Actor Song Joong-ki poses during a press conference for the movie "Bogota: City of the Lost” at a theater in Seoul, Dec. 19, 2024. Yonhap
With many films failing to break even at the box office, Korean studios are opting for a quick release on streaming platform, especially Netflix, to minimize losses. This trend further diminishes the incentive for audiences to visit theaters, creating a vicious cycle, according to industry officials, Friday.
"Big-budget films are increasingly struggling to achieve box office success. As a result, in an effort to reduce financial risks, these films are often released on streaming platforms immediately after their theatrical run, leading to a vicious cycle in the film industry,” an official in the local film industry said on condition of anonymity.
A-list star Song Joong-ki's latest stint "Bogota: City of the Lost," which was filmed mainly in Colombia, is the most recent example of this trend.
The film was known to be produced with a budget of 12.5 billion won ($8.6 million) and it needed to surpass the 3 million admissions mark to break even. However, it only managed to garner about 422,000 audiences.
Released on Dec. 31, the film began its service on Netflix on Feb. 4, about a month after its theatrical release. Ironically, the film topped the global film category on Netflix right after its release.
Lead actor Song expressed his regret that the film did not receive much love from the audience and even shed tears in front of fans.
"Korean films are in a very difficult situation. I wanted to promote the film more diligently than ever. I am grateful to those who came to see our film," Song said, with tears at a theater on Jan. 12.
"It is an actor's role to create good content and provide comfort to the audience. I will strive to create diverse and interesting works with sincerity to be a source of strength."
Actors Kim Go-eun, right, and Noh Sang-hyun pose during a press conference for the movie "Love in the Big City” at a theater in Seoul, Sept. 2, 2024. Newsis
"Love in the Big City," released in October 2024, also needed 1.3 million viewers to break even, but drew only around 879,000. The film, starring actors Kim Go-eun of the 2024 hit film "Exhuma" and Noh Sang-hyun, is also scheduled to be released on Netflix on Feb. 10.
Movie fans also express that they are less inclined to visit theaters when films are quickly available on streaming platforms after a short theatrical release.
"Aside from movies that fully utilize the big screen and immersive sound, there are fewer reasons to go to the cinema," a 42-year-old movie enthusiast surnamed Hyun said. "I used to frequently visit theaters, but now I find myself waiting for movies to show up on streaming platforms."
The frozen film market is also evident in the data. According to data by the Korean Film Council (KOFIC), the cumulative number of moviegoers in 2024 was 123.13 million, a 1.6 percent decrease from 125.14 million in 2023.
The KOFIC analyzed that the decline in the number of moviegoers, which had been recovering every year since the 2020 pandemic, was due to the absence of a hit film during the summer peak season and the fact that foreign films received less love from audiences.
Also, the Lunar New Year holiday, one of the major seasons for movie fans here, did not offer any significant new titles this year.
The KOFIC data showed that a total of 3.2 million moviegoers visited theaters during the six-day holiday period from Jan. 25 to 30 this year. Although the overall number was higher than the 2.19 million recorded during last year’s Lunar New Year holiday from Feb. 9 to 12, the average daily number of moviegoers was 530,000, lower than last year's 550,000.
An official from a local film marketing company also said that the vitality of the film market has decreased noticeably.
"Before the COVID-19 pandemic, the reactions of movie fans showed great interest in our film marketing activities, which led to the success of the film. However, it is now difficult to expect such success in the current local film scene. This is because people are visiting theaters less and less," the official said.
Culture critic Kim Hern-sik predicted that the film industry will continue struggling to find a breakthrough, as the quality of movies currently being released is significantly lower than the films and series produced by streaming platforms.
"In terms of content quality, the movies shown in theaters are considerably inferior to the content created by streaming platforms. This is because they have relatively smaller production budgets compared to streaming platforms that can invest substantial funds, and their directing techniques are also of lower quality," Kim said.
"More and more people are choosing to watch series on streaming platforms rather than going to theaters."
He added that people are increasingly losing reasons to visit movie theaters due to the rise of music concerts and musical performances that offer more immersive experiences.
"People are finding fewer reasons to go to movie theaters. In the past, going to the cinema to watch a movie and eat food was a cultural activity, but after the COVID-19 pandemic, people realized they don't necessarily need to visit theaters. After the pandemic, people seem to value experiences more, so they are more likely to attend concerts or musicals, even if they are expensive," he said.
