Kim Tae-won, director of the Content & Business team at Netflix Korea, speaks at a press conference on Oct. 4, 2024, on the sidelines of the Busan International Film Festival. (Yonhap)
Netflix, a global streaming service, plans to roll out seven Korean original films next year, responding to rapidly evolving content consumption trends as movie viewing extends beyond traditional theaters.
The company prioritized "enhancing quality and expanding diversity" when selecting the films for next year, Kim Tae-won, director of the Content & Business team at Netflix Korea, said at a press conference Friday night on the sidelines of the Busan International Film Festival (BIFF).
"For 2025, we have prepared a diverse lineup, ranging from action and thriller to romantic comedy and animation," Kim said, highlighting that the films were chosen in line with the company's philosophy of offering "universal fun" and "unique storytelling."
This year's BIFF is particularly significant for Netflix, as its Korean original film "Uprising" was chosen as the first over-the-top production to open the annual event.
Among the seven films, director Yeon Sang-ho, known for "Train to Busan," is set to release his new thriller "Revelations," starring Ryu Jun-yeol and Shin Hyun-bin. Yeon is a familiar name to Netflix fans through his previous collaborations with the company on hit series "Hellbound" and "Parasyte: The Grey."
This time he is teaming up with Oscar-winning Mexican filmmaker Alfonso Cuaron of "Children of Men" and "Gravity," who joined the project as an executive producer. Cuaron was also nominated for an Oscar for best directing with "Roma" for Netflix.
"I've approached this film differently from my previous work with Netflix," Yeon said. "I wanted to create films with minimal use of computer graphics," which he said marked a "significant shift" from his past working style.
Yeon also expressed curiosity about the audience's reaction to his more "cinematic" approach, saying, "I wonder how viewers will respond to a purely cinematic style of filmmaking and how they will experience such a film on a smartphone."
Kim Byung-woo, known for "The Terror Live," has been working on the sci-fi action film "The Great Flood," starring Kim Da-mi and Park Hae-soo.
Addressing the changing viewing habits, Kim said, "One of the things that concerns me the most is viewers now hold the remote control in their hands. Unlike in cinema, they have total control."
"I've been thinking about how to keep the story engaging in these circumstances and how to craft the film in a way that keeps them entertained, even when they have the power to stop it at any time."
Another film in the lineup is "Lost in Starlight," Netflix's first Korean animated film, written and directed by Han Ji-won. The film tells the love story of an astronaut and a musician, voiced by Kim Tae-ri and Hong Kyung. Highlighting the significance of the project, she said, "It has been a long time since an animation targeting older viewers has been released. This opportunity was made possible because of Netflix."
"I am really happy to work on a project that would have been difficult to realize in Korea, which makes this all the more meaningful."
The other films set for release include Kim Tae-joon's thriller "Wall to Wall," Byun Sung-hyun's "Good News (working title)," Namkoong Sun's romantic comedy "Love Untangled" and "Mantis," a spin-off of "Kill Boksoon," directed by Lee Tae-sung, who served as an assistant director on the original.
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