SEOUL – The recently concluded Cannes Film Festival 2026 appears to have injected vital momentum into a post-pandemic Korean film industry.

While auteur Na Hong-jin’s sci-fi thriller Hope left the podium empty-handed in May, it quickly emerged as the market’s buzziest breakout title. Its sales across more than 200 territories are reportedly on track to shatter the overseas pre-sale record previously set by director Park Chan-wook’s No Other Choice (2025).

Another undeniable epicentre of conversation on the Croisette in the south of France was Colony, a Midnight Screenings selection helmed by writer-director Yeon Sang-ho.

Celebrated for splicing sharp social commentary with propulsive genre storytelling in hits like zombie movie Train To Busan (2016) and Netflix series Hellbound (2021 to present), Yeon’s latest project turns his lens towards the existential anxieties of the artificial intelligence era, reimagining them as a high-concept zombie thriller.

Anchoring this apocalyptic chaos is enduring South Korean icon Gianna Jun Ji-hyun.

The actress has spent nearly three decades dictating the cultural zeitgeist across film, television and high-profile brand endorsements in South Korea.

She originally captured nationwide attention with romantic comedy film My Sassy Girl (2001) and the global phenomenon series My Love From The Star (2013 to 2014), pioneering the charismatic female archetype that re-contoured contemporary Asian entertainment.

Concurrently, dramatic turns in The Berlin File (2013) and Assassination (2015) had established her ability to match blockbuster star power with emotional gravity.

In Colony – her first return to the box office in 11 years – Jun portrays Kwon Se-jeong, a biotechnology professor thrust into a fight for survival when ev...