In 2019, The World Between Us captured global attention, marking one of the first Taiwanese series to successfully address local social issues while resonating with audiences worldwide. Its success created a significant impact on Taiwan’s original drama, bringing it into the international entertainment landscape and driving investment and production within the industry.
After five years of meticulous development, the award-winning team behind The World Between Us is proud to unveil the teaser poster for the highly anticipated sequel at MIPCOM. The poster’s powerful imagery of fire and lingering scars symbolizes the flames and the enduring wounds that continue to haunt the characters portrayed by Vic Chou (Meteor Garden), Hsueh Shih-ling (Taiwan Crime Stories), and Hsieh Hsin-ying (The Assassin).
The World Between Us II begins with an arson at a supermarket, unraveling a complex web of connections among six families whose lives have been intertwined for over two decades. As they grapple with revenge, betrayal, suffering, and redemption, the profound impact of the tragedy emerges.
Expanding on the original series’ exploration of national policy, indiscriminate violence, and the media’s influence, The World Between Us II delves deeper into topics of public health, social safety nets, and the citizen judge system through the gripping stories of love and loss of the characters. With a production scale four times larger than its predecessor, the second season pushes the envelope of storytelling and visual execution.
Along with the teaser poster, the creative team also shared their insights and experiences in bringing this ambitious project to life.
“It took me four years to finally complete the script with the many characters to manage. I gave up on the episodic synopsis and two episodes of script at one point to start from scratch. It is definitely not common, and it is a relatively tough task to create such a vast story within a 10-episode format,” said Lu Shih-yuan, screenwriter of The World Between Us II.
“Of course, there are always some new challenges and attempts in every production. But this time, it felt like making three series instead of one, which consisted of a massive 22-person team dedicated to hair and makeup, and filming across six counties,” said Jayde Lin, producer of The World Between Us II.
After the success of the first season, Lin Chun-yang, director of The World Between Us II, has participated in more works that have been widely received both domestically and internationally, including Gold Leaf and Wave Makers. “The series gathers the various challenges from my previous works, including depicting complicated human nature, recreating different time periods, and executing crowd special effects. We attempt to tell the story in a rarely seen structure, which I believe will provide a brand-new viewing experience for the audience,” Lin stated.
Presented by TAICCA, Taiwan’s PTS, CATCHPLAY, and Koko Entertainment, The World Between Us II finished principal photography earlier this year and is currently in post-production. Screenworks Asia, the production subsidiary of CATCHPLAY, also handles the international sales of the series, with former TAICCA executive Yeh Chia-hua recently joining as the sales executive, further bolstering the series’ global outreach.
Screenworks Asia’s lineup at MIPCOM also features Islanders, an adaptation of Hu Ching-fang’s acclaimed novel Islands. The series stars Christopher Lee and Wu Kang-jen, both of whom were crowned Best Leading Actor at this year’s Golden Bell Awards in Taipei on October 19th—Lee in the Miniseries category and Wu in Television Series. Their first on-screen collaboration has sparked major anticipation, as they portray characters entangled in complex relationships that mirror the generational divides and different values of modern society.
