Two-point-five billion views. That’s how many visits readers made to the web novel and webtoon that inspired the film Omniscient Reader: The Prophecy. So, there’s a lot of anticipation for the film adaptation which hits North American and Canadian theaters on Aug. 1. Additional buzz has been generated by its star-studded cast. The fantasy action thriller stars Ahn Hyo-seop (Business Proposal, Dr. Romantic), Lee Min-ho (Pachinko, The King: Eternal Monarch), Chae Soo-bin (The Rebel, I’m Not a Robot), Shin Seung-ho (A-Teen, Alchemy of Souls), Nana ( Glitch, My Man Is Cupid and the k-pop groups After School and Orange Caramel) and the most-followed Korean actress on Instagram, Jisoo (Newtopia, Snowdrop) from the k-pop group Blackpink.

The story follows Kim Dok-ja (Ahn Hyo-seop), the only reader of an obscure web novel titled Three Ways to Survive the Apocalypse. Dok-ja, who has devoted 10 years to this story is not a fan of the ending, so he sends an angry letter to the author, calling it the “worst novel ever.” Can he possibly do better?

The storyline offers him a chance. The novel suddenly becomes reality and its omnipotent hero Yu Jung-hyeok (Lee Min-ho) appears before Dok-ja. As the only living human who knows how to survive in the world of the novel, Dok-ja strives to write a new ending. In the process Dok-ja learns the difference between being a protagonist and a reader.

Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint, alternatively translated as Omniscient Reader, is written by the duo singNsong. The original web novel concluded its main serialization in February 2020 and has continued to expand its universe with an ongoing epilogue series since February 2023. Its web comic adaptation was published in 2020 and is currently available worldwide in 10 languages, including English, Japanese and French.

Omniscient Reader: The Prophecy is directed by Kim Byung-woo (The Terror Live, Take Point), who also co-wrote the screenplay with Lee Jung-min. The film is produced by Won Dong-yeon for Realies Pictures, the studio behind the Along with the Gods franchise.

Omniscient Reader: The Prophecy is being released by Capelight Pictures, a Berlin-based international film distributor. Capelight Pictures began releasing foreign films in North America and the UK in 2019. They have since released 40 films including many South Korean hits, including Ashfall, The Roundup series, Project Silence and Veteran 2.