May Korean Film Market Share at 19.5% Slumps... 'Gaogall 3' Shines Brightly

Marvel's 'Guardians of the Galaxy 3' Tops Box Office

Last month, the revenue of Korean films recorded the lowest level in May since 2009, excluding the period of the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to the May Korean film industry settlement data released by the Korean Film Council on the 12th, the total revenue last month was 118.9 billion KRW, which is 80.5% of the average total revenue of 147.6 billion KRW from before the COVID-19 pandemic (2017?2019). The total number of viewers was 11.75 million, representing 67.0% of the 17.54 million viewers during that period.

Theater exterior view
Photo by Yonhap News

In May, the total revenue decreased by 21.1% (31.9 billion KRW) compared to the same month last year, and the number of viewers dropped by 19.3% (2.81 million people).

Korean film revenue was 21.6 billion KRW, only 39.0% of the pre-COVID-19 average (55.4 billion KRW), and the number of viewers was 2.29 million, just 34.0% of the pre-COVID average (6.73 million). The revenue share was 18.2%, and the audience share was 19.5%.

On the other hand, foreign films recorded revenue of 97.3 billion KRW, surpassing the pre-COVID-19 average revenue of 92.2 billion KRW. The number of viewers was 9.46 million, which is 87.4% of the pre-COVID average (10.82 million).

Marvel's "Guardians of the Galaxy: Volume 3" ranked first in box office on Children's Day and topped the May box office with revenue of 41.6 billion KRW and 3.94 million viewers.

"Crime City 3," which was released on the last day of May, recorded revenue of 11.4 billion KRW (1.22 million viewers) combining paid previews and opening day sales, ranking fourth in box office and marking the highest achievement for a Korean film.

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