CJ ENM (CJ Entertainment)

Overview

CJ ENM is South Korea's largest entertainment company, operating across film production, distribution, exhibition, music, broadcasting, and streaming. The company's film division, CJ Entertainment, has been the primary driver of Korean cinema's global expansion, from Oldboy (2003) to Parasite (2019) to Bugonia (2025). CJ ENM is a subsidiary of CJ Group, one of South Korea's largest conglomerates.

In 2025, CEO Yoon Sang-hyun labeled the year CJ ENM's "first official year of global expansion" and increased the company's content budget by 10% to $818 million, up from $750 million the previous year. The company is developing 65 projects in 2025, including 35 series. Roughly half the content budget goes to Korean drama production, with the remainder split across variety shows, music, and film.

CJ ENM operates a vertically integrated model: it produces content through Studio Dragon and CJ ENM Studios, distributes it through CJ Entertainment, exhibits it through CGV (Korea's largest cinema chain with 1,230 domestic screens and 3,621 screens globally across 5 countries), and streams it through TVING (Korea's leading OTT platform, pending merger with Wavve). This gives the company dominant market power within the Korean film and TV industry, with approximately 31% distribution market share.

History

CJ Entertainment was established in 1995 as a film investment and distribution company. The company quickly became the leading distributor in South Korea and expanded into production. CJ's early investments in Korean cinema coincided with the Korean Wave (Hallyu), and the company both benefited from and accelerated the global expansion of Korean cultural content.

CJ Entertainment produced and distributed landmark Korean films including Park Chan-wook's Oldboy (2003), Memories of Murder (2003), The Host (2006), Snowpiercer (2013), The Handmaiden (2016), and Along with the Gods (2017-2018). The company's most significant release, Bong Joon-ho's Parasite (2019), won the Palme d'Or at Cannes and the Academy Award for Best Picture, making history as the first non-English-language film to win the top Oscar.

After Parasite, CJ ENM expanded its global ambitions. The company co-produced Celine Song's Past Lives (2023) with A24, a Korean-language romantic drama that earned Academy Award nominations. In 2025, CJ ENM produced Yorgos Lanthimos' Bugonia, a remake of the Korean cult film Save the Green Planet! (2003), starring Emma Stone and Jesse Plemons, with Focus Features distributing in the US and Universal Pictures handling international release. Bugonia received Academy Award nominations for Best Picture, Best Actress, Best Adapted Screenplay, and Best Score.

CJ ENM's 25-year partnership with director Park Chan-wook has produced ten films, from Joint Security Area (2000) through No Other Choice (2025). No Other Choice pre-sold to over 200 countries, achieving the highest international sales record ever for a Korean film distributed by CJ ENM, and grossed more than $10 million in North America through Neon.

Operations and Divisions

Film and Drama

• CJ Entertainment: film production and distribution, approximately 15-20 films per year
• Studio Dragon: TV series production, ranked No. 1 among Korean drama/Netflix/TVING producers
• CJ ENM Studios: multi-genre global production across film, animation, and drama
• Fifth Season: CJ ENM's international studio (36 Emmy nominations in 2025, profit turnaround in Q2 2025)

Exhibition (CGV)

CJ CGV operates 521 sites and 3,621 screens across 5 countries (2025 figures):

• Korea: 178 sites, 1,230 screens (largest chain in Korea)
• China: 110 sites, 873 screens
• Turkey: 77 sites, 625 screens
• Vietnam: 84 sites, 482 screens
• Indonesia: 72 sites, 411 screens
• CJ 4DPLEX: 771 4DX screens in 70 countries and 473 SCREENX screens in 51 countries; 2025 global box office of $458 million for special format content
• CGV 2025 consolidated revenue: 2.2754 trillion KRW, operating profit 962 billion KRW

Streaming and Broadcasting

• TVING: Korea's leading OTT platform, pending merger with Wavve (domestic competitor)
• tvN: cable television network producing original drama and entertainment content
• Mnet: music and entertainment cable channel, with Mnet Plus reaching 30 million+ global subscribers
• CJ OnStyle: mobile live commerce platform

Music

• Mnet: Korea's No. 1 music station
• A&R and management through sub-labels
• Concert tours and conventions, including KCON (110,000 attendees at KCON Japan 2025)

Global Expansion Strategy

CJ ENM's 2025 global strategy has three pillars:

1. Co-development and co-production with global studios: The Warner Bros. partnership (signed November 2024) has Warner Bros. as lead studio on English-language remakes from CJ ENM's library, and CJ ENM as lead studio on Korean-language projects from the Warner Bros. library.

1. Platform expansion: TVING's merger with Wavve would create a dominant Korean OTT platform. CJ ENM is also expanding TVING internationally and growing Mnet Plus globally.

1. IP-driven content: Using Korean library IP for global remakes (Bugonia from Save the Green Planet!), co-productions with Korean cultural elements (Past Lives), and cross-cultural projects (Broker with Japanese director Hirokazu Kore-eda).

CJ ENM is also exploring re-entry into the Chinese market and has established CJ ENM Turkey for regional production. The company licensed 6 Thai drama remakes based on Korean IPs to India in July 2026.

AI and Technology Initiatives

CJ ENM has positioned itself at the intersection of content and technology:

• AI-hybrid feature film *The House* (April 2025): Actors performed entirely indoors with all backgrounds and VFX generated through AI. The production used Google's Imagen (image generation), Nano Banana 2 (image editing), and Veo (video generation) integrated into the content pipeline. Released on TVING May 1, 2025.
• World's first AI animation series: 30 episodes released on YouTube, approaching 22 million cumulative views.
• AI Content Alliance: Industry-academic cooperation body launched February 2025, including production companies THEHAN FILM and SOLTMAKERS.
• CJ OliveNetworks: IT services subsidiary (consolidated June 2024) providing AI, Big Data, and Cloud-based solutions, with 2025 revenue of 853.2 billion KRW and operating profit of 84.5 billion KRW.

What Filmmakers Should Know

CJ Entertainment actively develops Korean-language projects and co-produces international films with Korean creative involvement. The company's distribution infrastructure covers the Korean domestic market comprehensively, and its international sales arm handles global distribution for its productions.

For international filmmakers and co-producers, CJ offers three entry points:

1. Co-production: CJ ENM co-produces films with global partners, bringing Korean creative talent, IP, and distribution infrastructure. Past Lives (with A24) and Bugonia (with Focus Features) are recent models.

1. Remake rights: CJ ENM's library is available for English-language remakes through the Warner Bros. partnership or direct deals.

1. Korean market access: For international films seeking Korean distribution, CJ Entertainment's vertical integration (production, distribution, CGV exhibition) provides end-to-end market access.

Korea's film incentive programs include a location incentive for foreign productions shooting in Korea. CJ's production infrastructure, combined with the global reach of its content and distribution network, makes co-production with Korean partners increasingly viable for international projects seeking to access both the Korean and broader Asian markets.

For CJ ENM's official corporate information, visit CJ ENM's newsroom. For CGV's investor relations data, see the CJ CGV IR page.

House Style & Genre Focus

CJ ENM is South Korea's largest entertainment conglomerate, producing K-dramas, films, variety shows, and music. The company's film division, CJ Entertainment, distributes Korean-language films domestically and co-produces international films with Korean creative involvement. CJ ENM's international co-productions include Past Lives (with A24) and Bugonia (with Focus Features). The company is also a pioneer in AI content production, having created the world's first AI-generated animation series and the AI-hybrid feature film The House (April 2025) in collaboration with Google.

CJ ENM's content spans K-dramas (Tale of the Nine Tailed, The Legend of Kitchen Soldier), variety shows, and films. The company operates TVING, a major Korean streaming platform, and has established CJ ENM Turkey for regional production. In July 2026, CJ ENM licensed 6 Thai drama remakes based on Korean IPs to India, demonstrating the global reach of Korean content. The company's AI initiatives include an AI Content Alliance launched February 2025 and CJ OliveNetworks, an IT services subsidiary providing AI, Big Data, and Cloud-based solutions.

For international filmmakers and co-producers, CJ offers three entry points: co-production (bringing Korean creative talent, IP, and distribution infrastructure), distribution (handling Korean domestic market distribution for international titles), and licensing (adapting Korean IPs for international markets). CJ ENM actively develops Korean-language projects and co-produces international films with Korean creative involvement. The company finds talent through Korea's extensive entertainment industry network, audition programs, and partnerships with production companies.

Watch: Trailers & Behind the Scenes

See Also

To model revenue across Asian and global territories, use the International Sales Estimator and the Revenue Forecast Calculator. For understanding how international distribution deals and co-production financing work, read Film Distribution Deals Explained and International Co-Production Treaties Explained. To compare distribution deal structures side by side, use the Distributor Comparison Tool.