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Finecut Takes International Rights to Animated ‘Guardians of the Video Game’ Ahead of Toronto
Korean sales agent Finecut has acquired international rights to the 3D animated feature “Guardians of the Video Game,” based on a Naver Webtoon with 345 million views. Directed by Uhm Young-sik and produced by Locus Animation, the film is slated for release in late 2026.
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Finecut Takes International Rights to Animated ‘Guardians of the Video Game’ Ahead of Toronto
Korean sales agent Finecut has acquired international sales rights to the animated feature “Guardians of the Video Game,” a 3D production based on the Naver Webtoon of the same name, ahead of the Toronto market. The announcement was made as the inaugural TIFF Market prepares to open.
The film is directed by Uhm Young-sik, whose previous credits include the animated film “Running Man: Revengers,” the animation portion of “Yumi’s Cells” Season 1, and the co-directed “Red Shoes and the Seven Dwarfs,” which Finecut sold to 120 territories, according to the company. “Red Shoes and the Seven Dwarfs” also reached distribution in 120 countries, according to the studio.
The source material, created by Gasfard, has amassed 345 million views on Naver Webtoon and has been adapted into a mobile game available on Google Play. The story follows an exiled guardian of the gaming world who falls from sleek 3D games into an obscure, pixel-based RPG. There, working in secret, he guides an unsuspecting hero toward the game’s ending while uncovering a conspiracy that threatens both him and the game itself.
Produced by Locus Animation, the feature is in post-production and slated for release in the fourth quarter of 2026. First footage will be revealed by Finecut during the Toronto market. Locus Animation’s previous work includes “Red Shoes and the Seven Dwarfs” and “Exorcism Chronicles: The Beginning,” which has a sequel in production. The studio is also developing animations based on popular webtoons including “Barkhan” and “Denma.”
Finecut is also bringing other titles to Toronto this year. The 3D animated feature “Long Long Night” will hold its world premiere in the festival’s Centrepiece section, while Hong Sangsoo’s “Nowhere to Lay My Eyes” will be screened after winning the Pardo Awards for Best Direction and Best Performance, along with the Ecumenical Jury Prize, at the Locarno Film Festival.
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Each row is one claim, attributed to the outlet whose wording states it most clearly. Confidence rates how directly the source text states the claim — explicit and unhedged rates high; hedged, pieced-together, or internally inconsistent statements rate lower. It does not measure whether the claim is true. Status is Contested when two claims on this page negate each other; otherwise it counts the distinct outlets we found asserting that specific claim — so a single-source claim can still show high confidence, and a multi-source claim can show medium. Every one of those outlets is named beside the status, so you can check the count against the list. For claims extracted before we began storing that list, the row says so: it names the outlet the claim is quoted from and states that we have not recorded which outlets backed it. Outlets wrote at different times, so a figure that evolves — a casualty count, for example — can legitimately differ between rows; check the "as of" time next to each claim's source.
Claim
Confidence
Status
ClaimFinecut has acquired international sales rights to 'Guardians of the Video Game'.
ConfidenceHigh
StatusMulti-source (2 outlets · 2 distinct) via Variety , Deadline
ClaimThe film is titled 'Guardians of the Video Game' and is a 3D animated feature based on the Naver Webtoon by Gasfard
ConfidenceHigh
StatusMulti-source (2 outlets · 2 distinct) via Variety , Deadline
ClaimThe webtoon has amassed 345 million views
ConfidenceHigh
StatusMulti-source (2 outlets · 2 distinct) via Variety , Deadline
ClaimThe webtoon was later turned into a mobile game on Google Play
ConfidenceHigh
StatusMulti-source (2 outlets · 2 distinct) via Variety , Deadline
ClaimThe film's central figure is a guardian banished from 3D gaming worlds
ConfidenceHigh
StatusMulti-source (2 outlets · 2 distinct) via Variety , Deadline
ClaimUhm Young-sik directs the feature
ConfidenceHigh
StatusMulti-source (2 outlets · 2 distinct) via Variety , Deadline
ClaimLocus Animation produces the film
ConfidenceHigh
StatusMulti-source (2 outlets · 2 distinct) via Variety , Deadline
ClaimThe film is currently in post-production, slated for release in the fourth quarter of 2026