Korea’s Finecut Picks Up Retro Gaming Feature ‘Guardians Of The Video Game’ Ahead Of TIFF Market

Korean sales agent Finecut has acquired international rights to "Guardians Of The Video Game," a retro gaming-themed 3D animated feature, ahead of the inaugural TIFF Market at the Toronto International Film Festival. The film is based on a hugely popular Naver Webtoon and is directed by Uhm Young-sik, a prominent Korean animation director whose previous work "Red Shoes And The Seven Dwarfs" was sold by Finecut to 120 territories, suggesting strong commercial expectations for the new title.

The webtoon source material, created by Gasfard, boasts a 9.98 reader rating and 345 million views, and has already been spun off into a mobile game on Google Play. Produced by Locus Animation, the film follows an exiled video game guardian who falls into a forgotten pixel RPG and must guide a hero while uncovering a conspiracy, blending retro and cutting-edge 3D animation styles. It is in post-production ahead of a fourth-quarter 2026 release, with first footage due to be unveiled by Finecut at the TIFF Market; the agent is also selling other titles including "Long Long Night" and Hong Sangsoo's award-winning "Nowhere To Lay My Eyes."