This Summer at the Box Office, a Flood of Blockbusters... Will the Second 10 Million Viewer Hit Appear?

Reviving Summer Theaters
First 10 Million Viewers Since Pandemic
'Top Gun', 'Hansan', 'Alien+Human', 'Emergency Declaration' and More
Another 10 Million Hit Possible
Concerns Over Ticket Price Burden

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Isul] Will there be a second 10 million viewer movie this summer? The theaters have been frozen for two years due to the pandemic. Big-budget blockbusters hesitated to set release dates and only stared at the calendar. With theater revenues not circulating on site, both releases and productions were difficult. As the film industry suffered from a severe drought of audiences, theaters took on debt.

Recently, with the lifting of social distancing between seats and the allowance of adjacent seating and eating, popcorn has returned. Audiences who had lost the experience of watching movies in groups while eating popcorn at theaters have come back.

What ignited this atmosphere were Marvel and Ma Dong-seok. The movie "The Outlaws 2" (director Lee Sang-yong), released on May 18, surpassed 10 million viewers on the 11th. It is the first Korean film to reach 10 million viewers since "Parasite," which was released on July 22, 2019. Film industry insiders cheered for the first 10 million viewer film of the year. Marking this turning point, the film industry revived, and theaters smiled brightly at the returning audiences.

As the mood revived, blockbusters that had postponed their releases are now entering the summer market one after another. Hollywood actor Tom Cruise, who visited Korea for the first time in Asia since the pandemic and gained huge popularity, will have a spectacular release of "Top Gun: Maverick" on the 22nd. As of 8 PM on the 21st, the real-time reservation audience number is 248,039, with a reservation rate of 63.9%, showing high interest.

Additionally, the 75th Cannes Film Festival Best Director award-winning film "Decision to Leave" (director Park Chan-wook) will be released on the 29th. Kim Han-min's "Hansan: Rising Dragon" and Choi Dong-hoon's "Alien+Human" will be screened in theaters next month. The aviation action film "Emergency Declaration" (director Han Jae-rim), starring Song Kang-ho, Lee Byung-hun, and Jeon Do-yeon, will meet audiences in August, and "Hunt," the directorial debut of Lee Jung-jae and a hot topic at Cannes this year, is confirmed for release on August 10.

A film industry insider said, "As the number of audiences has steadily increased recently, the theater atmosphere is coming back to life. Many blockbusters that had postponed their releases due to the pandemic will be released this summer, so many audiences are expected to visit movie theaters." He added, "The industry is hopeful that a second 10 million viewer movie will emerge riding this upward trend. Considering the growing public interest in films and the lineup of major anticipated works meeting audiences one after another, it is not an impossible story."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

On the 6th, the movie 'The Outlaws 2' surpassed 9 million viewers on its 20th day since release, and is bustling with audiences at a cinema in Seoul, approaching the first 10 million viewers milestone since the COVID-19 pandemic. Photo by Jinhyung Kang aymsdream@

There are also voices of concern. Another insider said, "Looking at the recent box office trends, audiences are carefully selecting truly entertaining movies and tend to watch only one film." He added, "In the past, when a 10 million viewer movie emerged, the audience numbers for other films also rose together, but recently, one film tends to dominate alone."

The insider also said, "After the pandemic, all three major theater chains raised movie ticket prices. Now, watching one movie on the weekend costs about 15,000 won. We need to observe how the increased ticket prices will affect the future." He added, "Due to the influence of online video services (OTT), audience standards have risen, and only high-quality content will be chosen in theaters."