How webtoons became go-to source material for screen adaptations in Korea

Posters for the original webtoon and Netflix series, "All of Us Are Dead," above, and promotional images for the original webtoon and Netflix series, "Hellbound" / Courtesy of Naver Webtoon, Netflix

Webcomic sector rises as enormous storehouse of fresh stories for film, drama industry in OTT era

By Park Han-sol

Global audiences who find themselves hooked on Korean series like "All of Us Are Dead," "Hellbound," "The Uncanny Counter" and "Business Proposal" may overlook the one thing these titles have in common ― their origins as webtoons.

In fact, over the last decade, more than 100 webcomics have found varying degrees of success far beyond smartphone screens, being turned into dramas, movies and animations.

The sci-fi black comedy "Moon You" has even recently become the first-ever 4DX original film, a multisensory cinematic format that utilizes environmental effects like motion seats, water, wind and scents.

The 50-minute film, scheduled to hit local theaters on Oct. 12, retains the visual format of the digital comic while using 4DX effects to portray scenes in zero-gravity and an asteroid collision to tell the story of the "last man alive" on the moon. It's presented as "an immersive attraction, a webtoon that you 'read' and experience with your body," according to CJ 4DPlex chief producer Yoon Hyun-jung, who is behind the production of "4DX Moon You."

"As a series director, I definitely feel that acquiring the rights to a good webtoon has become something like a war among drama and film producers nowadays. The rights to works that catch my eyes would already be sold or under negotiation, sometimes even the ones that have only 10 episodes out at that point," Kim Soo-jung, who made her directorial debut this year with Watcha original series "Semantic Error," noted at the recently wrapped-up Bucheon International Comics Festival.

Her eight-part queer romance show was adapted from a web novel and a webtoon of the same title.

A still image from "4DX Moon You" whose caption reads "The Earth is doomed; I'm the only one left" / Courtesy of CGV

The term "webtoon" originated in Korea in the early 2000s, when the country's two major internet portals, Daum and Naver, launched new platforms dedicated to early forms of free, web-only comics to generate traffic.

Later, with the advent of smartphones that made vertically scrolling digital cartoons accessible anywhere, it has evolved into one of the dominant types of entertainment. According to the Korea Creative Content Agency's report, the webtoon industry market generated over 1.05 trillion won ($744 million) in revenue in 2020, a 64.6 percent increase from a year before.

The country saw two of the first screen adaptations of popular webcomics as early as 2006: bizarre rom-com "Dasepo Naughty Girls" and horror flick "Apt." Both were, however, box-office flops that each drew less than 650,000 viewers to the theater, marking a grim start to the webtoon sector's inroads into becoming a more established entertainment industry.

But just years later, a flurry of webtoon-based films and dramas rose to be game changers in the scene ― "Secretly Greatly," "Misaeng: Incomplete Life," "Inside Men" and "Along with the Gods: The Two Worlds" ― as they shattered box office records and reached notable viewership ratings in cable channels.

It didn't take long for digital comics to transform from a risky investment into a go-to source material in the eyes of screen producers.

From right, filmmaker Oh Ki-hwan, Group Eight's contents production division director Kim Young-bae and director Kim Soo-jung attend a panel discussion titled "Webtoons on OTT" as guest speakers at the Bucheon International Comics Festival in Bucheon, Gyeonggi Province, Oct. 1. Courtesy of Korea Manhwa Contents Agency

"While the popular sources of new stories for screen remakes in Korea used to be Japanese and Taiwanese dramas, telenovela and print comics, they have been largely replaced by (Korean) webtoons nowadays," Kim Young-bae, director of the contents production division at Group Eight, a drama production company behind digital comics-based hits like "Taxi Driver" and "My ID is Gangnam Beauty," told The Korea Times.

"Eye-catching tales with unusual subject matter that we creators want are being unearthed in the webcomic sector. There's now a general understanding in our industry that it is as important to acquire high-quality webtoons as it is to hire a highly skilled writer for the show."

Filmmaker Oh Ki-hwan, who is behind the coming-of-age comedy flick, "Fashion King," and rom-com series, "How to be Thirty," both of which are based on digital comics, echoed the sentiment: "I believe these days, fresh ideas that jump out at you are being discovered much more in webtoons than in original films or dramas."

Some webcomics boast unique premises that get readers hooked in the first few episodes. In "Unlock the Boss," a recently deceased CEO of a conglomerate becomes trapped inside a smartphone, literally. Together with a desperate jobseeker who accidentally finds that phone, the two go on a search for the truth behind his murder. "Sweet and Sour Chicken" (Dak Gang Jeong) is even more outlandish from the start, where a young woman turns into, well, a "dakgangjeong" and it's up to her father and his employee to reverse the irreversible. Both are slated for TV adaptations.

Other titles use action-packed drama as a launch pad to address timely social issues. "D.P.," which centers on a team of Korean military police tasked with capturing deserters, reveals the painful, often overlooked reality behind Korea's compulsory military service. "All of Us Are Dead" introduces the subjects of school violence, bullying and excessive academic competition within its version of the zombie apocalypse.

In addition to the webtoon sector being an enormous storehouse of fresh stories, from a more practical standpoint, recognizable works with already proven audiences can increase the chances of their screen adaptations succeeding, if done right.

Kim added that the popularity of the original webcomics can even affect the production companies' casting process, as in-demand actors who receive dozens of scripts may prioritize giving it a read if they are already familiar with the work.

"It can also be easier to give the potential cast members and broadcasters an idea about what the story's key visuals will entail if we are working with a webtoon. After all, a picture can be worth a thousand words," he said.

Promotional images for the original webtoon, "D.P.," left, and the Netflix series of the same name / Courtesy of Cine 21 Books, Netflix

The rise of digital comics as a new source of inspiration for the silver and small screens has corresponded well with the emergence of over-the-top (OTT) services, according to film and drama producers.

"For a long time, the drama and filmmakers here would be unsure if they would be able to properly bring to life the theme and the fictional world imagined by ambitious webtoon titles ― due to glaring limits in budgets and technology," Kim said.

"The production of 'All of Us Are Dead,' which had been floating around the industry for the last seven or eight years, kept getting pushed back for these reasons, for example."

What made the launch of such series possible was the arrival of substantial capital from streaming giants like Netflix. And with these OTT services' global outreach, it became a more feasible task for the Korean production companies to tap into the overseas market as well.

"While we used to produce shows to fight for the limited spots available in the drama schedules of the country's three main broadcasters ― KBS, SBS and MBC ― in the past, our focus these days is not limited to the domestic market. Pursuing global success is now also a key," he said.

In addition to Netflix, international OTT platforms like Disney+ and Apple TV+ have been bringing webtoons as the IP behind their original productions, including the International Emmy Award-nominated "Dr. Brain" and the upcoming supernatural series "Moving."

Posters for the original webtoon "Taxi Driver," left, and its drama adaptation / Courtesy of Naver Webtoon, SBS

Of course, the success of the original webtoon does not translate to automatic success for its drama or film adaptations, even when they are equipped with enticing plotlines and find the right platform.

With the fundamentally different narrative structures and lengths, as well as the scope of target audiences, between webcomics and their screen adaptations, it becomes a matter for a production team of striking a careful balance between staying faithful to the original and dramatizing it to find a more universal appeal of the work.

Even in the case of crime thriller "Taxi Driver," which saw a favorable viewership rating of 16 percent during its run on SBS in 2021, Kim explained that it took over five years after the acquisition of its TV rights for the show to reach the air.

"While the original webcomic's premise ― a taxi company that delivers justice by taking revenge on behalf of crime victims ― was an appealing one, the plot needed to be more universal and resonate with a general audience in order for it to be properly dramatized," he said.

In other words, his team needed a convincing narrative flow and tone that can help viewers, including those who aren't familiar with the source material, understand why the organization had to resort to such measures outside the law.

Throughout the five years in development, the main writer and producer had to be replaced; months of struggles to set the right tone for the show followed. But in the end, its plot was able to bring in the reality experienced by victims of school violence, illegal filming and other heinous crimes in Korea and convincingly present how such circumstances can sometimes lead to a thirst for vigilante justice in lieu of any available legal remedy.

Despite such expected hurdles, Kim and others expect the webcomic-to-screen trend to continue in the entertainment industry for at least the next five years.

"A good story transcends genres, mediums and time. And right now, it is webtoons that are telling those fresh, vibrant and original stories," he said.