[Focus] Chuseok Box Office: Audiences Turn Away from Korean Films

Chuseok Holiday (September 28 - October 3) Box Office
'Cheonbaksa' Ranks 1st but Draws Only 1.3 Million
3.11 Million Over Six Days... 43% of Last Year's Level

The Chuseok box office was cold. During the long six-day holiday from Chuseok to National Foundation Day, audiences shunned theater movies. The number of viewers dropped by nearly half compared to last year. Despite the release of three major Korean films during the golden holiday, they failed to make an impact. The dismal results, which are no laughing matter, have prompted self-reflection within the film industry.

According to the Korea Film Council's integrated ticketing system on the 4th, the total number of theater visitors over the six-day Chuseok holiday from September 28 to October 3 was recorded at 3,113,182.

The content and the image are unrelated. [Photo by Yonhap News]

On the 28th of last month, 421,363 people visited theaters, 557,024 on the 29th, and 641,221 on the 30th. From the 1st to the 3rd of this month, 1,493,574 people watched movies.

During this period, the film "Cheonbaksa Toemayeonguso: Seolgyeong-ui Bimil" (Director Kim Seongsik) attracted 1,345,968 viewers, securing the number one spot at the box office. Its cumulative audience reached 1,512,454. Considering that actor Kang Dongwon starred and it was a CJ ENM commercial film released during the long holiday, the results are not something to celebrate. However, with a revenue share of 43.3%, it took nearly half of the box office, saving face.

In second place was "1947 Boston" (Director Kang Je-gyu), starring actors Ha Jung-woo and Im Si-wan, based on the true story of marathon runners Sohn Kee-chung and Seo Yun-bok, which drew 735,554 viewers. Its revenue share was 20.6%.

Third place went to the horror film "The Nun 2," which attracted 262,489 viewers, while "Geomi Jip," a reunion of actor Song Kang-ho and director Kim Ji-woon, drew 265,648 viewers, placing fourth.

Fifth place was "30 Days" (Director Nam Dae-jung), starring Kang Ha-neul and Jung So-min; sixth was "Detective Butt: Mystery Mask ~ The Ultimate Showdown" (Theatrical Version); seventh was "Creator"; and eighth was "Sleep."

This is about half the level of last year, which did not see much success due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Compared to the 3,723,024 viewers during the 2022 Chuseok holiday (September 9?12), there was a 43.3% decrease. The number of viewers who visited theaters during this year’s six-day golden holiday was significantly lower than the figure recorded over four days last year.

Each movie poster
[Photo by CJ ENM, Lotte Entertainment, Barunson E&A]

Unlike last year, the excuse that there were hardly any enjoyable new releases this year did not hold. On the 27th of last month, ahead of the golden holiday, major distributors simultaneously released three Korean films. CJ ENM released "Cheonbaksa Toemayeonguso: Seolgyeong-ui Bimil," Lotte Entertainment released "1947 Boston," and Barunson E&A released "Geomi Jip" on the same day. Considering the production costs invested, they had no choice but to present these films in the tentpole market.

Although the fortunes of the three films varied, there was effectively no winner. Not a single film surpassed 2 million viewers over the six days. Far from breaking even, the noisy promotional campaigns launched ahead of the golden holiday release fell flat.

An industry insider said, "With the long holiday, people turned their attention to other cultural activities such as watching online video services (OTT) and traveling instead of going to theaters." He added, "Other leisure activities have become an option instead of theaters."

Within the film industry, voices of self-reflection are growing louder. Another insider said, "The films released this time failed to generate word of mouth." He continued, "Audiences were cold. There was virtually no film that received a 'fun' reaction. The responses from actual viewers online were mixed, so the films failed to gain momentum."

The insider also said, "I was shocked by the number of viewers mobilized during the six-day golden holiday. I did not expect it to be this low." He added, "We need to accept changes in theaters and seek creative solutions."

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