Movie Theaters Crumble... Lowest Weekend Attendance in History

A Downhill Slope Where Not Even Flat Ground Is Visible

On the 22nd, when the government strongly urged 'social distancing' to overcome COVID-19, a movie theater in Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul was quiet. Photo by Mun Ho-nam munonam@

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Jong-gil] The theater industry has collapsed under the fear of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19). According to the Korea Film Council's integrated ticketing system for movie theaters on the 23rd, the number of moviegoers who visited theaters last weekend (21-22) was 134,925. This is the lowest since the Korea Film Council began officially compiling statistics in 2004.

It is a downhill slope with no sign of an uphill or even flat ground. The number of moviegoers on the third weekend of last month (15-16) was 1,212,543. The following weekend (22-23), when the spread of COVID-19 intensified, saw a decrease of more than half to 506,137. The record was halved again on the first weekend of this month (February 29 - March 1) to 286,990, but the next weekend (7-8) showed a similar level (230,777), suggesting stagnation. However, on the third weekend of this month (14-15), it dropped to the 100,000 range (191,397), and last weekend even fell below the 150,000 mark.

There are no suitable factors for a rebound. Not only Korean films but also Hollywood movies from the United States have postponed their release dates one after another. The anticipated film "Time to Hunt" announced on the same day that it would be released on Netflix. Due to the difficulty of investing an additional 1.3 to 1.5 billion won in promotion and marketing, they chose an internet video streaming service. Since there is no sign of the COVID-19 situation calming down, the slump is expected to continue for more than a month or two.

Theaters have already fallen to the level where only two or three people rent them out. No movie has secured more than 10,000 seats and achieved a sales rate exceeding 10%. The films "About Time (6.9%)" and "The Fast and the Furious: The Extreme (6.6%)", which recorded over 6%, are re-releases from 2013 and 2017, respectively. Major theaters such as CGV, Lotte Cinema, and Megabox have removed half of their seats. Each is practicing "social distancing between seats" to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

Under these harsh conditions, "The Invisible Man" attracted the most viewers with 32,813. "1917 (26,913)", "Dark Waters (16,306)", and "Saint Agatha (8,331)" followed in order. Among re-released films, "A Star Is Born" drew the largest audience with 4,547 viewers.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.