CJ ENM's 'Alien+in' Part 2 Struggles to Surpass 1 Million Viewers

270,000 Weekend Viewers in 2nd Week After Release
Just Surpasses 1 Million Cumulative Viewers
Hard to Exceed Break-Even Point of 7 Million Viewers

Exterior view of a theater in downtown Seoul
[Photo by Yonhap News]

The movie 'Alien+In' Part 2 barely surpassed the cumulative milestone of 1 million viewers by attracting 270,000 viewers over the second weekend since its release. The renowned film company CJ ENM continues to struggle to escape the slump of consecutive box office failures.

On the 22nd, the Korean Film Council's integrated box office system reported that 'Alien+In' Part 2 (directed by Choi Dong-hoon) drew 277,555 viewers over the weekend (19th-21st), ranking first at the box office. The film, released on the 10th, has accumulated a total audience of 1,092,880.

Although the film has consistently held the top spot at the box office since its release, its momentum is weak. It attracted only 780,000 viewers during the first weekend, and added just about 270,000 more in the second weekend, barely surpassing 1 million viewers. Despite director Choi Dong-hoon, who has two films with over 10 million viewers, putting great effort into Part 2, audience response remains lukewarm. If this trend continues, Part 2 is expected to achieve a performance similar to 'Alien+In' Part 1 (1.54 million viewers), which was released in 2022 and failed at the box office, earning the stigma of a 'disaster.' It is also predicted that surpassing the break-even point of 7 million viewers will be difficult.

CJ ENM has lost face. The works released last year consecutively failed at the box office, leaving little room for celebration. 'Alien+In' Part 1, which had a production cost of 36 billion KRW, recorded a disappointing 1.53 million viewers, and subsequent releases such as 'Ghost' and 'Count' also failed to break even. Even 'The Moon,' an SF film about lunar exploration released last year as a tentpole project, suffered a major box office failure. Directed by Kim Yong-hwa, who has two films with over 20 million viewers, and with a production cost of 28.6 billion KRW, 'The Moon' shocked the industry by attracting only 510,000 viewers, causing a bigger backlash. Moreover, the ambitious release of 'Alien+In' Part 2 this month also failed to recover losses, leaving CJ ENM stuck in a slump. Conservative planning through outdated decision-making processes and repetitive melodrama are cited as the main reasons for the poor performance.

Movie 'Alien+Human' Part 2 Stills [Photo by CJ ENM]

Last weekend, Disney's 100th anniversary animation 'Wish' attracted 133,774 viewers, ranking second. 'Spring in Seoul' (directed by Kim Sung-soo), the second film to surpass 10 million viewers last year, steadily added 91,065 viewers. Its cumulative audience reached 12,946,191.

Ranking fourth was the animation 'Into the World' with 67,838 viewers, fifth was 'Noryang: Sea of Death' (directed by Kim Han-min), depicting Admiral Yi Sun-sin's Battle of Noryang, sixth was the animation 'New Dimension! Crayon Shin-chan The Movie: Superpower Showdown ~Fly, Handmade Kimbap~,' and eighth was 'Kim Dae-jung on the Road.'

The total number of viewers who visited theaters over the weekend was recorded at 808,599.

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