"Depressed Chungmuro" Weekend Audience Drops by 100,000, Gong Yoo X Park Bo-gum's 'Seobok' Release Delayed

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Isul] Weekend movie theater attendance dropped by about 40%, falling to the 170,000 range.

According to the Korea Film Council's integrated ticketing system, the total number of moviegoers visiting theaters from the 4th to the 6th was 175,338. This represents a 37% decrease compared to the previous week, which attracted 270,000 visitors.

The total number of moviegoers from November 30 to December 6 was only 358,162.

During the weekend, the film Neighbor Cousin attracted 62,567 viewers, taking first place at the box office, with a cumulative audience of 326,657. In second place was Burial with 26,860 viewers. Third place Run drew 20,616, and fourth place The Prom attracted 9,940 viewers.

Due to the impact of COVID-19, theaters have effectively become empty, making box office rankings meaningless for a long time. Not only is it impossible for films to dynamically attract audiences, but the absence of new releases has pushed the box office out of the public’s interest.

Throughout December, it is expected to be very difficult to find new releases or press/general screenings.

Seoul City has halted all activities after 9 p.m. starting from the 5th as the number of COVID-19 cases continues to break records daily. With the metropolitan area’s social distancing raised to level 2.5, operations of multi-use facilities including movie theaters are expected to be severely impacted. From midnight on the 8th until the 28th, social distancing in the metropolitan area will be at level 2.5, and non-metropolitan areas will be uniformly raised to level 2. Due to this, new releases scheduled for this month are closely monitoring the situation and are in active discussions.

The film Josee (directed by Kim Jong-kwan), starring Han Ji-min and Nam Joo-hyuk, set to open on the 10th, will meet audiences as planned, but Seobok (directed by Lee Yong-ju), starring Gong Yoo and Park Bo-gum, which was scheduled for release in December, has decided after much deliberation to forgo its December release. The musical film Life is Beautiful (directed by Choi Guk-hee) is also reconsidering its schedule.

On this day, CJ Entertainment stated, "Due to the spread of the COVID-19 virus, the release of the film Seobok, originally scheduled for December, has been tentatively postponed."

They added, "Amid growing social concerns about infection, after deep consideration to prevent further spread and damage, we have decided to postpone the release."

This year, the movie theater industry is unlikely to expect the usual winter vacation boost including Christmas on December 25. Foreign films Wonder Woman 1984 and Soul will quietly display their banners, but it is difficult to predict how much audience they will attract.

Meanwhile, according to the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters, as of midnight on the 7th, there were 614 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 4 deaths reported.

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