[Dispatch=Reporter Jung Tae-yun] Fifteen years after its 2011 theatrical release, the film "Eerie Romance" has returned as a drama. It was first released on Naver Webtoon, followed by its first broadcast on tvN the next day.

The production company called this "transmedia adaptation." It is not a remake that simply transfers a single source material across multiple platforms. Rather, it is an approach where the worldview and narrative are each newly developed to suit the characteristics of each medium.

The scope of change in the story is significant. In the film "Eerie Romance," Kang Yeo-ri (played by Son Ye-jin) was a character unable to work due to her ability to see ghosts. However, in the drama, she becomes Cheon Yeo-ri (played by Park Eun-bin), the president of a hotel.

Magician Jo Gu (played by Min-gi) is transformed into prosecutor Ma Gang-uk (played by Yang Se-jong). New characters and incidents have been added extensively. Aside from the setting that allows one to see ghosts, it is essentially a new story.

This approach is not new. There have been similar cases even recently. tvN's "Hometown's Embrace" (2021) borrowed certain elements from the film "The Odd Family" (2004).

The film "Fabricated City" (2017) was released as the Disney+ series "City of Fragments" (2025). The film "Scandal: A Joseon Love Story" (2003) is also preparing for its dramatization as a Netflix series titled "Scandal."

The strategy of simultaneously developing a single IP across film, drama, and webtoon has been consistently repeated over recent years. Why does the industry continue to pursue this approach?

One drama official told Dispatch, "Revisiting stories is something that has always happened, both domestically and internationally," but added that "from a creator's perspective, starting from the thought 'I could approach this differently' is quite an interesting point."

The simplest answer lies in verified stories. Creating new content begins from a state of unknown commercial potential. Conversely, an IP already released to the market is different.

Regardless of box office performance, data remains showing whether the subject matter captured audience interest and which characters were memorable. One can verify the potential when characters and worlds are brought to the screen.

Particularly in the process of adapting film to drama, the story gains new possibilities. This is because characters and events not fully addressed in the film can be expanded with a longer narrative scope.

"Eerie Romance" exemplifies this. In the film, ghosts functioned as a device driving the romance between the two leads. In the drama, this very setting becomes the driving force that generates incidents.

The two main characters encounter new ghosts each episode and together uncover their stories, resolving their grudges. The ghost that was the backdrop to romance becomes the very incident that connects the two and propels the story forward.

Ultimately, the essence of transmedia adaptation does not lie in replicating stories. It lies in developing already-verified ideas through the grammar of different media.

It is therefore unsurprising that the content industry revisits past films. A story already consumed once is not outdated but becomes a source that can be redeveloped in other media.

However, transmedia adaptation does not necessarily mean success. If the original work has low recognition, it is essentially no different from original content for new viewers. Conversely, for original fans, excessive variation can feel unfamiliar.

In that sense, "Eerie Romance" is less a success case of transmedia adaptation than a test of its possibilities. Can an idea that resonated with audiences fifteen years ago continue to work as a different story fifteen years later?

"Eerie Romance" began with a 3% viewership rating for episode one and rose to 7.3% for episode ten (based on Nielsen Korea data), the series' highest mark. It appeared on Netflix's non-English top 10 for three consecutive weeks.

By the numbers, the performance is not poor. However, it is difficult to determine whether this rise is due to the transmedia adaptation strategy or because the drama itself was well-made.

What "Eerie Romance" demonstrated is not the success or failure of transmedia adaptation, but its potential. Finding stories yet untold in narratives already concluded.

The reason the content industry revisits older IP may lie precisely here.

<Photo sources=Film poster, CJ ENM>