Comics
[Comic-Con ’13] Chaos! Comics’ ‘Chastity’ Gets Adapted
Rhythm & Hues, the Oscar-winning visual effects company recently bought out of bankruptcy, is getting back into the development game.
Heat Vision reports that the company, now owned by a subsidiary of Prana Studios, has optioned comic book Chastity from Dynamite Entertainment with an eye of translating the property into both a big-screen feature and a TV project.
“Chastity tells the story of teenager Chastity Marks, a runaway who’s accused of murdering her abusive father. She comes across a night carnival that hides a community of vampire-like creatures and their associates who are involved in a desperate and vicious power struggle for survival. This leads to Chastity finding out the truth about her life and true destiny.“
The small-screen side has the most traction at this stage as Scott Winant, the veteran Emmy-winning exec producer whose credits range from “thirtysomething” and “My So-Called Life” to “Californication” and “Save Me”, is attached to showrun and direct. (Winant has been working as a director on “True Blood”.)
Chastity was originally published by Chaos! Comics starting in the 1990s. In 2010, the company was acquired by Dynamite, which also owns characters such as Vampirella and Pantha and releases creator-owned books like Garth Ennis’ The Boys as well as licensed books such as Red Sonja, The Shadow and The Long Ranger.
The supernatural world of Korean folk horror movie Exhuma grows larger with the arrival of prequel spinoff webtoon Maengjong this weekend, Variety reports today.
Naver Webtoon debuts Maengjong on May 30.
The series hails from Haemuri (Olgami) and will trace the high school origins of how shaman duo Hwarim and Bonggil, played by Kim Go-eun and Lee Do-hyun in the 2024 film, came together to face occultish threats.
The story is set to begin when “Hwarim, who has been concealing her identity following a childhood encounter with a snake spirit called Jin, crosses paths with Bonggil at their school.”
Variety notes that Exhuma director Jang Jae-hyun participated in the project’s early concept stage.
“We are presenting ‘Maengjong,’ a new series capturing the appeal of the horror-occult genre, ahead of the full summer season,” said Lee Jeong-geun, Naver Webtoon’s Korea webtoon content leader. “With the high school story of Hwarim and Bonggil, who left a strong impression in the film ‘Exhuma,’ enhanced by Haemuri’s characteristic tense direction, we expect it will be a welcome work for genre fans.”
“It is meaningful that the spin-off story of ‘Exhuma,’ loved by many audiences, expands by meeting the new grammar of webtoon,” said Lee Hyeon-jeong, managing director of the film business division at Showbox, which distributed the film. “We hope it will be a fresh experience for both film fans and webtoon readers.”
Exhuma was a breakout hit in 2024, becoming the first Korean occult film to surpass 10 million ticket buyers and the country’s highest-grossing film of the year. I wrote in my review that “the intricately woven Exhuma delivers one of the year’s biggest surprises in horror so far.”
The bond between Hwarim and Bonggil was one of the film’s highlights, making this prequel webtoon a must for fans.
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