Korean Films with Over 10 Million Viewers? Only Gosub and Dream Surpass 1 Million

"Not a Single Korean Film This Year Has Surpassed the Break-Even Point"
Kim Heonsik, Popular Culture Critic, CBS Radio Interview

"Because of COVID-19, a lot of big-budget films have been piling up. They say there are about 90 films stacked up this year as well."

Kim Heon-sik, a popular culture critic, explained this during an interview on CBS Radio's 'Kim Hyun-jung's News Show' on the 15th. He said that big-budget films delayed their releases due to COVID-19 are lined up, but considering the box office performance, it is becoming more difficult to decide the release timing.

The performance of Korean films is at a disastrous level.

Kim Heon-sik said, "Especially Korean films are in a serious situation, with a revenue share of only 26.8, or slightly raised to 27%. The audience share is only 25%," adding, "Especially from the beginning of this year until now, Japanese animation has been very successful, so there is even talk like, 'How can the Korean Wave phenomenon be overshadowed by Japanese animation?'"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Kim Heon-sik said, "Among the 10 films released this year, none have surpassed the break-even point," adding, "Of course, there is no way to even think about a film surpassing 10 million viewers, and especially only Negotiation and Dream have exceeded 1 million viewers."

Negotiation starring Hwang Jung-min and Hyun Bin, and Dream starring IU and Park Seo-joon are the Korean films released this year that surpassed 1 million viewers.

According to the Integrated Computer Network for Movie Theater Admissions on the 15th, among the films released this year (including those released in December last year), the Japanese animation Suzume no Tojimari is the only one to surpass 5 million viewers. The top six spots are occupied by foreign films, and only two Korean films, Hero and Negotiation, are on the list. Both films have not surpassed 2 million viewers this year.

Kim Heon-sik said, "This year, John Wick 4 and Guardians of the Galaxy were the third installments, and Slam Dunk and actually Suzume no Tojimari also have previous works. What this means is that when choosing films, audiences are making very inflexible and conservative choices."

The delay in film releases due to COVID-19 is also a noteworthy point. Kim Heon-sik said, "Actually, our films have been very quick to respond and reflect trends to receive audience approval, but this has been broken."

Kim Heon-sik pointed out, "Our country's movie theaters are solid, so many small and medium-sized films should be shown, but since this part has been broken, it can be seen as a crisis for Korean films, and this is not only a crisis for films but also for Korean content."

Kim Heon-sik said, "(Regarding movie ticket prices) it is not something that can be raised suddenly; consumers need to have mental preparation to bear it, but because it was done hastily, I think audiences are now showing a kind of cultural resistance," adding, "It shows that the old thinking of 'If we raise prices, people will still come because there is nowhere else to go culturally' is no longer valid."

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