COVID-19 Weekend Box Office Surpasses 1 Million Viewers for the First Time

92.4% of Total Audience Watched 'Bando'... 1,225,536 Viewers
Screen Monopoly Intensifies... Seat Occupancy Rate 82.7% · Screening Share 78.1%

Movie 'Peninsula' Still Cut

For the first time since the outbreak of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19), more than one million people flocked to theaters over the weekend.

According to the Korea Film Council's integrated computer network for movie ticket sales on the 20th, the number of moviegoers who visited theaters last weekend (17th-19th) was 1,325,832. This is an increase of 980,288 compared to the second weekend of this month (10th-12th), which had 345,544 visitors. It is the first time since the third weekend of February (14th-16th), when 1,572,059 people attended, that the number has surpassed one million.

92.4% of the total audience watched the new release "Bando" (Peninsula). This film attracted 1,225,536 viewers across 2,575 screens (39,720 showings). Among films securing more than 10,000 seats, it recorded the highest seat occupancy rate (18.6%) with a cumulative audience of 1,804,053. However, with seat occupancy and screening occupancy rates reaching 82.7% (6,588,120 seats) and 78.1% respectively, it inevitably sparked controversy over monopolization. For comparison, the seat occupancy rates during the opening weekends of recent monopolization controversies such as "Avengers: Endgame" and "Frozen 2" were 83.9% (seat sales rate 65.1%) and 76.4% (seat sales rate 49.8%), respectively.

Movie 'Vivariums' Still Cut

"#Alive," which had led the weekend box office for three consecutive weeks, saw a significant drop in audience numbers. It attracted 23,459 viewers across 491 screens (3,229 showings). This is a decrease of 82.8% (113,263 people) compared to the second weekend of this month, which had 136,722 viewers. Although it secured the second-largest number of seats (399,457), its sales rate was only 5.9%. The cumulative audience stands at 1,850,682.

The weekend audience for "Bombshell: The Power of Truth" also dropped by more than half. It attracted 21,078 viewers across 431 screens (2,326 showings). This is a 66.4% decrease (41,597 people) from the second weekend of this month, which had 62,675 viewers. The seat sales rate was 7.1%, with a cumulative audience of 139,089. Following were "Onward: A Magical Day" (9,072 viewers; cumulative audience 391,283), "Girlhood" (6,414 viewers; cumulative audience 31,352), "Vivarium" (5,665 viewers; cumulative audience 8,070), and "One Day" (3,092 viewers; cumulative audience 223,313).

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