‘Wild Eyes: The Woman of the Prince’ Comes to the Big Screen in Vertical Format… 53-Episode Short-Form Period Drama Opens Nov. 18

Vertical cinema expands beyond mobile short-form platforms to theater screens

Vertical short-form dramas that once filled mobile screens are expanding onto the big screen. ‘Wild Eyes: The Woman of the Prince’ (hereafter ‘Wild Eyes’), a live-action adaptation of the popular webtoon of the same name, opens in theaters on the 18th.

The story follows Crown Prince Yi Hyeon (Sung Jun), a tragic figure who distinguished himself in battle by defeating ten thousand enemies but is confined to the Western Palace under his father’s watchful eye, and Eun-woo (Chuu), an assassin who infiltrates the palace disguised as a court lady to kill him. Taken in by the Chief State Councilor (Kim Eung-soo) amid the turmoil of war and trained as an assassin for 15 years, Eun-woo plots to carry out her mission during her night with the prince. But as the wary prince gradually lowers her guard, she begins to fall for him and faces an unexpected fate.

‘Wild Eyes’, which debuted on the Lezhin Snack platform on the 22nd of last month, is the production company’s second vertical-format theatrical project, following director Lee Joon-ik’s ‘Father’s Home Cooking’. It explores a new distribution model: bringing short-form content designed for mobile viewing to theaters.

Direction and sound redesigned for the format, maximizing audience immersion

Director Cho Ba-reun, who helmed the film, highlighted the creative advantages of the vertical frame at a press screening and news conference held on the 12th at Lotte Cinema World Tower in Seoul. “Compared with a horizontal screen, a vertical screen draws the audience’s visual focus much more strongly to the characters and actors,” Cho said. “We focused our efforts on capturing actors’ subtle expressions and the characters’ inner lives in detail.”

Cho, whose genre filmmaking has been recognized through films including ‘The Grotesque Mansion’ (2021) and ‘The Grotesque Train’ (2025), is taking on short-form drama for the second time, following ‘Neighbors Who Don’t Exist: Vampire Boyfriends’. Since the vertical format limits panning—the technique of moving the camera from side to side—Cho also took a fresh approach to staging. The team designed action sequences tailored to the frame, minimizing characters’ lateral movement while preserving the impact of restrained action.

The team also paid close attention to sound, reworking episodes that had been released in 53 installments on the platform into a single feature-length film for theaters. Sound mixing was overhauled to reflect shifts in the characters’ emotional arcs and create a sense of space suited to the theater environment. Chuu, taking on a traditional period-drama role for the first time, said, “I was thrilled to hear that a short-form series made for small screens would be reborn as a theatrical film.” She added, “With the sound refined, the emotional exchanges between the characters and the story’s immersive quality were enhanced.”

A varied ensemble brings palace intrigue to the big screen

The cast has also drawn attention. Moon Ji-hoon, known as rapper Swings, builds on his acting career after ‘Tazza: Song of Belzebub’ (2026), playing Nam Hwi, the bodyguard who protects the crown prince. “I lived abroad for a long time, so I wasn’t familiar with period-drama culture, but the character the director tailored for me helped me get immersed in the role,” Moon said. He was nominated for Best New Actor at the 47th Blue Dragon Film Awards, to be held on the 25th, for ‘Tazza: Song of Belzebub’.

Joining lead actor Sung Jun, who previously worked with Cho on ‘The Grotesque Mansion’, are seasoned performers Kim Eung-soo, Cho Soo-hyang and Yeom Seung-yi, adding depth to the palace drama’s intertwined power struggles and love-hate relationships. ‘Wild Eyes: The Woman of the Prince’, drawing attention for its innovative approach to short-form content, meets audiences in theaters starting on the 18th.