The legendary youth noir comic ‘Beat’ by the master of Korean comics, Heo Young-man, is being reborn as a drama.
On the 11th, the newly established production company Alt Studio (CEO Kim Young-bae) announced that it is planning and producing a 10-episode drama ‘Beat’ based on the original comic by Heo Young-man as its first project.
‘Beat’ is Heo Young-man's representative work serialized in Young Champ from 1994 to 1995, capturing the anger, wandering, frustration, and growing pains of youth at that time, making it a Korean-style noir comic. During its serialization, it recorded over 1 million copies in cumulative circulation, gaining explosive popularity and creating a ‘Beat Syndrome’ by popularizing items such as the Honda CBR600F, Zippo lighters, and Marlboro Red featured in the work.
In 1997, it was made into a movie of the same name starring Jung Woo-sung and Go So-young, directed by Kim Sung-soo, surpassing 870,000 viewers (based on Seoul) and once again becoming a hot topic. In particular, it is regarded as a work that elevated Jung Woo-sung to a 90s youth icon with numerous famous lines such as “I had no dreams” and “17 to 1 fight.”
In this drama remake, there is great interest in who will symbolize the new generation ‘Min’ like Jung Woo-sung did back then. Beyond simple casting, the birth of a new icon that represents ‘today's youth’ is anticipated, raising expectations.
‘Beat’ is the first project of Alt Studio, which secured the remake rights, and it is expected to modernly reinterpret the emotions of youth from that time, providing nostalgia for the older generation and new empathy for the 10-20 age group.
Alt Studio is a content studio established by key production staff who successfully produced popular IP-based dramas such as ‘Taxi Driver 1, 2’, ‘My ID is Gangnam Beauty’, ‘Lovestruck in the City’, and the upcoming ‘I Shopping’ scheduled to air in July. The team has strengths in simultaneously capturing ‘the sentiment of the original work and today’s trends’, raising expectations for how they will reinterpret the era's hot topic ‘Beat’.
Alt Studio's first work ‘Beat’ is set to officially begin planning and production with the goal of releasing in the first half of 2026.
[Lee Da-kyum, Star Today Reporter]
