Back to All News
From Hellbound' to New Zombie Thriller All of Us Are Dead' - How Visionary Creators Turn Cult Webtoons into Hit Shows
Entertainment
09 January 2022
GlobalSouth Korea (Republic of Korea)
Be it supernatural thriller Hellbound or military drama D.P., the K-drama you're watching and loving may very well have started off as a web-based comic.
Wildly popular in South Korea, these mobile-friendly webtoons are presented in a vertical, continuous strip and can span genres from romance to horror. Some boast cult followings and have been turned into hugely popular films, games and TV dramas.
Hellbound, now one of the most-watched shows on Netflix, is unlike other K-drama adaptations because the webtoon and the TV series share the same creator. When celebrated director and screenwriter Yeon Sang-ho (Train to Busan) was working on the Hellbound webtoon, he already had visions of the live-action version in his head. Little wonder that the webtoon reads like a storyboard version of what plays out on screen.
The webtoon itself was rewarding work, but the prospect of making it into a live-action series was exciting, says Yeon. We tried our best to maintain the understated tones of an illustrated work and, to that end, we focused a lot on the otherworldly visuals. But ultimately, Hellbound is a story about people, and the actors managed to bring dimension and depth to the characters.
Often it is the actor's ability to breathe life into a 2D character that fuels the success of an adaptation. Starring Jung Hae-in and Koo Kyo-hwan, D.P. (short for Deserter Pursuit) was recently renewed for a second season. Kim Bo-tong, the webtoon artist behind D.P. Dog's Day and who co-writes on both seasons, says, The cast members fit the webtoon characters perfectly, as if they were born to play their roles.
Coming back for a second season, D.P. is based on the popular webtoon D.P. Dogs Day.
Same zombies, new twistsWith live-action renditions of webtoons trending at the moment, all eyes are on All of Us Are Dead, which is about a bunch of students trapped in school during a zombie apocalypse, based on the popular Naver webtoon of the same name by webtoon creator Joo Dong-geun.
Director Lee JQ was drawn to helm this adaptation because of the setting. There are a lot of zombie series, but what caught my attention about this was that everything happens in a closed space, a school, with young and immature students, he says.
While the webtoon, published between 2009 and 2011, is deemed legendary by fans, Lee is not strictly sticking to the script, hinting that the characters are still based on the webtoon but their characteristics have slightly changed.
He adds, Different relationships are formed when these diverse characters come together and interact with one another. The origin of the virus, the characters, how these children escape the zombie situation, and what decisions the government makes - these are the elements that differ between the original webtoon and the series.
Perhaps the allure of making a webtoon-to-series adaptation, besides the fact that it comes with a fan base that's already invested, is in all the fantastical possibilities. Brutal otherworldly Goliaths who turn up to burn condemned folks to a crisp right in the middle of the streets of Seoul? Straight from the webtoon comic squares of Hellbound to terrify you on your TV screen. Zombie students hungry for flesh tearing up the school halls? Coming at you in All of Us Are Dead on January 28.
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
04/07/2026
April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...
01/06/2026
January 6 2026, 05:30 (PST) Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026
Throughout the week, Dolby brings to life the latest innovatio...
02/05/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
01/05/2026
January 5 2026, 18:30 (PST) NBCUniversal's Peacock to Be First Streamer to ...
21/04/2026
Cloud-based production isnt going anywhere, and BitFire is doubling down by prov...
21/04/2026
The topic of artificial intelligence has a stranglehold on the sports-video-prod...
21/04/2026
5G is still a hot topic in live event production, and this workflow continues to...
21/04/2026
At the 2026 NAB Show, Ed McGivern, GM and President of Appear US, discusses the ...
21/04/2026
Studio Network Solutions (SNS) has announced an on-premise AI suite designed for...
21/04/2026
Suite Studios has integrated its file-streaming technology into the newly announced Frame.io Drive, a desktop application from Adobe company Frame.io. The colla...
21/04/2026
Net Insight has integrated InSync Technology's FrameFormer into the Nimbra E...
21/04/2026
Fox Sports has selected Appear as a technology partner to support the next phase...
21/04/2026
Diversified has appointed Tyler Affolter as Chief Revenue Officer (CRO) to lead the company's commercial organisation. The appointment follows the firm'...
21/04/2026
Layercake has formalised the integration of Bitmovin's video streaming infra...
21/04/2026
The International Judo Federation (IJF) has extended its distribution partnershi...
21/04/2026
Glookast has launched the Cinnafilm Tachyon plugin for its Media Producer and Me...
21/04/2026
Eutelsat has entered into an agreement with Cadena Tres, a division of Grupo Ima...
21/04/2026
Dolby Laboratories and TV Azteca have partnered to introduce Dolby Atmos immersive audio to free-to-air television broadcasts. The implementation utilises the A...
21/04/2026
FOX Entertainment partnered with Verizon to overcome significant production hurd...
21/04/2026
Osprey Video has announced its technology showcase for the NAB Show 2026, highli...
21/04/2026
Riedel Communications (Booth C4908) introduced a range of new solutions at NAB S...
21/04/2026
The NAB Show is in full swing, and the SVG and SVG Europe editorial teams are chasing down the hottest stories from all over the Las Vegas Convention Center. He...
21/04/2026
Blackmagic Design has announced the URSA Cine Immersive 100G, an immersive cinem...
21/04/2026
Clark Wire & Cable is continuing its evolution from cable supplier to full-scale solutions partner for broadcast and live production. At the 2026 NAB Show, we s...
21/04/2026
Rashad Frett attends the 2025 Sundance Film Festival premiere of Ricky at Eccles Theatre on January 24, 2025, in Park City, UT. (Photo by George Pimentel/Shut...
21/04/2026
Five years ago, Spotify arrived in Pakistan, opening a new chapter in the country's music scene. Since then, local listeners have explored across genres, ge...
21/04/2026
Since its launch in 2020, RADAR has been our program for spotlighting emerging artists around the world. This year marks the sixth edition of RADAR Spain, our o...
21/04/2026
Offers compact wireless solution for pedalboards
Taiwanese audio brand Cloudvocal have announced the availability of a new pedalboard-friendly wireless syst...
21/04/2026
Latest hybrid sampling/synthesis instrument arrives
Arturia's Augmented series offerings rely on a mixture of sampling and synthesis, allowing users to ...
21/04/2026
Rohde & Schwarz to host Power Electronics Online Conference From Design to Vali...
21/04/2026
MAS and Lockheed Martin partner to establish an F-35 depot in Canada, enabling in-country sustainment and creating high-skilled aerospace jobs....
21/04/2026
Advertising strategies shift as competition grows for a large, active and qualit...
21/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
21/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
21/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
21/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
21/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
21/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
21/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
21/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
21/04/2026
Layercake Deepens Bitmovin Integration to Power End-to-End Media Orchestration w...
21/04/2026
Cobalt Digital Announces Launch of blueCORE at NAB Show 2026: Compact Powerhouse...
21/04/2026
On-Premise AI Suite from Studio Network Solutions Debuts at NAB Show 2026
Melanie Ciotti April 21, 2026
0 Comments
Unlimited processing, no cloud depe...
21/04/2026
London, 21 April 2026 IBC today announced the appointment of Tim Banham as its first Chief Commercial Officer (CCO), a newly created role that reflects the or...
21/04/2026
Motion Design Tools - April 2026
Roland Kahlenberg April 21, 2026
0 Comments
Within 2 days, Maxon and Canva announced pro-level motion design apps - A...
21/04/2026
Chaos and Zero Density to Showcase Real-Time Ray Tracing for Virtual Studios and...
21/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
Back to All News
