Netflix No. 1 ‘East of Eden’ is a CJ ENM production... Moving beyond ‘No. 1 K-drama’ to usher in the ‘era of K-production companies’

[Financial News] One of the titles recently drawing attention on Netflix is ‘East of Eden,’ starring Florence Pugh. Based on the novel of the same name by Nobel Prize-winning author John Steinbeck, it is a seven-part family drama about sibling rivalry, parental favoritism, love and guilt recurring across two generations.

The most notable adaptation is bringing Cathy Ames’s life and inner world to the center of the story. It explores Cathy’s wounds and desires—she is portrayed in the original as almost the embodiment of evil—and traces the experiences that led her to make those choices. Pugh, familiar to Korean audiences from director Park Chan-wook’s British-American spy drama ‘The Little Drummer Girl’ (2018) and Christopher Nolan’s film ‘Oppenheimer’ (2023), plays Cathy and also serves as executive producer.
There is also a special connection in the person of actor and screenwriter Zoe Kazan, who served as a writer, executive producer and co-showrunner. She is the granddaughter of director Elia Kazan, who directed the 1955 film ‘East of Eden,’ starring James Dean. Retelling as a series the classic her grandfather brought to the screen, she views the wounds that recur within a family and the choices people make through a contemporary lens.
The series also has ties to a Korean content company. It was produced with the participation of Fifth Season (FIFTH SEASON), CJ ENM’s global studio. It is drawing attention because Korean companies are now producing hits in Hollywood, moving beyond the popularity K-dramas have gained overseas.

According to CJ ENM on the 15th, titles recently released by Fifth Season successively reached No. 1 in Netflix’s series and film categories. ‘East of Eden’ was one of them. Alongside its commercial success, the series has continued to earn praise from international media.
U.S. Esquire called ‘East of Eden’ a life-changing drama and praised Pugh for giving one of the standout performances of her acting career. The UK’s Radio Times gave it a perfect five out of five, lauding the quality of the performances, cinematography, music and adaptation. The Guardian also called it an outstanding and compelling family saga.
The film ‘Animals,’ released on the 9th, reached No. 1 globally in the film category. It is a political thriller directed, written and led by Ben Affleck, with Kerry Washington, Gillian Anderson and others in the cast. It tells the story of a couple thrown into turmoil after their son is kidnapped and faced with a major choice. It is an original Fifth Season project bringing together prominent Hollywood creatives and actors.
This is not the first success for Fifth Season. Previously, ‘His & Hers’ ranked No. 1 globally among all series, with 104 million cumulative views, according to Netflix’s viewing report for the first half of 2026.
Season 2 of the series ‘Severance,’ released through Apple TV, broke the platform’s all-time viewership record within a month of its release in 2025. At the Primetime Emmy Awards, the most prestigious honors in U.S. television, it received 27 nominations and won in eight categories. In other words, the company has produced hits across different platforms while also earning recognition for their quality.
These achievements are underpinned by CJ ENM’s global multi-studio strategy. Centered on Jung Jong-hwan, who led the acquisition of Fifth Season and heads IP and platform business, the company has added Fifth Season—with its U.S.-based production capabilities and networks—to domestic studios Studio Dragon and CJ ENM Studios. It has built a foundation for development and production spanning Korea and the United States, while expanding connections between creative teams and audiences in each market.
A CJ ENM representative said on the 15th, “Fifth Season is being embraced by audiences around the world thanks to its distinctive storytelling, production capabilities and ability to develop content for the global market,” adding, “We will continue to strengthen our standing as a creative studio under our vision of becoming a ‘global IP powerhouse.’”

[email protected] Shin Jin-a Reporter