Chuseok Movie Box Office Slumps... September Sales at 52.9% of Pre-Pandemic Levels

Last Month's Revenue 65.3 Billion KRW, Audience Count 6.66 Million

The theater industry failed to smile during the Chuseok market following a disappointing summer. Three Korean films released simultaneously on the 27th of last month, ahead of the golden holiday, all failed at the box office. The number of viewers during the three-day Chuseok holiday did not exceed 1 million, marking the first time since 2011, excluding the COVID-19 pandemic period (2020-2022).

According to the Korean Film Council's report on the Korean film industry for September 2023, released on the 17th, total sales for September reached 65.3 billion KRW. The total number of viewers was 6.66 million, which is only 45.1% of the 2017-2019 average (14.76 million), and decreased by 32.5% (3.2 million) compared to the same month last year.

Photo by Mun Ho-nam munonam@

Among the three Korean films released simultaneously on September 27, the day before the Chuseok holiday?'Dr. Cheon’s Exorcism Research Institute: Secret of the Snow Scenery,' '1947 Boston,' and 'Spider's Web'?none surpassed 10 billion KRW in sales or 1 million viewers.

The total sales during the three-day holiday amounted to 16 billion KRW, marking the lowest for a Chuseok three-day period since 2008, excluding the COVID-19 pandemic years of 2020 and 2021.

September Korean film sales totaled 45.6 billion KRW, which is 54.8% of the September average from 2017 to 2019 (83.2 billion KRW), and decreased by 50.3% (46.1 billion KRW) compared to the same month last year.

'Sleep' ranked first in overall box office for September with sales of 13.4 billion KRW (1.41 million viewers). 'Dr. Cheon’s Exorcism Research Institute: Secret of the Snow Scenery' was second with sales of 9 billion KRW (940,000 viewers). During the three-day holiday, the film earned 7.7 billion KRW (780,000 viewers), while '1947 Boston' recorded sales of 4.4 billion KRW (460,000 viewers), and 'Spider's Web' earned 1.8 billion KRW (190,000 viewers).

The number of viewers for Korean films last month was 4.67 million, representing 47.1% of the September average from 2017 to 2019 (9.91 million). This is a 48.0% decrease (4.32 million) compared to the same month last year. The market share of Korean films in September was 69.9% in sales and 70.2% in audience numbers.

The Korean Film Council analyzed, "Since the Chuseok holiday started at the end of September and Korean films released during the peak Chuseok period performed poorly, the total sales for September barely exceeded half of the pre-pandemic level, and the total number of viewers in September did not even reach half of the pre-pandemic figures."

Foreign film sales in September were 19.7 billion KRW, which is 49.0% of the 2017-2019 average (40.1 billion KRW), and increased by 93.5% (9.5 billion KRW) compared to the same month last year. The number of viewers for foreign films was 1.99 million, representing 40.9% of the 2017-2019 average (4.85 million), and increased by 127.6% (1.11 million) compared to the same month last year.