‘Guardians of the Video Game’ Lands Finecut for Sales Ahead of Toronto

Seoul-based sales agent Finecut has acquired international sales rights to “Guardians of the Video Game,” a 3D animated feature based on the Naver Webtoon of the same name, ahead of the Toronto market.

“Guardians of the Video Game” originated as a Naver Webtoon by Gasfard that has amassed 345 million views. The property was later turned into a mobile game on Google Play before reaching the screen as a full 3D animated feature.

The film imagines a colorful, family-friendly realm concealed just under the surface of video games themselves, populated by a covert guild of guardians tasked with keeping each title operating and preserving every player’s journey. Its central figure, a guardian banished from sleek 3D gaming worlds, tumbles into an obscure, pixel-based RPG. There, working in secret, he steers an unsuspecting hero toward the game’s conclusion while working to expose a plot targeting both him and the game itself.

Uhm Young-sik directs the feature, adding to a filmography that includes the animated film “Running Man: Revengers” and the animation portion of “Yumi’s Cells” Season 1. He earlier co-directed “Red Shoes and the Seven Dwarfs,” a title that reached distribution in 120 countries.

Animation and VFX studio Locus Animation produces “Guardians of the Video Game.” The company’s credits include “Red Shoes and the Seven Dwarfs” and “Exorcism Chronicles: The Beginning,” the latter of which now has a sequel in production. Locus Animation has built a broader slate around adaptations of popular webtoons, among them “Barkhan” and “Denma.”

“Guardians of the Video Game” is currently in post-production and slated for release in the fourth quarter of 2026. Its first footage will be revealed through Finecut during the Toronto market.

Finecut brings several other titles to Toronto this year. “Long Long Night,” a 3D animated feature, will hold its Toronto premiere in the festival’s Centrepiece section. “Nowhere to Lay My Eyes,” from director Hong Sangsoo, picked up two Pardo Awards at Locarno this year – one for best direction, another for best performance – along with the festival’s Ecumenical Jury Prize.

Also on the slate is “Dora,” directed by July Jung and starring Kim Do-yeon and Ando Sakura, an invitee to Cannes’ Directors’ Fortnight. Park Hoon-jung’s noir “Tristes Tropiques” rounds out the lineup; the film won the Silver Raven Award from Brussels International Fantastic Film Festival and picked up invitations from Sitges, Fantasia, Fantasy Filmfest and L’Étrange Festival.