This is similar to how Bong Joon-ho's "Snowpiercer" was distributed in the past. At the time, "Snowpiercer," which was the highest budgeted Korean film of all time ($40 million, released in 2013), was distributed in South Korea by CJ ENM and in North America by The Weinstein Company. Director Bong Joon-ho reportedly had a hard time resisting the Weinstein Company's scissors before the North American release of "Snowpiercer," so he carefully considered his partner this time around.

Sony Pictures has reportedly continued to court Bong Joon-ho, offering to respect his autonomy as much as possible.

While Bong Joon-ho's animated feature is the most expensive Korean film ever made, it is still a fraction of the cost of a Hollywood feature. Last year's Pixar animated feature "Elemental," a global box office hit by the Korean director, reportedly cost $200 million (about 26.65 billion won) to produce. The 2008 film "Wall-E" also cost $180 million (about 23.98 billion won).

It will be another challenge for Bong Joon-ho to introduce K-animation to the global market at a quarter of the production cost of major Hollywood animation.

Directed by Bong Joon-ho, the feature film is a story about the relationship between humans and marine life, including deep-sea fish, and will be fully CG-animated by Korean VFX company Fosk Creative Party, which has a long-standing relationship with Bong. Director of Photography Hong Kyung-pyo, who worked with Bong on "Parasite," will be returning for visual effects.

Bong Joon-ho plans to spend the first half of the year splitting his time between Korea and the U.S. for post-production, as the Hollywood release of "Mickey 17," scheduled for March 29 in North America, has been postponed to the second half of the year. The release of "Mickey 17" was delayed last year due to a Hollywood writers' and actors' union strike that delayed post-production. Bong Joon-ho had planned to make a Korean live-action film and release an animated film after "Mickey 17," but he will reportedly put his plans for a Korean live-action film on hold and go straight into animation work after "Mickey 17.

As Bong Joon-ho won four awards at the U.S. Academy Awards, including the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival, where he became the first Korean film to win the Palme d'Or, for "Parasite," it is expected that movie fans around the world will be interested in the animation of his longtime dream.