Netflix's Tantara Sets Three December Releases for Song Hye-kyo and Gong Yoo's First Drama Together

A 22 Episode Journey Arrives Over Three Fridays

Netflix will release Tantara in three parts beginning December 11, 2026, bringing Song Hye-kyo and Gong Yoo together for the first time in a drama about poverty, ambition and the people behind South Korea's music business. Eight episodes will arrive first, followed by seven on December 18 and the final seven on Christmas Day.

The 22 episode series follows childhood friends Min-ja and Dong-gu through an entertainment industry that Netflix describes as violent and unforgiving. Its setting stretches from the 1960s through the 1980s, with the pair moving from whatever work keeps them fed toward an uncertain future in the recording business.

The new schedule follows the December premiere announcement in October. Netflix's official release announcement, published on October 22, sets the worldwide debut for December 11 at 5 p.m. Its Korean title translates as Slowly and Intensely.

Kim Seol-hyun and Cha Seung-won complete the central quartet. Their characters, a gifted singer and an influential composer, bring the friends into a world where making music also means negotiating money, loyalty and access to a stage. Lee Ha-nee and Na Moon-hee join the ensemble.

When Each Part Will Be Available

Netflix's teaser announcement confirms that viewers will receive substantial groups of episodes rather than one episode each week. The November 13 schedule announcement also brought a new poster and trailer.

• October 22, 2026: Netflix announced the December 11 premiere and released a poster introducing the characters.
• November 13, 2026: The three part schedule was announced alongside new promotional material.
• December 11, 2026: Part 1 arrives with episodes 1 through 8.
• December 18, 2026: Part 2 adds episodes 9 through 15.
• December 25, 2026: Part 3 concludes the series with episodes 16 through 22.

The opening release contains eight of the 22 episodes, or about 36 percent of the series. Each later release contains seven. Viewers can begin watching on December 11 or wait until December 25, when the complete story will be available.

Min-ja Sees a Business Opportunity

Song plays Min-ja, whose childhood poverty forces her to take any work that brings in money. Her route into entertainment begins with earning a living, long before it becomes a pursuit of success.

The promotional story traces her progress through jobs including waiting tables before she becomes a novice manager. A manager works behind the performer, helping build a career and find opportunities. That position makes Min-ja's ability to recognize talent central to the drama.

Min-ja and Dong-gu enter the record industry after discovering Min-hee, a young woman with a powerful singing talent. Their opportunity depends on someone whose voice could attract an audience, bringing a business ambition and an artistic ambition together.

In the promotional dialogue, Min-ja, played by Song, explains her confidence in spotting a chance to make money:

You know I can smell money a mile away. There's money here.

Min-ja's words connect her difficult beginnings to her later decisions. Money offers a way out of hardship, while her growing involvement with a singer makes success dependent on another person's hopes and choices.

Dong-gu Brings a Shared Past

Gong plays Dong-gu, Min-ja's childhood friend and companion through years of hardship. He stays beside her as she pursues her ambitions, giving the recording industry story a relationship that began before either character had influence or security.

The teaser shows them relying on each other while working and then moving toward a new career after meeting Min-hee. Their common history gives them a reason to trust each other when the next step is uncertain.

Dong-gu, played by Gong, expresses that attitude in a line from the promotional material:

We've had it rough. What have we got to fear?

His response to risk differs from Min-ja's calculation about money. She sees an opening; he draws courage from what they have already survived. Those two impulses help explain why the friends are prepared to enter a business where they begin near the bottom.

Min-hee's Talent Comes With Emotional Stakes

Kim Seol-hyun plays Min-hee, whose singing gives Min-ja and Dong-gu their opening into the record industry. Netflix describes her as bold and determined to pursue success in her own way.

Her relationship with Min-ja combines affection and resentment. The teaser poster draws attention to their conflicting ambitions, placing tension inside the partnership on which their careers may depend.

Min-hee, the singer played by Kim, voices her fear of being left behind in the promotional dialogue:

I have to make it so you won't abandon me.

That line gives her pursuit of fame a personal cost. Min-hee wants to succeed, but she also wants to remain valuable to someone whose support matters to her. Her voice brings the group together, while their different expectations threaten its stability.

The four central characters therefore occupy different positions in the same business: Min-ja spots an opportunity, Dong-gu helps pursue it, Min-hee supplies the singing talent and composer Seok Gil-yeo holds the power to shape a career.

A Composer Who Can Make Stars

Cha Seung-won plays Seok Gil-yeo, described by Netflix as a leading composer capable of turning a newcomer into a major star. He enters the story with the professional standing that Min-ja, Dong-gu and Min-hee are trying to gain.

The promotional images show him directing a stage in a suit, while the earlier announcement poster depicts him playing a saxophone. Together, those images place him both inside the music and in a position of authority over its presentation.

Seok Gil-yeo, played by Cha, refers to the struggle behind his success in another line from the promotional material:

You think someone uneducated like me got this far by chance?

His reference to education connects him to the drama's concern with social position. The newcomers lack money and influence; the established composer recalls a disadvantage of his own. Their encounters bring people at different stages of advancement into the same competitive world.

The Poster Follows Work Before Fame

Netflix's October announcement poster places the characters around a turntable, the device used to play vinyl records. Its design follows their lives from difficult childhoods through ordinary jobs and into music.

Min-ja and Dong-gu appear at several stages of that journey, including their work as waiters and their beginnings in management. The image gives space to the labor that comes before a performer reaches an audience.

Lee Ha-nee appears as Yang-ja, shown singing with a mixture of urgency and energy. Na Moon-hee plays Mal-sun, whose portrait suggests a life shaped by many years of joy and hardship. Netflix has named both characters, while keeping their detailed connections to the central quartet for the series.

The later teaser poster narrows its focus to Min-ja, Dong-gu, Min-hee and Seok Gil-yeo. Where the turntable image traces lives over time, the quartet's poster concentrates on ambition and the strained relationships surrounding it.

The Writer, Director and Production Team

Noh Hee-kyung wrote Tantara, and Lee Yoon-jung directed it. Netflix names GTist, Studio Dragon and Imaginus as the production companies behind the series.

Noh's previous dramas include Our Blues, Dear My Friends, It's Okay, That's Love and That Winter, the Wind Blows. Her work gives the production a connection to stories built around relationships, difficult personal histories and people living through pressures they cannot easily escape.

Lee's directing credits include Coffee Prince and Cheese in the Trap. Coffee Prince also provides a previous connection with Gong, who starred in that series. Tantara now brings the director and actor into a drama spanning several decades of the entertainment business.

The production budget has been reported at 80 billion won, with filming taking roughly a year. Netflix's release announcements identify the production companies but give no budget total. The series is also described in release details as intended for mature audiences.

A First Pairing After Decades in Entertainment

Song and Gong arrive at their first drama together after long careers. Song's credits include The Glory and Descendants of the Sun, while Gong's include Guardian: The Lonely and Great God and The Trunk. Song won the Grand Prize at the second Blue Dragon Series Awards for The Glory.

The actors also brought a lighter version of their partnership to the YouTube channel DdeunDdeun. A preview posted on November 7 advertised a November 14 release at 9 a.m. Host Yoo Jae-suk commented on their easy exchanges as they discussed their personalities and careers.

Song, discussing their relative seniority in entertainment, gave a brief answer:

I am the senior.

The conversation described Song as marking 30 years since her debut and Gong as being in his 26th year. Song said she entered entertainment through a school uniform selection contest. Their first shared drama therefore comes after decades of separate experience in the industry their fictional characters are only beginning to navigate.

Tantara's immediate draw is that new pairing, but its story spreads the stakes across four people. A manager needs a singer, a singer needs support and an established composer can open doors. Across 22 episodes, their attempts to advance will unfold alongside the loyalties and fears they bring with them.

Key Points

• Tantara premieres worldwide on Netflix on December 11, 2026.
• The 22 episodes arrive in groups of eight, seven and seven on December 11, 18 and 25.
• Song Hye-kyo and Gong Yoo play childhood friends entering the record industry after discovering a talented singer.
• Kim Seol-hyun plays singer Min-hee, and Cha Seung-won plays influential composer Seok Gil-yeo.
• The story spans South Korea's entertainment industry from the 1960s through the 1980s.
• Noh Hee-kyung wrote the series, and Lee Yoon-jung directed it.