On July 26, WEBTOON Entertainment offered San Diego Comic-Con 2025 attendees an exclusive sneak peek of the highly anticipated live-action fantasy action film Omniscient Reader: The Prophet days before its U.S. premiere. As a webcomic fanatic and The Game of Nerds’ representative for SDCC this year, I was adamant to view this early screening during the Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint: The WEBTOON Phenomenon and First Look at the New Film panel and scored a seat. The panel itself was packed with attendees, presumably a healthy mix of new and long-time fans of ORV, and their excitement was contagious. It was clear by their attentive expressions that these attendees were keen to learn more about ORV and its future, as was I.
Before the sneak peek screened, however, panelists Ryan Lee (WEBTOON Head of Content), Vi Ma (213 Pictures North American Marketing Lead), and Miles Atherton (Anime by the Numbers Editor) explored the origins and evolution of ORV and how it became the global sensation it is now. Co-authored by a married couple with the pen name singNsong and serialized as a web novel from January 2018 to February 2020, Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint was originally published on Munpia, the largest webnovel platform in Korea. In September 2019, Munpia announced that ORV was set to be adapted into five feature-length live-action films. Later on, ORV was adapted and launched as Omniscient Reader by WEBTOON in August 2020, accumulating over 2.2 billion global views. Still ongoing as a webcomic, Omniscient Reader became one of the most iconic and globally recognized series on the WEBTOON platform. With ORV rising in popularity worldwide, an anime adaptation was also announced to be in the works by Aniplex and Crunchyroll in July 2024. However, no release date has been revealed just yet.
After the discussion portion of the panel, the lights dimmed, and attendees were privileged with the first five minutes of the film. Office worker Kim Dokja explains how he became the sole reader of an obscure serialized web novel titled “Three Ways to Survive the Apocalypse.” For ten years, Dokja led a simple life and continued to read the web novel. But when he reads the last chapter, the real world suddenly collapses into chaos, as it did at the beginning of the web novel. With his knowledge of the web novel and how it ends, Dokja teams up with the story’s main character, Yoo Joong-hyuk, and new friends to rewrite the ending and save the world from ruin.
In the film, Canadian-born and South Korean-based actor and singer Ahn Hyo-seop stars as Kim Dokja, and animation fans may recognize his voice from his role as Jinu in the 2025 animated musical KPop Demon Hunters. KPop fans may also recognize South Korean singer, actress, and BLACKPINK vocalist Kim Ji-soo, who stars as Lee Ji-hye. South Korean actor and singer Lee Min-ho stars as Yoo Joong-hyuk, and K-drama fans may recognize him for his previous role as the F4 leader Gu Jun-pyo in the 2009 K-drama Boys Over Flowers, which is often praised as a pioneer in Korean high school television series.
Omniscient Reader: The Prophet was originally released in South Korea on July 23. And as of August 1, the live-action film adaptation can be seen in theaters across North America and Canada. If you are a resident of those areas and are interested in seeing the film, use Google Search to find out what’s playing at your local theaters and tell us in the comments if YOU plan to see Omniscient Reader: The Prophet on the big screen.
