Korea’s leading webtoon writer Jo Seok’s ‘Wen Yu’ swept Chinese theaters and became a box office sensation. Naver Webtoon reported that the movie ‘MOONYOU – Solo Moon Goo (獨行月球)’, based on writer Jo Seok’s SF webtoon ‘Moonyou’, is currently ranked second in box office box office sales in China in 2022.
The webtoon ‘Moonyu’ is a science fiction comedy depicting the struggles of an astronaut left alone on the moon after humanity on Earth was wiped out by an asteroid impact. It is a work by writer Jo Seok, famous for ‘Sound of the Heart’ and ‘Joe’s Realm’, and was serialized on Naver Webtoon from June 2016 to September 2017. It was evaluated as showing the essence of black comedy by combining writer Cho Seok’s unique cynical humor and unique drawing with the ‘post-apocalyptic’ worldview of the end of the world.
It was a new work released by adjusting the serial cycle of ‘Sound of the Heart’, which was considered a mega hit at the time, from twice a week to once, and it attracted attention with more than 10,000 comments on the first episode alone. Since June 2016, it has been translated into simplified Chinese, traditional Chinese, and English, and has received a high rating in the high 9s, proving its potential as a science fiction black comedy webtoon.
The webtoon-based movie ‘Wen Yu-Dokhangyuegu’ was first released in China on July 29th. On the first day of release, it recorded a profit of approximately 58.074 billion won, ranking first in the Chinese box office. There is analysis that the strong competitiveness of the original webtoon intellectual property (IP) has been proven as the box office continues to race while movie theater operations in China have not normalized due to COVID-19. As of September 5, this film is expected to rank second in China’s box office box office box office records in 2022, earning approximately 580.3 billion won and attracting 70.67 million visitors.
Jo Seok, author of webtoon ‘Moonyu’, said, “I am happy as the original author that ‘Moonyu’ has achieved good results by revitalizing Chinese theaters amid the COVID-19 pandemic.” He added, “The status of Korean webtoon IP is increasing not only in Korea but also overseas.” “I feel it,” he said.
Meanwhile, the webtoon ‘Moonyu’ can be enjoyed through Naver Webtoon and Naver Series PC homepage, mobile web, and app.
Source: Pangyo Techno Valley Official Newsroom
→ Go to ‘Asian Innovation Hub Pangyo Techno Valley 2022’ news