Korea’s Finecut Picks Up Retro Gaming Feature ‘Guardians Of The Video Game’ Ahead Of TIFF Market

Korean sales agent Finecut has picked up international rights to retro gaming 3D animated feature Guardians Of The Video Game ahead of the inaugural TIFF Market. 

Based on the Naver Webtoon of the same name, the film is directed by leading Korean animation director Uhm Young-sik, whose credits include Running Man: Revengers; the animation segment of Yumi’s Cells Season 1; and Red Shoes And The Seven Dwarfs, which he co-directed with Moo-Hyun Jang and Hong Sung-ho, and which Finecut sold to 120 territories. 

Created by Gasfard, the Naver Webtoon Guardians Of The Video Game has a reader rating of 9.98 and 345 million views. The webtoon has also been adapted into a mobile game released on Google Play. 

The film, produced by Locus Animation, follows an exiled guardian of the gaming world falling from cutting-edge 3D games into a forgotten pixel RPG, who must secretly guide an innocent hero to the ending, and uncover the conspiracy out to destroy him and the game itself.

Animation in the film is based on a distinctive concept that blends retro RPG games with cutting-edge 3D games. The film is currently in post-production, slated for release in the fourth quarter of 2026, with first footage to be revealed by Finecut at TIFF: The Market. 

Locus Animation also produced Red Shoes And The Seven Dwarfs and Exorcism Chronicles: The Beginning, which has a sequel in production. The studio is also creating animations based on popular webtoons including Barkhan and Denma. 

Finecut is also selling 3D animation Long Long Night, which will have it world premiere in the Centrepiece section of this year’s Toronto International Film Festival; and Hong Sangsoo’s Nowhere To Lay My Eyes, which won the Pardo Awards for Best Direction and Best Performance, along with the Ecumenical Jury Prize, at this year’s Locarno Film Festival.