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Hollywood franchises are nothing new with iconic examples such as James Bond and Star Wars dating back to the 1960s and 1970s. But since the 2000s under the Marvel and DC Comics brands, there has been an acceleration of the franchise building. The peak came in the late 2010s with Avengers: Infinity War (2018) and Endgame (2019) that collectively amassed close to $4.8 billion globally that took the blockbuster to another level incorporating the various MCU (Marvel Cinematic Universe) narrative threads and characters.

With Disney that owns Marvel launching its own streaming platform in November 2019, it was not long before shows centering on many of Marvel’s characters appeared including Hawkeye, Ms. Marvel and Loki. A sprawling universe was reaching a new phase though this appeared to hinder the brand with box office tallies for Marvel films struggling to reach the heights of the 2010s. Nevertheless, it was clear the industry was in a new era of transmedia with narratives of films and series sourced from comics interweaving together.

The Korean film industry has sometimes taken its cue from Hollywood seen through the building of its own vertically integrated studio system that has produced many of the blockbusters that powered the local industry in the 2000s and 2010s. It also in some respects is mirroring it as Korean cinema becomes increasingly reliant on overseas growth as the local industry remains significantly down on pre-pandemic levels after viewing habits have shifted towards streaming.

Closely related to all this is lucrative IP and the building of universes that span webtoons, films, games and streaming platforms. This hasn’t reached the level seen in Hollywood and interestingly it’s also manifesting differently with webtoons that tackle a range of themes as opposed to comic book superheroes immensely popular in Korea.

Furthermore, while gaming remains a key driver in Korea’s content industry it’s less common for Korean content to be sourced from games compared to Hollywood that has seen surprise box offices successes with The Super Mario Bros. Movie (2023) and A Minecraft Movie (2025).  There have been some exceptions in Korea though such as the horror film The Labyrinth (2021) that is based on the game White Day: A Labyrinth Named School (2015). Some popular K-content has also evolved into games with the series Arthdal Chronicles (2019) and Squid Game (2021-2025) but at present multiverses in Korea tend to center around webcomics, films and series.  

This week we take a look at the relationship between webtoons, webnovels, films and also series beginning with titles sourced from webtoons including Along with the Gods that remains the most successful franchise that was adapted from a webtoon. It will then turn to One Source Multi-Use IP with a closer look at Yumi’s Cells and Concrete Utopia. We will conclude looking at how films are influencing dramas in their storytelling and universes.  

Webtoons & Korean Cinema - Along with the Gods (2017)

Some of the earliest webtoon film adaptations were in the mid-2000s with Apt. (2006) and Dasepo Naughty Girls (2006). The Apt. webtoon was created by Kang Full who has become a seminal figure in the webtoon industry – he was also behind 26 years and Neighbor that were later adapted into films. 26 Years (2012) would sell close to three million tickets. Kang also created the webcomic Moving that was adapted into a series of the same name that became a turning point for Disney Korea having struck a chord both locally and internationally. It was a rare example of science fiction working for the Korean market.

Other notable film adaptations of webtoons include Woo Min-ho’s Inside Men (2015) that became the highest grossing R-rated Korean film having amassed 7 million admissions further signaling the potential of projects sourced from webtoon IP.  

A cross-generational hit adapted from a webtoon came in the form of Along with the Gods: The Two Worlds (2017) and Along with the Gods (2017), a two-part production by Kim Yong-hwa. Based on Joo Ho-min’s webtoon series of the same name, its fantasy elements set in the afterlife where three grim reapers guide the deceased through a series of trials was hugely ambitious. Echoing the spectacle of Lord of the Rings but filled with enough melodrama and tackling themes of death it was able to attract a wide demographic. Both films surpassed 10 million admissions marking the first time two films from the same series had reached this milestone.

Its success was significant enough to spark discussions of further installments and spinoffs, but the pandemic and streaming has upended the market that made blockbusters bankable in the 2000s & 2010s.

A case in point was Kim Byung-woo’s Omniscient Reader: The Prophecy (2025) that was produced by the same company as Along with the Gods, Realies Pictures. Based on an extremely popular web novel, ahead of its release there was much expectation it could revive the local industry over the summer and if it did so it could lead to sequels and series. It was seen as form of so-called “super IP.” It was also interesting because it was co-financed by Korea’s third largest gaming company, Smilegate.

Yet, the film was a huge disappointment mustering a million admissions on a budget of over 30 billion won ($20.7m), and while it fared better overseas in territories such as Taiwan it underscored the risks associated with science fiction blockbusters especially at a time when there wasn’t much appetite for tentpoles. A Japanese anime to be produced by Aniplex and Crunchyroll that’s also in the works might well perform better given the success of animations in the current market.

One Source Multi-Use IP - Yumi’s Cells, Concrete Utopia, Solo Leveling

A term that is often used in the content industry is “One Source Multi-Use IP” which refers to intellectual property that can be expanded into multiple forms: from Webtoons to dramas and films. Such cases are “Super IP.”

Yumi’s Cells is a perfect illustration of this. It was a wildly popular webtoon by Lee Dong-gun that was published on the Naver portal site between 2015 and 2020 garnering 3.2 billion views and 5 million comments. The webtoon centers on a story surrounding an office worker and the 200 different cells in her brain that control her emotions.

It led to a successful series spanning two seasons with a third one out in 2026 featuring Kim Go-eun playing the leading protagonist as she navigates the world of relationships. The first two seasons creatively mix live-action and 3D animation as it conveys the thoughts and emotions going on inside her head.

An animation Yumi’s Cells: The Movie (2024) directed by Kim Da-hee and produced by Studio N and Locus Animation was also released in 2024 though wasn’t as warmly received as the drama selling 76,000 tickets in what was seen as an underperformance.

A further example of IP that is turning into content on different platforms is Pleasant Outcast that was published as a Naver webtoon by Kim Sung-nyung between 2014 and 2016. It was first adapted into a film called Concrete Utopia (2023) directed by Um Tae-hwa starring Lee Byung-hun, Park Seo-joon and Park Bo-young. The film is based on the second part of the webtoon when an earthquake strikes Seoul leaving just one apartment standing.

The film that captures some of the dystopian themes of Parasite (2019) and Squid Game was warmly embraced by critics and invited to the Toronto International Film Festival. Produced by Climax Studio and financed by Lotte Cultureworks, it was released in the summer of 2023 and sold 3.8 million tickets. There was also a standalone sequel – again produced by Climax Studio - titled Badland Hunters (2024) starring Don Lee that was released on Netflix as one of its originals.

Lotte and Climax are also behind a ten-part series called Pleasant Outcast directed by Min Yong-geun (Soulmate (2023)) and Kim Bo-tong that focuses on the central characters of the webtoon  - high school students  - set in a school when the earthquake hits as they are desperate to survive. The first episode premiered at the international television festival Canneseries in April this year. A release date has yet to be announced.

A further TV adaption Concrete Market produced by Climax Studio has also been filmed underlining the appeal of its IP. Starring Lee Jae-in and Hong Kyung it is set in the apartment building that didn’t collapse. The series was part of the Berlinale Series Market lineup earlier this year as Korean dramas becomes increasingly visible at content events across the world.

A further compelling example of One Source-Multi IP is Solo Leveling that was created by Chugong as a web novel in 2016 on Kakao Page.  A webcomic published shortly afterwards in 2018 was similarly immensely successful with a whopping 14.3 billion views. Translated into English it was a hit globally and became a gamechanger in the internationalization of webtoons.  

It was later adapted into a Japanese Anime produced by A-1 Pictures in 2024 with a second season broadcasted earlier this year. A Korean drama adaptation has also been confirmed with Byeon Woo-seok starring in what promises to be an eagerly awaited production.

Korean Films Shaping Series

As filmmakers move over to streaming content, dramas sourced and inspired by films are becoming more common.  The Manipulated (2025) produced by CJ ENM’s Studio Dragon and currently streaming on Disney Plus is a reimagining of Park Kwang-hyun’s Fabricated City (2017) that also features Ji Chang-wook as the leading protagonist. In the show, he plays a man who is falsely accused of a serious crime.  

Director Park Hoon-jung also expanded The Witch universe with the Disney action series The Tyrant (2025), which focuses on characters with superpowers that are connected to a government secret project. The original film The Witch: Part 1. The Subversion (2018) turned Kim Da-mi into a star and sold over 3 million tickets while the sequel also pulled in over 2 million viewers.

In the late 2010s The Bad Guys: Reign of Chaos (2019) based on the OCN drama Bad Guys (2014) was an example of how a TV series evolved into a film but after the pandemic it’s the other way round in what is a further sign of how the industry is rapidly changing.

Written by Jason Bechervaise

Edited by kofic