Visual special effects (VFX) and content company Dexter Studios (CEO: Kim Wook, Kang Jong-ik) is throwing its name into the international content market in earnest with “Knights of the Zodiac.”
On February 4, Dexter Studios announced that it has signed a contract to supply VFX content for the movie Knights of the Zodiac.
Knights of the Zodiac is an adaptation of the popular manga series “Saint Seiya” created by Masami Kurumada back in 1985. The original manga series has sold more than 35 million copies upon its release, and was turned into a television and theater animation series from 1986 to 1989, which also enjoyed great success worldwide.
Using the same plot as the original manga series, the movie will tell the story of characters who gain power from the stars to become knights of the Greek goddess Athena to protect humankind. Directed by Tomasz Baginski, producer of the Netflix series “The Witcher,” Knights of the Zodiac will feature Japanese actor Arata Makenyu, who starred in “Pacific Rim Uprising,” as well as Madison Iseman, Diego Tinoco, Mark Dacascos, Nick Stahl, Famke Janssen, and Sean Bean.
Dexter Studios, known for its technological prowess worldwide, has been in charge of the VFX production for major feature films in Korea, such as the “Along with the Gods” (2017~2018) series, “Parasite” (2019), and “Space Sweepers” (2020). Now, with Knights of the Zodiac, the company is looking to raise its profile in the international VFX market. To that end, it plans to establish additional partnerships with global corporations in 2022 and use them to win contracts from overseas clients.
Dexter Studios CEOs Kim Wook and Kang Jong-ik said, “With K-content drawing more attention around the world, interest in the Korean VFX market is growing as well. Participating in the VFX production of ‘Knights of the Zodiac’ will be another opportunity for us to prove to the world the sophisticated technology of Dexter Studios and the power of K-VFX, which has come a long way.” They added, “We will do our best to become more competitive on the global market.”
Meanwhile, Dexter Studios worked on the VFX production of The Pirates: The Last Royal Treasure, which hit the cinemas last month. The Pirates: The Last Royal Treasure tells the story of pirates venturing out the sea to find a lost royal treasure. Dexter Studios recreated natural disasters such as volcanoes, lightning, and tsunamis on screen, and it added other virtual effects, including jets of fire, lightning-hit islands, and animals such as whales, penguins, and cows, using sophisticated computer graphics technology.
