Chuseok Holiday (14-18) Box Office
Theater Revenue 43.3 Billion KRW
Audience Increased by 50% Compared to Last Year
The only new Korean film released during the Chuseok holiday, 'Veteran 2,' drew crowds to theaters, making the box office lively after a long time. The number of viewers increased by nearly 50% compared to last year's Chuseok.
According to the Korea Film Council's integrated ticketing system on the 19th, during the five-day Chuseok holiday (14th-18th), 'Veteran 2' (directed by Ryu Seung-wan) attracted 3,937,494 viewers, securing the number one spot at the box office. Since its release on the 13th, it has accumulated a total audience of 4,453,536. Its revenue share was 84.1%. The cumulative box office revenue reached 43.34952 billion KRW. During this period, the second place was 'Bread Barber Shop: The Birth of a Bread Star' (124,894 viewers), third was 'Love's Hatchuping' (113,634 viewers), and fourth was 'Alien: Romulus' (70,005 viewers).
'Veteran 2' was screened 69,040 times across 2,691 screens during the Chuseok holiday. Considering that the second-place film, 'Bread Barber Shop: The Birth of a Bread Star,' was shown 4,384 times on 400 screens, it means 'Veteran 2' was screened in almost every theater auditorium.
The film easily surpassed the break-even point (4 million viewers) within six days of its release. Instead of the usual Wednesday release, it premiered on Friday the 13th, the start of the Chuseok holiday, as a strategic move. The fact that major new releases were scheduled for October, leaving virtually no new films released during this period, also worked to its advantage.
Thanks to the success of 'Veteran 2,' the number of viewers during the Chuseok holiday increased by 49.7% compared to the 3.11 million viewers from September 28 to October 3 last year, when several new Korean films were released. Last year, films such as 'Dr. Cheon’s Exorcism Research Institute: The Secret of Snow Scenery,' '1947 Boston,' and 'Spider's Web' were released simultaneously, causing audience fragmentation. However, the number was still 9.2% lower than the pre-pandemic Chuseok holiday audience of 5.13 million in 2019 (September 12-15).
The film has received mixed reviews, with some praising director Ryu’s signature action scenes as attractive, while others feel it is inferior to the first installment. With no significant new releases expected until the first weekend of October, attention is focused on whether this sequel will join the 'double 20 million' series following the original film, which surpassed 10 million viewers.
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