‘Replica’ Leads Next Interactive Studio’s Bucheon Showcase

Next Interactive Studio unveiled its slate of interactive films and its self-developed interactive cinema ecosystem at the Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival, drawing more than 100 audience members to “play” a film live at the festival.

The showcase’s centerpiece was “Replica,” one of the first Chinese-language interactive animated features. The film was co-produced with Kinlea Culture, which has built its recent slate around audience demand for emotional engagement. “Replica” extends that approach across three dimensions the companies describe as content emotion, immersive emotion and social emotion, positioning the project as an example of tech-entertainment convergence and a new avenue for cultural export.

Next Interactive Studio founder Ronan Wong has built a track record in commercial interactive cinema. He served as interactive advisor on “Hypnosis Mic – Division Rap Battle,” which grossed some $16.5 million across fewer than 100 theaters and ran continuously for a year in Japan. Wong said the company’s goal is to use technology to restore genuine human connection in a digital era.

The Bucheon lineup also included “Monster Princess,” a first-person Japanese romantic fantasy title released as both a film and a game, and “The Run,” a third-person English-language interactive thriller whose companion game is already available.

Next Interactive Studio also presented projects aimed at reshaping how audiences use cinema spaces. “Psyche’s Chamber: Vibe Match” is an interactive dating experience that matches theater audiences in real time based on shared narrative choices, while “Xiaoyu’s Choice,” an interactive mini-movie now running in primary schools across China, is designed as a psychology education tool.

“Our technology completely redefines the audience dynamic, transforming the cinema into a unique, unrepeatable social arena,” Wong said. “We are turning passive spaces into legendary, shared collective experiences.”