[Edaily Starin Choi Hee-jae Reporter] The "With the Gods" series, known for its "double 20 million" box office success, returns with its third installment.

On the 20th, the investment firm Dexter Studio announced, “Director Kim Yong-hwa has confirmed ‘Along with the Gods: Life and Death’ as his next project and has begun full-scale preparations with the goal of starting production in the second half of 2027.” Dexter Studio, which previously brought the afterlife to the screen, will participate in the production project as an investor.

Director Kim Yong-hwa’s next film, *Along with the Gods: Life and Death*, depicts the story set in “Gucheon (Nine Heavens),” a place where souls who cannot depart for the afterlife due to unresolved emotional attachments after death remain. Following *Sin and Punishment*, which depicted the seven trials that judge the sins of the dead, and *Cause and Effect*, which unraveled the thousand-year-long bond between the Three Judges of the Underworld, the film will chronicle the journey of the protagonist “Sol-i”—stuck between life and death—as she crosses nine worlds in search of the song she was ultimately unable to sing.

Based on the popular webtoon of the same name by author Joo Ho-min, the *Along with the Gods* film series achieved box office success by depicting hell through an Eastern perspective on the afterlife. This success led to numerous awards, including Best Director, Technical Achievement, and Best Visual Effects, at the Film Awards of the Year, the Blue Dragon Film Awards, the Daejong Film Awards, the Baeksang Arts Awards, and the Korean Film Critics Association Awards.

Director Kim has taken the helm of *Along with the Gods: Life and Death*, following *Along with the Gods: The Sin and the Punishment* and *Along with the Gods: The Last 49 Days*. *Along with the Gods: The Sin and the Punishment*, released in 2017, starred Ha Jung-woo, Cha Tae-hyun, Joo Ji-hoon, Kim Hyang-gi, and Kim Dong-wook, and drew 14.41 million viewers. In *Along with the Gods: The Last 49 Days*, released in 2018, Ha Jung-woo, Ju Ji-hoon, Kim Hyang-gi, and Kim Dong-wook reprised their leading roles, joined by Ma Dong-seok. The film drew 12.28 million viewers.

As such, *Along with the Gods* made history as the first Korean film series to have both its first and second installments surpass 10 million viewers. It was a box office success not only domestically but also in overseas markets. The “Along with the Gods” series ranked first and second among the highest-grossing Korean films of all time in Taiwan. Building on the success of the first film, the second installment set the highest-ever opening-day box office records for a Korean film in North America, Australia, New Zealand, Vietnam, Taiwan, and Hong Kong upon its release.

Dexter Studio, which is investing in the production of the third installment following the first two films, will handle the entire post-production process—including VFX (visual effects), DI (digital color grading), sound design, and mixing—once again demonstrating its status as Korea’s leading “all-in-one content studio.”

In the first two installments, Dexter Studio brought the afterlife of *Along with the Gods* to life through VFX (visual effects), which were used in over 90% of the scenes, and enhanced the series’ unique atmosphere and emotional depth by handling the entire post-production process—including digital color grading (DI), sound design, and mixing—to ensure the highest level of quality. Building on the technical expertise that brought the Seven Hells to the screen, the studio will now bring to life the nine worlds of “Gucheon”—a realm no one has ever seen before.

Kim Wook and Kang Jong-ik, co-CEOs of Dexter Studio, stated, “The *Along with the Gods* series is a landmark project that has demonstrated how combining Korea’s VFX technology with high-quality intellectual property (IP) can result in films that are widely loved by the public.”

They added, “Once again, we will craft a story and visuals that only we can create, presenting a K-movie that combines both entertainment and artistry to become a mega-hit in the global market.”