From 'Spellbound' to 'Scandal': Korean films find new life as drama series

tvN's new Saturday-Sunday drama series "Spellbound" premieres Saturday evening, reimagining the 2011 film of the same name — which drew about 3 million viewers — through a transmedia approach that expands the original world and story to suit the new format.

The series preserves the core premise of the original: a romance between a woman who can see ghosts and the male lead. But the characters and setting have been refreshed. The film's ghost-seeing protagonist Kang Yeo-ri, played by Son Ye-jin, has been reborn 15 years later as hotel CEO Cheon Yeo-ri, played by Park Eun-bin. Jo-gu — a street magician and Yeo-ri's love interest in the film, played by Lee Min-ki — has been reimagined as passionate prosecutor Ma Gang-wook, played by Yang Se-jong.

A new character, Kang Min-hwan (played by Ong Seong-wu), absent from the original, adds tension to what becomes a two-way romance. The series retains the occult-romance blend that made the film appealing while layering in original characters and settings to tell an entirely new story.

Director Lee Min-su introduced the series at a press event Tuesday as "an occult love triangle featuring a woman who sees ghosts, a man who is terrified of them, and a man even scarier than the ghosts." He added, "Just as romantic feelings can blossom even in frightening situations, I thought it would be fun to bring the original's premise into a drama format. Viewers can look forward to characters that are richer than in the original."

"Spellbound" is part of a growing trend in Korean broadcasting in which theatrically released films are being reborn as drama series or streaming shows. The industry has moved beyond the era when webtoon and web novel IP dominated the production landscape — now, films with proven commercial appeal are emerging as a new reservoir of intellectual property.

Disney+'s "The Manipulated," starring Ji Chang-wook and Do Kyung-soo and released last year, is another prime example of a film transmedia-adapted into a series. The source material is "Fabricated City" (2017), starring Ji Chang-wook, Shim Eun-kyung, Ahn Jae-hong and Oh Jung-se — a film rated 15 and up with a runtime of just over two hours that has been reimagined as a 12-episode hard-boiled action thriller restricted to ages 18 and over.

"The Manipulated" keeps the original's central thread — a man who picks up a lost phone and tries to return it, only to be framed for murder and forced to uncover the truth — but adds new elements that give the series a completely different tone. The protagonist played by Ji Chang-wook has been transformed from an ordinary unemployed man named Kwon Yu into Park Tae-jung, who runs a flower shop and is preparing to open a cafe. New villains, Ahn Yo-han (Do Kyung-soo) and Baek Do-kyung (Lee Kwang-su), have also been added. The comedic elements of "Fabricated City" have been stripped away entirely, replaced by brutal survival-game-style action and a far darker, weightier narrative.

The box-office trajectories of the original films and their series adaptations make for an interesting comparison. "Fabricated City" fell short of its break-even point of 3 million admissions, drawing around 2.5 million — a disappointing result. "The Manipulated," by contrast, shot straight to No. 1 on Disney+ Korea upon release and went on to rank second worldwide in the Disney+ TV show category, writing a global success story. Critics credited the series with successfully expanding the original's universe.

Netflix's original series "Scandal," set for release in the third quarter of this year, follows the same trajectory. Its source material is the 2003 film "Scandal — Joseon Male and Female's Affair," starring Bae Yong-joon, Jeon Do-yeon and Lee Mi-sook.

The series extends the original's premise of seduction and ruin in a period melodrama, centering on a dangerous love wager between the gifted Lady Jo (Son Ye-jin) and Joseon's most notorious seducer, Jo Won (Ji Chang-wook), and the woman Hee-yeon (Nana) who becomes entangled in their game. Set in an era when desire itself was taboo, the show follows their precarious story as they challenge the rigid Confucian order through brazen love and temptation.

For actors tasked with reinterpreting characters already familiar to audiences — and stepping into roles previously inhabited by celebrated sunbae ("senior colleagues in the industry") — these transmedia dramas represent no small challenge.

Park Eun-bin of "Spellbound" said, "The film is two hours long, but the drama is 12 episodes, so we have woven in at least six times as much new material." She noted that unlike in the film, the drama adds a setting in which Cheon Yeo-ri can see ghosts simply by touching someone's hand. "Through the various new elements, I think viewers will be able to enjoy the work in a much richer way than the original," she said.

Son Ye-jin of "Scandal" spoke at a Netflix event earlier this year, saying, "A lot of Sageuk dramas these days showcase something visually spectacular and intense, but our production tried to express an aesthetic with breathing room, grounded in the historical accuracy of the Joseon period." She added, "I think global fans will see the spatial depth of the hanok settings captured so delicately and feel a fresh sense of discovery — realizing there was this kind of beauty in Joseon-era Korea."

The broader trend in content production reflects a shift: as competition over webtoon and web novel IP grows fiercer, films with proven commercial track records are drawing attention as a new source of IP. A key advantage the industry cites is that character arcs and subplots compressed into a short theatrical runtime can be explored with far greater depth when expanded into a series.

CJ ENM said, "In the process of adapting a film into a drama, the universe broadens and the emotional arc deepens — and that is precisely what connects with the way viewers consume content today." The company added, "For audiences who actively expand story universes by producing their own secondary and tertiary content, a film-based drama that preserves the essence of the original while adding new narrative layers can become an irresistible playground."

Another factor behind the freer movement of IP between film and drama is the gradual shift of Korea's content production structure toward a Hollywood-style studio system, which has made it easier for major studios like CJ ENM to repurpose their film IP across drama and series formats. "Spellbound" is itself a film that CJ ENM distributed.

Whether the rise of film IP as a new content source will inject fresh energy into the broader K-content industry, however, is a matter of debate. Just as the proliferation of webtoon- and web novel-based content has eroded originality across the industry, there are concerns that a growing volume of remakes and transmedia adaptations could sap the sector's creative vitality.

"Adapting a film IP with proven commercial appeal is a safe choice that reduces risk, but it inevitably means fewer attempts to discover new stories," one industry insider said. "If the trend of relying solely on proven IP becomes entrenched, the creative ecosystem will have no choice but to contract over the long term."