Colony (2026 film)

Colony (Korean: 군체) is a 2026 South Korean action horror film directed and written by Yeon Sang-ho with Choi Gyu-seok  [ko] as co-writer. It stars Jun Ji-hyun, Koo Kyo-hwan, Ji Chang-wook, Kim Shin-rok, Shin Hyun-been, and Go Soo. The film explores the harrowing struggle of isolated survivors trapped in a building, quarantined amidst an unknown outbreak, as they fight for survival against the unpredictably evolving infected.^[5]

The film had its world premiere at the Midnight Screenings section of the 2026 Cannes Film Festival on May 15, 2026. Distributed by Showbox, it was released theatrically in South Korea on May 21.

Scientist Seo Young-chul warns the police that he will launch a bio-terrorist attack at the Dongwoo-ri Building, subsequently injecting himself with the supposed vaccine to his mutated slime mold bioweapon. Meanwhile, Chains Bio is holding a presentation inside the building, where its CEO, Kang Woo-chul, showcases the cell regeneration capabilities of the slime mold. Kwon Se-jeong, an ostracized and unemployed professor, has received an invitation to the presentation, and arrives looking for a job opportunity within the company with the recommendation of her ex-husband Han Gyu-sung, who is preparing to emigrate overseas. At the same time, Choi Hyun-seok, a security guard, accompanies his mobility-impaired older sister, Hyun-hee, at the shopping mall inside the building.

Following the presentation, Young-chul confronts Woo-chul in a VIP room on the third floor, accusing him of plagiarizing his research before injecting the slime mold into Woo-chul's body. Woo-chul quickly mutates and infects nearby employees, resulting in an outbreak. Counter-terrorism team leader Lee Bong-seok arrives with his squad but ends up trapped as the building goes into lockdown.

Se-jeong, Gyu-sung, Hyun-seok, Hyun-hee, Bong-seok, school bullying victim So-eun, and several civilians become trapped in the building's shopping mall. During their attempt to escape, Gyu-sung loses his life while saving a delinquent female student. Se-jeong observes that the infected possess a high degree of swarm intelligence, allowing them to share sensory data in real time through mycelium and continuously evolve and learn upon every failed attack within a short period. Upon being informed by Bong-seok that Young-chul is behind the outbreak and has the vaccine, the group decides to head to the third floor to find him. The group uses perfume and antifreeze to sneak past, and triggers the fire sprinklers to disrupt the slime mold, temporarily paralyzing the infected. They manage to find Young-chul and head to the 30th floor for an evacuation. However, they discover that Young-chul can see through the infected's perspectives. Young-chul ambushes the group and escapes, causing the deaths of several survivors.

Meanwhile, Gyu-sung's current wife, Gong Seol-hee, joins a research group and investigates Young-chul's laboratory, built after his dismissal from Chains Bio. A horde of infected monkeys break free and attack the research group. One of the soldiers kills a monkey labeled #1, resulting in the rest of the monkey horde becoming frozen and unable to move.

The remaining survivors head to the underground control room to find Young-chul. Hyun-hee volunteers to stay behind, guiding them along a safe route using CCTV monitors and a group chat on their phones. They manage to find Young-chul, who intentionally allows himself to be bitten by Woo-chul, giving him total control over all of the infected. An argument breaks out between Bong-seok and Hyun-seok, the former planning to leave Hyun-hee behind, and he accidentally lets slip the location of the control room. Young-chul commands his horde to overrun the control room. To ensure Hyun-seok's safe escape, Hyun-hee intentionally gives false directions and is killed. Driven to mental breakdown, Hyun-seok vows to kill everyone in revenge and exposes the group's location through the intercom.

The group of survivors eventually splinters; Bong-seok shoots a citizen to use as bait, but ends up being mauled to death by the horde along with the citizen. The delinquent female student betrays So-eun and pushes her into the horde, only to be bitten to death by the infected So-eun. A vengeful Hyun-seok manages to intercept Young-chul, but Young-chul summons the infected Hyun-hee to stop him. His spirit completely shattered, Hyun-seok gives up all resistance and is stabbed to death by his own sister.

Young-chul confronts Se-jeong, revealing that he invited her to the event as revenge, as she was a whistleblower against his father for embezzlement, which led to his father's suicide. A special forces group breaches the area and forcefully detains Young-chul, but the whole group gets infected and turned into his personal guard. Leading the infected special forces, Young-chul escapes the building and unleashes the infected in the city center, triggering an outbreak on the streets.

Assisted by updates over the phone from Seol-hee, Se-jeong strips a jacket covered in mycelium from a corpse to disguise herself among the horde and drives a car to ram Young-chul. Se-jeong throws the mycelium jacket over the head of one of the infected, trapping hundreds of other infected in a collective, spinning ant mill. The massive influx of sensory data overloads and crashes the horde's collective system, reverting the intelligence of all infected to a primitive state. Se-jeong takes advantage of the chaos to slide under a bus to hide; the out-of-control horde shifts its focus to the bus's advertisement, pushing the nearby Young-chul into a burning car, where he burns to death. With the death of Young-chul, all infected across the city instantly freeze. With the only supposed vaccine gone, Se-jeong walks out, discussing with Seol-hee on how to explain the infection to the public. As she walks away, however, one of the frozen infected suddenly moves.

• Jun Ji-hyun as Kwon Se-jeong, a biotechnology professor. After losing her professorship due to her intolerance for injustice, she arrives at Doongwoori Building for a conference at her ex-husband Han Gyu-seong's suggestion, trying to land her a new job, and gets trapped inside. As a biotechnologist, she fights to lead survivors and escape, deciphering the infected's behavior and evolution to survive.^[6]
• Koo Kyo-hwan as Seo Young-cheol, the biology scientist responsible for the outbreak. A genius biologist, he previously worked at a biotech company, envisioning a new humanity. At the outbreak's center, he becomes a target for authorities and survivors after revealing he has the vaccine.^[7]
• Ji Chang-wook as Choi Hyun-seok, a security team member at Doongwoori Building, struggling to protect his family during a sudden infection outbreak. Trapped with his older sister, who was visiting for his long-awaited vacation, Hyun-seok fights to protect her, as she has a lower-body disability.^[8]
• Kim Shin-rok as Choi Hyun-hee, an IT company employee and Hyun-seok's older sister, she visited the Doongwoori Building to have lunch with her brother during a long-awaited vacation, ending up stuck with other survivors when the infection broke out.^[9]
• Shin Hyun-been as Gong Seol-hee, a biotechnologist who observes the situation from outside the building and struggles to resolve the crisis. When Seol-hee loses contact with her husband, Han Gyu-seong, who is in the Doongwoori building, she accepts the special investigation team's offer to investigate the case.^[10]
• Go Soo as Han Gyu-seong, Se-jeong's ex-husband, who visits the Doongwoori building to present his ex-wife with a job offer and becomes trapped inside. He hides from the suddenly descending infected, but discovers other survivors in danger and becomes the first to expose himself to them as he tries to save them.^[10]

It was announced in October 2024 that Yeon Sang-ho, director of Train to Busan (2016) and Peninsula (2020), was preparing the zombie-thriller film titled Colony, planned for a theatrical release. The film would feature large-scale action scenes, combining human groups with zombie themes.^[11] Choi Gyu-seok  [ko] collaborated with director Yeon on the writing.^[12] It is produced by Wow Point and Smilegate, and distributed by Showbox.^{[13] [14]} By February 2025, Showbox's executive director Lee Hyun-jung confirmed the investment and distribution of the film.^[15] The production budget was approximately ₩17 billion (approximately 12ドル million).^{[16] [2]}

"This will certainly be the most commercial film I've made so far. (...) I'm trying to make a film that can be fun, drawing on the strengths of Train to Busan and Hellbound ."^[17]

The initial concept for the film, as envisioned by Choi Gyu-seok and director Yeon, centered on emphasizing the suspense generated by the constant shifting of roles. The zombies, being in a state of constant evolution, inevitably undergo changes, while human characters are assigned missions akin to a game, necessitating role-switching to achieve survival. Zombies in the film, possess mechanisms for interaction, and as the infection spreads and their numbers increase, their thinking speed accelerates and intelligence strengthens. However, their thought processes, learning patterns, and failure modes diverge significantly from humans, creating an eerie, unconventional nature that's uniquely theirs. Meanwhile, the humans battling them adapt, forging a distinct form of existence.^[12]

Casting announcements began in late October 2024, with Jun Ji-hyun receiving an offer and in talks.^[18] Shin Hyun-been, Koo Kyo-hwan, Kim Shin-rok, and Ji Chang-wook would also be joining the cast.^{[19] [20] [13]}

The appearances of Jun Ji-hyun, Koo Kyo-hwan, Shin Hyun-been, Kim Shin-rok, and Ji Chang-wook, along with Go Soo for a special appearance, were officially confirmed by March 2025.^[14]

Principal photography commenced in early March 2025,^[14] and was completed at the end of June of the same year.^[16] Filming took place three times in two locations in Dangjin, South Chungcheong.^[21]

Choreographer Jeon Young  [ko], who worked with Yeon Sang-ho on Train to Busan, Peninsula, and Hellbound (2021–2024), teamed up with dancer-choreographers Song Seung-wook, Lim Hee-jong, and Jung Eui-young to create unique zombie movements.^[22]

Colony premiered in the Midnight Screenings section of the 79th Cannes Film Festival on May 15, 2026. This appearance marked a return to the festival for director Yeon Sang-ho, whose 2016 film Train to Busan debuted in the same category. Following its festival screening, the film is scheduled for a wide theatrical release in South Korea on May 21, 2026. Prior to its premiere, Showbox secured distribution deals in over 120 international territories. Key partners include Well Go USA Entertainment for North America, StudioCanal UK for the United Kingdom, Gaga Corporation for Japan, and ARP Sélection for France. Other regional distributors include Plaion Pictures for Germany and Italy, and K-Movie Entertainment UK for Australia and New Zealand.^[2]

In North America, Well Go USA scheduled the theatrical launch for August 28, 2026. This date was selected to follow a 10th-anniversary 4K re-release of Train to Busan, which returns to theaters two weeks prior on August 14. Marketing for the project has highlighted its contained setting within a quarantined biotechnology facility and its thematic ties to Yeon's previous work. Doris Pfardrescher, President and CEO of Well Go USA, characterized the film as an evolution of the director's style, suggesting a more intense scale than his earlier genre entries.^[23]

It grossed 32ドル.4 million at the Korean box office.^[4] Including a 9ドル.6 million opening weekend.^[24]

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 67% of 12 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 6.3/10.^[25]

• Production website at Showbox
• Colony at IMDb Edit this at Wikidata
• Colony at HanCinema Edit this at Wikidata

• 2026 films
• 2026 action films
• 2026 horror films
• 2026 Korean-language films
• 2026 South Korean films
• Films about viral outbreaks
• Films directed by Yeon Sang-ho
• Showbox films
• South Korean action horror films
• South Korean IMAX films
• South Korean zombie films
• South Korean 4DX films

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