Purge List Webtoon Film Starring Woo-sung Jung Begins Production for 2027 Release

Production has begun on a live-action film based on the Korean webtoon Purge List, with a theatrical premiere scheduled for 2027, according to Korean outlet YTN on November 5. The webtoon has 120 million cumulative views on Kakao Webtoon.

The film is a historical action story set in the Joseon era. It centers on Myeong-hoe Han, a ruthless power broker, and the people entangled with his political purges. Woo-sung Jung plays Han, the figure around whom the story turns.

Cast and characters

Sung-il Jung is cast as Banseok, the leader of a secret organization that opposes Han. Ha-joon Wi plays Prince Suyang, who seeks to claim the throne. Their characters place the film's central conflict between Han's machinations, the resistance organized against him and a royal with his own designs on power.

The supporting cast includes Chang-seok Go as the general Jong-seo Kim. Ji-hwan Park, Daniel Choi and Sung-wook Lee play members of the Six Martyred Ministers, a group tied to the political purges at the heart of the story.

The source webtoon

The original work was created by Jong-hoon Kim and serialized on Kakao Webtoon from 2014 to 2015. It won the grand prize at the inaugural Daum Online Comics Contest, an early mark of recognition for a series that went on to build its large readership on the platform.

That readership is substantial. The 120 million cumulative views on Kakao Webtoon make Purge List one of the platform's well-viewed historical titles, and the film adaptation arrives roughly a decade after its serialization ended.

No official English version of the webtoon is currently available, so the film may be the first way many international audiences encounter the story.

The project is now in production, and the schedule points to a theatrical run in 2027. The film joins the line of webtoon-to-screen adaptations drawn from Korean serialized comics, with Purge List bringing a Joseon-era political thriller format to the screen rather than a contemporary setting.

The 2027 premiere is the only release timing given so far. Additional details on the production, including a specific release date, have not accompanied the production-start news.