Animation powerhouse Passion Paris (“400 Boys,” “Not a Box”) is partnering with France-based anime SVOD service Animation Digital Network (ADN) to produce an adaptation of a high-profile South Korean webtoon.
An adult action series, the webtoon Passion and ADN are adapting has scored 80 million views worldwide, said Passion Paris MD Caroline Audebert.
Passion Paris and ADN aim to initiate production on the webtoon adaptation at the end of this year. The webtoon’s title is set to be announced Wednesday at an Annecy Mifa market session, From China to Global Animation Synergy with Bilibili, where a teaser will be shown.
There is a natural synergy between Passion and ADN, Audebert told Variety on the eve of this year’s Annecy Festival and Mifa market.
“Passion really aims to develop IPs and is very strong on animation talent. ADN has direct access to its audience and knows what it likes,” she said.
The Korean webtoon adaptation will be made in an anime style, she added. “Its directors have watched anime from near birth. A lot of Passion’s animation talent is inspired by anime. According to one study, 44% of our 18-45 target now watch anime,” said Audebert.
“The talent will bring a special Western touch to the production, which audiences and streaming services are fine with. More and more [in Europe], we will be seeing this kind of anime-adjacent coming from talent here, because it’s part of our culture now,” she predicted.
Passion Restructures to Seize New Opportunities
The webtoon is not Passion Paris’ first foray into Asia. It is already developing, for instance, the animated series “Yojimbot,” an anime-adjacent Japanese robot samurai saga based on the sci-fi comic series created by French author Sylvain Repos.
The ADN co-production marks the latest move by Passion Paris and Passion London, behind Netflix “Love, Death + Robots” episodes “Life Hatch,” “Ice” and “400 Boys,” plus Apple TV’s “Not a Box.”
It compounds Passion’s extraordinary range of styles, IP sources and talent, which also sees Anna Mantzaris’ auteurist new stop-motion short film “Please” and preschool “Not a Box,” based on the children’s picture book – in competition and TV films selection respectively at this year’s Annecy – or “Endless Space,” animated in an Asian style and inspired by Amplitude’s video game, or “Burnham All,” a queer, coming of age sitcom set in 1696 witch trials. A third Passion title, Anna Ginsburg’s SXSW winner “HAG,” has also been selected for Annecy.
Courtesy of Passion Pictures Animation
A long term creative principle, that breadth, however, is increasingly necessary. In many ways the ADN project and Passion’s slate at large mark a sign of and reaction to the times as anime still soars, Korean webtoons command as many views as big Netflix’s TV hits, and yet global streaming service orders and broadcaster buys in tradition animation have plunged.
As territories’ tax breaks replace or serve to complement traditional financing resources, Passion Paris and Passion London have reacted, creating an integrated development pipeline.
This axis also straddles two of the countries with the most muscular production and VFX tax incentives in Europe.
Passion still maintains close relationships with broadcasters in France and the U.K., noted Debbie Crosscup, MD of Passion Pictures Animation in London.
“Having a studio in France and the U.K. offers us the opportunity to gather up all the elements that we have in both countries like tax rebates and also subsidies to create new IP,” said Audebert.
One case in point: “Free Range,” selected for Toulouse’s Cartoon Forum 2026 and produced by Passion London and Passion Paris and the U.K.’s Complete Fiction. Its original IP was developed jointly across London and Paris, making full use of both U.K. and French financing structures and tax incentives.
“Free Range” “presented a really exciting opportunity to unlock a financial model and do it internally,” said Crosscup.
This new model enables the companies to move fluidly between formats, partners and funding structures depending on where value and momentum can be best unlocked, Passion argued.
As many top animation companies, Passion has always attracted talent from all over the world, with very fluid movement between its French and U.K. teams.
“Given that talent is such an key concern at Passion, Caroline and I want to create really exciting teams together of artists, innovators, storytellers and creators. We are very excited to lean into this – the funding and talent – going forward, figuring out the right kind of collaboration,” Crosscup added.
Passion Paris and London will continue to pursue is mixture of commercial IP and auteur-led creative work, an emerging trend at large in the international animation industry.
“It is imperative to balance commercial opportunity with creative ambition as it builds on diversification. Commercial IP provides scale and sustainability, while auteur-led projects create differentiation, attract talent, and build cultural value beyond individual productions,” Audebert enthused.
A slightly closer look at Passion’s Annecy/Cartoon Forum slate:
“Apocalypse Mojito”
Courtesy of Passion Pictures Animation
A YA comedy TV series from Julien Séze and Cédric Stéphan and Passion Paris, in which Yolo and Wazo are two friends traveling from village to city with their mobile guinguette (a typically French open-air café/dance floor) bringing fun and good humor wherever they go. Very necessary given they live in a post-apocalypse 2100 world, destroyed by climate change. Original Passion-owned IP developed entirely in-house for French public broadcaster France Télévisions, coming out this summer.
“Burnham All”
Courtesy of Passion Pictures Animation
Betty Parish navigates love, life and friendship in the small and backward village of Burnham, in 1696. An original animated series in development for a Kickstarter campaign.
“Endless Space”
Courtesy of Passion Pictures Animation
Co-produced by Passion Paris and Amplitude Studios, the acclaimed game developer, announced at 2025’s Annecy and inspired by the Endless gaming universe. Ilona, abandoned as a child on the dusty moon of Tersh, joins Starling and a group of “explorers,” hired to crack the heart of the wreck which made Terse famous. Its key “unlocks unknown secrets and unimaginable dangers…. Ilona, Tersh, and this arm of the galaxy will never be the same.”
“Free Range”
The adventures of Buddy and Mac, pig and duck best buds, which “start off small and relatable, then inevitably spiral wildly out of control.” A fast-paced comedy announced early June as bound for Cartoon Forum in Toulouse and a prototype, in joint development and financing, of far larger Passion London and Paris integration.
“HAG”
Anna Ginsburg’s original animated short film produced by Strange Beast and Passion Pictures Animation London and a SXSW 2026 Special Jury Award winner now selected for Annecy’s short film competition. “One woman’s quest for love and meaning in a hellscape of waning fertility, dating apps and the rotten stench of the patriarchy,” the synopsis runs. “Relatable and totally bonkers in the best way,” said the SXSW jury. Passion now aims to spin off a longer format.
“The Lion Inside”
Courtesy of Passion Pictures Animation
In development at Passion Pictures London, an animated special/series adapted from one of the bestselling books by Rachel Bright and Jim Field packing a heart-warming tale – just take one look at the artwork – “about confidence, self-esteem, and a shy little mouse who sets out on a journey to find his roar.” “Passion loves original IP and is dedicated to finding the best original stories and creating IPs,” said Crosscup, citing “The Lion Inside.”
“Please”
Courtesy of Passion Pictures Animation
Caught by a fixed camera, stop motion felt character vignettes of lonely souls looking for love but, as director Anna Mantzaris observes, haven’t quite got it together. Merciless and compassionate comedy marking the latest from Mantzaris (“Good Intentions,” “But Milk Is Important”) with one character voiced by “Sentimental Value” star Stellan Skarsgard. Produced by Apparat Filmproduktion with Passion Paris Production, Arte, Film i Väst, SVT, Mikrofilm AS, and Kuli Film, in association with YLE and Böhle Studio. Miyu handles international sales.
“Yojimbot”
Courtesy of Passion Pictures Animation
The logline: In a walled-off island in near future Japan, a young boy escapes captivity after his father’s murder with the help of obsolete samurai-themed amusement park robots. Relentlessly hunted down by his father’s murderers, he embarks on a fight to survive and reveal the truth. An animated series adapting the high-action dystopian comic book, from France’s Sylvain Repos, published by Dargaud.
