2024-04-10 00:04:21
Content media group NEW (Next Entertainment World, Chairman Kim Woo-taek) announced on the 9th that a copyright contract for the Chinese remake of ‘The Owl’ has been signed.
According to NEW, this copyright contract is said to be the highest ever for the rights to a Korean film remake sold in China. A Chinese entertainment company engaged in business in various content fields has secured the remake rights and is preparing for production. In order to maximize the added value of the IP, NEW plans to secure additional profits by distributing a portion of the box office when the remake version is a hit.
The film ‘Owl’, released in November 2022, succeeded at the box office by providing an eye-catching tension with the overwhelming passionate performances of Ryu Jun-yeol and Yoo Hae-jin and director Ahn Tae-jin’s dense directing, breaking the prejudice that ‘November is the off-season’ and preventing COVID-19. It is a work that revitalized the theater district, which had been stagnant due to the pandemic. Since then, it has been recognized for its artistic value, sweeping leading award ceremonies from the Baeksang Arts Awards to the Blue Dragon Film Awards and entering the competition section of the Sitges International Fantastic Film Festival.
Regarding the background of the contract for the remake rights of ‘The Owl’ being concluded on a record scale, Content Panda Director Lee Jeong-ha, who was in charge of overseas sales, said, “It is an achievement that recognizes the power of the IP that succeeded at the box office with the combination of historical drama and thriller. “I look forward to the results that will be recreated through localization based on the settings,” he explained. NEW is using a long-tail strategy to expand the life cycle of content by successfully completing multiple remakes through its global copyright distribution affiliate, Contentpanda. The remake version of ‘A Gift from Cell No. 7’ was a hit in Indonesia, Turkiye, and the Philippines respectively, the Hollywood remake of ‘Train to Busan’ is in progress, and a joint production of the Japanese version of ‘Hide and Seek’ is being discussed.
Meanwhile, content exports, which had been focused on completed works, are shifting their focus to IP contracts. According to the Korean Film Council, the export value of Korean film remake copyrights in 2023 is approximately $3.8 million, the highest since 2017. The response from the Greater China region to Korean movie remakes is also enthusiastic. ‘Nijeok Wedding’, a reinterpretation of ‘Your Wedding’, recorded a cumulative box office of about 150 billion won, and ‘Dangnamin Love Poetry’, a remake of NEW’s movie ‘When a Man Loves’, ranked first in Taiwan’s box office. Following this, it was successfully screened throughout China.
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2024-04-10 00:04:21