Don’t expect to see Train to Busan 2 on streaming anytime soon. The sequel was released in theaters in the summer of 2020, but won’t follow the traditional schedule of being released on streaming services or VOD a few months after its theatrical window — here’s why.
Peninsula, the follow-up to the successful South Korean horror movie, is more of a spiritual sequel. The first film tells the story of a man and his estranged daughter trapped in a zombie outbreak. Peninsula picks back up in South Korea four years later. The outbreak has been contained everywhere but South Korea. The movie follows a new group of people as they fight to survive the post-apocalyptic wasteland.
Peninsula did get a theatrical run, but it happened to take place during the Coronavirus pandemic. It was generally deemed a success, despite the circumstances. But the pandemic meant that it had a very limited run, so it was not available to a wide audience — and it won’t be until early 2021.
![Why Train To Busan 2 Won’t Be Available To Stream Until 2021](https://static1.srcdn.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/Train-To-Busan-Peninsula-Header.jpg)
Due to its bold choice to release during the coronavirus pandemic, the Train to Busan sequel didn’t live up to the box office success of its predecessor. The movie debuted in South Korea and was followed with theatrical runs in Singapore, Malaysia, and Vietnam. Peninsula ended up making about $34.8 million in those regions, with the bulk of it coming from South Korea. The Train to Busan sequel was only released in one other territory — Canada and the US. The horror movie only earned $1.1 million in those regions. These are the same general areas that Train to Busan was released in, and it performed about three times better. However, for a smaller movie that was released during a pandemic, Peninsula‘s box office numbers are admirable.
The zombie movie released in the US during a time when only a few theaters were open, so it’s likely that many Train to Busan fans did not get the opportunity to see the sequel. As it’s no longer available in theaters, audiences will have to wait even longer. Shudder, the AMC-owned horror streaming platform, acquired it as an exclusive release; Peninsula won’t make its debut on the streaming platform until early 2021.
As the Coronavirus pandemic rages on far longer than anyone initially expected, the film industry has taken a massive hit. Train to Busan was a surprise hit amongst diehard horror fans, so it’ll very likely still have continued interest even though the movie will be available on streaming far later than most would’ve hoped. Since Shudder is a streaming platform exclusively dedicated to the horror genre, and boasts a number of hard to find foreign titles, Train to Busan 2 is a perfect fit for its library. Fans will be anxious to see the follow-up, especially since many didn’t get the chance to see it in theaters, which has likely added to its overall appeal. Therefore, it was a wise move for Shudder to acquire it as an exclusive, so as to entice more viewers to the platform.