[비즈한국] Director Park Chan-wook's film "Can't Help It" and the Netflix animation "K-Pop Demon Hunters" have each been nominated in three categories for the 83rd Golden Globe Awards. Through this, we look back at the methods and strategies for the global expansion of K-content.
We can identify three major types of these entries. One is original works from Korean production companies and creators. "Can't Help It" falls into this category. "Can't Help It" was nominated for Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy, Best Actor (Lee Byung-hun), and Best Picture – Non-English Language. Director Park Chan-wook's "Decision to Leave," starring Park Hae-il and Tang Wei, released six years after "The Handmaiden," was also nominated for the Best Non-English Language Film category at the 80th Golden Globes in January 2023. Unfortunately, the honor went to the Argentine film "Argentina, 1985."
The Golden Globes are often called a prelude to the Academy Awards, but in some respects, they are actually harder to win. While the Academy can nominate any film, the Golden Globes split their judging for Best Picture and Acting awards into Drama and Musical/Comedy categories. In that sense, "Can't Help It" being nominated in three categories is a significant achievement in itself.
Director Park Chan-wook shows signs of deep deliberation, first by placing black comedy at the forefront in terms of form. This is a wise choice, considering that Director Bong Joon-ho's "Parasite" was well-received not only in Europe but also at the Golden Globes and Academy Awards in the U.S. In terms of subject and theme, it successfully incorporates universal anxieties of the middle class—unemployment, job insecurity, and even AI replacing labor—into a genre film format. Through this, it sought both mass appeal and artistic quality. Furthermore, the casting of Lee Byung-hun, who is familiar to Hollywood, increases the chances of winning.
The second type is the remake collaboration method. Like Director Park Chan-wook's "Can't Help It," "Bugonia," which was also nominated for Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy, belongs to this category. As has already been discussed, this work is a remake of the Korean film "Save the Green Planet!" (2003) by director Yorgos Lanthimos.
Director Jang Joon-hwan's film "Save the Green Planet!" is considered a masterpiece that was ahead of its time, despite failing at the box office relative to its artistic quality. With a production budget of 3.3 billion won, the break-even point was 1 million viewers, but the actual number of viewers was just over 70,000. Audience numbers do not fully represent the potential of a work.
The Hollywood remake "Bugonia" is the result of a project that CJ ENM035760, which handled the investment and distribution of the original, has been ambitiously pursuing since 2018. The protagonist's gender and occupation were changed to a female CEO, and the script's quality was enhanced through collaboration between Will Tracy, a writer for the HBO drama "Succession," and Director Jang Joon-hwan. Many Hollywood actresses wanted to appear in the film, and it was finalized with Emma Stone in an intense, character-driven role. The social message was also reinforced.
There is a step forward in that they attempted collaboration based on our original works that could gain a response in the global market even if they were overlooked domestically. It could serve as a good example of how films that failed at the box office in Korea can have their true value recognized abroad.
The final type is the method of planning and producing locally based on the themes and formats of K-content. "K-Pop Demon Hunters" falls into this category. Although it was produced and distributed with Netflix capital, it was enhanced by the extensive participation of director Maggie Kang (Kang Min-ji), a Korean-Canadian who understands Korean culture well, along with K-pop musicians. "K-Pop Demon Hunters" was nominated for Best Animated Feature Film alongside "Zootopia 2," "Elio," "Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – Infinity Castle," "Arco," and the French animation "Little Amelie."
The prospects for a win for "K-Pop Demon Hunters" are very bright. You can tell by the atmosphere, considering "Wicked: Part Two" was unexpectedly excluded. "Zootopia 2" and "Demon Slayer" are both sequels, like "Wicked." Since "K-Pop Demon Hunters" achieved great results as an original creative piece of content, it is more advantageous than ever. In addition, its prospects for Best Original Song and box office success are unparalleled. As it enjoys great popularity across various races, genders, and age groups worldwide, a win seems inevitable. Moreover, the value of K-content, which had not been widely known until now, adds to its uniqueness.
We look forward to the performance of Korean content at the Golden Globes more than ever. This is likely the result of various creators working diligently and persistently in diverse ways. We hope for good results not only at the Golden Globes but also at the Academy Awards. Until K-content firmly takes its place at the center of the global content market, efforts in pure creation as well as various remakes, localization, and collaboration are necessary.
The author, Kim Heon-sik, has been walking through or navigating the forest of pop culture phenomena since his 20s, with the expectation that there is a way to make the world a better place through culture. He continues to walk the same path in the 21st century, where artificial intelligence and quantum computers are active, with the same belief.