FIFTH SEASON, a global studio acquired by CJ ENM, has announced its main lineup for 2025.

Fifth Season is a large global studio acquired by CJ ENM to strengthen its global content production capabilities and establish a multi-studio system. Since its establishment in 2017, it has presented works that have been recognized for their box office success and artistry, such as ‘Severance’, ‘SEE’, and has secured its own production system from planning to production and distribution of various contents, with global bases around the world, including North America, Europe, and Asia.

In addition, it is expanding its business base by supplying content to various global OTT platforms, such as Netflix, Apple TV+, and Disney. CJ ENM‘s ambition is to use Fifth Season as a global base camp to write a new chapter.

Last year, Fifth Season supplied a total of 14 works, and this year, it plans to expand the number of supplied works and supply about 20 contents, including more than 7 TV series, movies, and documentaries, through global platforms such as Netflix and Apple TV+.

While the second season of Fifth Season’s masterpiece ‘Severance: Disconnect’ is garnering much attention ahead of its worldwide premiere on the 17th, the additionally revealed major lineup for 2025 is drawing attention as it includes everything from new seasons of popular content to works starring global stars.

First, ‘Chief of War’ (Apple TV+) starring Jason Momoa, ‘Nine Perfect Strangers’ (Hulu, Amazon) starring Nicole Kidman, and ‘Strife’ (Foxtel, Binge) season 2, which broke Binge‘s streaming record, are scheduled to be provided. Also included are crime thriller ‘The Savant’ (Apple TV+) starring Jessica Chastain, mystery thriller ‘His & Hers’ (Netflix), ‘East of Eden’ (Netflix) starring Florence Pugh, and ‘The Good Daughter’ (Peacock), based on a thriller novel. In addition, ‘A Thousand Blows’ (Disney+), a production by The Story Collective (UK), a subsidiary of Fifth Season, is scheduled to be released in February.

The film lineup is also worth keeping an eye on. ‘A Working Man’ starring Jason Statham is scheduled to be released in March, and ‘NONNAS’ (Netflix), directed by Stephen Chobsky and featuring a super luxurious cast including Vince Vaughn, is scheduled to be released this year. The crime thriller ‘She Rides Shotgun’ starring Taron Egerton is also scheduled to be supplied, and a number of works will be collaborated with ‘Aritist Equity’, the production company founded by Ben Affleck and Matt Damon. The documentary lineup is also diverse. Several well-made documentary works are planned to be produced and supplied, such as ‘Andy Kaufman Is Me’, which highlights the legend of American stand-up comedy Andy Kaufman, and ‘Avedon’, a documentary about the life of famous photographer Richard Avedon.



The distribution business is also expanding globally. By signing a partnership with OTT company Hulu, it has expanded into the North American content market by providing seasons 1 and 2 of ‘Big Boys’, which won the British Academy Award for Best Comedy, and the documentary ‘Bad Host: Hunting the Couchsurfing Predator’. It has also signed an original content distribution partnership with global OTT platform Roku, expanding its global territory to Central and South America, Australia, etc., and plans to pursue the production of branded content through a partnership with content production company ‘Sugar23’. In addition, it is continuing discussions and exchanges with ‘Toho’, a large Japanese entertainment company that has risen to be the second largest shareholder of Fifth Season, to leap forward as a global studio encompassing Eastern and Western cultures.

CJ ENM said, “Fifth Season is a premium content production studio that possesses both artistic quality and box office success, and is proving its production capabilities through collaborations with various platforms. This year, we will present premium content and add value through synergy with Toho,” he said.

Meanwhile, ‘Severance: Disconnection’ is a series with a novel setting of separating the inside and outside selves of the company through brain surgery, and season 2 will be released for the first time on the 17th. The work, which depicts a unique dystopia of modern people who have lost their true selves through the unique setting of the disconnection surgery, gave a fresh shock to the world. It swept major award ceremonies around the world, including the Emmy Awards and Peabody Awards, and with its huge popularity, production of season 3 has been confirmed. In Korea, it can be viewed through Apple TV+ and TVING’s ‘Apple TV+’ brand channel.

Hong Se-young, Donga.com reporter, projecthong@donga.com