Credit: Inside the MagicAs fans anxiously await to see what the “new Disney+” will look like, a new report has come forward that will give a small glimpse.
Launching in the spring of 2024, Disney+ and Hulu will be merging together in one app. This will allow Disney, which is the sole owner of Hulu, to streamline its services in one app. However, many fans have wondered just how this app will be formatted. After all, it will be strange to see the Disney logo associated with many titles that are currently on Hulu.
While we haven’t gotten much news on that front, it has been confirmed that Disney is moving forward with adding mature content to its new app. Disney+ and Hulu have officially become the worldwide home for Uncle Samsik, the South Korean drama series starring Song Kang-ho from Parasite (2019), according to reports by Deadline and The Hollywood Reporter.
The series set in the 1960s was initially unveiled last year, without confirmation of the network or streaming platform backing it. Disney+ has now confirmed a global launch this year, while Hulu will premiere it in the United States.
In a first for his decades-long career, Song Kang-ho will take on a leading role in a drama series, playing the eponymous character, Uncle Samsik. It has also been confirmed that Byun Yo-han has joined the cast, portraying Kim San.
The series revolves around San, an ambitious idealist determined to change his country’s fortunes. He captures the attention of Pak Doochill (Uncle Samsik), a shady operative willing to take any necessary steps to fulfill his boss’s objectives. Together, they forge an uneasy partnership, navigating the complexities of the established system with a shared vision of a prosperous future.
Slingshot Studios, which initially announced the project as Uncle Sam Shik during BCWW last year, is the production company behind the series. The writer and director, Shin Yeonshick (Cobweb, Cassiopeia), leads the creative team. Song Kang-ho made history by becoming the first South Korean male actor to win the Best Actor award at the Cannes Film Festival last year for his role in Broker, a Korean-language film directed by Japan’s Hirokazu Kore-eda.
While we’ll still have to wait until later this year to see exactly how the app will be formatted and what it will look like to have mature and adult-related content next to animated films and Disney Junior series, it certainly will be interesting to see how Disney balances its series and offerings moving forward.
Disney began ad-supported services on its streaming app this past year.