This Week in Webtoon-ish, July 27th
Everyone's talking about the silver screen
One of Webtoon’s biggest IPs launches to raving reviews while another gets ready for release this week.
Not to mention, Kidari Studios rebrands their entire European business and finally takes hold of the Lezhin brand with both hands.
“Omniscient Reader: The Prophet” Tops the Korean Box Office with Lukewarm Reviews
Omniscient Reader’s film adaptation launched earlier this week in Korea and while it’s ranked 1st in terms of ticket sales, the reviews have been unkind. Scores average around 80 (out of 100), but written reviews slam the film’s adaptation choices and fans of the source material agree that the film doesn’t do the webtoon (or webnovel) justice.
Read more here.
“My Daughter is a Zombie” Takes Over from “Omniscient Reader”
Following up film news with film news, another webtoon adaptation is trending in the no. 1 slot on ticket sales. “My Daughter is a Zombie” opens this Wednesday, but it’s already accounting for most ticket sales on all three major Korean theater chains.
The series published on Naver Wetboon in Korea from 2018 to 2020 and presented a comedic take on the zombie genre. Naver Webtoon recently said that they’ve seen a noticeable uptick on the binge-reading of the webtoon since the film’s trailer debuted in late-May.
Source: Hankyung (link)
Naver and Kakao have 50 Live-Action Adaptations Set for 2025
According to a release on the 24th, Naver and Kakao have over 50 live-action adaptations of webtoons and webnovels slated for the 2025 year. Just last year, Naver alone accounted for 38 live-action adaptations with 191 over the past 12 years.
Kakao has had much slower growth with only 6 adaptations in 2024. But this year, Kakao has opened 12 live-action adaptations with another 13 set for the calendar year.
Source: Edaily (link)
Delitoon, Le Bontoon Rebrands to Lezhin
Delitoon, the longstanding French webtoon platform acquired by Kidari Studio back in 2019, has rebranded as Lezhin FR this week. Le Bontoon, which is Delitoon’s BL-focused sister site, will be migrating over to Lezhin FR in August of this year.
This shift also applies to Delitoon DE, the German platform, which has rebranded as Lezhin DE.