Newtopia is based on the novel of the same name by author Han Sang-woon, whose original working title was 'Influenza', identical to that of the original work.

A Coupang Play spokesperson described the series as belonging to the 'zomcom' genre (zombie comedy), combining humor and romance.

Director Yoon Sung-hyun, known for the film Time to Hunt (2020), stated that he attempted to neutralize the cruelty inherent in zombie stories by adding humor and a fairy-tale tone; it is also his first television work.

Unlike the original novel, set in a darker manner and focused on survival, the series incorporates elements of romantic comedy and updates the plot to the 2020s, allowing for example the use of mobile phones by soldiers instead of public phones.

For Jisoo, this series marked her return to television as the lead almost four years after Snowdrop; the director admitted that at first he had doubts about her performance, but noted that she came very well prepared to set and tackled numerous demanding action scenes with ease.

Filming began in January 2024 and concluded on July 23 of that same year; for eight days, starting June 16, it was filmed in Chuncheon with a deployment of approximately 400 people among cast and crew.

According to Korean sources, filming extended from December 2023 to August 2024; a review YouTuber (Gomong) inserted a subtitle clarifying these dates upon noticing the coincidence between a martial law scene in the series and a real martial law episode declared shortly before the premiere.

Newtopia is the first series set in a 'building GOP' (air defense unit in a Seoul skyscraper); almost a year before the premiere, someone presumably from the production team posted questions about this type of military installation in a Korean Army gallery.

As part of the promotion, the Kakao T taxi app displayed a video advertisement for the series with a close-up nighttime scene that many users described as similar to a horror film, causing scares and even cases of people dropping their phones when opening the app in the middle of the night.