[Focus] The Formula for 'Ten Million Movie' Has Collapsed

Hundreds of Billions Invested, Ten Million Directors Suffer Consecutive Defeats
"You Can Tell Just by Watching the Trailer" Smarter Audiences
Conservative Investments and Outdated Decisions Fail
"Bold Casting and Fresh Planning Needed"

Seoul theater exterior view
[Photo by Yonhap News]

Famous actors appear. They borrow dramatic narrative structures. A touch of tear-jerking melodrama and loose comedy. They offer action or historically spectacular visuals. This is mostly the formula for ‘ten-million audience films’ in theaters.

Savvy audiences have seen through this. Online, there is even a meme saying, "I watched the whole movie just by watching the trailer." Audiences no longer have a reason to be fooled by the old structures touted by ten-million audience directors. With the emergence of Over-The-Top (OTT) services, there are more points of contact with movies. In the past, one had to go to the theater or go through the hassle of purchasing individually via IPTV to watch movies, but now movies can be enjoyed anytime, anywhere through OTT.

The market changed rapidly, but ten-million audience directors who once tasted tremendous success could not abandon the ‘ten-million audience film’ formula. Big-budget blockbusters pouring in hundreds of billions of won consecutively failed at the box office, revealing the reality clearly. The SF film “Alienoid” Parts 1 and 2, directed by Choi Dong-hoon, who attracted 20 million viewers with “The Thieves” (2012) and “Assassination” (2015), poured 70 billion won into production but were both ignored with 1.54 million viewers for Part 1 and 1.42 million for Part 2. Director Kim Han-min, who gathered the highest number of viewers in Korean film history with “The Admiral: Roaring Currents” (2014) at 17.61 million, had to settle for 4.57 million viewers with “Noryang: Sea of Death,” which had a net production cost of 40 billion won. It did not even surpass the break-even point (7.5 million viewers). Kim Yong-hwa, the double ten-million audience director of “Along with the Gods” Parts 1 and 2 (2017, 2018), only attracted 510,000 viewers with the SF film “The Moon.” Considering the production cost was 28 billion won (break-even point 6.4 million viewers), this was an embarrassing result.

Directors Choi Dong-hoon (from left), Kim Yong-hwa, and Kim Han-min
[Photo by CJ ENM, Lotte Entertainment]

It is significant that these films were planned by industry giants such as CJ ENM and Lotte Entertainment. All were highly anticipated works directed by ‘ten-million audience directors’ with production costs in the hundreds of billions of won but failed. Films made by large corporate investment and distribution companies are born through traditional decision-making processes. It is not easy to completely abandon the existing commercial film formula, and ultimately, they have no choice but to follow a stable structure.

Given this situation, the industry no longer sees theatrical films as a stable investment destination. The poor performance of blockbusters has led to further contraction in investment. An industry insider said, "Even veteran filmmakers find it difficult to predict the theatrical box office landscape," adding, "It has become an unstable market in many ways." Actor A also said, "In the past, scripts flooded in, but since not many films are produced, the scripts I receive are rare," and added, "I want to do films, but I cannot wait indefinitely for production, so I end up doing OTT projects. I have several works about to be released and all the projects I am considering are for OTT."

[Photo by Pixabay]

In fact, the momentum of OTT is formidable. Fresh sensibilities and bold challenges from young directors are flocking to OTT, producing drama and entertainment content superior to theatrical versions. Moreover, it is analytical. An OTT official said, "Competition among platforms is fierce," adding, "We analyze viewers down to the minute and second. We closely analyze who watched more, women or men, what time they mainly watched, at which scenes viewers dropped off, and immediately reflect this on site."

There is also advice that for ‘ten-million audience directors’ to revive, a change breaking away from the existing success formula is necessary. Successful filmmakers should not be trapped by their achievements but actively strive to present new film formulas. A film production official said, "We need to boldly discover and invest in young creators and guarantee them freedom in their work," adding, "Older directors can also make new films anytime, but if they only repeat verified film formulas, the future of theatrical films cannot be found."