South Korea’s Barunson E&A has forged a new partnership with Indonesian studio Imajinari, expanding its international business beyond co-production and sales and into remake rights licensing.
Under the deal, Barunson E&A will handle international remake rights for three of Imajinari’s breakout titles: hit horror-comedy Agak Laen; its upcoming sequel; and dark comedy Tinggal Meninggal.
Founded in 2021 by comedian-director Ernest Prakasa and his manager Dipa Andika as part of Hahaha Corp — a talent agency representing Indonesia’s top comedic voices — Imajinari has quickly established itself as a frontrunner among the new generation of production companies in the country.
With a team of young producers, the studio is known for its strong creative vision and bold storytelling, delivering original stories across genres in a territory known as a highly competitive, horror-driven market. The company debuted with comedy-drama Ngeri-Ngeri Sedap in 2022, recording 2.8 million admissions, making it the fourth highest local film by admissions that year.
Imajinari’s biggest hit to date is Agak Laen, a horror-comedy released last year that is based on a popular podcast series of the same name. The film follows a group of misfits who accidentally turn their not-so-scary haunted house into a viral sensation when a real ghost manifests. Agak Laen became a cultural phenomenon, racking up more than 9.1 million admissions to become the most-watched Indonesian comedy of all time and the second highest local film by admissions overall.
Upcoming sequel Agak Laen 2 will see the return of the original’s director Muhadkly Acho and is scheduled for release in Q4 2025.
Imajinari will roll out dark comedy Tinggal Meninggal in August. The film follows a lonely man who starts telling small lies to get his co-workers’ attention but sees the lies snowball.
Commenting on the deal with Barunson E&A, Imajinari founder Prakasa said he was excited to “see how our creativity can be reimagined through remakes around the world”.
Barunson E&A is the Korean sales and production company behind Oscar-winner Parasite, which expanded into international co-production, financing and sales in October 2022. With a focus on high-growth markets in Southeast Asia, the company has participated in several Indonesian titles, including action thriller 13 Bombs produced by Visinema Pictures, horror Respati(by Base Entertainment) and Rangga & Cinta, a musical reboot of a beloved IP directed by veteran filmmaker Riri Riza and produced by Miles Films.
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