes Explosive Zombie Thrills
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The first trailer for the upcoming “Train to Busan” sequel “Peninsula” has arrived online, and it’s full of such big scale action sequences and explosive thrills that viewers would be forgiven for not realizing it’s a “Train to Busan” sequel in the first place. Returning director Yeon Sang-ho has been adamant about his desire to craft a sequel that would feel radically different in tone and plot from “Train to Busan,” and the “Peninsula” trailer below teases Yeon has more than succeeded. “Peninsula” has the scope of a major Hollywood action tentpole, a notable step up from the intimate horrors of “Train to Busan,” which became a worldwide phenomenon with $92 million at the box office.
“Peninsula” takes place in the same world as “Train to Busan” but picks up a new story thread four years later. Gang Dong-won stars as a former soldier who managed to escape zombie-infested South Korea. The zombie virus has collapsed governments around the world and South Korea has been turned into a country-wide slum. The soldier is sent on a mission back into Korea to retrieve something valuable, but his return trip is complicated after he meets non-infected survivors who need saving.
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“The scale of ‘Peninsula’ can’t compare to ‘Train to Busan,’ it makes it look like an independent film,” Yeon told Screen about the sequel last month. “’Train to Busan’ was a high-concept film shot in narrow spaces whereas ‘Peninsula’ has a much wider scope of movement.”
Yeon cited films such as “Land of the Dead,” “The Road,” “Mad Max,” and “Mad Max: Fury Road” as sources of inspiration for “Peninsula,” and the kinetic action thrills of George Miller’s “Mad Max” franchise are certainly on display in the trailer below. There’s even a “Thunderdome” scenario where prisoners are brought into an arena and have to face off against unleashed zombies.
“Train to Busan” had its world premiere at Cannes, and many were expecting “Peninsula” to follow up until the annual festival postponed its May event. “Peninsula” marks Yeon’s first directorial effort since his Netflix superhero movie “Psychokinesis.” Well Go USA has not announced a U.S. release date for “Peninsula,” although a statement from the studio says it will be “coming to theaters soon.”
Watch the first “Peninsula” trailer in the video below.
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