BREAKING
Two AI Feature Films Open in Korea
The Pioneering Titles
I'm Popo
64 min
●
Fully generative AI visuals
●
One director, about two months
●
Voice actors only, no live cast
Man in Hanbok
Period
●
Fully generative AI
●
Medieval Korea meets Renaissance Italy
●
Won AI film festival awards
0
%
box office down vs pre-pandemic
0
x
faster than CGI (Run to the West)
0
%
potential cut in production time
Production Costs Held Low
The House (won)
500
KOCCA support (bn won)
198
Emergency fund (bn won)
80
Promise vs Pushback
Upside
●
A 'one-person film' era
●
Freewillusion hired 60 AI artists
●
Government tripled 2026 AI budget
Concerns
●
Plastic sheen, facial glitches
●
Unauthorized face and voice mimicry
●
Park Chan-wook warns of job loss
A Litmus Test for Korean Cinema
AI NEWS BLITZ
Two feature films built largely with generative AI hit South Korean theaters on May 21.