When the pandemic halted productions worldwide in 2020, many filmmakers saw their careers stall. But for South Korean visual-effects veteran Jang Seong-ho, it marked an unexpected turning point. His small company, Mofac Studios, was struggling to finish King of Kings, an animated adaptation of Charles Dickens’ The Life of Our Lord. Then, in an unlikely twist, Hollywood actors including Kenneth Branagh, Oscar Isaac, and Uma Thurman joined the project as voice talent.
Released in the United States around Easter, King of Kings became a box-office sensation, making it the most successful South Korean film ever released in the American market — even surpassing Bong Joon-ho’s Oscar-winning Parasite, according to Bloomberg. The film grossed $60 million at the US box office and is on track to exceed $100 million globally by Christmas, excluding streaming deals. Remarkably, the movie cost just $25 million to produce — a fraction of the budgets typical for major studios like Walt Disney Co. or Sony Group Corp.
Now, Jang is pursuing another bold leap: using artificial intelligence to transform filmmaking. With 6 billion won ($4.3 million) in backing from Altos Ventures, Mofac is developing an AI-driven film production platform built on Epic Games’ Unreal Engine. The goal is to cut production times and costs in half, allowing the studio to deliver both a feature film and a series every year.
“The question we should be asked is, ‘Where did you use AI?’” Jang said at his studio in Seoul’s Gangnam district. “The true result will be when no one can tell. With a powerful leader holding AI as a tool, the work that once required hundreds of people could soon be done by just one or two.”
Mofac’s AI push is part of a broader trend in South Korea’s film industry, which has been slow to recover from the pandemic. The number of new film releases has fallen by more than half from its pre-Covid peak, prompting studios to seek new technologies to cut costs and attract audiences.
Other studios are following suit. Meditation with a Pencil is using AI tools to remake the classic Hong Kong action film A Better Tomorrow. Galaxy Corp., the startup behind Parasite actor Song Kang-ho and K-pop star G-Dragon, is partnering with SKAI Intelligence and Nvidia’s Omniverse to create AI-powered content and virtual characters. Meanwhile, Hive Media Corp., producer of 12.12: The Day, is exploring similar tools for both animated and live-action films.
The South Korean government is also stepping in, pledging new funding for AI-driven animation and film projects. Officials plan to establish a dedicated fund to support AI-based productions as part of a broader push to modernize the country’s creative industries.
While Hollywood debates the risks of AI in filmmaking, many Asian studios have already embraced emerging video-generation tools — from OpenAI’s Sora to Kuaishou’s Kling AI in China — which can create lifelike video clips in seconds.
Still, the technology’s rapid adoption has sparked concern among veteran filmmakers. Director Park Chan-wook, known for Oldboy and Decision to Leave, warned that AI could alter the art form’s visual language. “It could also take away many jobs and fundamentally change the aesthetics of cinema,” Park said during the Busan International Film Festival. “And that fills me with fear.”
For Jang, however, that tension is part of the transformation. King of Kings, produced with just five actors and motion-capture technology, proved that a small studio could compete with Hollywood on both creative and commercial terms. With AI now entering the equation, he believes that balance of power could shift even faster.
“King of Kings showed that passion and innovation can rival money and muscle,” Jang said. “AI will only accelerate that — if we’re brave enough to use it.”
