Despite the Resurgence of COVID-19, Theaters Regain Vibrancy

'#Alive' Hits 1 Million Weekend Viewers Thanks to Box Office Success and Screen Monopoly
'Innocence' and 'Onward: The Day of a Miracle' Lose More Than Half Their Seats, Slowing Down Their Success

On the 14th, citizens are moving to watch movies at CGV Yongsan I'Park Mall in Seoul. With the distribution of half-price discount coupons, new releases, and hot weather coinciding, the movie theaters, which had been in a slump, are gradually regaining vitality. Photo by Moon Honam munonam@

Despite the resurgence of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19), about one million people gathered at theaters over the weekend. According to the Korea Film Council's integrated ticketing system on the 29th, the number of moviegoers who visited theaters from the 26th to the 28th was 999,157. On Saturday the 27th alone, 409,538 people gathered. This marked over 400,000 visitors for the first time in more than four months since February 16, when 582,285 people attended.

The driving force behind the revival was the hit new release "#Alive." It attracted 702,965 viewers over three days across 1,882 screens. Among films securing more than 10,000 seats, it recorded the second-highest seat occupancy rate (15.4%) and achieved a box office share of 72.3%. It surpassed a cumulative audience of one million (1,060,029) within five days of release. The upward trend was also aided by screen monopolization, with a seat occupancy rate reaching 63.4%. It secured the highest number of seats (4,579,109) for a first weekend among films released this year.

"Innocence" attracted 98,176 viewers across 647 screens. Although it maintained a seat occupancy rate above 10% (12.6%), it saw a 31.4% (44,898 viewers) decrease compared to the third weekend of this month (19th-21st). The seat occupancy rate (10.8%, 780,310 seats) nearly halved, putting a brake on its box office performance. Its cumulative audience stands at 716,074. "Onward: The Magical Day" also recorded a decline, drawing 87,795 viewers on 661 screens. Despite a relatively high seat occupancy rate (14.0%), it dropped 26.5% (31,735 viewers) compared to the third weekend of this month. Its cumulative audience is 279,848.

The re-released "Batman Begins" (301 screens) and "The Greatest Showman" (142 screens) performed well, attracting 21,215 and 14,978 viewers respectively. Following them were "Forgotten Time" (477 screens, 14,355 viewers), "Baseball Girl" (99 screens, 6,605 viewers), "Endings, Beginnings" (246 screens, 6,407 viewers), "Intruder" (181 screens, 5,305 viewers), and "Slumdog Millionaire" (47 screens, 4,360 viewers).

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