Hellbound producer Climax Studio adds two AI feature films

Climax Studio, the Korean production company behind Hellbound and D.P., announced two AI feature films at Busan's Asian Contents & Film Market, part of a widening slate of Korean AI features, the Korea JoongAng Daily reported on October 17.

The reason this lands for anyone who makes video: the same report puts the industry's estimate for AI's effect on visual effects costs at an average of 40 to 60 percent, and says the studios now expect to build these films around recognizable actors rather than unknowns.

The JoongAng Daily's Na Won-jeong reports the two Climax projects are Wonso, a superpower fantasy the paper describes as a Korean Star Wars, and Yogoejeon, a period fantasy in which Korea's traditional monsters fight Western vampires set on the Joseon dynasty. Ahn Jae-hong directs Wonso and Jeong Choong-geun directs Yogoejeon. Both are being considered for release next year. The market's own showcase listing carries the pair under the English titles The Elements and Monsterblood (working title), with Byun Seung-min, Climax's chief executive, and both directors as presenters, according to the ACFM program. Variety reported Ahn turned to AI filmmaking after arm injuries ended his work behind the camera.

"While judging an AI film competition in March this year, I concluded it had reached a commercial level," Byun said. "We plan to cast well-known actors in the lead roles and other parts with box office performance in mind."

Climax is not alone on the schedule. Steelay, a feature the JoongAng Daily describes as 100 percent AI-made, is directed by Seol Woo-in and Lee Han-wook and opens in Korean theaters this month; Deadline dates the release to October 20, while the paper describes it as opening Wednesday. Yeon Sang-ho's AI-assisted mystery thriller Yeto, starring Moon Geun-young, Go Ah-sung and Kim Si-a, is in post-production for next year. Kang Yun-sung, whose earlier AI feature was Run to the West, is producing the AI action film Gulf of Aden, starring Byun Yo-han, and the market lists it in the same showcase. The paper names Min Kyu-dong, Yeon Sang-ho, Shin Yeon-shick and Lee Myung-se among established directors moving into AI.

The market has run this play before. Deadline reports that projects shown at last year's work-in-progress showcase have since raised money: Mateo AI Studio signed a promotional partnership with Kling AI and raised $1.5 million in pre-Series A funding, and is readying its fully AI-generated feature Raphael.

The clearest caution comes from the directors themselves. At a Busan forum on October 10, Min Kyu-dong said AI "can make the pieces [scenes] well, but arranging the order of the pieces and filling the gaps between them is 'the domain of directing.'" Kim Sung-soo, whose AI short Worm Train also screened at the market, argued that authorship survives the tool: "Even if the director doesn't shoot it himself, a Na Hong-jin film is a Na Hong-jin film, and a Bong Joon-ho film is a Bong Joon-ho film."

The headline number is an estimate, not a measurement. The 40 to 60 percent figure is what the Korean film industry gives for VFX savings, and the JoongAng Daily notes that both the Academy Awards and the Cannes Film Festival restrict submissions that use generative AI, even as a market short on hits treats the tools as an opportunity. ACFM market director Ellen YD Kim, named Kim Yeong-deok in the paper's account, expects the label to fall away: "Just as we no longer use terms like CG film or digital film, the term 'AI film' will likely disappear before long."

Climax Studio's two projects are being considered for release next year; Steelay opens in Korean theaters this month, and the full ACFM program is at acfm.kr.

Slate card

• Studio: Climax Studio
• Project 1: Wonso (market title The Elements), directed by Ahn Jae-hong
• Project 2: Yogoejeon (working title Monsterblood), directed by Jeong Choong-geun
• Status: both under consideration for release next year
• Announced at: Asian Contents & Film Market, Busan, October 10 to 13, 2026
• Source: Korea JoongAng Daily, October 17, 2026