'Time to Hunt' Faces Roadblocks in Overseas Streaming

Court Approves Overseas Screening Ban Injunction and Invalidates Contract Termination
Netflix "Will Announce Position Soon After Internal Discussions"

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Jong-gil] The movie "Time to Hunt," which went straight to Netflix, is expected to face difficulties being released overseas. This is because Content Panda, which handled overseas sales, has already signed sales contracts with about 30 countries. A court ruling prohibiting overseas release has been issued, making disruptions to the plan inevitable.

On the 8th, the Seoul Central District Court accepted Content Panda's request for a provisional injunction to ban overseas screenings and an application to nullify the contract termination against the distributor Little Big Pictures. As a result, the contract termination between Little Big Pictures and Content Panda was invalidated. Content Panda regained the rights to sell the overseas distribution rights of "Time to Hunt." Little Big Pictures is prohibited from releasing "Time to Hunt" worldwide except in South Korea. If violated, they must pay a daily penalty to Content Panda.

The film was originally scheduled to be screened domestically on February 26 but was indefinitely postponed due to the spread of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19). Little Big Pictures, concerned about additional promotional and marketing costs, transferred all rights to Netflix, marking the first time a Korean film new release has done so. However, the rights to "Time to Hunt" had already been sold to about 30 countries. Content Panda, which signed an overseas sales contract with Little Big Pictures on January 24 last year, achieved this after more than a year of work. A Content Panda official said, "We were also about to sign contracts with an additional 70 countries." Little Big Pictures was aware of the contracts but still transferred all rights to Netflix. Instead, in early March, they requested Content Panda to terminate the contract for Netflix sales.

Little Big Pictures could have contracted with Netflix excluding countries where rights had already been sold, like Japan's Ghibli Studio. Netflix does not provide 21 Ghibli Studio works in the U.S. and Canada because HBO Max holds exclusive screening rights in those two countries. Regarding the "double contract" controversy, Little Big Pictures explained, "We conducted sufficient prior negotiations and lawfully terminated the contract based on a clause allowing termination due to force majeure or similar reasons after legal review." However, Content Panda countered, "There was only verbal notification and official letter dispatch."

This ruling has put Netflix in a difficult position. If "Time to Hunt" is released worldwide on the 10th as planned, it could cause significant damage to Little Big Pictures. A related party said, "We will discuss internally and announce our position soon."